#sorry to mobile users if tumblr hasnt fixed that glitch yet

[atroquinine-my-love]

Alright, I have a feeling that anything I say about Dual Destinies will have already been said at least five times over, but I figured I might as well write it down anyway. I think the easiest way to sort this is thing is with a pros and cons list, so here we go (post-game debriefing under the cut - contains spoilers, obvi):

Pros:

The animation is good! The 3D models and the cutscenes might be off sometimes, but the animation is fun to watch. I still prefer Era Two (AA4/AAI/RFtA) in this aspect because they had to put a lot of effort and emotion into those sprites without the benefit of cutscenes to help with the narrative (Klavier's 2D sprites have all of my respect), but Dual Destinies changing up the formula worked in their favor.

The characters introduced in Dual Destinies have GREAT models and unique sprite animations. I had so much fun watching Athena and Blackquill react to each other in court - in personality, these two are total opposites, and their sprites reflect just that. Juniper’s sprites were sweet and vulnerable, Fullbright's were over-dramatic and theatric, and Aura's were determined and forceful. Hell, even Aristotle Means had a great range of animations and personalities through them (even if his design was a bit off). They had more time to animate with stable rigs rather than hand-drawing each frame, and it shows with each of these characters.

Athena and Apollo’s reactions to their traumas were well done. In a game series where most characters' reactions have to be inferred through dialogue and pre-set sprites, the closest we got to this before (on-screen) was Klavier in 4-4 - but this is never mentioned again by the games or other characters. This game forces you to see the effect - Athena shutting down in court and the team supporting her, and Apollo repressing his emotions until they come to a head with his leave of absence. It was good! I was really invested in their characters and excited to see where the game took them! Which, um, we’ll discuss later.

AURA BLACKQUILL!! There’s always one character that steals the show and this time around that honor went to Aura. The last case rode on this woman’s back and I will not allow any slander against her. The woman she loved was murdered, her brother was thrown in jail for it, and goddamn it, she wants justice and will get it any way possible. They try to make her a parallel to Apollo, but her and Metis’s tragedy steals the show from Apollo/Clays (which was easy to do, to be fair, but my god did she hit it out of the park). Did I mention CANONICAL WLW?? What a lady!

Watching Phoenix and Edgeworth go head to head in court again was fun. Good for them! Good for them.

Cons:

Previously introduced characters (such as Apollo, Phoenix, Edgeworth, Klavier, etc…) had REALLY bad sprites and/or sprite animations. It’s hard, if not impossible, to recapture the charm of previously 2D assets in 3D, no matter who you are. What I think happened here was that the animators had room for error on the new models - if an animation didn’t look right, they could change the way the model moved, but with formerly 2D sprites the animators didn't have that luxury because their audience already knew how the animations were supposed to look. I think a good example of this is Apollo’s courtroom sprites (generally awkward) vs. his forward-facing and co-counsel sprites (generally good), which we’d never seen before.

You know how I said I liked how Apollo and Athena’s traumas were handled? I lied a little bit. I like how they reacted to their traumas. I didn’t like how the game resolved their traumas, or more accurately: how it refused to resolve their traumas. Athena didn’t get that final trial where she faced her fears head-on - Phoenix got that final face-off against her brother-figure and mother's killer. Apollo didn’t learn anything from his stint on his own or his (rightful, IMO) mistrust of Athena. Circumstances have changed, but our main characters' net growth has remained constant from the beginning to the end of Dual Destinies.

Phoenix Wright. I’m sorry! But Phoenix Wright as one of three (3!!!) protagonists was a horrible decision for DD. Phoenix was shoe-horned into a game named after him and all character development from AA4 washed away with a quick pin on the lapel. Like, what does this man who forged evidence and bent the law system by sheer force of will, doing all of this at the risk of a young lawyer’s career, think he’s doing acting like the rookie he was ten years ago in court? Yes, there is some development in his POV - he seems more mature/fatherly but it seems ingenuine considering he just pulled a Yanni Yogi for seven years. Phoenix once again taking on the role of the plucky protagonist falls short when we think about his court appearance in 4-1, a formidable opponent and awe-inspiring mentor even in sweats and sandals. Dual Destinies!Phoenix falls short of that, because playing as a competent turnabout terror just wouldn't be as fun, and ruins some good character development without any plot to back up the decision to make him a playable character.

Apollo and Athena, our REAL protagonists, are fighting for attention the entire game. We’re trying to flesh out Apollo’s character with (a weak) backstory and trauma, but Athena is the one that our plot is hinging on. Dual Destinies could have made a great starter game for Athena's trilogy if Capcom had made it solely from Athena's perspective, but as it is, DD feels disjointed and unproductive until our last case.

Pls tell me I don’t have to explain the racism in the DLC. Long story short:

Overall I did enjoy Dual Destinies, it was entertaining in its stupid twists and silly cutscenes. Still, looking at the Wikipedia article on DD's reception, it feels like they were celebrating the continuation of a long-beloved series rather than evaluating the merits of the actual game. I know some people hold this game up as one of the best games in the series, and some think it's the worst of the worst. Going in optimistically, I wasn't disappointed but I definitely wasn't satisfied either. Decent game, but if I had to rank each of the AA games this would likely fall near the lower end of the list.