Setting the Stage

Join in with competitions to make the best trials... with a twist!

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Salamence
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by Salamence »

So I submitted my entry about 10 minutes ago. Good luck to everyone!
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Part 1 complete

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bigwins
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by bigwins »

Can confirm that I've gotten entries from everyone who didn't drop. Thank you all so much for the turnout! I'm working on reviews now, and yes, there will be an awards ceremony :)
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Southern Corn
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by Southern Corn »

I'm proud of this turnout, y'all! You guys are doing us proud here. Excited for the reviews and the awards ceremony, which will probably be 10/10.
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SuperAj3
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by SuperAj3 »

Congrats everyone on getting your entries in (and putting effort in overall even if you didn't submit!) :pearlhappy:
I'm excited to try out everyone's cases!
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bigwins
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by bigwins »

So, welcome one and all to the next, ahem. Stage of the Setting the Stage case competition!

In advance of the awards ceremony, I'll be individually reviewing each entry in the order I received them,
based on the criteria I laid out in the original post. The order will be as follows:
Spoiler : Entry list :
1. The Enchanted Turnabout by AceJakkidFan
2. Tales of a Turnabout by DJJ6800
3. "???" by DWaM
4. Turnabout Assailant by SuperAj3 & Ann-nna
5. A Courtly Turnabout by Tiagofvarela
6. Turnabout Into Oblivion by trialdude
7. The Turnabout With No Name by DannyPlaysSomeGames
8. A Less BASEic Turnabout by clcman and Spybreak001
9. The Supreme Turnabout by Salamence
After I'm finished, the awards ceremony will be released and you'll all finally see who won. :P
As for estimated time on this, well, is "ASAP" good enough? To prove my punctuality, here's the first review already! Wild, huh?
≿————- ❈ ————-≾

As the back of like 30 books I read as a kid said, "Move over, Harry Potter:"
Spoiler : The Enchanted Turnabout by AceJakkidFan :
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Partying like it's 1692.

The Enchanted Turnabout is a full, two-trial-day case set in Labyrinthia, the realm of the AA/Professor Layton crossover, following ace baker Phoenix Wright as he takes to the courtroom to defend a woman accused of murdering her mother- and being a witch, the obvious real crime here. I love PLvsAA dearly, so I may have some bias here, but I’m glad to see it represented here and impressed by the way AceJakkidFan cleverly uses the rules of its magic to create interesting case logic.

STORY - The plot plays out fairly straightforwardly, emphasizing the mystery above any of the character drama. The initial investigation goes by fairly quickly, laying the foundation for alibis, locations and timeframes, though I felt little time was spent getting to know the characters, who are distinguishable if not particularly unique. Backstory is shaken up a little from the way things go in canon, and there are some shocks and twists throughout, but the meat of the case is the courtroom gameplay and it’s ultimately written as such, introducing interesting details about the characters and world but never really centering the story’s attention on them.

PRESENTATION - Enchanted’s use of custom assets really shines through, with fitting music (notably not entirely from PLvsAA), sprites and visuals. There’s a big court record full of varied custom evidence, a courtroom edited to accomodate the crossover’s multiple-witness cross-examinations, thought bubbles for the Questioning mechanic, and even good-looking animations for key sequences. It’s clear a lot of effort was put into making the case look and sound great, and that effort definitely elevates it above most AAO fare.

GAMEPLAY - As mentioned, the puzzling here is the case’s central focus, and it delivers in spades. The cross-examinations are detailed and always point the player in the right direction, and while I had trouble with some of the puzzles, every solution made sense and left no room for alternate possibilities. It’s clear the mystery was meticulously planned, and while the Court Record is fairly large, it’s useful for getting a better understanding of the case. The Questioning mechanic from the crossover appears here and it’s nicely integrated into the trials’ excellent flow, and the witches’ magic is used to great effect in solving Enchanted’s mysteries.

THEME RELEVANCE - The case benefits from having a setting that is already established, drawing on the rules of magic laid out in the game that introduced us to Labyrinthia, but it does put some interesting twists on PLvsAA’s backstory and ideas. The setting plays a strong role in the logic of the case, and it truly couldn’t happen anywhere else, which means it’s strongly theme-relevant. Still, I felt that there were ways in which it could have committed more fully to the world of Labyrinthia- the detective and prosecutor, for example, feel out of place. The custom assets go a long way towards selling the setting, however, and I was ultimately really impressed with how well Enchanted recreates Labyrinthia’s trial system.

OVERALL - The Enchanted Turnabout is a really strong case and well worth a play, especially if you’re a fan of the Layton crossover. It can feel rushed, but doesn’t overstay its welcome despite its multiple parts. The strong trial logic and presentation are the main draws here and go a long way towards making this case as interesting as it is. I would have preferred more time with the world and characters, but what’s here is solid and fits not just the theme but the spirit of this comp. Enchanted comes with a hearty recommendation.


And for now, that's that. Find your way back here next time for my review of Tales of a Turnabout by DJJ6800!
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Southern Corn
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by Southern Corn »

Glad to hear it sounds good! Looking forward to another review! Or should I say... anUnder(Tale)review? No?
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DWaM
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by DWaM »

Southern Corn wrote:Or should I say... anUnder(Tale)review? No?
The sage in the back of the theater shakes his head in disapproval, signaling that the answer is, indeed, "no."
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drvonkitty
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by drvonkitty »

Good luck to all entrants!
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DJJ6800
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by DJJ6800 »

DWaM wrote:
Southern Corn wrote:Or should I say... anUnder(Tale)review? No?
The sage in the back of the theater shakes his head in disapproval, signaling that the answer is, indeed, "no."
As the actual creator of that trial, I approve of that pun.
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DannyPlaysSomeGames
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by DannyPlaysSomeGames »

Well, due to my awful management of time, other side projects, and school, I barely made anything for the deadline.

Granted, after the award ceremony, I'll try my best to put Turnabout With No Name in a properly playable state (at least have it so that the first investigation's done), if that's okay with bigwins. I hope to actually finish it in the future alongside CotT.
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Southern Corn
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by Southern Corn »

DJJ6800 wrote:
DWaM wrote:
Southern Corn wrote:Or should I say... anUnder(Tale)review? No?
The sage in the back of the theater shakes his head in disapproval, signaling that the answer is, indeed, "no."
As the actual creator of that trial, I approve of that pun.
Wow thanks guys. I actually made that joke while significantly half asleep. Looking back, I wonder why I did it at all. Oh well, that's just the way life goes!

Remind me to sleep early hereon so I can avoid this, at least.
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by cesar26100 »

TIL SC is always half asleep.

EDIT: And wow DWaM there goes my theory that ??? is actually Turnabout Tcoffinabout smh
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by SuperAj3 »

I'm replaying our case and found a scene I didn't proof read... Welp I'll fix it once our entry's been judged I guess.
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bigwins
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by bigwins »

And I'm back with the next review. Can you believe some hosts take days for these things? oh god oh god it's finals week
≿————- ❈ ————-≾

Didn't have a bad time:
Spoiler : Tales of a Turnabout by DJJ6800 :
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Trust me, we've been asking this since before the monsters came along.

I guess it’s time for me to admit something I’m not proud of. A secret I’ve held onto for a few years now. I’ve… never played Undertale. Heresy, I know. And now, when DJJ6800 makes his debut with Tales of a Turnabout, a case taking place in the Undertale world, what am I to do? Miss a lot of references, probably, but anyway: Tales of a Turnabout is a trial-only case starring Attorney Ace Papyrus as he defends a young woman charged with the murder of Temmie (I’ve heard of those two, at least).

STORY - The story here keeps things simple, introducing a little backstory but never spending too much time fleshing out the details (why’s Papyrus a lawyer, of all things?). The characters have some entertaining gimmicks, and apart from the dynamic of monster vs. human- which I’m sure I, as someone who hasn’t played Undertale, don’t quite get- the usual innocent defendant, cold-shouldering prosecutor, and suspicious witnesses show up here. The mystery isn’t particularly twisty and I never felt a lot of tension as it was unraveled, but the writing is consistently solid and Papyrus is an always-entertaining protagonist.

PRESENTATION - I wasn’t expecting much in the way of custom presentation in this trial-only case, but impressively, apart from the Judge there aren’t any canon sprites here. Battler from the Umineko games even makes an appearance (coming from another series that I’ve never tried, and will hopefully get to eventually… maybe… heh). No fancy fades or anything, but the case works well enough without them, and the Undertale music helps shake things up when you tire of hearing the usual AA tracks.

GAMEPLAY - Tales isn’t a long case, and none of its puzzles are particularly challenging. There are some interesting questions that test the player’s attention early on, though later testimonies level out into offering up fairly simple and easy contradictions. I felt that some of them could’ve been condensed without losing anything, and I spent entirely too long with a prompt that asked for a profile exclusively when a piece of evidence held the same information, but Tales’ low difficulty level is a perfectly fine choice and manages to remain satisfying.

THEME RELEVANCE - I dunno if you guys know this yet, but I’ve never played Undertale, and as such I’m not sure I was able to fully appreciate Tales of a Turnabout’s setting. The backstory details and offhand references Papyrus and others made were intriguing, but without the context I was left a bit lost, and I’m unsure how strongly the other characters adhere to the Undertale universe’s conventions. It’s also worth noting that the setting doesn’t figure particularly strongly into the case’s logic or gameplay, with the mystery being essentially a standard AA formula.

OVERALL - Tales of a Turnabout isn't too long, is fairly easy, and is definitely solidly written. It’s probably most worthwhile for Undertale fans, and as I regretfully ain't one, I can’t say it had its likely intended impact on me. It’s still a very impressive case, especially for being DJJ6800’s first ever, and even though I feel that for me it’s missing that extra punch that would have made it a particularly strong recommendation, I’m looking forward to seeing more from the author.
And that's the second one down. Join me next time for the tape recorder thing.
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DJJ6800
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Re: Setting the Stage

Post by DJJ6800 »

bigwins wrote:And I'm back with the next review. Can you believe some hosts take days for these things? oh god oh god it's finals week
≿————- ❈ ————-≾

Didn't have a bad time:
Spoiler : Tales of a Turnabout by DJJ6800 :
Image
Trust me, we've been asking this since before the monsters came along.

I guess it’s time for me to admit something I’m not proud of. A secret I’ve held onto for a few years now. I’ve… never played Undertale. Heresy, I know. And now, when DJJ6800 makes his debut with Tales of a Turnabout, a case taking place in the Undertale world, what am I to do? Miss a lot of references, probably, but anyway: Tales of a Turnabout is a trial-only case starring Attorney Ace Papyrus as he defends a young woman charged with the murder of Temmie (I’ve heard of those two, at least).

STORY - The story here keeps things simple, introducing a little backstory but never spending too much time fleshing out the details (why’s Papyrus a lawyer, of all things?). The characters have some entertaining gimmicks, and apart from the dynamic of monster vs. human- which I’m sure I, as someone who hasn’t played Undertale, don’t quite get- the usual innocent defendant, cold-shouldering prosecutor, and suspicious witnesses show up here. The mystery isn’t particularly twisty and I never felt a lot of tension as it was unraveled, but the writing is consistently solid and Papyrus is an always-entertaining protagonist.

PRESENTATION - I wasn’t expecting much in the way of custom presentation in this trial-only case, but impressively, apart from the Judge there aren’t any canon sprites here. Battler from the Umineko games even makes an appearance (coming from another series that I’ve never tried, and will hopefully get to eventually… maybe… heh). No fancy fades or anything, but the case works well enough without them, and the Undertale music helps shake things up when you tire of hearing the usual AA tracks.

GAMEPLAY - Tales isn’t a long case, and none of its puzzles are particularly challenging. There are some interesting questions that test the player’s attention early on, though later testimonies level out into offering up fairly simple and easy contradictions. I felt that some of them could’ve been condensed without losing anything, and I spent entirely too long with a prompt that asked for a profile exclusively when a piece of evidence held the same information, but Tales’ low difficulty level is a perfectly fine choice and manages to remain satisfying.

THEME RELEVANCE - I dunno if you guys know this yet, but I’ve never played Undertale, and as such I’m not sure I was able to fully appreciate Tales of a Turnabout’s setting. The backstory details and offhand references Papyrus and others made were intriguing, but without the context I was left a bit lost, and I’m unsure how strongly the other characters adhere to the Undertale universe’s conventions. It’s also worth noting that the setting doesn’t figure particularly strongly into the case’s logic or gameplay, with the mystery being essentially a standard AA formula.

OVERALL - Tales of a Turnabout isn't too long, is fairly easy, and is definitely solidly written. It’s probably most worthwhile for Undertale fans, and as I regretfully ain't one, I can’t say it had its likely intended impact on me. It’s still a very impressive case, especially for being DJJ6800’s first ever, and even though I feel that for me it’s missing that extra punch that would have made it a particularly strong recommendation, I’m looking forward to seeing more from the author.
And that's the second one down. Join me next time for the tape recorder thing.
Spoiler : :
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Well, seems like you enjoyed it about as much as someone who hasn’t played Undertale could possibly enjoy it anyway. My next trial should improve, hopefully. It’s still in the planning phases but you play as Kristoph so I’m hoping that gets some attention when I release it. Anyway, I can’t wait to finally find out the real name of Turnabout Tape Recorder!
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