Having written a couple of Ace Attorney fics lately, I've had Ace Attorney on the mind, and I've just managed to unearth a bunch of Spirit of Justice notes I never posted here!

I wrote these about four years ago, so I've completely forgotten the context for some of them. Rereading these notes is a puzzling experience!



Oh, hey, I wasn't expecting to see Blackquill in this game! But where's Apollo?

'You could say we're bound to one another,' Blackquill says of Athena, which is delightfully dramatic and also tests my non-shipping of them.

Sahdmadhi does not approve of Athena/Blackquill and he's not going to hold with this flirting in court.

Blackquill's joined Athena at the defence's bench! Okay, I still miss Apollo, but this is great.

If you listen very carefully as you play through this case, you can hear the localisation team screaming.

It's sort of incredible that Ace Attorney managed to resist multiple personality disorder until now.

I'm sort of fascinated by the idea of Uendo and company mistakenly believing Owen committed the murder, and trying to cover it up.

I WASN'T EXPECTING BLACKQUILL TO GRAB ME, THAT WAS VERY STARTLING

I can't believe the victim was smothered with noodles. This is 'she was strangled with toilet paper' all over again.

I CANNOT BELIEVE APOLLO'S FOSTER FATHER ADVISED APOLLO TO MARRY TRUCY

AND TRUCY PLAYED ALONG WITH IT

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL APOLLO AND TRUCY THEY'RE HALF-SIBLINGS

Apollo is so uncomfortable around Dhurke and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Apollo automatically starts cleaning other people's offices without thinking! This is great.

'My name is Paul Atishon, and I want your vote!'
I hate these games.

I can't believe Apollo was machine-gunned to death by a drone.

Apollo doesn't know if his mother's alive or dead, he doesn't know he has a half-sibling, and this is all SO UNNECESSARY, SOMEONE PLEASE JUST TELL THE KID.

A friend invited me to guess at upcoming plot twists. My response: Apollo and Trucy take Dhurke's advice and actually do get married, only to find that Phoenix, in his role as Apollo's best man, has inscribed 'YOU'RE HALF-SIBLINGS' on the rings.

Apollo, trapped in a cave that's rapidly filling with water and unable to swim: very stressful! The part where the water closes over his head and his thoughts stop making the 'text appearing' noise - and the text boxes fading in and out - is also unsettling. Our protagonist nearly died! That's darker than I generally expect from an Ace Attorney game, which seems strange to say when these games are all about murder.

I can't believe this isn't a murder case! It's always a murder case!

WE'RE GOING TO BE FACING PHOENIX IN COURT?

Apollo has to battle his own boss! This is so good!

Apollo: It's a civil case.
Athena: ...A civil case?
Apollo: You act like I'm speaking Swahili here.

I see Athena's just as bewildered as I am. It's always murder!

Athena says, 'Honestly, I'd rather be anywhere but here right now,' and Apollo thinks, Well, at least she IS here. I'm really going to need her help, and I remain compelled to note down every particularly cute interaction they have.

Ah, now they're discussing whether the professor's death was murder, rather than accidental. Order has been restored.

'Well, I never thought we'd be deliberating the issue of murder at a civil trial.' You're in an Ace Attorney game, Your Honour; this was inevitable.

'While I sympathise with you, witness, you will refrain from firing Gatling guns in this court.'

'I can't allow a murderer to walk away scot-free!' Phoenix exclaims, because he is a terrible defence attorney.

Apollo and Athena tease each other a lot, and I find it very endearing.

They're speculating on where three unaccounted-for bullets could have gone. Athena, thoughtful: '...Maybe Dhurke ate them.' I love her.



I never actually finished Spirit of Justice! I was playing this game in February 2020, and then the world ended, which was a bit of a distraction.

I should really get back to it at some point. I've forgotten everything that's happened, so I'd really be bumbling my way through the trials, but that is at least in the spirit of Ace Attorney. (In the spirit of justice, one might say.)