Reversal of Fortune Reversal

Yesterday, I spent the entire afternoon playing on my NDS and finally completed Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 4). Apart from the excitement, I felt that the storyline of Gyakuten Saiban 4 was weaker compared to the previous installments, and the court trials were more formulaic, with a less intense feeling of reversal. However, the last case was still commendable, as it connected the events of seven years ago with a current murder case, and even related to the first case in Gyakuten Saiban 4, forming a complex and intricate logical chain. This perfectly showcased a massive conspiracy and resolved most of the doubts in Gyakuten Saiban 4. The new Mason system was also interesting, allowing me to travel between seven years ago and the present, searching for clues in different locations.

Actually, one reason I like the Gyakuten Saiban series is that I’m deeply moved by the “small but strong” spirit of the defendants who refuse to yield in the face of evidence. In Conan, as long as there’s a fingerprint or something, the defendant will kneel down and confess. Otherwise, they’ll just smile coldly and then confess. In Gyakuten Saiban, it’s often the case that even when the defendant is cornered, they’ll still find ways to escape, stubbornly refusing to admit guilt. As the defense lawyer, the protagonist can only repeatedly turn the case around, coming up with new possibilities. So, whether a case is exciting or not often depends on its “inner workings,” i.e., the case’s underlying truth must be extremely bizarre and unexpected. I particularly like the spirit summoning murder case in Gyakuten Saiban 2. (For details, please refer to the relevant strategy guides.)

Especially in the final part of the case, when discussing the motive, there’s a scene where, as a player, after organizing all the testimony and evidence, I was surprised to discover that all the clues pointed to a terrifying fact - the person standing in the courtroom was the already deceased sister, not the younger sister! When I reached this conclusion, all the mysteries were solved, and as a player, I felt a chill run down my spine. However, in Gyakuten Saiban 4, this kind of plot twist was significantly reduced, and some of the plot devices were obvious from the start (of course, this may be due to my increased skills). Therefore, I felt that the overall storyline was weaker.

Additionally, the defendants in this game still retained some of that precious “small but strong” spirit, but the simplification of the cases directly led to a faster court process, making it feel like I couldn’t experience their stubborn “small but strong” spirit. As for the Logic system, I didn’t feel like it brought anything new. And after staring at that News BT guy for an entire afternoon, thinking back, he was really disgusting.