STORY
Let's start with the elephant in the room. This case is apparently a "fan-sequel" to
The Enchanted Turnabout by Ana_, set in an alterate universe but also a sequel to Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright. I have not played that case, and technically you're not really supposed to enter non-standalone cases into competitions. But to be fair, I didn't list that in the rules, even if it's in the global comp rules. So I'll overlook that and judge this as if it were standalone. I think this case may have leaned on its source material a little too much in establishing its setting, but it did a decent job of catching the player up. If you haven't played Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, you'd be completely lost. Luckily, I have, and I'm a pretty big fan of it.
Unfortunately there's another elephant in the room, and that's that this case is unfinished. That isn't necessarily a death sentence for a case, as it's possible for an unfinished case to still give you a satisfying feeling. Hell, the past three competition winners were all unfinished cases. But in this case, it doesn't really accomplish that. It raises a lot of questions and doesn't answer any of them, and the trajectory of the story isn't really clear by the time it's over. Overall I think this case has potential (and I have some theories on where it might go), but I can't judge it on potential alone, so as is, nothing about the story really grabbed me. There were a number of small gags that didn't really land with me, and while there were a few plot threads that intrigued me, they were quickly brushed aside and not followed up on.
CHARACTERS
The characters in this case are kind of all over the place. There are a lot of references to events that the player has no clue about (unless you've played The Enchanted Turnabout, maybe?), and the case leans on these events for its characterization. Sometimes it feels like it's leaning on PLvsPW knowledge, while other times it's clearly not, so it's hard to tell how much the player is intended to be familiar with and how much they're not.
Phoenix himself is especially strange in his characterization. He goes from believing his client is a witch, being the one who calls for her arrest, and then reluctantly defending her (for some reason? I guess he's just bad at saying no?), and it was tough for me to get a handle on what they were going for with him. We also get a couple of witnesses, but they don't really seem to stand out much, at least so far, and since we don't really get much time with them, they're hard to get a read on.
PRESENTATION
The presentation was a mixed bag. On the plus side, the use of custom graphics and music was on point, and I think it enhanced the case pretty well. It did genuinely feel like I was playing a Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright case. But on the other hand, there were persistent grammar issues, and a lot of small graphical glitches that wouldn't be too noticeable on their own, but add up to create a kind of sloppy feeling. There was some inconsistency in the use of certain visual conventions as well. For example, sometimes, it would show Phoenix's portrait on screen when he's talking and happens to be slightly off screen, but other times it wouldn't. All minor issues, but they do add up.
There were some well made floor plans that served their purpose quite well and were nice to look at as well. All of the evidence was particularly well done, I'd say. With a bit more polish, I think this case could be a lot better.
GAMEPLAY
This was the best part of this case, I'd say. The multiple witness testimony system of PLvsPW and TGAA was well-implemented, and I had fun with it. The case logic made sense. I had to consult the walkthrough once, but it was definitely a "oh, I'm dumb, that was obvious" moment. If I have one complaint about the gameplay, it would be that during the investigation, many present options and investigation options just lead to blank dialogue. But overall, I had fun.
THEME RELEVANCE
Here's where it gets tricky. The case is short, but not because it's intended to be short. More like it's short because it's not finished. And as far as a sense of urgency goes, the case doesn't really do much with that. If you've played PLvsPW, you'll be familiar with what's at stake, but if not, then the stakes are essentially relegated to a footnote in the court record, and they aren't really capitalized on or dwelt upon at all.
There were way too many questions introduced for me to be confident that they'd be neatly wrapped up with the case still being as short as it is. Still, I think that if this case is finished and polished a bit, it has the potential to be very interesting. It did make me interested in playing The Enchanted Turnabout, so I guess it served well as an advertisment if nothing else.
(just ignore us! 
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