[P.S. Antes de tudo, é minha primeira experiência com um Final Fantasy. Muita coisa pode soar como leiguice ou primeiro contato, e é porque é mesmo.

P.S. 2 Escrevi isso assim que acabei o jogo, antes de jogar o Intermission.]

Maravilhoso quando é bom, um porre quando é chato, envolvente o suficiente pra te manter querendo saber o que vai acontecer no capítulo seguinte. Eu gostei do FF7Re muito, muito mais do que eu pensei que eu fosse gostar, considerando que eu dropei ele nos primeiros capítulos da primeira vez que eu peguei pra jogar.

Primeiro o que mais me incomodou: os problemas de ritmo. Foi o que mais me marcou negativamente, de longe. Um capítulo inteiro de sidequest? E talvez alguns capítulos se "expliquem" no Rebirth ou no Crisis Core (como o capítulo 11), mas avaliando dentro de um jogo que eu já comecei a jogar sabendo que ia ter sequel, que negócio penoso de terminar. Eu não lembro absolutamente nada desse capítulo, e se eu não larguei ali foi por já estar envolvida o suficiente com o universo pra saber o que vinha depois. Pra cada sequência de batalha em cima de moto, pra cada boss de tirar o fôlego e pra cada combate com uma mecânica diferente você tinha algum capítulo ou algum momento INFERNAL de se terminar. Do capítulo 17 pro 18 essa falta de dosagem do ritmo também me incomodou durante o jogo. Achei que a gravidade dos eventos escalou rápido demais e, querendo ou não, o Remake dá pouco ou nenhuma informação sobre o Sephiroth pro jogador. Só que nesse final eu senti que eles conseguiram retomar as rédeas da história depois da batalha com o Sephiroth com a última cutscene e ditar o tom muito bem pra continuação da história, mantendo a atmosfera de uma história muito mais comprida e complicada não contada que foi o que mais me agradou durante o jogo.

Visualmente o jogo é estúpido de tão bonito. Eu já sou babona demais pelos designs do Nomura, mas tudo no jogo é tão lindo, as cutscenes de ação são de encher os olhos, é tudo tão bem coreografado que muitas vezes parecia menos luta e mais dança e acho que pro tom do jogo não podia ser melhor, de me fazer sorrir numa luta de espadas, numa sequência de detritos voando, com alguém caindo do penhasco. O design de personagens também é um espetáculo a parte, não só do elenco principal: o exagero vilanesco dos líderes das divisões da Shinra, o glamour e a elegância quase desnecessárias do Rufus Shinra, a personalidade bem marcada dos Turks mesmo que eles estejam de uniforme, tudo fez com que cada um dos personagens se tornasse memorável pra mim, mesmo que a presença deles não seja tão marcante ou que eles não tenham tanto tempo de jogo. Os monstros e as invocações também são lindos e dá gosto de ver em campo. Vou morrer defendendo estilo e aproveitamento do que o videogame como mídia visual pode fazer e ser acima de hiperrealismo.

Mais do que me emocionar pelo drama ou pela intensidade o que me encantou sobre o FF7 foi exatamente esse sentimento de uma história mais antiga que o próprio tempo, com raízes e rusgas além da própria ciência dos personagens e da qual eles são peões antes mesmo de existirem naquele universo. Tudo sobre o mundo do Remake é muito vivo, e talvez por detrimento das personagens ou mérito do mundo construído, Midgar e o planeta em que se passa o jogo engole todos os outros aspectos. Talvez, você não simpatize com o Barret ou com a causa da Avalanche. Ou você não entenda direito o que é mako, ou quais as reais proporções do conflito se desenlaçando diante dos seus olhos, ou ainda, qual o passado não revelado entre o Cloud e o Sephiroth, mas você sente que tem muito em risco.

A engrenagem dos conflitos pessoais (do Cloud e da Aerith) das personagens são provavelmente a coisa que se move de forma mais constante no jogo, se entremeando na escala cósmica desse universo de um jeito hipnotizante, fantástico, e acho que é pra mim o testamento do amor posto em todo esse jogo, de um cuidado muito meticuloso. O mistério, as perguntas não respondidas, e as lacunas a serem preenchidas formam a trilha pra um caminho muito tortuoso pro Cloud trilhar - que, como disse o Sephiroth, sequer existe - mas que eu quero muito acompanhar e que me deixou muito, muito ansiosa pra colocar as mãos no Rebirth o quanto antes.

There was this night I was feeling really shitty and sad and just decided to write a 4-page piece on why I don't think Apollo Justice is as bad as people think it is. Not beta-read, we die like real men.

TL;DR > Apollo Justice was a game where Takumi and Nuri tested a lot of ideas they would do it better later on TGAA. The cast is extremely charismatic and probably my favorite of all Ace Attorney games. The follow-up games being on the hands of an almost entirely new crew helped solidify the notion that Apollo Justice is a bad game with a lot of loose ends (which, in all justice, it is). AA4 deserved better.

I just had a conversation with one of my friends about whether "Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice" (mentioned further as aa4 or aj for convenience) is a bad game or not, because we found out that "ace attorney out of context"'s mod favorite Ace Attorney game was Apollo Justice and it is mine as well, and my friend said that except for "Ace Attorney: Justice for All" (will be referred to as jfa or aa2 for convenience) all of the other games were better than aj (he hasn't played "Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies" nor "Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice"). It has been a good three or four years since I played aj, and it remains my favorite entry on the main franchise (if we're considering ALL Ace Attorney games, "The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures" and "The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve" are my unparalleled favorites) since I have a huge attachment to the cast but, because of how much time has passed since I played the game, I started doubting myself. Is it really as good of a game as I remember? If I played again, would I like it less (which is a hypothesis I am going to try, when I finish all my college assignments that I am making no effort to progress on)? The answer is Yes and No, to both questions, and I'm going to try to make some arguments that led me to this conclusion. I just realized I can't break paragraphs on the answer box. I'm sorry if you read everything up to this, it is going to be a single full paragraph of text. Bear with me. So, about the easiest and first point: the cast. I do not think my opinion will change on this anytime soon: aj has the greatest cast out of all the six main games of the franchise. Not only we have Phoenix Wright almost completely reworked as a character, which a lot of people didn't like but I personally loved it because it was done so well and seamlessly, we have a whole bunch of new characters as well as a revisited one that was an amazing addition to the new characters. Trucy: a very smart and intuitive girl, quick on her feet, witty and just hilarious, couldn't ask for a better daughter for Phoenix. Klavier: it was a refresher to have a prosecutor that wasn't either tormented by ghosts of the past or straight up assholes. Klavier is just a passionate and very nice guy, and really charismatic. It doesn't even feel like you (playing as Apollo, the protagonist) never knew him before the events in the game, just because of how nice and welcoming he can be at times. Really nice dude. Then, Ema: she was promoted from a character created only for an extra episode to a full-fledged detective that plays a major role in aj and the upcoming games! I love her! She's just so sassy and... normal, in a relatable sense. Kristoph, the game's "villain", is all the other villains in the franchise is and more: all of the past motivations of the other villains - pride, greed and vain - are incorporated in him, as well as him being a well-collected man who is not only "friends" with the previous protagonist, Phoenix Wright, but also boss and mentor to the new protagonist, Apollo Justice. Kristoph is already so much, but he could be SO MUCH MORE, but that is to be discussed in later topics. And then, we have Apollo, very emotionally constipated and at first overly serious guy, but has a resolve of steel (and chords of steel, too). Just your warrior of justice. Really like him. The cast not only is full of great characters, but the dialogue is witty and their interactions are great and I'm so, so attached to them, I don't think my opinion is going to change. But then, we have point 2: narrative and execution. And this one is a little bit on me. Because, as I said before, I have played the game a long time ago, I don't remember everything about it, and I already have awful memory to begin with. But anyway. aj is a game FULL of potential. The first case is just SO GOOD, it is amazing a fresh start with new characters and a new protagonist and a new chapter of the franchise. The twists are amazing and intense and for me it's the best first case of the franchise (including TGAA and spin-offs). The second case is also great. For me, aj is the game that better makes use of a sense of an ominous atmosphere, a lingering feeling behind you during the entire game that shall be adressed at the end of the story; It is not dramatic per se, as the great, almost ironically dramatic at times "Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright" and the overly, mostly unconvincingly dramatic JFA. But the third case is just... a filler. And not even in a bad sense, it is literally just a filler. Compared to other entries in the franchise, aj isn't a big game, mind you. It only had four cases. And there were SO many bases to cover. Apollo's past and why and how Trucy and him were separated, why his mom decided to leave him behind, rather than to just introduce her and not even give an answer as to why she won't tell Apollo and Trucy they are half-siblings (a thing that isn't a flaw in itself, but I will delve into it better in the third topic). The nature of Phoenix's relationship with Kristoph and a more plausible reason for him to come up with the elaborate plot to jeopardize Phoenix's career. Apollo's relationship with Kristoph, as he was his previous mentor and boss. And why did Apollo didn't know who Klavier was? He was a prosecutor AND Kristoph's younger brother. At the same time, it feels like they needed to fill a game and didn't have enough time. Which I will say why later. But then we have the fourth case. And oh, plot-wise? It is just marvellous. As I said, Kristoph is an amazing character, and case for has a very compelling story as well; but the way they executioned it is just... now. I won't say I actually remember the new system they implemented; I ate aj like a book, almost completely disregarding the gameplay elements. That's how much I liked the story. But I read some stuff up to refresh my memory and well, yes, the way things are presented and how the trial unfolds with the other elements such as music and mechanics just... narratively, It didn't turned out well. As my friend said, if you weren't already crazy invested as I am, it could totally be a very anti-climatic and monotonous last trial, even if the story itself was amazing. As I did this memory exercise now, I do remember that the last trial had EVERYTHING to be as grandiose as the all-acclaimed "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations" but even at the time, I felt it lacked the tension and drama always awaited at the last case of an Ace Attorney game. And that's the problem: there are so many holes and wasted potential. aj could have been SO MUCH. And that brings us to my last point, a little bit of a meta complain if you ask me, because it's not related directly to the game, so I'm sorry in advance, but bear with me one last time. 3: the way they handled the franchise after Apollo Justice. You see, as I said, aj has many plot holes. The game ends on a ambiguous note, kind of telling the player to find the answers to the many unanswered questions themselves. Like, as mentioned earlier, the mystery as to why Apollo and Trucy's mother, Lamiroir is her name, decided not to tell them she was their mother, or even if she would tell them in a near or far future. The biggest unanswered question of the game, however, is of the true nature and motivation of Kristoph Gavin. The game has a mechanic called "Magatama", which is also an in-game item. It's a stone imbued with spiritual power that let's the user see if other people are lying or not, by showing them what are psychological locks called "psyche-locks", each one of the locks showing protecting a secret of different parts of a secret, and the player has to use reasoning and deduction to extract the truth out of the liar. Upon using the Magatama one last time on Kristoph, after the conclusion of the last trial, five black psyche-locks are shown to the player; however, the psyche-locks are usually green, which is also the color of the Magatama, not black, and it is implied that Kristoph is hiding a much, much deeper and darker secret than just the murders and forgeries we have discovered throughout the game. In the next game, "Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies", the only other character to ever have a black psyche-lock, Athena Cykes, has her secret found and her psyche-lock broken. But we never find out about Kristoph's secrets. We never find out about Apollo and Trucy's mom, either, or the bigger problem with the judiciary system hinted throughout the entire Apollo Justice (at least, not in a satisfactory manner). Because Kristoph never appears again, or is even mentioned. Klavier appears again, but only as a cameo, and not as a prosecutor. Lamiroir is mentioned, but has no actual importance in the story. Apollo and Trucy never find out they are siblings. And why is that? Because the franchise kind of absolutely ignores everything of importance that happened during Apollo Justice in the subsequent games, a game that was clearly intented to conclude its story in more than one entry, and instead they add more and more stuff to know about Apollo's past, some that doesn't even make sense while the things we are introduced to in aj remain without solving forever. Also, Apollo was supposed to be the new protagonist of the franchise, but they just ignored that and had Phoenix take the stand again. I mean, I love Phoenix, and his disbarrement could very much be more explored and have greater importance in a later entry, in a major last case, as past events culminated in a intricate web of a mystery in the last case of "Trials and Tribulations", but this was supposed to be a reboot, it's Apollo's trilogy, he was supposed to be the new protagonist. It's not even like people hated Apollo or like Phoenix was gone forever, he would be a major character, he is Apollo's new and current mentor and boss, and also the foster father to his step-sister. They also add Athena Cykes in the subsequent game, another lawyer to the roster of playable lawyers. But unlike Trucy, who felt like a major addition to the cast and was not only the protagonist's companion, but his yet-to-acknowledge sister, she felt like a last-hour decision, and I say this as someone who likes Athena. In sum, they for some reason threw everything to the air and focused on Phoenix again, leaving the very clear and promising path with Apollo behind and Apollo himself as an afterthought, and the lack of answers that should be provided in the next games weigh a lot on the perception the community has of aj being a game full of holes and a weak entry overall. I think the decision to stray away so much from the path they were taking has a lot to do with the fact that Shu Takumi and Kazuya Nuri, the original director and concept artist of the first four games, respectively, didn't work in the main Ace Attorney games after Apollo Justice. So I think it's fair to say that the new staff didn't want or couldn't carry on with the development Nuri and Takumi first envisioned. Apollo Justice isn't a weak or a bad game. I still stand by that. It was just done so wrong and it deserved so, so much better, as well as the entire second franchise. They really wanted to do something with soul, as everyone would see later in the "The Great Ace Attorney" entries, but unfortunately it wasn't possible. That's the main problem, for me, after having thinking about it, with Apollo Justice: it's a game that could have been so much more, but had it's full narrative cut short.

Do I still love the game? Yes, and it will still remain being one of my comfort games. Reflecting upon its weaknesses made me understand why I like it even more and did not hinder the affection I have towards the story, because now I am sure . If you haven't played it, give it a chance! I will still recommend it because I still believe it to be a valuable experience and a good game for all those who like Ace Attorney.