Current mood: HE'S GAY AND EUROPEAN!
Steam had a summer sale so retail therapy held me in metaphorical gunpoint and told me to experience the AA series. I was supposed to get it on Steam, but they rejected my credit card so I went to the next best platform: the PS4. Unfortunately PS store also didn't want my money, so I had to go out and buy a gift card to redeem later... it was worth all the hassle though!
TGAA (or as people usually call it, DGS) was never localized when it first released. It was only a few years ago that they announced Chronicles for various platforms and the aforementioned sale has the Phoenix Wright Trilogy bundled with TGAA. It is a 2-part-prequel-spin-off of the original AA series localized as Adventure (DGS1) and Resolve (DGS2).
Set during the Meiji period of Japan and in the middle of Queen Victoria's reign (specifically late 1800s to early 1900s), it features protagonist Ryuunosuke Naruhodo (as the name implies, ancestor of AA Phoenix Wright), an English major at the Imperial Yumei University who was roped into an international conspiracy by association to his best friend and partner (aibou) Kazuma Asogi, a student lawyer bound for British soil as part of an exchange program. Accompanying Kazuma on this journey is Susato Mikotoba, a proper Japanese lady who servers as his judicial assistant... but not for long.
Kazuma gets Mia Fey'ed during his 50-day voyage to Britain so it falls to Ryuunosuke as the stowaway to carry out his partner's destiny, with some help from Susato. The British court is, of course, skeptical of this Eastern man who cannot possibly be a real lawyer, standing behind the bench defending a man accused of murder, working against the infamous prosecution - the Reaper of the Bailey, Barok van Zieks. On the day Ryuunosuke and Susato disembarked no less! The two weather the storm somehow and is subsequently thrown into another murder case prosecuted by the same man! But they also meet the world-famous great detective Herlock Sholmes (Sherlock Holmes) and his trusty inventor and ward, Iris Wilson (Iris Watson, naturally), and later sharing a flat with the two. And so begins Ryuunosuke and Susato's adventures in London!
The pair meets many interesting characters with various levels of racism. The first game ends with a cliffhanger and the second game starts with Susato in her dashing male persona Ryutaro in Japanese court. After all the fun and fancy episode title cards, the final episode in the second game is simple and solemn:
Don't be fooled; it ends with a hopeful note.
Like any entry in the story-focused AA franchise, you can't talk about DGS without mentioning major spoilers, which is why the review is so short. There are some things that I can write about though, mainly that it's full of racism, death, and best of all: the implied gay. It comes in all kinds of flavors, so there's something for everyone: partners (more specifically, aibou) bordering on homo-eroticism; enemies-to-lovers slash fic with all the love-hate you could want; we can't forget the Holmes/Watson shippers (it has a twist and doubles as old man yaoi); for the "x has two hands" crowd, there's at least two polycules to chose from; and finally, a lesbian het ship that has the girlies frothing in the mouth. It's a shipping feast because the characters live in a world of ham and Ryuunosuke is the only sane one (but not by a long shot). Oh, and we're not done talking about the prosecutor suits oh my god-
 |
| Juror no.2 is a shipper. She gets it. |
Ryuunosuke is my type of guy appearance-wise, I take a look at my fave bois catalogue and see the same three hairstyles and tropes. Unfortunately he will not be in the catalogue. As an ancestor to resident courtroom antics attorney Phoenix Wright, he has the looks, the uncanny ability to not die, and of course, rotten luck with cases. He is also susceptible to the gay, which is almost a guaranteed trait in all leading AA characters. Kazuma will always be no.1 in his heart, that is a real statement from a DLC case.
Kazuma, or as I like to call him - yasashii aibou (gentle partner), for his really unnecessarily romantic interactions with Ryuunosuke in the first case. I was literally getting used to the mechanics and here he was, looking at me (Ryuu) with his gentle eyes and even gentler smile while speaking like I (Ryuu) was the world to him. Words can't do this justice you literally have to see it to believe it. It extends into the second case too, even if he got himself Mia Fey'ed in that one. If you thought this was a childhood friends thing, it's not; Kazuma has only known his best friend for a year, so either he has some unnecessary feelings or he's gay, or both! Anyways, semi-spoiler: I had the shock of my life when his vibe took a 180 and his fondness for Ryuunosuke makes so much more sense in hindsight...
Susato is very sweet and independent for a young lady in that era. Her official introduction is as badass as it sounds. She is, without a doubt, one of the most brutal characters in the game, only using her wits and sharp tongue to deliver the most scathing insults to friend and foe alike. Here's my favourite:
Barok (the main prosecutor) may be racist but he is at the very least, tall (190cm+), dark (dons a dracula cape lmfao) and handsome, with a deep, gruff voice courtesy of Robert Vernon (Estinien from FFXIV, here is a video sample) and the designers really want you to find him attractive in that tight prosecutor suit. As if that wasn't enough, they had him serve major ham by his mannerisms, one of which is slamming his heel on the bench (or stand, depending on where he is)... and apparently there is unused animation in which he literally sits on top of the prosecutor's bench - I bet it's unused because the thirsty girlies would have died. It's amazing how I have yet to see a self-insert fic about this fucking man. I want it. I need it.
 |
| There he is! Being cunty! |
But that just may be a prosecutor thing because all of them (and I mean all of the prosecutors) wear really form-fitting suits that leave almost nothing to the imagination. That, or they're all jacked as shit. Or both! Both are good.
Due to trademark reasons Holmes and Watson are Sholmes and Wilson in the localization, but we all know who they are!
There are so many versions of Holmes at this point but I think this is the first one where he's a 'dumb' blond. Apart from his reputation as the Great Detective, he is also Watson's technician. The silly exterior hides a man burdened with too many dark truths, not least of all one that sheds a new light on everything that happens in this duology. It is hard to tell how much of his incompetence is feigned, but Holmes always comes through in the end.
Self-proclaimed doctor of medicine and Holmes' inventor, 10-year-old Iris Watson -- the real John Watson's daughter, or at least that's what she assumed. Holmes gave her little to work with in regards to her real parentage, only that her father was the partner to the Great Detective and penned all their case reports. Iris is the author of the acclaimed short stories The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, using the case reports as references to spin compelling mysteries for public consumption. And the swirl on her fringe is the golden ratio.
Do not fret, Holmes/Watson shippers, your old man yaoi is real but it will cost you all of the duology. You will like it though, I know I liked it.
This is your spoiler-free old man yaoi! Pictured is Holmes lying on top of an unknown man while Ryuunosuke, Susato and Iris watch on in the background.
I describe the games like slashfic is all there is to it but shipping is just the plus, the story itself is fantastic. This is an AA game through and through: it has all the absurd witnesses and insane plot twists, with a hefty extra serving of emotional damage. That's not to say classic AA games do not make me turn on the waterworks (all the final cases of each game do), but DGS has more of it in literally every episode. A lonely outsider in foreign land; a husband who only wants to do right by his wife; a scorned lover deprived of her marriage; an orphan who had no choice; a genius wronged by the press; a noble disillusioned by the law; a father who only thought of his son; a brother burdened by death; and a boy who carries the legacy of his partner.
It reflects the sorry state of London during that time period; if you know your history or have played Assassin's Creed Syndicate, you know what I mean. It's no wonder the games are weirdly grim, the setting does not allow for anything less than death, injustice and racism. But it is precisely because of this that the themes of found family and pursuing the truth mean so much more; that untangling the mystery which is the games' plot would feel so triumphant.
Regardless of its' status as a win or flop, DGS will always be an amazing game, best experienced after at least playing through one mainline AA title.
No comments:
Post a Comment