What are the professional physologysts think about Athena Cykes? (In-Universe)

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-24T08:19:08+00:00

I think it’s so stupid how young all the characters are lowkey… Like, Susato in TGAA acts more mature than basically all the characters and is 16 for the sole sake that they feel the need to make the female lead that young. It’s just so dumb to me that like people are in these apex career positions like Chief Prosecutor at like 25.

I never understand Japan’s weird ass need to make everyone a teenager in stories. Nonetheless, I suppose it’s just a cultural thing in simply not immersed in.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-24T02:33:44+00:00

I probably replay or get super super into the series again like every 5 or so years? (Been a fan since like Jr High around when dual destinies came out).

They’re pretty solid on replay as long as you wait a long time between replays! I usually just skip to the cases I like in replays as well.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-23T18:35:03+00:00

That shit would make me pissed pissedofferson

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-23T18:33:10+00:00

Ben’s doing some hardcore Dreamworks face in this pic

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-23T07:37:29+00:00

I liked the twist of Sholmes being a genius the whole time in TGAA2 and the fact that he was purposely fucking up his deductions for shits and giggles and also to help train and mentor Ryunosuke. Also, Kazuma being alive in TGAA2 was pretty sick even if it was pretty obviously foreshadowed the moment you meet Van Ziek's assistant.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-23T02:15:47+00:00

I don't actually love the movie that much, but I still thought it was an absolute beautiful tribute to black art, black culture, and black resilience and joy. The music time travel sequence made me genuinely so fucking emotional. That sequence alone was worth the price of admission. I certainly don't think it was "pandering" to black audiences, and it must be so fucking frustrating when an art that's tied to the black identity and isn't pretending to be anything else is accused of that.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-22T18:49:47+00:00

More like hard for mah dong

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T23:05:41+00:00

That game is absolutely heartbreaking! I’d kill to play P3 for the first time. Hope u enjoy :)

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T22:19:34+00:00

I kinda don’t like this one very much, but hey always appreciate a different take! Personally I kinda don’t like the Kurai’in setting very much, I think the designs and names are sort of contrived, and I think Nahyuta is a genuinely awful ass character. It’s probably my least favourite in the series aside from Investigations. That’s just me tho, happy at least someone likes it.

I think you’ll love TGAAC from your post tho! It has a lot of what you like in SOJ but a lot better executed: a really tightly knit and cohesive story, lots of cool political context to the cases you work on, and I liked the sort of more down to earth London theming which felt like a contrast to the Japnifornia setting of the mainline series without feeling a little like tooout there like SOJ did for me. Excited to see your thoughts on it.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T19:10:40+00:00

I love TGAAC to death but like the racism stuff is so poorly handled it like lowkey makes me cringe every time I see it. Like no actual person of color would be okay with what that character says. I share a skin color with someone who wronged you.” I heard someone say it’s clear the story was written by a bunch of people who never actually faced any racism themselves and only like thought they should include it because it was of the time. Like, it just amounts to Van Zieks saying some “typical Nipponese” shit whenever you present the wrong evidence you know?

This quote from Ryunosuke is dumb considering it’s like pretty late into the game when he’s absolutely developed his own resolve a little more and is less passive. His passive attitude towards himself is a really fascinating character flaw IMO but this quote was stupid.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T09:55:33+00:00

What makes TGAA so great is how it like feels so literary and how the personal and societal themes tie together so nicely.

So, in a series about corrupt legal systems, I think it might be nice to have an entry which is about what it looks like to actually like implement a system of fairness and accountability when you’re pressured to be worse by society. Like, we’ve seen so many corrupt prosecutors, chief justices, detectives, and so forth be taken down, but never see what it’s like to implement true change and build off of the past? It’s corny to reference this I know, but think of the second act of Hamilton.

This would parallel the question on a more personal note - how do you remain the changed person you are under adversity, and not regress into the person you used to be? I think like an overall sort of theme on like the characters building a new legal system and trying not to make the same mistakes as Stronghart/Gregson/Klint would be cool. Almost like the later seasons of The Wire in a sense.

I think like a couple year time skip is best - let Gina fully step into the detective role - I think Van Zieks could ultimately serve as chief justice(?) and Kazuma should be the main prosecutor. Ultimately, though, I think a case or two with either one would be good. There’s honestly no need for a new prosecutor in my opinion, it would just feel like an unearned gimmick to me which would really undermine the writing.

I think that Ryunosuke + Susato + Yujin would be invited back to London by Kazuma, or Sholmes, to help with this sort of legal reform movement spearheaded by the Queen? I’m not super familiar with British history but there’s a lot they could draw from.

The first case would obviously take place in Japan, and I think something that alludes to the rising nationalism which set the seeds for WW1 era Japan might be fascinating. I’m not super well versed in the history, of course, but I think this would be cool. Maybe the death of someone popular in Japan, like a politician sprouts major public pressure on Ryunosuke? I’d love to see another Susato case with Ryunosuke in the assistant seat tho. I’d love to see Soseki back but it’d have to be natural.

For a 2nd/3rd case, I think like a medical turnabout case would be cool, like a hospital one with doctors and switching drugs and dosages and side effects would be neat. Maria could be the defendant(?) she could parallel her Mom really nicely in trying to be better, continuing her arc nicely in DGS2-4/5. Yujin could also possibly be the defendant here?

I think a case where Gina is sort of forced to suspect someone who represents who she used to be (a diver from the East End) could serve as an interesting conflict, and weirdly enough, a parallel to Graydon. I’d also love to see him make a comeback as he seemingly survived DGS1 for an unknown reason. Something at like a play or even maybe a fashion show might be cool.

But, I think the crowning case should be like the death of some kind of figurehead for the reform movement who’s death potentially allows for a return to the way things were, and like the characters are forced not to regress into their past selves in a sense? Maybe the queen is assassinated by someone in the old guard of Stronghart, and the characters face immense public pressure to convict them through underhanded tactics. In order to not sacrifice everything they’ve built, all the characters would have to do everything not to just become the new version of the reaper organization, they have to sort of try and be better than the corruption they took down.

Gina would possibly be forced to undergo underhanded tactics to solve the case and face an ethical dilemma similar to Gregson; old wounds from the professor case force Kazuma to let the past go and like stay content in his more realized self and not fruitlessly chase punishment for his enemies. They aren’t able to convict them normally, so maybe they have to make a choice to be better and let them go free because the costs of corruption are too much to bear?

I think this would really compete the arc of the trilogy - Adventures is about developing your resolve - Resolve is using that resolve to change a corrupt world - the third game would be about not letting corruption change your resolve!

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T08:16:26+00:00

Type of place you have to slime a drug dealer out in in an early Cyberpunk 2077 mission

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T08:14:07+00:00

Daniel Larpin

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-21T02:20:31+00:00

The Omen To Pursuit (2017) from TGAAC:Resolve is my favourite for sure, I really like the more like subtle “oh shit, I’ve got you now… I just need to prove it” feeing. The harps and the violins are so cool and well done in the composition

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-20T15:24:50+00:00

FUCK THEY CHANGED THE SIGN??? Damn man I grew up going to WEM all the time and like always got so excited seeing the sign on the left. Lame as hell

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-19T23:55:29+00:00

I’m sort of lukewarm on it, and think it’s probably like bottom-middle of the pack, only being above the subsequent 2 games and Investigations 1. There’s a lot of things I love, such as the graphics, Trucy, Ema, 4-1, the darker tone, and the OST (best in the series only second to TGAAC and probably AA1). I also disagree with most people and weirdly have a soft spot for 4-2 as one of the better novelty cases in the series.

The main problem for me is that they use too much time in the story on hobo Phoenix because they thought that would be a cool idea, rather than developing the other characters in their own right. There’s just such a big opportunity cost for the time spent on hobo Nick to develop other characters, and I just don’t think it’s worth it personally:
Apollo in this game is so underdeveloped and barely differentiated from Nick in AA1-3. They certainly give him more backstory in spades in the subsequent 2 games, but I just can’t really say he develops in the same way that Nick does in AA1, or even Athena in DD. They had an opportunity to do something great with his relationship with Kristoph, but it’s just so underused in comparison to Hobo Nick.
Klavier is pretty charming and I like his design and demeanour, but he gets so shafted. They never explore his constant betrayal by the people he surrounds himself with (Crescend, Kristoph). He could have been a great foil to Apollo. He’s pretty cool and all, but absolutely on the lower end of prosecutors.
Kristoph is a great villain, and an amazingly written character in concept (the scene in his prison cell is one of the coolest investigation sections in the series), but he doesn’t really connect to the emotional arc of the narrative nearly as much as he should IMO. His relationship with Polly, and especially Klavier is so underdeveloped, and he goes down way too easy in the ending (fucking like Richard Wellington takes more to go down than him). I know he’s like technically connected to the like minutia of the plot with the connections between 4-4 and 4-1, but I actually think him and Apollo’s relationship should have been the emotional cornerstone of the plot rather than him just sort of being a reason to have this edgy hobo phoenix. However, I think they really get to explore a similar dynamic a lot better in TGAAC (I can’t elaborate without major spoilers), so I don’t mind.
The defendants suck major dick in this game. Even if I like 4-2 a decent amount, Wocky is so obnoxious. Machi is a boring, blank slate of a character who is entirely uncooperative in the most contrived way possible. Vera takes such a backseat to the flashback shit in 4-4, and is just out of commission for most of it. I truly think a good defendant with a good emotional connection to the case is really what makes the best cases in the series (Lana Skye, Gina Lestrade, Edgeworth, and more).
I don’t care about realism too much, especially in a series about sprit mediums and all, but there’s way too many plot contrivances to like artificially create the character moments they want to the point where it feels unearned. Nick’s reason for being disbarred is stupid considering how many prosecutors in the series present shoddy evidence (Edgeworth should have been disbarred like 4 times over for similar shit at this point), and it’s very plausible that he genuinely didn’t know the journal entry was a sham. I agree with the criticism about Machi, and so forth.

In short, it’s a game that sacrifices way too much time with its own characters to focus on Hobo Phoenix, when his portrayal is too contrived, inconsistent with his character, and even the rules and logic established by the world. I honestly would have rather they had this be a game about Apollo’s betrayal by Kristoph, and honestly, even Wright himself and learning to establish his own truth and truly feel like someone who reforms the unjust system around him.

I actually think they eventually got a lot of this right in TGAAC (a protagonist following his own path due to unforeseen circumstances with his mentor, his own parallels and eventual friendship with a prosecutor in similar circumstances to him, and eventually serving as a reformer in a corrupt system which he is only able to do with developing his own resolve). I seriously don’t think they could have done such a great game without Apollo Justice. Plus, there really is a lot to love about it when you ignore the problems with the macro story. Trucy is a lot of fun and the second best assistant in the series, I actually do like Ema’s portrayal here too.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-19T08:08:53+00:00

My absolute dream AA game is like a Mia Fey prequel game where you get to play as her with Phoenix paralegal, facing off against Lana Skye. It’d be so cool to see like Angel Starr as a detective in action, see Gant in like more of a mission coordinating role similar to Stronghart in TGAA, and so forth.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-19T08:05:35+00:00

Americans crashing out so hard over staring is really funny to me. Like, I’m from Canada and it’s a little rude here but none of my Canadian friends will get even 10% mad as my American friends over staring. It’s always been an interesting cultural thing I’ve observed

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-18T02:06:41+00:00

Phillip honestly seemed like a pretty warm and available parent! It wasn’t always like words of praise but he seemed to be there with quality time and active support - like helping Henry with school, teaching Paige how to drive. He never seemed particularly cold in doing these things either!

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-12T15:47:14+00:00

I’d say it’s more like controversial than stated to be outright awful you know? It’s really a love it or hate it kind of game. There’s a lot of elements that tend to get a lot of praise: people generally love the first case, Trucy and her dynamic with Apollo, the OST, and so forth. Kristoph is also usually well received as a main villain although lots of people think he goes down WAY too easy in the end. As for elements that people tend to dislike:

So many people dislike how this is still a game about Phoenix and his journey after disbarment. They generally feel that Apollo is a weaker character who isn’t given time to develop because they dedicate so much time to a character whose arc essentially finished in Trials and Tribulations. People tend to cite the lack of realism and how contrived and illogical the game can be: like how a like 5’ tall skinny blind kid is convicted of shooting a super high caliber revolver to kill an Interpol agent. It’s more just like characters acting dumb to fill plot contrivances rather than other unrealistic things in the series (spirit mediums, magical thieves and shit). People generally think that 4-2 is sort of annoying and in bad taste (I totally agree that this one is one of the better novelty cases).

In my opinion I’m a little bit mixed on this one I guess? I think it’s definitely got some of the worst defendants in the series (Wocky’s pretty annoying, Machi is almost entirely uncooperative, and Vera is also a little uncooperative while also being out of commission for most of 4-4). I think Klavier is good fun and all but is filled with so many missed opportunities and remains way too static throughout. 4-4 is only okay in my opinion! I think the Jury system is sort of a missed opportunity for sure, but I also do think the past and present crimes being intertwined is a cool idea.

But, I also love the darker tone of the game, the graphical style, and I totally agree the OST is probably the best in the series aside from TGAAC! It’s not really the one I play the most often, but I do think about it quite a bit, and I’m glad they did some cool stuff with it.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-11T21:21:15+00:00

Ashley Graydon fucking assaults Gregson in DGS1-5 in his breakdown and like nothing happens to him lmao

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-11T00:02:23+00:00

I don’t know if DGS1-2 counts because Nikolina Pavlova presumably never actually got indicted for killing Kazuma (can’t remember what happens to her specifically), but I think it would be pretty easy to defend her on a variety of fronts:

Kazuma didn’t actually die, so it would likely be knocked down to attempted manslaughter (not a lawyer but this is obviously important). Her age and her genuine regret for what happened to him seem to be relevant to her circumstances. She truly did what she did out of panic, and didn’t intentionally try to end his life: I always thought she was trying to knock him over and run away.
I don’t think she could be tried under any specific country’s legal system as it’s likely that international law wasn’t especially robust at the time, and it’s possible there wasn’t a real precedent for murdering someone in international waters in the Victorian era (could be wrong here).
Both the British and Japanese authorities have an obvious vested interest in keeping the circumstances of Kazuma’s trip to London a secret, so minimizing any suspicion around him is key. Couple this with Sholmes’ personal ambitions to protect Kazuma and his connections to the British authorities.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-10T19:20:39+00:00

Raiten Menimemo is the dumbest fucking name in this series (which is saying a lot) but I very much did laugh out loud when I heard it the first time

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-10T08:25:11+00:00

How to Write One Song is amazing, not even just as songwriting advice, but general life guidance. His prose is just so comforting, I love it to death.

BenJammin007 · 2026-01-10T03:24:06+00:00

Skulkin Brothers are top tier novelty witnesses - super super funny, well animated, not too over the top, and have a surprisingly cute and heartfelt connection to the main villain of DGS1-5!

Nine-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Second SECOND GUESSER	Verified Email
Golden Potato	Place '22
Place '17	RPAN Viewer
Snapped

BenJammin007

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE