I'm finishing up The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles with the second game in the compilation. Thanks again to a good friend for lending me this! BACKGROUND:
This post is a follow-up of sorts to my entry on the first Great Ace Attorney game, so what I wrote over there in this section still applies here. Plus, the notes I made in this section of that post still hold true here, as I tried to find time to play this game as soon as possible. I suppose I was just that excited to get answers for all the first game's loose threads. PLOT: Like the first game, this one is split into five chapters each revolving around a specific case. Apart from the second case (which is set between chapters 4 and 5 of the first game), everything is set many months after the end of TGAA: Adventures. The ending for that saw a change in the status quo, but the band gets back together after a few chapters. And unlike before, the connective tissue between chapters is much stronger due to a key point I'll talk about next. While a lot of the silliness of the first game is still present thanks to a new cast of goofy NPCs, the overall tone is more serious. All the mysteries and loose ends from Adventures are gradually addressed, and it reveals a grim picture: there is a vast, international conspiracy afoot, and our intrepid heroes find themselves right at the center as they work on cases that unravel the truth before the court. I wouldn't say any of the reveals were surprising (you'd probably see most of them coming light-years away), but it was nonetheless satisfying to see all the truth laid bare at last. Granted, the game took its sweet time revealing everything, but it was nice to see each mystery be finally revealed across the chapters. All my questions were sufficiently answered, from the big question mark of the first game's tutorial case, the cliffhanger at the end, and even the very reason why Kazuma Asogi wanted to go to Britain in the first place. Many things were made clear, and I was pleasantly surprised how interwoven all the answers were to the overall story. They did not shy away from the gravity of the situation at any point, from the far-reaching ramifications of the conspiracy in foreign relations between Britain and Japan, the points of view of various characters on some of the rather disturbing revelations, and even the very root of Barok van Zieks's prejudice towards Japanese people. As much as I love the nonsense of this series, it was cool to see the game take on more serious themes and get into some dark stuff. The main cast is as enjoyable as ever, as most of them have pretty strong arcs. We get Naruhodo becoming more confident in his quest for truth as a defense lawyer, see many more layers underneath the intimidating Barok van Zieks, and even spend more time with less featured characters like Susato's dad Yujin Mikotoba. Sholmes is still a massive doofus (and remains hilarious to watch), but we also get to take a peek into his past (including some big secrets). Iris also gets kind of a tragic arc regarding her parentage, which has an interesting resolution. Susato is probably still my favorite character of them all, and I was quite excited to see her take center stage and really stand on her own in one of the chapters. There are also other notable characters I'd like to talk about, but mentioning them would absolutely qualify as spoilers. These characters play a huge role in the grand conspiracy that's explored throughout the story, and the choices they make add a lot of drama and intrigue. I'm afraid that some of the later chapters still had rather slow pacing, especially since many of them have multiple investigation sections (which can take a while since you need to be exhaustive in your search). This didn't bother me all that much since I was quite invested in the whole conspiracy angle, but I can't quite ignore how long some of the investigations ended up being. Having finished both games now, I've checked out the Escapades in the extras menu. The Escapades are short scenes taking place between the chapters of either the first or second game. Though short and lacking in any sort of gameplay (you literally just watch the scene play out), it does feature interactions between characters that don't usually cross paths or add more layers/backstory to less prominent characters. They're worth watching if you like the characters, but there's not much else to them. PRESENTATION: There's not much I can add here since both the style and the score are largely similar between the first and second games, and a lot of what I said for the former still holds here. I suppose I can note something I neglected to address in the first game's blog entry, which were the nice-looking stylized intros for each chapter (which feature some nice narration) and other cutscenes (some of which are 2D animations) that feature way more talking for our main characters. This latter bit really made me wish for full voice acting across the board. Most of the second game is revisiting old haunts, but there are a few new locales as well as a bunch of new NPCs to enjoy (each with super distinct character designs and a lot of over-the-top mannerisms). There are also a few new music tracks, with the one I liked the most being a track that leads into the awesome Pursuit theme. I loved how that track gives you the feeling of "oh shit, I'm close to winning this case" right before the "eat this piece of evidence, bitch" that the Pursuit track is. GAMEPLAY: Now, there's not much I can write here that I haven't already described in my entry for the first Great Ace Attorney. It's the tried-and-true visual novel experience with a healthy dose of logic puzzle mixed in. Everything you expect from this game is here, from investigating locales to question people and discover evidence, inspecting evidence closely for additional clues, and presenting your findings on contradictory witness statements to get the ball rolling. Most of the gimmicks from before are back, like the Deduction Dance with Sholmes (which gets a fun twist more than once), the multiple witnesses mechanic from Layton vs. Wright, and the Summation Examination. No new mechanics come into play this time around, unfortunately. If you want my more detailed thoughts on all this and the core gameplay, head to the post on the first game. VERDICT: The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, is, unsurprisingly, more of the same as its predecessor. Though it retains some of the first game's flaws in terms of pacing, a lot of the good was also retained, between the absurdity I've come to indulge in, the engaging act of dismantling witness statements with careful observation, and a mostly strong cast with both over-the-top NPCs and solid character growth for the main characters. As far as differences go, the sequel stands out with its much more serious story that does a great job weaving everything from this series together, and I enjoyed every step of unraveling that mystery. I'm very happy to have seen this series through, and I just may find myself playing through the rest of the Ace Attorney series because of it. Naturally, you want to start with the first Great Ace Attorney before you even think about touching this one, since it lays the groundwork for the big mystery that's explored here. Thankfully, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a package deal that has both games, so you have all you need if you want to get in on this action. Other than that, my recommendations (and caveats) on the first game apply here as well. Again, here's The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Steam: The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Steam (steampowered.com) - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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