Ace Attorney Deep Dive: “The Magical Turnabout” (Spirit Of Justice – Case 2)

After a bit of a break from Ace Attorney, I’m back with one of my Deep Dives – this time for “The Magical Turnabout”, a case involving a murder at a magic show.

I’ll be deconstructing the case in ten distinct categories and giving a score out of ten for each. This will give a definitive score out of a hundred, if the maths checks out!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Micro Story

Phoenix is still in Khura’in, but we hop back to Japanifornia to catch up with Apollo, Athena and Trucy. Things fall apart just as quickly as you expect.

A man dies during one of Trucy’s magic shows and – you guessed it – Trucy is the prime suspect. But this isn’t just an accident, according to the prosecution. This is a cold-blooded murder.

The magic show focus is already a big plus, and I really like how we get to spend some more time with the core gang apart from Phoenix. Trucy in particular gets a spotlight like we’ve never seen before. Add to that more references to Troupe Gramarye and you get a really solid premise for a case.

Score: 8/10

Macro Story

Since “The Magical Turnabout” takes place outside of Khura’in, it doesn’t have much to do with Spirit Of Justice’s overarching narrative. What it does do, however, is allow the core cast to have some development.

Apollo and Athena don’t necessarily have any major character development, but the way they fight for their friend is very sweet. Also, Trucy worrying that her magic isn’t any good is a really endearing trait.

We’re also introduced to a new prosecutor – Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, and Apollo apparently recognizes the name. He’s really boring. He has no real traits other than “he’s mysterious and he’s your opponent in court”, and his random prayers are an odd interjection of voice acting in an otherwise voiceless game.

Score: 7/10

Mystery

It’s quite hard to talk about the Mystery behind “The Magical Turnabout” because, well … it takes place in a magic show. Full of magic tricks. It’s mysterious by design.

Finding the secrets behind the magic tricks, however, was lots of fun. I also liked the Mystery behind the body itself and how it must have been swapped in.

But yeah, the culprit is pretty easy to guess this time around.

Score: 7/10

Side Characters

If you don’t count the major characters like Trucy and the culprit, there aren’t actually that many Side Characters in this case – three by my count.

Ema Skye returns and she’s the same as she ever was. I do like having her around … but I can’t help but miss Gumshoe in this Apollo Trilogy.

The other worthwhile additions are Bonny and Betty de Famme, two magicians who were helping Trucy with her show. The twin trope is overdone as it is, so the reveal that the “mean” Bonny was actually Betty didn’t wow me.

No bad characters, but nothing stand-out either.

Score: 6/10

Soundtrack

My favourite part about the Soundtrack in “The Magical Turnabout” is how the Japanifornia court segments get their own music – the “Defendant Lobby” and “Court Begins” themes are both good.

There’s also a few returning favourites, like Troupe Gramarye’s and Ema Skye’s themes, and a couple of the Investigation songs like “Investigation Opening” and “Detention Centre – Cold-Glass Elegy” are excellent.

All in all, a really solid turnout in the Soundtrack department that helps to distinguish this part of the game from the Khura’in parts.

Score: 8/10

Investigations

The most exciting thing about the Investigations is that they take place in a magic show, as otherwise not much happens.

The Penrose Theatre makes for an interesting location, and the Wright Anything Agency office being repossessed adds some fun stakes … but was it just me who hated that fingerprinting minigame? The one where you dust the victim’s sword-stabbing box? I was so disorientated by the controls and it took almost ten minutes for me to finally move on. Minus one point for that.

Score: 6/10

Trials

In the first Trial, you meet Nahyuta and you prove that there were two Bonnys (a twist I’ve already said I didn’t like). Pretty mundane as first Trials go.

The second Trial, however, was much more exciting. Trucy’s practical sword-swapping testimony was a nice change of pace, the twist that the footage was edited was good, and the further twist that Mr. Reus wasn’t the victim at all was another great spanner in the works.

If I average the boring first Trial with the exciting second one, the overall score is good but not great.

Score: 7/10

Case Logic

For the most part, “The Magical Turnabout” had sound Case Logic. I’m no magician but I trust that the magic tricks were feasible if maybe a stretch.

I didn’t like the twin twist, as I’ve already mentioned, and I think the biggest pitfall in logic has to do with the victim twist. It’s weird how the victim was misidentified as Mr. Reus … Wouldn’t the police, or a relative of the victim, be able to prove that is wasn’t the infamous magician who died? By a blood test, maybe?

Nitpicking aside, the logic was watertight.

Score: 8/10

Culprit

A magical case needs a magical culprit, and Roger Retinz – or should I say Mr. Reus – served up the melodrama.

His motivation of revenge against the Gramaryes is a really engaging one, and his breakdown was one of the best in the whole series. He’s quite one-note (as most early-game culprits are) but his villainy is too entertaining to ignore.

Score: 8/10

Charm

“The Magical Turnabout” goes out of its way to be as charming as possible.

The magic show setting is really cool for a low-stakes case like this, and the main characters as just as loveable as ever. Roger Retinz as well brings enough sleeze to make for a memorable villain.

What brings the case down, however, was the side characters. The de Famme twins are very cliché, and Nahyuta is so boring it hurts.

Score: 8/10

FINAL SCORE: 73/100

“The Magical Turnabout” is a really solid second case, one that shines a spotlight on our main characters and gives Trucy in particular some much needed focus.

Aaaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: