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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:30:28 GMT -5
4.) Phoenix Wright
The main character of the series. One of my favorite protagonists in a videogame of all time. Of course, while I absolutely despise AA4 Phoenix, that's sort of not fair to this list, and I'll chiefly be rating PW1/2/3 Nick.
It's hard to really think of what to say about Phoenix without repeating half of what I've said for characters like Maya and Edgeworth, to be honest. Part of the reason I love Phoenix so much is because of the relationships he has with other characters--the patchwork sibling family he has with Maya and Pearl, the friendship/partnership/rivalry he has with Edgeworth, and so on and so forth. Phoenix is sort of defined by these relationships in my eyes, and his character is infinitely better for it.
With the exception of comparatively short parts in PW3, we're in Phoenix's head the entire time. We hear his thoughts, we can see his inner snark and thoughts on the subject. In that respect it's sort of not fair to compare him to the rest of the cast, because he's so much more fleshed out than they ever get a chance to be--other than young Mia and Edgeworth.
Still, what we see him do when we AREN'T in his head still paints a good picture of the guy. Even as an idealistic love-struck dork in 3-1, we still believe in him, and he believes in other people more than anyone could.
We're with Phoenix through moments of despair, too: notably 2-4, and the emotional impact I mentioned in Adrian's writeup is chiefly due to the player's connection with Phoenix. Again, he is defined by the relationships and bonds he has to the other characters--most notably Edgeworth and Maya, but also Mia, Pearl, Gumshoe, and countless others.
In some ways, I'm actually at a loss for words when it comes to Phoenix, because there's simply so much to say about him. He has some of the funniest lines in the game, he's a great protagonist who you can identify and sympathize with, and (as dumb and obvious as it sounds...) ...it really wouldn't be the games we know and love without the titular Ace Attorney. Phoenix is made of win and awesome, and I don't think we could have it any other way.
Top 3 Time. Predictions?
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:33:00 GMT -5
3.) Miles Edgeworth
Just for the record, I'd like to say that the top three are extremely close together. This is the order I like them in at the MOMENT, but it sort of changes day by day and was honestly really, really hard to come up with.
That said! ...we have Edgey-boy.
Edgeworth's story is inextricably tied to every single case in the first game, even the very first--he is Phoenix's reason for becoming a lawyer (with Larry, sort of), and Phoenix tells Mia as much. PW1 is just as much Edgeworth's story as it is Phoenix's, and the relationship between Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright is a huge continuing theme/plot through all three games in the first trilogy.
At its core is Miles Edgeworth. Son of Gregory Edgeworth, he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps as a great defense lawyer... until the DL-6 incident, when his father was murdered (and for fifteen years, Edgeworth secretly believed himself responsible). The real culprit, Manfred von Karma, took him in and raised him to be a prosecutor--intending to one day destroy him, completing his revenge against Gregory Edgeworth. Von Karmas can hold grudges.
So, Edgey became a "demon prosecutor," undefeated--though with a close call in his very first case. He used underhanded tricks, and in SL-9 used blatantly forged evidence (though one could argue that his manipulation of witnesses was in itself forged evidence...) to get guilty verdicts, regardless of the truth. Phoenix Wright found out about this, and that was why he decided to become a lawyer, so he could meet Edgeworth once more and find out why his childhood friend had changed.
In 1-2, Edgeworth is a total JERK. So far you've only gone against Payne, and now you're all on your own in court without your mentor against this undefeated, underhanded prosecutor. Edgeworth right off the bat is one intimidating foe, but in 1-3 there's a glimmer of something more when he works together with Phoenix to pin down Vasquez and find the truth, even at the expense of his own victory. And of course, it all comes to a head in 1-4 when he's put in the defendant's chair, and you face his mentor, Manfred von Karma...
The truth is revealed about his mentor and the murder of his father, and Edgeworth is understandably shaken. That would be enough to put him over the edge... but then in 1-5, when Edgeworth discovers he HAD used blatantly false evidence to get a man sentenced to death? It pushes him too far, and he can't take it--so he fakes a suicide note and flees to try and find what exactly it means to be a lawyer.
His triumphant return in 2-4 is one of the best moments in the series, as he shows what he's learned in the year since he's been gone... and demands that Wright find his own truth and reason for standing in court. More than that, though, he delivers the same lesson to his adopted sister.
Again in 3-5, you get into his head for once as he stands at the defense bench... and I'm not sure there's anything I could say about it that hasn't been said already, but it's entirely amazing, and it proves indeed that Edgeworth is the best lawyer in the PW games not named Manfred von Karma.
But more than being an awesome lawyer and truly his father's heir, Edgeworth is arguably the deepest and most complex character in the entire series. He, like his sister, has trouble dealing with people on a social level--even one of his closest friends like Phoenix Wright--but that awkwardness disappears when he's in the courtroom, especially after 2-4.
I could really go on about Edgeworth for a very, very long time. But I won't. Edgeworth is ****ing amazing, and we'll leave it at that.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:36:06 GMT -5
2.) Diego Armando / Godot
Godot's a tragic character, but we'll get to that later. He's written pretty well, and has some of the best lines in the series (though it might be a teensy bit overdone). He's constantly mocking Phoenix, and easily the most cool and collected lawyer we see in the series--perhaps even beyond von Karma. Nothing rattles him, and Godot really does get points solely for how "cool" he is at pretty much all times.
He's also got the amazingly cool visor, which honestly holds its own. It's purely breathtaking when you think about it, especially how he was forced to wear it in the first place.
The downside to this--and one of the reasons he isn't higher--is that... honestly, it's sort of boring to go against him in court. He's got some great lines, but there's really not a sense of urgency like there was against Edgeworth or the Von Karmas. A lot of times, it seems like he'll just sit there and take it as you deconstruct his argument, where Franziska, Manfred, or Edgeworth wouldn't.
He is really, really cool though. Beats Edgeworth most of the time (yeah, I went there), and is certainly one of the deepest characters.
Time for Number 1. You know who's left, dontcha?
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:37:49 GMT -5
1.) Detective Dick Gumshoe
Just to reiterate, the top three are so incredibly close together that I really couldn't make this decision. But I had to, so I did.
In 1-2 we first meet Detective Gumshoe, and things sort of don't get off to a good start. He's a bit too quick to jump to conclusions, he's not the brightest bulb in the box, and what's worse, his impulsive decisions are directed at your murdered mentor's younger sister. So at first, even if he's sort of funny, you don't get off on the right foot with Gumshoe.
And then in 1-3, you start to see a bit more of him. His loyalty to Edgeworth, and even if he sort of leaps to conclusions and may not always get the right man, you begin to see that Gumshoe is genuinely trying to do the right thing. This is further reinforced by the epic case that is 1-4, where Gumshoe is torn between loyalty to Edgeworth and loyalty to his job... though believing in Edgeworth's innocence almost as much as Phoenix does, he sort of teams up with the Dynamic Duo to make sure the truth is found.
Similarly, in 1-5 when you discover that Police Chief Gant has a bit more skeletons in his closet than it seems, Gumshoe once again puts his job on the line to help Phoenix and Ema out in their pursuit of the truth. In 2-1, he's torn between doing his duty and his affections for Maggey Byrde, but trusts that Phoenix will get her off as he always does (which is sort of why he's mad at "Phoenix" in 3-3 for failing to pull out the Wright Stuff in a similar situation).
Despite Franziska being rather, uh, cruel to him during 2-2 and 2-3, we see in 2-4 that Gumshoe's actually rather concerned for her well-being, he worries about her. As in the Gant case, he puts his job on the line to help Phoenix with Maya's life at stake--and he gets fired for it. But he's still determined to help.
Again in 3-2, and especially in 3-3, 3-4 and 3-5... Gumshoe is the long-suffering flatfoot who doesn't always get the right man, who jumps to conclusions far too quickly, and who isn't exactly the smartest fellow in the room. But he does have some of the funniest lines in the game... but beyond that, he's just a character whom you can't help but love. Gumshoe, despite all of the mistakes he makes and investigations he fudges up, is genuinely trying to do the right thing. He means well, and means well with such a fervent devotion that really endears him to the player.
Gumshoe doesn't always end up doing the right thing, but he always tries to do the right thing incredibly hard. Even after he's fired for helping out Phoenix and Edgeworth in 2-4, he does what he can, he's adorable with looking after Pearl, and so on. Plus, he and Maggey are seriously one of the most adorable fictional couples in anything ever.
Detective Gumshoe certainly isn't the deepest character in the series, but his lovable and dogged pursuit of doing the right thing even when he doesn't always succeed, combined with an endearingly and hilariously semi-competent personality and some of the most amusing lines in the series make him easily one of my favorite characters... and at the moment, he's the one who tops the list.
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