Broken Commandments

[DJJ6800]

Review: "The Dividing Line" by Gizmological

Spoiler : :

A whodunit where even the killer doesn't know whodunit

Synopsis: A man and a woman awake in a locked room, having no memories of their identities or previous events. Working together, they must figure out which one of them killed the third person in the room with them.


Broken Commandment:

• Rule 2: All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

Followed Commandment:

• Rule 4: No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

Story: Right off the bat, I was hooked into what was going on in this scenario, and when the main plot of figuring out which of these 2 amnesiacs was responsible for the murder was revealed, I definitely was intrigued into figuring it out. It's a relatively short mystery, only taking a couple of hours for my playthrough, but seeing our protagonists' dynamic evolve in that time was very believable, with them both being very logical thinkers in their accusations of the other while simultaneously showing them pity and sympathy. It's also worth mentioning that this case has multiple endings that can be achieved based on your decisions. While each ending makes sense in its context, the real light shines on the true ending. I won't spoil it here, but it was definitely great at wrapping everything up and answering all the questions the player had. Overall, the story was very well-written and had me invested the whole way through.

Presentation: While the character sprites we see in this case come from the free-to-use forums and the music is from a pre-existing game, that's about where the premade assets end. The backgrounds and evidence all seem to be custom-made for the case, which is very impressive given how much of it there is. And even though premade assets were used, they were still used wonderfully and believably, with the character sprites and music doing well to showcase the proper tone. Also, the beginning of the case has a custom title screen, which gives a good cinematic feel for me. There was one moment of immersion-break, however, and that was during a gameplay segment where we had to answer three questions pertaining to a much larger question, which each answer having a corresponding pictogram. While that is certainly a nice touch, the pictogram doesn't change once it's selected, even when you pick a new answer. But that's in no way game-breaking, and it's my only issue with the presentation, so this is otherwise a very well-looking case!

Gameplay: For the most part, this is standard Ace Attorney-like gameplay, with an investigation to gather evidence and then a debate (trial) to figure out who the culprit is. The logic in this section is sound for the most part, though there were a couple of times I needed the guide to find the "contradictions", as my thought process was technically correct, but the way to present it was wrong. One of these instances actually did feel unfair, as a key fact about the particular evidence led me to believe that it couldn't be what the game was looking for. But for the most part, this basic gameplay we've come to know and love was easy to understand and follow. There were a few custom gameplay mechanics added, as well. As mentioned in Presentation, there are certain points similar to thought routes from DD and SoJ where you have to think back on all that you know to answer three smaller questions that, when combined, answer an overarching question. While I pointed out the slight issue I had with the presentation of this, the mechanic itself was decently-executed, though if you really have no idea what the answer could be, it'll be hard to guess it, as there are so many different combinations to go through, with me actually getting stuck briefly because my logic was a bit off. Fortunately, though, I wasn't so far off track to where I needed the guide, and I got another one of these segments done on the first try, so it's overall not a bad mechanic. There is also one more gameplay mechanic added to this case, but going into detail requires spoiling the ending, so I won't do that here. All I'll say is that it was very immersive and was a fitting way to reveal a plot point before it was officially revealed.

Theme Relevance: As much as I've praised this case so far, there is one major criticism I have to give, and that's the fact that, even after completing the true ending, it wasn't really immediately clear which rule was broken and which was intentionally followed. I believe I've finally worked it out, as showcased at the start of the review, but the fact that it needed a good chunk of thought, as well as the fact I'm still not sure if that was the intended "answer", is definitely hurting the case in this department. Not by a lot, mind you, as it was able to be deduced with some thought, but it wasn't as clear as I would've liked.

Final Thoughts: Overall, "The Dividing Line" is a great mystery that had me hooked and invested the entire way through, with an ending that really brings everything together. While figuring out the theme relevance was a bit difficult, it still did a good job at executing the task given once it was worked out. And since this case is completed, I really hope Gizmological makes the case available for you all to play, as it's one I think you'll all enjoy.

Spoiler : :

Wow. That sprite is used in my case, Rune's case and this case. Wonder how many more it's used for.

Spoiler : :

That sprite is actually in every AAO fancase, it's illegal not to.

Also, I said this on the discord, but Gizmo's case sounds exactly like my cup of tea. I hope to see it public after judging is over.

Spoiler : :

Then perhaps I should call Enthalpy to arrest you and Sponge for not putting that sprite in Turnabout Turnabout, hmmmm?

[risefromtheashes]

Review: "The Dividing Line" by Gizmological

Spoiler : :

A whodunit where even the killer doesn't know whodunit

Synopsis: A man and a woman awake in a locked room, having no memories of their identities or previous events. Working together, they must figure out which one of them killed the third person in the room with them.


Broken Commandment:

• Rule 2: All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

Followed Commandment:

• Rule 4: No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

Story: Right off the bat, I was hooked into what was going on in this scenario, and when the main plot of figuring out which of these 2 amnesiacs was responsible for the murder was revealed, I definitely was intrigued into figuring it out. It's a relatively short mystery, only taking a couple of hours for my playthrough, but seeing our protagonists' dynamic evolve in that time was very believable, with them both being very logical thinkers in their accusations of the other while simultaneously showing them pity and sympathy. It's also worth mentioning that this case has multiple endings that can be achieved based on your decisions. While each ending makes sense in its context, the real light shines on the true ending. I won't spoil it here, but it was definitely great at wrapping everything up and answering all the questions the player had. Overall, the story was very well-written and had me invested the whole way through.

Presentation: While the character sprites we see in this case come from the free-to-use forums and the music is from a pre-existing game, that's about where the premade assets end. The backgrounds and evidence all seem to be custom-made for the case, which is very impressive given how much of it there is. And even though premade assets were used, they were still used wonderfully and believably, with the character sprites and music doing well to showcase the proper tone. Also, the beginning of the case has a custom title screen, which gives a good cinematic feel for me. There was one moment of immersion-break, however, and that was during a gameplay segment where we had to answer three questions pertaining to a much larger question, which each answer having a corresponding pictogram. While that is certainly a nice touch, the pictogram doesn't change once it's selected, even when you pick a new answer. But that's in no way game-breaking, and it's my only issue with the presentation, so this is otherwise a very well-looking case!

Gameplay: For the most part, this is standard Ace Attorney-like gameplay, with an investigation to gather evidence and then a debate (trial) to figure out who the culprit is. The logic in this section is sound for the most part, though there were a couple of times I needed the guide to find the "contradictions", as my thought process was technically correct, but the way to present it was wrong. One of these instances actually did feel unfair, as a key fact about the particular evidence led me to believe that it couldn't be what the game was looking for. But for the most part, this basic gameplay we've come to know and love was easy to understand and follow. There were a few custom gameplay mechanics added, as well. As mentioned in Presentation, there are certain points similar to thought routes from DD and SoJ where you have to think back on all that you know to answer three smaller questions that, when combined, answer an overarching question. While I pointed out the slight issue I had with the presentation of this, the mechanic itself was decently-executed, though if you really have no idea what the answer could be, it'll be hard to guess it, as there are so many different combinations to go through, with me actually getting stuck briefly because my logic was a bit off. Fortunately, though, I wasn't so far off track to where I needed the guide, and I got another one of these segments done on the first try, so it's overall not a bad mechanic. There is also one more gameplay mechanic added to this case, but going into detail requires spoiling the ending, so I won't do that here. All I'll say is that it was very immersive and was a fitting way to reveal a plot point before it was officially revealed.

Theme Relevance: As much as I've praised this case so far, there is one major criticism I have to give, and that's the fact that, even after completing the true ending, it wasn't really immediately clear which rule was broken and which was intentionally followed. I believe I've finally worked it out, as showcased at the start of the review, but the fact that it needed a good chunk of thought, as well as the fact I'm still not sure if that was the intended "answer", is definitely hurting the case in this department. Not by a lot, mind you, as it was able to be deduced with some thought, but it wasn't as clear as I would've liked.

Final Thoughts: Overall, "The Dividing Line" is a great mystery that had me hooked and invested the entire way through, with an ending that really brings everything together. While figuring out the theme relevance was a bit difficult, it still did a good job at executing the task given once it was worked out. And since this case is completed, I really hope Gizmological makes the case available for you all to play, as it's one I think you'll all enjoy.

Spoiler : :

Wow. That sprite is used in my case, Rune's case and this case. Wonder how many more it's used for.

Spoiler : :

That sprite is actually in every AAO fancase, it's illegal not to.

Spoiler : :

Sorry man, you gotta arrest me. *shrugs*

[Spongesonic]

Spoiler : :

Wow. That sprite is used in my case, Rune's case and this case. Wonder how many more it's used for.

Spoiler : :

That sprite is actually in every AAO fancase, it's illegal not to.

Spoiler : :

Sorry man, you gotta arrest me. *shrugs*

Spoiler : :

And us too, technically

[DWaM]

I’m wondering if it might be possible to keep what rules were broken/followed in a nested spoiler tag within the reviews, since I want to know your thoughts on these cases but at the same time I feel knowing what was broken kind of indirectly spoils me by telling me what to be on-guard for?

(Personally at least for my case I’d maybe even prefer if it’s just not stated what I followed/broke; presuming it’s obvious by the end of it.)

[Awsome2464]

I’m wondering if it might be possible to keep what rules were broken/followed in a nested spoiler tag within the reviews, since I want to know your thoughts on these cases but at the same time I feel knowing what was broken kind of indirectly spoils me by telling me what to be on-guard for?

(Personally at least for my case I’d maybe even prefer if it’s just not stated what I followed/broke; presuming it’s obvious by the end of it.)

You know what? That's a fair point that I can't believe I didn't think of before. I've edited my original review to contain the broken/followed rules in a spoiler block (can't do much about the quoted replies, though) and will apply that to my reviews going forward

[Gizmological]

I'll fully admit that my interpretation of my chosen rules was a little... out there. But I wont go into detail and let people draw their own conclusions. Case will certainly be up soon after the end of the comp, as soon as I sort out that presentation issue (side note: I did notice some funky things happening with that segment which might be indicative of a bug with the case maker, something I'll research and report once I've tested it out a little.)

Eager to see what the rest of you have made!

[TimeAxis]

The Dividing Line by Gizomological

Spoiler : Screenshot :

Spoiler : Synopsis :

A man wakes up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of his identity or how he got there, encountering a girl in the same predicament, as well as a dead body. The two amnesiacs are then pit against each other in a battle of wits and deduction, with many branching paths.

Spoiler : Review :

Story:
The premise for this case was very thrilling and well executed. It had me on the edge of my seat all throughout. The case is at its best when it's honestly fulfilling that premise. Conversely, when it starts to deviate and go in different directions, the quality of the narrative starts to suffer. So while I ultimately enjoyed the story, I can't say it was without its issues. A Mystery story is a two part equation, and this case did a great job establishing the atmosphere and raising interesting questions, but when it came to the second half of that equation, actually resolving those questions in a satisfying way, I personally found that it fell short. The conclusion of this case will be very hit or miss, and for me, it was a miss. That being said, the very strong premise and the moment-to-moment interactions more than make up for the less than stellar ending, so I still enjoyed the story quite a bit overall.

Characters
This case focuses on a very small cast of characters, but for the most part they were well written. Irene's "intelligent ice queen" character archetype is one that I personally can't get enough of no matter how many characters like that I encounter. Her dialogue felt very real, and she felt fleshed out throughout the story and the different branching paths. It's almost a cheat code for me, but making a character like her is a surefire recipe for me to enjoy it, so I can't help but throw in some extra points for that. My only complaint with the characters is in regards to how they were handled toward the end of the story. Without explicitly spoiling anything, I'll just say that the final bit of the game was a pretty big departure from the rest of the game in terms of tone, and I felt it came at the expense of the rest of the characterization that came before it. The other characters were not particularly memorable in comparison to Irene, but that's more of a testament to how much I liked her and less a mark of other characters being bad, necessarily. The protagonist was fine, although, again, I preferred him prior to the end of the case. The branching paths gave a decent level of player control over the protagonist's frame of mind (without divorcing him of agency entirely, mind you), which I appreciated.

Presentation:
All in all, the presentation of this case was pretty nice. It made good use of its assets, both visually and musically, to establish the right mood, and the custom assets did a good job of conveying what they needed to convey for the purpose of the gameplay and narrative. I wouldn't say the art is gorgeous or anything. You might not find yourself paralyzed in admiration of the graphics, but it all does the job more than adequately, and nothing stood out as looking bad. Solid presentation that doesn't distract from its purpose is fine by me, so as far as I'm concerned, presentation is one of this case's strong points.

Gameplay:
If there's any part of this case that might make it a contender for the winner in my opinion, it's the gameplay. This was far-and-away the best part of the case. The gameplay integrates seamlessly with the visuals and the narrative to deliver a very complete feeling experience. Narratively, you've got the branching paths, along with the moment-to-moment case logic, which was consistently excellent. There wasn't a single contradiction that made me think "I don't know about that one, that seems like a reach". They all felt clever and clearly made sense. The mystery also made great use of the environment in a way that couldn't have been done without the custom graphics.

One thing I especially liked was the "Theorycrafting" mechanic. It was a good way of conveying more complex ideas without needing to be limited by the usual Ace Attorney gameplay formula. And while narratively I was not a huge fan of the game's ending, there was one particular sequence near the end which I don't want to spoil that was extremely cool and I greatly enjoyed it.

Theme Relevance:

Spoiler : Broken Commandments (May contain spoilers) :

It was not especially clear which rules were intended to be broken, but these were the ones that I decided on, in the end:

2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must they ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

I felt that the the sudden flashbacks qualified as an unaccountable intuition or accident, and they did play into the mystery at certain points. The main gimmick of the case can also be described as preternatural, even if not explicitly supernatural.

Spoiler : Followed Commandments (May contain spoilers) :

4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

I initially thought the "Deadly Chemical" qualified as an undiscovered poison and had some debate with Awesome2464 about it, but after looking up the overly long scientific name given in the game, it seems to conform with IUPAC nomenclature (which is also namedropped in the case itself), so I have to conclude that this was the intended rule being followed. I went back and forth on whether this one was being followed or broken, though. I can't say it was especially clear.

Unfortunately, the Theme Relevance falls short a little bit. While this case does play around with interesting ideas and does break some rules in interesting ways, part of the caveat of the theme was to break the rules while still writing a compelling mystery, and that's where this case falls short. At the risk of sounding particularly harsh (and I really must stress that I otherwise enjoyed this case), with the way this case ends, I would hesitate to even be comfortable calling this a Mystery. A mystery requires a solution, and this case unfortunately trips on itself at the last minute in that respect. It sacrifices its mystery for the sake of its twist, which might not be a critical blow if this weren't specifically a contest about creating Mysteries, but I can't say that it manages to live up to the theme in the end. That being said, that only applies to the end. Ignoring the ending, the rest of the case is very thematically appropriate, and the building blocks were there for it to fit the theme well. If you want my suggestion on how the mystery could have been preserved while still going with a similar twist:

Spoiler : Spoilers :

What I think would have worked better is if there actually was a murder, but it still took place in the program, rather than all the clues just artificially being placed to point to both potential suspects without actually having any real meaning. You could have had a similar ending that didn't undermine the mystery. Even if the murder never actually occurred in reality, it could have still had a real solution.

But ultimately, that's just my opinion. The way things were resolved just left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS

• Pretty good presentation
• The main heroine was enjoyable
• Excellent moment-to-moment case logic and gameplay
  • "Theorycrafting" mechanic was very cool and well implemented
  • Branching paths felt fun to explore
• An elaborate and well executed story premise

CONS

• Murky theme relevance. Unclear which rules were meant to be broken/followed.
• Unsatisfying Mystery resolution

I was going to post all of my reviews in a batch once I was done them all, but since Awesome2464 is posting theirs as they go, I might as well do that too.

Also, if any entrant is interested, I have been recording my playthroughs of these entries, so if any of you want to hear my moment to moment reactions and thoughts on your entry, let me know and I can send you a link to the unlisted video (although ultimately the actual review is my final thoughts, after I've had time to think about each entry.)

[Bannedfrom7]

The Dividing Line by Gizomological

Spoiler : Synopsis :

A man wakes up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of his identity or how he got there, encountering a girl in the same predicament, as well as a dead body. The two amnesiacs are then pit against each other in a battle of wits and deduction, with many branching paths.

Spoiler : Review :

Story:
The premise for this case was very thrilling and well executed. It had me on the edge of my seat all throughout. The case is at its best when it's honestly fulfilling that premise. Conversely, when it starts to deviate and go in different directions, the quality of the narrative starts to suffer. So while I ultimately enjoyed the story, I can't say it was without its issues. A Mystery story is a two part equation, and this case did a great job establishing the atmosphere and raising interesting questions, but when it came to the second half of that equation, actually resolving those questions in a satisfying way, I personally found that it fell short. The conclusion of this case will be very hit or miss, and for me, it was a miss. That being said, the very strong premise and the moment-to-moment interactions more than make up for the less than stellar ending, so I still enjoyed the story quite a bit overall.

Characters
This case focuses on a very small cast of characters, but for the most part they were well written. Irene's "intelligent ice queen" character archetype is one that I personally can't get enough of no matter how many characters like that I encounter. Her dialogue felt very real, and she felt fleshed out throughout the story and the different branching paths. It's almost a cheat code for me, but making a character like her is a surefire recipe for me to enjoy it, so I can't help but throw in some extra points for that. My only complaint with the characters is in regards to how they were handled toward the end of the story. Without explicitly spoiling anything, I'll just say that the final bit of the game was a pretty big departure from the rest of the game in terms of tone, and I felt it came at the expense of the rest of the characterization that came before it. The other characters were not particularly memorable in comparison to Irene, but that's more of a testament to how much I liked her and less a mark of other characters being bad, necessarily. The protagonist was fine, although, again, I preferred him prior to the end of the case. The branching paths gave a decent level of player control over the protagonist's frame of mind (without divorcing him of agency entirely, mind you), which I appreciated.

Presentation:
All in all, the presentation of this case was pretty nice. It made good use of its assets, both visually and musically, to establish the right mood, and the custom assets did a good job of conveying what they needed to convey for the purpose of the gameplay and narrative. I wouldn't say the art is gorgeous or anything. You might not find yourself paralyzed in admiration of the graphics, but it all does the job more than adequately, and nothing stood out as looking bad. Solid presentation that doesn't distract from its purpose is fine by me, so as far as I'm concerned, presentation is one of this case's strong points.

Gameplay:
If there's any part of this case that might make it a contender for the winner in my opinion, it's the gameplay. This was far-and-away the best part of the case. The gameplay integrates seamlessly with the visuals and the narrative to deliver a very complete feeling experience. Narratively, you've got the branching paths, along with the moment-to-moment case logic, which was consistently excellent. There wasn't a single contradiction that made me think "I don't know about that one, that seems like a reach". They all felt clever and clearly made sense. The mystery also made great use of the environment in a way that couldn't have been done without the custom graphics.

One thing I especially liked was the "Theorycrafting" mechanic. It was a good way of conveying more complex ideas without needing to be limited by the usual Ace Attorney gameplay formula. And while narratively I was not a huge fan of the game's ending, there was one particular sequence near the end which I don't want to spoil that was extremely cool and I greatly enjoyed it.

Theme Relevance:

Spoiler : Broken Commandments (May contain spoilers) :

It was not especially clear which rules were intended to be broken, but these were the ones that I decided on, in the end:

2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must they ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

I felt that the the sudden flashbacks qualified as an unaccountable intuition or accident, and they did play into the mystery at certain points. The main gimmick of the case can also be described as preternatural, even if not explicitly supernatural.

Spoiler : Followed Commandments (May contain spoilers) :

4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

I initially thought the "Deadly Chemical" qualified as an undiscovered poison and had some debate with Awesome2464 about it, but after looking up the overly long scientific name given in the game, it seems to conform with IUPAC nomenclature (which is also namedropped in the case itself), so I have to conclude that this was the intended rule being followed. I went back and forth on whether this one was being followed or broken, though. I can't say it was especially clear.

Unfortunately, the Theme Relevance falls short a little bit. While this case does play around with interesting ideas and does break some rules in interesting ways, part of the caveat of the theme was to break the rules while still writing a compelling mystery, and that's where this case falls short. At the risk of sounding particularly harsh (and I really must stress that I otherwise enjoyed this case), with the way this case ends, I would hesitate to even be comfortable calling this a Mystery. A mystery requires a solution, and this case unfortunately trips on itself at the last minute in that respect. It sacrifices its mystery for the sake of its twist, which might not be a critical blow if this weren't specifically a contest about creating Mysteries, but I can't say that it manages to live up to the theme in the end. That being said, that only applies to the end. Ignoring the ending, the rest of the case is very thematically appropriate, and the building blocks were there for it to fit the theme well. If you want my suggestion on how the mystery could have been preserved while still going with a similar twist:

Spoiler : Spoilers :

What I think would have worked better is if there actually was a murder, but it still took place in the program, rather than all the clues just artificially being placed to point to both potential suspects without actually having any real meaning. You could have had a similar ending that didn't undermine the mystery. Even if the murder never actually occurred in reality, it could have still had a real solution.

But ultimately, that's just my opinion. The way things were resolved just left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS

• Pretty good presentation
• The main heroine was enjoyable
• Excellent moment-to-moment case logic and gameplay
  • "Theorycrafting" mechanic was very cool and well implemented
  • Branching paths felt fun to explore
• An elaborate and well executed story premise

CONS

• Murky theme relevance. Unclear which rules were meant to be broken/followed.
• Unsatisfying Mystery resolution

I was going to post all of my reviews in a batch once I was done them all, but since Awesome2464 is posting theirs as they go, I might as well do that too.

Also, if any entrant is interested, I have been recording my playthroughs of these entries, so if any of you want to hear my moment to moment reactions and thoughts on your entry, let me know and I can send you a link to the unlisted video (although ultimately the actual review is my final thoughts, after I've had time to think about each entry.)

I’d love to see it when you get to it!

[DJJ6800]

The Dividing Line by Gizomological

Spoiler : Synopsis :

A man wakes up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of his identity or how he got there, encountering a girl in the same predicament, as well as a dead body. The two amnesiacs are then pit against each other in a battle of wits and deduction, with many branching paths.

Spoiler : Review :

Story:
The premise for this case was very thrilling and well executed. It had me on the edge of my seat all throughout. The case is at its best when it's honestly fulfilling that premise. Conversely, when it starts to deviate and go in different directions, the quality of the narrative starts to suffer. So while I ultimately enjoyed the story, I can't say it was without its issues. A Mystery story is a two part equation, and this case did a great job establishing the atmosphere and raising interesting questions, but when it came to the second half of that equation, actually resolving those questions in a satisfying way, I personally found that it fell short. The conclusion of this case will be very hit or miss, and for me, it was a miss. That being said, the very strong premise and the moment-to-moment interactions more than make up for the less than stellar ending, so I still enjoyed the story quite a bit overall.

Characters
This case focuses on a very small cast of characters, but for the most part they were well written. Irene's "intelligent ice queen" character archetype is one that I personally can't get enough of no matter how many characters like that I encounter. Her dialogue felt very real, and she felt fleshed out throughout the story and the different branching paths. It's almost a cheat code for me, but making a character like her is a surefire recipe for me to enjoy it, so I can't help but throw in some extra points for that. My only complaint with the characters is in regards to how they were handled toward the end of the story. Without explicitly spoiling anything, I'll just say that the final bit of the game was a pretty big departure from the rest of the game in terms of tone, and I felt it came at the expense of the rest of the characterization that came before it. The other characters were not particularly memorable in comparison to Irene, but that's more of a testament to how much I liked her and less a mark of other characters being bad, necessarily. The protagonist was fine, although, again, I preferred him prior to the end of the case. The branching paths gave a decent level of player control over the protagonist's frame of mind (without divorcing him of agency entirely, mind you), which I appreciated.

Presentation:
All in all, the presentation of this case was pretty nice. It made good use of its assets, both visually and musically, to establish the right mood, and the custom assets did a good job of conveying what they needed to convey for the purpose of the gameplay and narrative. I wouldn't say the art is gorgeous or anything. You might not find yourself paralyzed in admiration of the graphics, but it all does the job more than adequately, and nothing stood out as looking bad. Solid presentation that doesn't distract from its purpose is fine by me, so as far as I'm concerned, presentation is one of this case's strong points.

Gameplay:
If there's any part of this case that might make it a contender for the winner in my opinion, it's the gameplay. This was far-and-away the best part of the case. The gameplay integrates seamlessly with the visuals and the narrative to deliver a very complete feeling experience. Narratively, you've got the branching paths, along with the moment-to-moment case logic, which was consistently excellent. There wasn't a single contradiction that made me think "I don't know about that one, that seems like a reach". They all felt clever and clearly made sense. The mystery also made great use of the environment in a way that couldn't have been done without the custom graphics.

One thing I especially liked was the "Theorycrafting" mechanic. It was a good way of conveying more complex ideas without needing to be limited by the usual Ace Attorney gameplay formula. And while narratively I was not a huge fan of the game's ending, there was one particular sequence near the end which I don't want to spoil that was extremely cool and I greatly enjoyed it.

Theme Relevance:

Spoiler : Broken Commandments (May contain spoilers) :

It was not especially clear which rules were intended to be broken, but these were the ones that I decided on, in the end:

2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must they ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

I felt that the the sudden flashbacks qualified as an unaccountable intuition or accident, and they did play into the mystery at certain points. The main gimmick of the case can also be described as preternatural, even if not explicitly supernatural.

Spoiler : Followed Commandments (May contain spoilers) :

4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

I initially thought the "Deadly Chemical" qualified as an undiscovered poison and had some debate with Awesome2464 about it, but after looking up the overly long scientific name given in the game, it seems to conform with IUPAC nomenclature (which is also namedropped in the case itself), so I have to conclude that this was the intended rule being followed. I went back and forth on whether this one was being followed or broken, though. I can't say it was especially clear.

Unfortunately, the Theme Relevance falls short a little bit. While this case does play around with interesting ideas and does break some rules in interesting ways, part of the caveat of the theme was to break the rules while still writing a compelling mystery, and that's where this case falls short. At the risk of sounding particularly harsh (and I really must stress that I otherwise enjoyed this case), with the way this case ends, I would hesitate to even be comfortable calling this a Mystery. A mystery requires a solution, and this case unfortunately trips on itself at the last minute in that respect. It sacrifices its mystery for the sake of its twist, which might not be a critical blow if this weren't specifically a contest about creating Mysteries, but I can't say that it manages to live up to the theme in the end. That being said, that only applies to the end. Ignoring the ending, the rest of the case is very thematically appropriate, and the building blocks were there for it to fit the theme well. If you want my suggestion on how the mystery could have been preserved while still going with a similar twist:

Spoiler : Spoilers :

What I think would have worked better is if there actually was a murder, but it still took place in the program, rather than all the clues just artificially being placed to point to both potential suspects without actually having any real meaning. You could have had a similar ending that didn't undermine the mystery. Even if the murder never actually occurred in reality, it could have still had a real solution.

But ultimately, that's just my opinion. The way things were resolved just left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Spoiler : Overall :

PROS

• Pretty good presentation
• The main heroine was enjoyable
• Excellent moment-to-moment case logic and gameplay
  • "Theorycrafting" mechanic was very cool and well implemented
  • Branching paths felt fun to explore
• An elaborate and well executed story premise

CONS

• Murky theme relevance. Unclear which rules were meant to be broken/followed.
• Unsatisfying Mystery resolution

I was going to post all of my reviews in a batch once I was done them all, but since Awesome2464 is posting theirs as they go, I might as well do that too.

Also, if any entrant is interested, I have been recording my playthroughs of these entries, so if any of you want to hear my moment to moment reactions and thoughts on your entry, let me know and I can send you a link to the unlisted video (although ultimately the actual review is my final thoughts, after I've had time to think about each entry.)

Would definitely love to see that!

[Trybien]

Also, if any entrant is interested, I have been recording my playthroughs of these entries, so if any of you want to hear my moment to moment reactions and thoughts on your entry, let me know and I can send you a link to the unlisted video (although ultimately the actual review is my final thoughts, after I've had time to think about each entry.)

Sign me up, I might have to copy this idea whenever I get the chance to playtest or judge a comp.

[TimeAxis]

Oh, I should also mention that my reviews are probably going to take a while, like possibly a week or two. Some of these entries are pretty long and I don't want to rush through them.

[Awsome2464]

You know, I almost considered doing a let's-play like recording of my playthroughs to get my thoughts down easier. I suppose there's a saying about great minds

[Gizmological]

Thanks for the reviews guys, the insight is greatly appreciated. I'd be really interested in that recording if you could send it to me, Time.

Spoiler : :

I can totally understand the complaints regarding the ending. This was a massively experimental project for me, between designing new gameplay mechanics, different writing styles and tones, and, as you say, that can lead to some very hit or miss aspects. Definitely something I'll be taking on board for the future.

[Awsome2464]

Review: "The Costumed Turnabout" by risefromtheashes

Spoiler : :

It makes sense in context, I swear.

Synopsis: While Athena, Trucy, and other familiar faces are attending a Kurain holiday celebration, a murder occurs.

Spoiler : Broken/Followed Commandments :

Currently unknown

Story: It's clear from the very beginning of the case that the tone isn't one that's meant to be too serious. And that's perfectly okay! Throughout the entry, there are many absurd comedic moments and entire scenes that got laughs from me. When things needed to get serious, however, it did a great job at portraying that tone, as well. The cast of canon characters were all written well and in-character (save for a bit of flanderization during a few scenes, but that was done for comedic effect). There are some original characters introduced, as well, and from what I've seen so far, they fill their roles well. Sadly, as warned by the creator, the story ends right when things are "getting good", so to speak, so in terms of the overall story/mystery, there's really not much to go on. But even though the story is currently incomplete, there's enough there to get me invested and very excited to see what comes next!

Presentation: The case was give its own "title screen" at the very beginning, complete with a "Play" button. Practically, it was unnecessary, but I'm a sucker for little details like that, so it was a nice addition, as well as an animated background for one scene. Other than that, we have a standard AA case on our hands in terms of presentation. There are a lot of in-engine sprites used for the canon characters, though there were some custom ones used for the aged-up characters such as the Feys that did a good job at recreating or interpreting their appearance. Most of the original characters use sprites from the public use forum, though correct me if I'm wrong, one character sprite set in particular seems to be completely original and made for this case, and if that's true, that's definitely worthy of praise! The only real issue I noticed in this department is that Phoenix, despite being a character we interact with a fair amount, doesn't have a spot in the Court Record. That's obviously nothing big in the grand scheme of things, but it's something noticeable, nonetheless.

Gameplay: Since what we have in this entry is essentially an introduction rather than a full case, there's not too much in the gameplay department. There is only one investigation segment, but it's entirely optional, and all the dialogue choices lead to the same outcome. So for most of the entry, you're just clicking to advance dialogue. Thankfully, the well-written dialogue is enough to make this fun to get through, but as of now, it's definitely less of a "game" and more of a linear visual novel. While it's clear that's meant to be more than this, I have to judge this based on what it currently is rather than what it's going to be.

Theme Relevance: Definitely the weakest element, though I don't think the creator will find that surprising, given even they admitted it, themselves.

Final Thoughts: I'm really happy that risefromtheashes decided to submit this entry, as it was a very fun read that's getting me very excited to see what's to come! While it's currently not close to being completed, I really hope they continue and complete this project.

[risefromtheashes]

Review: "The Costumed Turnabout" by risefromtheashes

Spoiler : :

It makes sense in context, I swear.
I hope this one doesn't get me cancelled... /j

Synopsis: While Athena, Trucy, and other familiar faces are attending a Kurain holiday celebration, a murder occurs.

Spoiler : Broken/Followed Commandments :

Currently unknown

Story: It's clear from the very beginning of the case that the tone isn't one that's meant to be too serious. And that's perfectly okay! Throughout the entry, there are many absurd comedic moments and entire scenes that got laughs from me. When things needed to get serious, however, it did a great job at portraying that tone, as well. The cast of canon characters were all written well and in-character (save for a bit of flanderization during a few scenes, but that was done for comedic effect). There are some original characters introduced, as well, and from what I've seen so far, they fill their roles well. Sadly, as warned by the creator, the story ends right when things are "getting good", so to speak, so in terms of the overall story/mystery, there's really not much to go on. But even though the story is currently incomplete, there's enough there to get me invested and very excited to see what comes next!
I was biting my nails for this part of the review.
When I was writing all of this, I felt pretty confident that my characterization would be good, but then I started to be like "what if it doesn't deliver well to other people? Oh god". The flanderization was indeed intentional ("HIPAA violator!!!"), and I'm glad that was distinguishable from the parts that were meant to be genuine characterization that wasn't just people acting crazy at a party. Glad you think well of the original characters!
Also, I tried to give the victim a good bit of interaction before their death, and I hope you enjoyed that - that scene in particular was one that made me emotional as F while writing it. That, and the train scene, but there's more to come with that, so I don't know if there's much you can say about it.

Presentation: The case was give its own "title screen" at the very beginning, complete with a "Play" button. Practically, it was unnecessary, but I'm a sucker for little details like that, so it was a nice addition, as well as an animated background for one scene. Other than that, we have a standard AA case on our hands in terms of presentation. There are a lot of in-engine sprites used for the canon characters, though there were some custom ones used for the aged-up characters such as the Feys that did a good job at recreating or interpreting their appearance. Most of the original characters use sprites from the public use forum, though correct me if I'm wrong, one character sprite set in particular seems to be completely original and made for this case, and if that's true, that's definitely worthy of praise! The only real issue I noticed in this department is that Phoenix, despite being a character we interact with a fair amount, doesn't have a spot in the Court Record. That's obviously nothing big in the grand scheme of things, but it's something noticeable, nonetheless.
Oh yeah, 100% unnecessary - the title screen was just something I did because this is one of the most grandiose case ideas I have (not so much because of length but just because of the mystery and how much work had to go into it. (For reference, I thought of this case with clcman in 2018 and had a pretty lengthy outline at the time - nothing scripted, though, of course - and it STILL took a month of planning once the comp started before I could start using the editor.) So it felt very appropriate to introduce it with something like that.
Also, I hope you enjoyed the intro cutscene after that! That was something brand new for me when it comes to image editing, and it was also one of my favorite gags I have thought of.
I think all of the OC sprites are from the Custom Canon and Random Character threads (minus one character, who's from Conflict of Interest - you may be thinking of them). I did edit like 5-6 poses across the various characters, and SuperAj3 helped me with some front-facing mini sprites, but there were definitely no original sets for this case. (The cutscene art is, though.)
Phoenix not being in the Court Record was intentional, since I only really planned for him to be involved in the intro (and cut-away gags), but in hindsight and given that this is indeed noticeable, I'll probably include his profile, even if he doesn't make any serious appearances later.

Gameplay: Since what we have in this entry is essentially an introduction rather than a full case, there's not too much in the gameplay department. There is only one investigation segment, but it's entirely optional, and all the dialogue choices lead to the same outcome. So for most of the entry, you're just clicking to advance dialogue. Thankfully, the well-written dialogue is enough to make this fun to get through, but as of now, it's definitely less of a "game" and more of a linear visual novel. While it's clear that's meant to be more than this, I have to judge this based on what it currently is rather than what it's going to be.
Yeah, this is one thing I want to change when I start working on this case again. Some of the dialogue could use to be part of actual investigation segments, even if the crime hasn't happened yet - being able to investigate the new locations from the start would prove helpful exposition, and when the actual investigation starts, I can probably replace what would've been a "here's what's in this room" with more ominous flavor text.
That said, I'm glad you found the dialogue good enough to get you through that! I hope I can successfully mitigate this issue so that people who aren't so into all the jokes can find it less of a drag.

Theme Relevance: Definitely the weakest element, though I don't think the creator will find that surprising, given even they admitted it, themselves.
Obviously, I am deeply upset that you didn't find the nonexistent theme relevance to be the strongest part of the case and crown me the winner before reviewing any further entries or even waiting for TimeAxis to play mine. I will be contacting AAO moderation in search of a lawsuit against you, and I expect it to be paid in full (amounting to a completed "Turnabout Heartache").

Final Thoughts: I'm really happy that risefromtheashes decided to submit this entry, as it was a very fun read that's getting me very excited to see what's to come! While it's currently not close to being completed, I really hope they continue and complete this project.
DWaM's comment was what got me to really push through at the end there and write that last scene and turn it in instead of just giving up and feeling like I failed because I had an incomplete entry, so I'm grateful to him for that. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, seriously. <3
I am planning to continue this case, by the way! It was originally intended to be part of my "Locks on the Heart" series (independent prequel/DLC case), but now that that's not really a thing, it's just going to be a standalone, so hopefully sometime within the next year I can finish this up and send it out for all to see.

YO thank you for the review, I was very hyped to read it! Responses are in green/italics.

Edit: OH, and also, HUGE special thanks to Scuttle and especially clcman, who have helped me massively with ideas/plotting and playtesting. If/when I make a thread about this case, their names are going right below the case link.