Ranking all Cases in the Series
Alright... After so much time where I was always too indifferent and indecisive to make a list like this, I finally managed to pull myself together and ranked all 35 cases that I have played so far!
And yes... This list not only doesn't include DGS and PLvsPW, but also AAI2. There really isn't any particular reason why I haven't played it yet; after finishing the first Investigations, I just jumped right into Dual Destinies and I still haven't gotten back to it. I know how much praise this game gets and I think I'll finally jump into it in roughly the next two months.
Also, I just wanna add that there are going to be some quite unpopular opinions here and there, though I've tried to be as descriptive as necessary on my choices, and the descriptions of my placements include spoilers from the games I've played.
Anyway, here's the list:
1. Rise from the Ashes (1-5)
Easily my favourite case in the series. It combines a decent mystery with great characters, great backstroy, atmosphere, gameplay additions and an overall fantastic villain. Contrary to popular opinion I never minded it's length at all or thought it was badly paced; I actually think it's structured quite well and it's length is sorta justified for the story being completely self-contained.
2. Bridge to the Turnabout (3-5)
I've been seeing a lot of people calling this case overrated and while I can see where they're coming from, I still think it's an amazing case with so many good things going for it. I find that a lot of the supposed plotholes can be explained and I feel like Godot is often misunderstood as a character.
3. Turnabout Reclaimed (5-DLC)
Now this might look like an odd choice, but I really like this case the more I think about it. Every character was memorable in a good way, the mystery was solid, the setting was decent and fun to explore, it's filled up with humor, the culprit is hidden quite well and he's arguably the most tragic villain in the entire series... Honestly, I think 5-DLC can easily compete with a lot of the final cases.
4. Turnabout Trump (4-1)
A first case being in my Top 5 might look even weirder, but on closer inspection there's honestly almost nothing negative I can think about in this case. The plot is phenomenal, the setting and atmosphere is quite ominious, it brings in a good mood and it's all perfected by one of the best twists in the entire series.
5. Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4)
Honestly, what much else is there to mention about Turnabout Goodbyes that hasn't been said already? It's an outstanding case.
6. Farewell, my Turnabout (2-4)
The reason why I don't put this one higher is because, to be frank, if it wasn't for that twist I think a lot of the case would feel actually rather bland. I just wasn't that invested in the whole mystery at certain points and it also felt the need of returning Lotta and Oldbag for a good bunch of the case, who is even more obnoxious than in 1-3. However, it still has so much good stuff going for it anyway, which is the reason why it still deserves to be in the Top 10.
7. The Rite of Turnabout (6-3)
Calling this the best case in SoJ might be a quite unpopular view, but I really think this case gets more flack than it deserves. The only character I didn't like that much was Beh'leeb, with Datz being one of my all-time favourites, and the mystery was phenomenal. It also sets up the Revolution theme nicely, nails down the atmosphere perfectly, it has a quite emotional ending and the investigations were surprisingly fun.
8. The Magical Turnabout (6-2)
This case felt like it came straight out of Apollo Justice and I loved that. The murder plot was quite creative and the villain is arguably one of my favourites.
9. Turnabout Succession (4-4)
This is certainly the most... "unique" final case in the series, but in a good way. The only two big negatives for me are the weak ending and Spark freakin' Brushel (shudder), but aside from those everything else was enjoyable. I especially liked the flashback trial and the Mason-System, which I think was a decent way of changing up the investigation. Kristoph is also a fantastic villain.
10. Turnabout Beginnings (3-4)
The opinions on this case seem to be pretty mixed but personally, I love it. Godot being your assistant, young Edgeworth as the prosecutor and the return of the villain from the first case all help making this a perfect build-up to the finale. Due to it's short length it also doesn't overstay it's welcome and the ending is one of the most heartwrenching in the franchise.
11. The Stolen Turnabout (3-2)
Now this is the definition of a good filler case. The characters are pretty decent, the plot is pretty convoluted, yet so tightly written and the culprit is one of the most memorable villains to date.
12. Turnabout Revolution (6-5)
Turnabout Revolution is..... a pretty good case. What drags this one down for me however is once again the rehash of plot points from earlier games (though fortunately, it isn't too bad here), only having a "meh" final villain and existence of the Civil Trial. Say what you want about Phoenix not just willing to sacrifice Maya as if it wasn't a big deal, that might be true, but it's still not how the T&T or AJ-Phoenix would have acted. There was no reason for him to not tell Apollo, or why he couldn't have figured out Apollo's thought route by himself. Simply put, they regressed Phoenix' character in order to make Apollo look superior and that just isn't good writing in my opinion.
Other than that though, I guess the rest was pretty great. It especially helps that it's character cast was pretty strong, including characters like Dhurke, Armie and Paul bloody Atsihon (MAKE KURAIN GREAT AGAIN)
13. Turnabout Reminiscence (AAI-4)
I definitely agree with the majority that this was the best case in Investigations by far. All characters are decent and it builds up to Turnabout Ablaze in a great way.
14. Recipe for Turnabout (3-3)
To me, it always felt like both this case and Turnabout Big Top attempted the same thing (being all wacky and funny), only with the difference that, in my opinion, this one actually succeeded. This case is pure comedy gold and I had such a good time with it. Only character I didn't really like was Victor Kudo, but aside from that I think it's a pretty underrated case.
15. Turnabout for Tomorrow (5-5)
I don't think this case is as bad as a lot of people make it out to be, as it has a lot of great stuff going for it, including the Phantom who I think really isn't as bad as people give him credit for. However, it loses points for shamelessly recycling a lot of plot points from previous games in such an obvious way and the whole Dark Age of the Law theme was resolved poorly.
16. The Cosmic Turnabout (5-4)
The flack this case often gets is understandable considering it's just the first half of the finale, but as a standalone I think it's pretty solid. Yuri Cosmos in particular is what really makes this case.
17. Turnabout Corner (4-2)
Severely underrated case in my opinion. The mystery was well written and I just love how smoothly everything came together in the end. Contrary to popular belief, I think the characters were quite memorable too (you barely even talk to Wocky, so how he could he drag down the case so much?) Anyway, I think Turnabout Corner was a solid second case.
18. Turnabout Ablaze (AAI-5)
This case is, in my honest opinion, the biggest mix of "amazing" and "terrible" we've had in the series so far. It has a seriously good plot, including some really great concepts and twists, all watered down by needlessly returning Larry and Oldbag, the most ridiculously tedious villain confrontation ever and some pretty sloppy and boring investigations. People often jump on Rise from the Ashes for it's pacing, but the difference is that 1-5 regularly threw in twists to keep me interested, whereas Turnabout Ablaze had a lot of moments were I felt like almost nothing interesting was happening at all. But yeah, overall it's still an alright case at least.
19. Turnabout Memories (3-1)
This is honestly the only other first case after 4-1 that I would call decent (though I've already heard that AAI2-1 was pretty good). It shows us how Phoenix and Mia met and overall there isn't too much wrong about this case.
20. The Monstrous Turnabout (5-2)
This case seems to rival Turnabout Big Top an Turnabout Serenade in terms of popularity but personally, I don't really get it. I think it had a pretty creative locked-room mystery (one of the best in the series I'd argue in fact), and the characters weren't all that terrible either. Jinxie was pretty great, Flinch was alright and L'Belle had some entertaining moments.
21. Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2)
This is a case that I started to like a bit less than before, actually. The mystery and characters are... "alright" at best, not much more than that. Though I genuinly like the ending twist and the villain's tragic backstory was great.
22. Turnabout Storyteller (6-4)
I've started to like this case quite a bit more, mainly because of Uendo being awesome, Blackquill as your assistant leading to some great dialogues and the case having a lot of entertainment value. Aside from that though, 6-4 didn't really have a lot else going for it.
23. Turnabout Serenade (4-3)
Don't jump on me for this please, but I really didn't think 4-3 was that bad of a case. Yes, the characters were pretty boring a lot of the time, yes, the video played a little bit too much and yes, that moment when everyone keeps the magic trick a secret when we're investigating a murder was pretty stupid... but aside from those, Serenade has a really well written mystery, just like AJ's other three cases actually. The idea of a murder following a script is an original and neat concept, a lot of the twists can't be seen before the second trial day and I really like the case's background storywith the Cocoon Smuggling, mainly because the fact that it's punished with the death penalty gave this case much more tension that I wouldn't have expected from a mere filler case.
It also shows the flaws of the current legal system in such a clever way, which brings me to the most controversial point: The plotholes... this would become way too long if I talked about those here, though I'll just link to [this] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AceAttorney/comments/64q7r9/rank_the_3rd_cases_of_the_series_from_best_to/dg7fgcz/?context=3) were it's all talked about in more detail.
24. Turnabout Airlines (AAI-2)
Not outright amzing, but still a pretty enjoyable case nontheless, and one where my opinion on it actually changed for the better. I liked the setting of a murder happening on a plane and Melee was one of the more memorable villains of the game in my opinion.
25. Turnabout Samurai (1-3)
I think this case had some pretty decent twists and I find the characters are overall pretty alright. One of the main things that drag this case down though are the numerous logical failings that make Turnabout Samurai, in my honest opinion, a contender for the case with the highest amount of plotholes in the whole series.
26. The Kidnapped Turnabout (AAI-3)
It's almost a shame to put this case so low, because the setting and a lot of the plot and the concepts were actually really good. However, the characters are all just so boring and it got so convoluted about half-way through that I literally stopped caring about what was going on.
27. The Foreign Turnabout (6-1)
The villain was great, but other than that there wasn't anything standing out. The entire first half of this case is literally nothing else than everyone talking down to Phoenix how defense lawyers suck and it gets tedious after a while.
28. Turnabout Academy (5-3)
Now this one is a case where I frankly don't get the overwhelming praise for. Most of the characters are really bland, mainly including Hugh, Juniper and Means. Even though I'll admit Means got pretty entertaining after he set up his killer face, before that he was just the definition of a bland character with an overused quote. Additionally, the true culprit is also really obvious (which wouldn't be a problem if the case didn't treat you like an idiot about who it is) and the high anime focus is cringeworthy, with some of these [cutscenes] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zScJBtNDS8&t=5s) being some of the most cheesy stuff I've seen in a videogame.
Ending on a positive note, I quite liked the Robin twist and there was nothing particularly wrong with the overall mystery, though it wasn't that memorable either.
29. Turnabout Time Traveler (6-DLC)
I think this case had some great potential that was just executed really poorly. I quite liked Pierce and think he's one of the more sympathetic villains, but other than that... Eeeh. The twists are insultingly predictable, the mystery felt (for the most part) uninspired and forgettable, the characters aside Pierce are either boring or annoying (Sorin...) and overall this case had some really awkward... "decisions", to put it that way (The murderer used the murder weapon? Sorin could cross that path because of... the power of love? Seriously?) So yeah, in my opinion this case definitely could've been better.
30. Turnabout Countdown (5-1)
The whole courtroom bombing thing was a really cool idea, but aside from that the case was pretty boring most of the time and I felt like it was longer than it needed to be.
31. Turnabout Visitor (AAI-1)
I... don't even really know what to say about this one honestly. It's... a case. My mine gripe with Turnabout Visitor is just that it's extremely forgettable, both in the mystery and character department.
32. Turnabout Sisters (1-2)
This choice might look out of place, but in all honesty... if you remove the plot connections, what much else is there? The characters are bland, it has logical failings, the mystery is almost non-existent and Redd White is one of the worst villains in the series. I just don't think this case should get a freepass for it's emotional impacts when there are cases that managed to create the exact same impacts, while also adding so much more. I've seen people defending this case saying that a "good mystery isn't everything", but... eh. I still think it's a lackluster case.
33. The First Turnabout (1-1)
I guess it managed to do it's job as an introduction to the series, but I can't really put this any higher considering there's barely anything to it.
34. Turnabout Big Top (2-3)
Believe me, I really tried to like this case, but... I just can't. Every character is extremely unlikeable; the closest we got to a likeable character here was Acro, before he turns into one of the biggest failed attempts of a sympathetic villain. Acro's plan made barely any sense; the whole mystery relied way too much on coincidences and was pretty predictable as well. The investigations weren't fun either and the annoying and overused music (Eccentric 2002 and the Circus theme) was just the icing on the cake. I remember during my first playthrough I constantly waited until this case would finally show it's strong side and... well, it never really happened, at least for me.
35. The Lost Turnabout (2-1)
I can't really say much about this one either, there's barely anything good worth mentioning about this case. Wellington is just Redd White wearing blue.
Alright, that's all. This list took a lot of time to make, so I hope you liked it! What are your opinions?
Posted Jun 3, 2017, 4:48 PM UTC · edited