This game was great, and I am so so excited to start the next in the trilogy!!

• Complete spoilers for most of the game •

(Warning: this is just a bunch of rambling and positive ranting)

There is nothing in this game I love more than the characters, while it was disappointing in the 4th episode to have maya leave us for her training, it left room for us to meet other new interesting characters (ema and lana) and try out new investigation techniques.
At the start and mid point of the game I believed there was little to be done on changing
my ‘meh’ opinion on Edgeworth. Of course I've always enjoyed his character design but the development he goes through because of Phoenix is the most attractive trait about him. I can’t wait for him to show more of his ‘soft’ interior as the games progress. (I love him so much)

Phoenix is such an enjoyable main character, I love that he has an actual personality for himself and it’s not just your choices as the player that go into making/solving the case. He can be extremely stupid at times but that makes his character shine even brighter in my eyes. Phoenix and Maya compliment each other very well, she's super loveable and makes an amazing little sister character for Phoenix to protect and take care of. She made an amazing side kick and I can all but pray that she comes back from her training to join us early in the next game.

I love Detective Gumshoe. During Mia’s murder episode I assumed he’d just be a one off character, but him coming to every case and slowly warming up to phoenix and maya was extremely wholesome and I couldn’t ask for a more interesting and funny detective man!! During the last episode after Gumshoe got fired from the police agency, he mentions coming to work under Phoenix, taking the place of Maya for the time being. I would love to see this actually happen in one of the next games and hope that he comes back. (please please)

When phoenix and edgeworth came together at the end of the 5th episode trial, it was extremely cool and satisfying. In the previous episodes we got to see the progression of their relationship and the admiration they share for each other (even if Edgeworth never admits it).

My biggest complaint about phoenix wright: ace attorney is the length and all of the additions added during the last episode.
At some points it felt almost as though it was dragging along, and this is the only
episode where I wasn’t able to figure out some of the facts on my own (guide was used
during some questions in the final trials). But the ‘final boss’ (The murderer in the last
case) was incredibly unsettling to look at and just overall creepy. I found myself avoiding
his eyes whenever he was shown on screen, even when he wasn’t a suspect in the case
yet (/pos).

It would’ve been great if we unlocked at least a few of the ‘scientific investigation’
gameplay mechanics in the previous chapters of the game, slowly leaning us into the more important ones (the spray and fingerprints). While Nick is an idiot at times I do believe he is smart enough to look at the pieces of evidence on hand without the help of a highschooler. These mechanics were very fun and added an extra layer to the investigations, it's just too bad we barely got to use them.


Miscellaneous enjoyments:
I thoroughly enjoyed the flashback scenes showing Wrights, Edgeworths, and Butz 4th grade classroom debate. Seeing them so young and full of excitement was adorable.
The naming of the characters. I myself was never that big of a fan of characters getting their names changed for other cultures sake, but this is one of the things Ace attorney does so well. Majority of the names are meant for comedic purposes with the audience, while sometimes still looking like a normal name.
The last episode, by which I mean all of the different gameplay functions added. Putting the vase back together and writing out the name of the killer on it were both very fun (even if they were just easy puzzle games, it was nice to have a little bit of different gameplay at the end there)