This review contains spoilers
There is a lot to say about this game and it feels wrong giving it the equivalent of a 7 but I think that it's accurate.
I will start with the bad first. A lot of the new characters introduced in this game are not super enjoyable. For example, Franziska von Karma is very annoying for most of her screen time, which is kind of a problem when she is the main prosecutor you go up against in this game. She'll constantly whip everyone in the court and keep repeating that Phoenix is a "foolishly foolish fool" over and over again. Her base personality is so annoying that even though they started to give her some more depth near the end it doesn't mean a lot (although she has potential to become a better character). Pearl is a character that is cute and sweet but there are somethings about her that are just somewhat annoying. The constant shipping of Phoenix and Maya for example is just weird, and there are times where she says things that are impressive for any child her age to know, and then others where she doesn't even know the most basic words and concepts. She is basically just very inconsistent and half of her dialogue feels like it's her whining, but I don't necessarily dislike her. I still enjoy her cute childlike innocence for the most part, it's just that I think she is a weaker character than some of the original characters such as her cousin Maya. Other than weaker recurring characters than the first game, the cases are much less consistent as well. The first tutorial case is mostly forgettable, I don't really have any strong feelings about it. I also don't have super strong feelings about the first real case. It doesn't stand out as anything special but it definitely wasn't anything bad and it introduced a lot of things that I'm sure could come back in a more major way in the third game. The third case, however, is genuinely the worst case of the series so far. All of the characters introduced during this case are unbearable. The annoying clown, the asshole puppet and his creepy ventriloquist, the extremely annoying and stupid daughter of the victim, and then to top it all off the defendant in this case is just an arrogant asshole magician. A lot of these characters are into the underage daughter that I mentioned as well and are trying to pursue her in a romantic way which is really weird. Phoenix and even the judge will also make comments every once in a while that come across as creepy and really weird, and the game doesn't really acknowledge how weird it is. Even Maya will cheer for her to get with the puppet for example. But anyways, these characters that you have to constantly interact with throughout this case just made it kind of hard to sit through sometimes, but I don't actually dislike it as much as others just because I think the core gameplay of Ace Attorney is still quite enjoyable. It is still bad though.
Now that I've mostly got the negatives out of the way, I want to go into detail about what I think this game does really well. I will start with general gameplay improvements before moving on to the more interesting stuff. To start, they introduce a new mechanic called "psyche-locks" that add a whole new level of engagement in the investigation process. In the first game all you do is gather the evidence and that's it, but in this game you have to do that while also breaking through the characters' lies and get them to tell you the truth so you can have a better understanding of the situation to use in court. I didn't like this addition at first, but it really grew on me as, like I said, I think it made the gameplay more engaging. Other than this I don't think the game play changed in any major way, but it has been a while since I played the first game now so there could be things I am forgetting. Anyways though now I want to get into what really stands out about this game, and that is the final case.
Right off the bat this case hits you with a twist when Maya is kidnapped and Phoenix is forced to take the defendant as his client or else the kidnapper will not let Maya go. It introduces the question very early of "Would you fight to get a not guilty for a murderer if it meant saving Maya?" which is a question that stays prominent throughout the case. At first you think that he is really innocent and there is nothing to worry about, but as time passes the truth starts to reveal itself and spoiler alert: the defendant is a guilty party. This dilemma and what it does for Phoenix's character is by far the best part about the game. It explores his character in a way that I would have never expected from Ace Attorney and it made me appreciate him and the game a lot more. It really makes you question your own morality and what you would do if you were in that situation, and what it really means to be a lawyer. Another thing that makes this case better is that Edgeworth is back and he is actually the lead prosecutor for the case, which means no more whipping and shit from franziska. He also has a lot going on as well as he has changed since the last time we saw him in the first game. No longer is he just the enemy but throughout most of this case he kind of works as your ally and he also heavily contributes to the main theme of "what does it mean to be a lawyer." Gone are the times where he would forge evidence and do anything to get a guilty verdict, he has come to realize that his true job is discovering the truth, and he uses his experience and growth to help Phoenix better understand himself and grow as well. There's a level of character depth to this case that was never present in the series before and I really appreciated that. I could go into a lot more detail about this case and what I love about it, but I struggle to even find the best way to start explaining my thoughts and I think what I have said does a good job at generally giving what makes it so great. I believe it to be the best case in the series so far and I think they will have trouble ever topping it. It is genuinely a 10/10 experience, however, since the rest of the game doesn't really match up to that quality, the overall game gets more of a 7-7.5/10. Not as consistent as the first game and has much lower lows, but the highs are much higher as well. Definitely worth playing if you liked the first game for the last case alone.
I will start with the bad first. A lot of the new characters introduced in this game are not super enjoyable. For example, Franziska von Karma is very annoying for most of her screen time, which is kind of a problem when she is the main prosecutor you go up against in this game. She'll constantly whip everyone in the court and keep repeating that Phoenix is a "foolishly foolish fool" over and over again. Her base personality is so annoying that even though they started to give her some more depth near the end it doesn't mean a lot (although she has potential to become a better character). Pearl is a character that is cute and sweet but there are somethings about her that are just somewhat annoying. The constant shipping of Phoenix and Maya for example is just weird, and there are times where she says things that are impressive for any child her age to know, and then others where she doesn't even know the most basic words and concepts. She is basically just very inconsistent and half of her dialogue feels like it's her whining, but I don't necessarily dislike her. I still enjoy her cute childlike innocence for the most part, it's just that I think she is a weaker character than some of the original characters such as her cousin Maya. Other than weaker recurring characters than the first game, the cases are much less consistent as well. The first tutorial case is mostly forgettable, I don't really have any strong feelings about it. I also don't have super strong feelings about the first real case. It doesn't stand out as anything special but it definitely wasn't anything bad and it introduced a lot of things that I'm sure could come back in a more major way in the third game. The third case, however, is genuinely the worst case of the series so far. All of the characters introduced during this case are unbearable. The annoying clown, the asshole puppet and his creepy ventriloquist, the extremely annoying and stupid daughter of the victim, and then to top it all off the defendant in this case is just an arrogant asshole magician. A lot of these characters are into the underage daughter that I mentioned as well and are trying to pursue her in a romantic way which is really weird. Phoenix and even the judge will also make comments every once in a while that come across as creepy and really weird, and the game doesn't really acknowledge how weird it is. Even Maya will cheer for her to get with the puppet for example. But anyways, these characters that you have to constantly interact with throughout this case just made it kind of hard to sit through sometimes, but I don't actually dislike it as much as others just because I think the core gameplay of Ace Attorney is still quite enjoyable. It is still bad though.
Now that I've mostly got the negatives out of the way, I want to go into detail about what I think this game does really well. I will start with general gameplay improvements before moving on to the more interesting stuff. To start, they introduce a new mechanic called "psyche-locks" that add a whole new level of engagement in the investigation process. In the first game all you do is gather the evidence and that's it, but in this game you have to do that while also breaking through the characters' lies and get them to tell you the truth so you can have a better understanding of the situation to use in court. I didn't like this addition at first, but it really grew on me as, like I said, I think it made the gameplay more engaging. Other than this I don't think the game play changed in any major way, but it has been a while since I played the first game now so there could be things I am forgetting. Anyways though now I want to get into what really stands out about this game, and that is the final case.
Right off the bat this case hits you with a twist when Maya is kidnapped and Phoenix is forced to take the defendant as his client or else the kidnapper will not let Maya go. It introduces the question very early of "Would you fight to get a not guilty for a murderer if it meant saving Maya?" which is a question that stays prominent throughout the case. At first you think that he is really innocent and there is nothing to worry about, but as time passes the truth starts to reveal itself and spoiler alert: the defendant is a guilty party. This dilemma and what it does for Phoenix's character is by far the best part about the game. It explores his character in a way that I would have never expected from Ace Attorney and it made me appreciate him and the game a lot more. It really makes you question your own morality and what you would do if you were in that situation, and what it really means to be a lawyer. Another thing that makes this case better is that Edgeworth is back and he is actually the lead prosecutor for the case, which means no more whipping and shit from franziska. He also has a lot going on as well as he has changed since the last time we saw him in the first game. No longer is he just the enemy but throughout most of this case he kind of works as your ally and he also heavily contributes to the main theme of "what does it mean to be a lawyer." Gone are the times where he would forge evidence and do anything to get a guilty verdict, he has come to realize that his true job is discovering the truth, and he uses his experience and growth to help Phoenix better understand himself and grow as well. There's a level of character depth to this case that was never present in the series before and I really appreciated that. I could go into a lot more detail about this case and what I love about it, but I struggle to even find the best way to start explaining my thoughts and I think what I have said does a good job at generally giving what makes it so great. I believe it to be the best case in the series so far and I think they will have trouble ever topping it. It is genuinely a 10/10 experience, however, since the rest of the game doesn't really match up to that quality, the overall game gets more of a 7-7.5/10. Not as consistent as the first game and has much lower lows, but the highs are much higher as well. Definitely worth playing if you liked the first game for the last case alone.