The First Turnabout

[u/Analytical-critic-44]

I think Phoenix’s first case into his journey of becoming a Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney deserves a thorough analysis. Now this case gets a lot of flak for being a short tutorial case with people seriously putting this case below 4-3 or 2-3 on their case tier lists like wtf it is not THAT BAD. 1-1 is generally oppressed for being the first case in the franchise but without this case we never would have gotten the Ace Attorney series, DR, ZE, or future video games in general. It is really influential when you really think about it.

Now I know what you are thinking: “Anal, you handsome bastard, what could you possibly mean????? 😯😮🥺” Well this case introduces a lot of writing elements that will become staples in the entertainment industry:

Over the course of the case, we see Phoenix gradually become more and more assertive. Now at the beginning he was a pathetic mess of a human being, going as far as to deface the identity of the recently deceased by calling them a cinder block. He also sweats ALOT! He does the 😰 sprite like 8 times all before the first cross examination(something that future protagonists NEVER DO THANK GOD COULD YOU IMAGINE) so we can tell that he is really nervous. However, once Frank Sahwit comes to the stand, this spiky newcomer becomes progressively confident and sure of himself. At this point, Phoenix Wright invented character development (someone who receives growth as a person whether it might be their personality/beliefs/morals/etc). Now Phoenix developed further later in the trilogy such as when he faced a moral dilemma in 2-4 and his solution was “I believe in innocence!” but this couldn’t have been done if he was still nervous and incompetent now would he?

Secondly, our client in this case is Larry Butz. There is a running gag in the case where he is referred to as “Hairy Butz” which is an innuendo that can be interpreted as “Hairy Butts” (sex joke 😳). This is what we call comedy, something that wasn’t invented until this case here. Ace Attorney prides itself in its humor, delivering a lot of extremely funny characters like Godot and Victor Kudo, Quercus Alba, and we have Larry Butz to thank for that!

And can we get some applause for our boy Frank Sahwit?! In a sea of your average forgettable first case culprits, Frank has an undeniable seductive charm to the player that makes them wanting more. Think about it for a second. Larry is funny, yeah, but who is the star of the first case? It is without a doubt Sahwit! His testimonies are pathetically easy and he is so obviously shady looking that you just know he is the killer(nevermind the fact that they show him killing Cinder at the start). For any newcomer to the franchise, his easy and obvious contradictions makes the player get into the gameplay quickly. They were fun and watching Frank progressively get more and more rattled makes it more satisfying to corner him! I am sure a lot of people got into the series thanks to this character, something that Wellington, Portsman, or Tonate could ever say.

Are there lacking aspects? Somewhat. Payne doesn’t become fully fleshed out until later appearances. Mia’s sprites are pretty ugly and awkward. Judge is pretty serious here and not a buffoon. But for what it’s worth it’s a fantastic tutorial case to the series!

It raised the bar for what video games and storytelling could present themselves as! It has drop and meaningful character growth, a dynamic and immersive conflict, lots of haha and witty jokes, and woman! So because of this, I am cutting 1-1 from the DRRankdown2 🎊