The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Zero Punctuation)

[@theescapist]

Video player issues have been resolved according to tech. Sorry for how long that took. This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee reviewed Jupiter Hell and Dreamscaper. www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/dreamscaper-and-jupiter-hell-zero-punctuation/ Watch it early and support our content on KZbin via KZbin Memberships.

[@kr4ftt]

Any chance Yahtzee reviewing dodgeball academia?

[@RebellionInHell]

Not sure where Ace Attorney series can go at this point, as it seems everyone’s character arcs have been completed. Perhaps they could kill off a major character, or do that Danganronpa crossover I have heard about.

[@SavageGreywolf]

the Jupiter Hell video on the Escapist website is broken atm.

[@theescapist]

Video platform just updated our plugin without notifying us and it seems to have broken some things. We're aware and tech is on it. Sorry, it's as annoying for you as it is for us.

[@SirMisterMr]

If we are to vive Athena the Apollo treatment, we could have a couple of games each one introducing outta nowhere a brand new element to her backstory in their final cases. Or we could have Ace Detective: Dick Gumshoe.

[@Mrinsecure]

If you've ever seen real life court cases, you'll know that clients hiding crucial information from their lawyer for stupid reasons is one of the most realistic parts of the Ace Attorney series.

[@Belgand]

If anything it doesn't have enough objections. And instead of being dramatic they ought to be delivered in the most bored, perfunctory tone possible because it's going to happen after almost everything the opposing attorney says.

[@dontspeaktoelectrohead1491]

There should also be a random system where sometimes a hobo or a junkie will interrupt your game screaming nonsense that the police have to drag away

[@adriank4721]

@@TheSkypetube Yeah, but hopefully not by your own lawyer

[@someoneelse1942]

@@TheSkypetube Your lawyer is the exception. You tell your lawyer everything you can, because that's how they defend you properly. That's what they're paid to do.

[@repeekyraidcero]

Yanni Yogi ftw.

[@ENKTDeeColon_and_randomnumbers]

"It's not perfect, but then who is? Besides Columbo." - Yahtzee back in 2008 with the Crysis episode

[@akaritsukimi143]

Holy shit.

[@Claymann71]

OH! Just _one more thing._

[@olivercuenca4109]

I guess he showed us the answer to that mystery during the cold open.

[@InfiniteDarkMass]

Yeah, this got me in the mood to watch some Columbo. = )

[@quzar]

According to his Stadia review, if the internet disappears it's Columbo box set until the end of time.

[@WolfyTheDark]

"Nailing a lying witness to the wall... and everyone's acting like they're getting slapped with wet trouts again and again, and we're speedily descending the slopes of Mount Justice on our Truth toboggan..." is the best description of the highs in Ace Attorney I have ever heard.

[@TheGuardDuck]

Shockingly perfect!

[@Andiatus]

And the music, don't forget the music!

[@CartoonTriper]

a connodrum

[@perfectsynthetic]

That is an amazing and accurate and hilarious summary of these games.

[@CharlesAnjos]

i could actually hear said wet trout slaps in my head when he said that in truth i can hear them now!

[@chefschmixer]

I wondered what Yahtzee's thoughts on the Ace Attorney series were. Seeing how he enjoys adventure and puzzle games and knowing his dislike for anime and overly dramatic stuff. Finding out he both loves and hates it is probably the most logical and surprising conclusion.

[@orangeslash1667]

He also like strategy games.

[@HellecticMojo]

@@orangeslash1667 but not RTS

[@orangeslash1667]

@@HellecticMojo Close enough.

[@theamazingyoshi1938]

Just like Ace Attorney!

[@magoshighlands4074]

I'm not sure the man "enjoys" game anymore...

[@siobhanlawper1051]

Me watching this: 'Oh man, people are gonna start screaming at him to play Danganronpa again.' End card: 'Please don't bring up that fucking Danganronpa game again' Fair enough, really

[@sarafontanini7051]

I mean if he hated the minor anime tropes of ace attorney he'll DESPISE Danganronpa's gleeful overly anime-ness right down to silly plot points

[@BakaHoushi]

People really don't take the hint, do they?

[@TheDiegorockz]

@@sarafontanini7051 but he likes suda 51 games, and danganronpa games -specially the third one- deals in that same sort of metafictional nonsense, and purely violent and gamey storytelling

[@Eon2641]

@@TheDiegorockz Except they do it while drowning in anime tropes, which is kind of a sticking point for Yahtzee.

[@kungfuskull]

Man I have never 180'd as hard as I did for danganronpa. I went into it thinking it'd be a fascinating mystery with meaningful choices and it is the *ANTITHESIS* to both. Good GOD I have come to DESPISE those games, largely because they keep getting praised while being so obviously terrible.

[@TroyHardingLit]

*Yahtzee's avatar yanks down baliff’s trousers to reveal tanned skin tone.* me: “…are all Zero punctation characters wearing skin-fitting white masks?”

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

Apparently they're all huge fans of Michael Myers.

[@insaincaldo]

@@ArcaneAzmadi Now you have gone and put Michael Myers with a trilby in my head.

[@StarkRaven59]

The plot thickens though, when you realize his trousers have full legs on them, but he himself does not. Where does the fabric go when it's being worn? What unearthly force compels these people to not have legs? _How?_

[@peanutinc.7670]

Always has been.

[@Fraywire]

And born without arms or legs.

[@kenpachielric]

"I want to feel like anime Columbo" who doesn't want to be anime Columbo

[@insertcomedy8505]

Just one more thing onee chan...

[@RustyDroid]

Why is the internet suddenly so into Columbo?

[@OtakuboyT]

Detective Conan

[@shipkipsamazingchannel3248]

@@RustyDroid Some really good shitposts

[@rndmcmmnt]

@@RustyDroid what do you mean suddenly? Columbo was a beloved show before "the internet" was even a thing.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Whenever he says "Ooh how I hate it" I imagine Yahtzee glaring from a darkened second story window as he stares at Ace Attorney doing something silly in the yard. Then he sips from a martini glass as he plots his vengeance.

[@shadow98004]

Like a true Ace Attorney murderer!

[@Norrikan]

_"The world's oldest sub-genre of fanfiction"_ - May I gently remind everyone of Dante Alighieri and his masterpiece *La Divina Commedia*, where Dante Alighieri meets the poet Vergilius and the two become best friends as they go on a roadtrip through hell? That one was written 700 years ago.

[@peterdisabella2156]

Paradise lost also deserves the title of bible fanfiction.

[@drdca8263]

What sub-genre is that?

[@Marigoldpyre]

Funny you should mention that, I'm pretty sure that Yahtzee brings this up during his review of Dante's Inferno. He actually brings up that exact point about Dante just becoming super best friends with the legendary poet.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

Also, a shout-out to Lancelot, an original fanfic character who stole the original character's wife, yet somehow became a synonym for a noble knight. Oh, and the Judeo-Christian Lilith was also a great fanfic character. Her combination of seductive villain/inspirational anti-hero was still inspiring millions, over a thousand years later.

[@AdumbroDeus]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633 there's no such thing as "Judeo-Christian" they're different traditions that are very much at odds with each other, even though originally the latter was vaguely inspired by the former. Judaism doesn't even really have a supernatural focus and those characters that are shared are generally very different. See: Satan and Lucifer, the former is a Divine Prosecutor in Judaism, the latter is a Babylonian King title. Christianity combined them for a Zoroastrianism style great evil. Also Lilith isn't really an OC, she's most likely baggage from the Babylonian exile because they had similar demons and trying to force their culture on Jews was their intended method of genocide. She also isn't really a figure in Christianity.

[@eudgenius46]

Gotta say, the diamond buttplug bit was absolutely on point.

[@DanKnowsNothing]

Its funny that I know the exact case hes referencing lol

[@dankelteufel193]

I was grinning throughoit that whole section lol

[@dvillines26]

lmao it's almost beat for beat an accurate recounting of shit that goes down in one of the cases. it was a pretty cool moment. one thing I like about these games is that they make trials livelier, with the multiple witnesses and the jury examination.

[@licethelouse5618]

your profile pic is on point

[@datrulz12]

I feel like theres people that get frustrated the MC isnt exactly thinking what they are and just call it bad but they need to realize your playing as a character not yourself. AA is not a lawyer simulator

[@bangormc3rd562]

I lose my mind every time a witness has been caught lying half a dozen times, and the judge looks at them and goes, "Ok, now please change your story yet again so we can unquestioningly believe it. Again."

[@screamingcactus1753]

Or that it's practically guaranteed that the prosecution will just pull a new piece of evidence out of their ass at least twice per trial.

[@Montesama314]

It is so damn funny. I still remember the first game where the prosecutor presented some forensic report that didn't match events and then he goes, "well, here's the RIGHT one" and the judge doesn't even bat an eye.

[@vagrant2863]

If anything games like Ace Attorney really hammers home how important the first playthrough is. Selling yourself on replay value doesn't matter if the first time is obscure or frustrating. With the exception of roguelikes and stuff where the time to repeat is so low.

[@TheMikirog]

This is one of my main reasons as to why I didn't enjoy the first Zero Escape game. The game encourages you to go through every ending and it won't move on to the finale until you've seen them all. I was stuck looking for one route that I haven't explored yet and each time I attempted a new playthrough I had to solve the same flooding room scenario like ten or so times.

[@radical_dog]

@@TheMikirog They let you skip that stuff in the modern non-DS versions, which is nice. The downside is that the DS has a really cool moment that is less interesting with only one screen. Still a great series IMO.

[@THB192]

@@radical_dog Yeah there's a hypothetical Best Version of 999 where there are two screens like the DS version and the final puzzle but also the chart and timeskip from the rereleases (carried back from VLR where they're actually *necessary*). I also maintain that 999 is by far the best Zero Escape game because VLR tends to just kinda be way too up its own ass, complete with a final twist that only makes sense until you think about it. 999 was a lot tighter.

[@AdumbroDeus]

Then explain the success of hollow knight and well, soulslikes in general!

[@vagrant2863]

@@AdumbroDeus Obscure and Frustrating is not the same as difficult. Hollow Knight and Soulslikes give a goal and ways to get to it. EX. Demon's Souls - Kill the Archdemons, Dark Souls - ring the bells, then fill the lord vessel, DS2 find Vendrick etc.. Imagine if Demon's Souls didn't tell you about the Archdemons and put you in Pure Black World Tendency from the beginning. That would make a terrible impression and be incredibly frustrating.

[@BabboSensei]

"Beyond reasonable what?" A 3 words summary of every single Ace Attorney game

[@AdumbroDeus]

Welcome to the Japanese legal system!

[@101Jgold]

@@AdumbroDeus 99% conviction rate

[@Spore9996]

And "prosecutor commits assault", pretty much.

[@yangj08]

@@AdumbroDeus this is why a lot of travel guides heavily emphasize NOT getting yourself into possible trouble while visiting Japan. If you end up detained at all you can expect to be in for a VERY bad time.

[@BabboSensei]

They're not portraying the British system much differently in GAA. It's just now you also have to deal with a jury who's all set to have your client hanged as soon as they hear the fucking first witness testimony.

[@kohhna]

Chevy Chase actually could have been 1900s cockney slang, "The Ballad Of The Chevy Chase" was a popular song in England for 100s of years, it's that that the actor gets his stage name from. Bill Bailey's real first name isn't Bill either, but it's his stage name for the same reason, "Old Bill Bailey won't you come out tonight" is another old folk ballad.

[@ryanb6503]

Wow, Chevy Chase's actual first name is Cornelius. I guess I never questioned if an American would name their child "Chevy"

[@Osric24]

@@ryanb6503 Furthermore, I'd sooner name my kid Chevy than Cornelius. Just sayin'

[@Overstatement]

Incredible. There was so much slang that had me reaching for google to look up, I was a fool to write off "Chevy Chase" as an anachronism

[@praker3829]

Gotta love how the buttplug joke references an actual objection on the first game's last case. Yahtzee didn't drop the game 4 hours in bc it's repetitive and anime, he got 30+ hours minimum into it.

[@kaiserbeam5114]

YEAH HAHAHA

[@Shadethewolfy]

Turnabout Goodbyes or Rise From the Ashes?

[@thespeedyyoshi]

@@Shadethewolfy uhhhh wrong game XD

[@Shadethewolfy]

@@thespeedyyoshi ahh, so you were talking about the first Great Ace Attorney game. Gotcha.

[@melimsah]

I pretty much died laughing every time "OOH I HATE IT" happened. Gold stars!

[@MiaWinter98]

I must say, I very much enjoy The Zero Punctuation Anime Season. It adds a lot of Variety to the usual format. But I'm a Weeb and also like it when he talks trash about things I enjoy.

[@zakanyimen]

Only types of people hate weebs. Weebs and non weebs.

[@Sir_Bucket]

Can't believe I saw the day being insulted by Yathzee was recognised as a new type of fetishism

[@THB192]

Yahtzee *says* he hates anime but he knows enough about it to make that suspicious. It's like how Yahtzee says he hates comics but he's clearly read a lot of them so either he had a phase and got out or the "I hate comics" is an abbreviation for "I hate a lot of comics but actually there are a number I quite like."

[@hb6x8]

@@THB192 My bet is he's seen a fair amount of them, liked a few but hated most of them, which would be fair dues to the genre.

[@rEdQUINOX]

@@THB192 It's hard not to be familiar with anime tropes, when weebs come out of every nook and cranny to bother hapless bystanders with their barely disguised porn. I've only ever watched one anime and even I am familiar with most anime tropes

[@Rankerquat]

I'm a simple man. I see Yahtzee reference how much he enjoyed Earthbound in passing, and I parrot out "PIRATEANDREVIEWMOTHER3" like someone pulled a string on my back.

[@DeusExRequiem]

Pretty sure Lancelot is the older "OC becomes friends with well known character and they have adventures together".

[@AdumbroDeus]

This has probably been a thing since within a week after the first story ever made.

[@BloodyAltima]

@@Vanished_Mostly "And he'd have been cool with it if it weren't for those darned laws forcing him to care!"

[@lnsflare1]

*Sun Wu'Kung has entered the chat* *Dante Aligheri has entered the chat*

[@pieceofschmidtgamer]

@@Vanished_Mostly "All the while the King bangs his sister..." Yep, check it out. That's how Mordred became a thing. Mordred was an incest baby.

[@psychospeech6189]

@@lnsflare1 yeah, isn't Sun Wukong the Chinese version of Hanuman?

[@RobCrowley85]

The oldest fan fiction would have been Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy

[@BeefMeisterSupreme]

He made this joke in his actual Dantes inferno review

[@akamal92]

The oldest fanfiction is the sequel to the Epic of Gilgamesh in which Gilgamesh goes to the underworld and meets his bro Enkidu.

[@TARINunit9]

Everything has its ur-example before the actually popular version centuries later. Superman has his John Carter, Batman has his Scarlet Pimpernel

[@davidspetz9850]

@@TARINunit9 Lupin the Third his grandfather, Lupin Aresene (just to stay on theme)

[@RobCrowley85]

I love how this has turned into a thread for more examples! What else can we find?

[@jyojimori3166]

This is the funniest one he’s done in a while.

[@Eric-sy1xu]

I think it might be cause he Actually Enjoyed It and its easy to make fun of

[@CZOM027]

Goes to show how droll he's gotten over the years.

[@sirhenrymf]

I had several deep out loud laughs at this one, it's so good

[@CZOM027]

@Mister Mister Not much, if this is what puts food on the table it's bearable. If the purpose was to evolve and grow, then take a year or 5 vacation from the format to return for a short while.

[@CZOM027]

@Mister Mister I kinda agree, it's impossible to remain at your peak for soo many years. I tune in to hear some quips and whatever else might surprise me from the show. Yahtzee is a good self-critic, I believe.

[@Bhazor]

I always thought the writing in old Ace Attorney games were a lot better than most visual novels purely because it was on the DS, a platform with a screen so small that it could only really show about three lines of text at once. Really gave the dialog a lot more back and forth rather than the reams of monologue you get in every almost every other visual novel.

[@URBeast2]

Friendly reminder that the reason the law is done 'wrong' in Ace Attorney is because it's an indictment of Japanese judicial systems, not a misunderstanding of American/western legal practice

[@Sonic09Hedgehog]

Hell, the game being set in America is a localization desision. The original version is set in Japan, not America.

[@AdumbroDeus]

Which is the entire point about him pointing out that he's a Japanese teenager in GB. I don't think the games ever explicitly said they're set in America, but that may be bad memory. But if so it loses something.

[@THB192]

It's also not an accurate depiction of the Japanese legal system, nor does it try to be (although it *does* actually use its fake version of the Japanese legal system to criticize the real thing...). And that isn't just me saying that, Shu Takumi said that.

[@Stevey2578]

Too bad nobody is paying attention to that. Probably even the weebs.

[@AdumbroDeus]

@@THB192 Well it's satire, it's an exaggerated version of real issues (even the aristocratic prosecutors!) as a way to highlight those problems.

[@AnthonyF53]

Hearing Yahtzee say “I love Columbo” in that way is the heartwarming highlight I never expected I’d get from these reviews

[@zmanjace1364]

A Columbo game would be great. That way when I ask a character the same question 20 times it's just me being in character. It has nothing to do with the fact I can't remember shit.

[@gakuka]

After a while pretty much everything is formulaic, it's nice that the payoff is still somewhat worth it in this Ace Attorney entry, that's really what we play for.

[@ArchusKanzaki]

My favorite things on seeing Yahtzee review anime games, is to see how he reacts to it as definitely-non-weeb. Its just fun seeing him like that.

[@FortressWolf97]

“You’re turning my front lawn into sauerkraut just by standing on it.” I’m using that insult. XD

[@azzzanadra]

Sherlock holmes being my OC's bff is one of those fanfictions I never thought I wanted till I had

[@miraprime474]

All the Columbo love on the internet lately makes me smile. It's a wonderful series!

[@TerielAtmano]

3:40 Return of the Obra Dinn was his game of the year, Unavowed was fifth. Together with The Forgotten City all three are mentioned here in a positive context. It think The Forgotten City will be this year's winner.

[@utku1441]

I don’t think so, I mean he would probably put it on top 5 but it’s not a good enough game to be put in best game of this year

[@masato495]

I think he liked Returnal more

[@Overstatement]

Psychonauts 2 isn't out yet and you're ready to pronounce a winner?

[@TheJshBee]

Weirdly, this didn't really review Ace Attorney Chronicles, but was basically an overview of tropes in Ace Attorney in general.

[@LordExile99]

ironically, in not attempting to get Ryunosuke's name correct, Yahtzee missed a gold mine of joke opportunity. His last name is Naruhodo, which is Japanese for "Oh, I see" or "I understand"

[@FanOfMostEverything]

It is the Ace Attorney franchise. If you took out all the characters with punny names, you'd have an empty courtroom.

[@rEdQUINOX]

How is that a "gold mine of joke opportunity" though

[@LordExile99]

@@rEdQUINOX Yahtzee tends to make a habit of twisting character names/game titles throughout an episode any time he has to refer to them, each one being more ridiculous than the last. He could easily use the idea of a detective/attorney with a last name meaning "I get it now" to form any number of funny little pun names

[@avianKneecaps]

I'd argue that the first instance of historical fanfiction was dante's divine comedy. it's a self-insert story where he travels through hell, limbo, and heaven with a poet he was a huge fan of to find his ex girlfriend and sees everyone he disagrees with suffering in hell and everyone he likes is chilling in heaven and then god and the angels tell him he's cool or whatever.

[@Karak-_-]

You forgot to mention the Purgatory.

[@Nakayuki]

Was that slow enough Nick?

[@theescapist]

I'll let it pass.

[@hifikameli]

Asking Yathzee to speak slowly? Rookie mistake.

[@Leonson1]

I thought the origin of 'Chevy Chase' as cockney slang was the Ballad of Chevy Chase and not the actor. If so it definitely pre-dates the time period of Great Ace Attorney.

[@ericr8378]

I was going mention this too. Chevy Chase was definitely a thing in 1800's England.

[@ZekeStaright]

I hate when you find the gaping hole in a case but you can't do anything about it until the game catches up to where you are.

[@ashessakura7518]

“Please don’t bring up that fucking Danganronpa game again” And I just wanna know how many times this got recommended now but the answer is probably “Too many”

[@romxxii]

Au contraire, Yahtzee: it _is_ perfectly doable to wear a trench coat with a mini-skirt. My sister's done it once or twice.

[@thaddeushamlet]

I love when the contradiction makes sense and hasn't been hinted at so hard the seal can figure it out, and I hate it when there's a clear contradiction that you get penalized for pointing out because it isn't THE contradiction they want you to use. So far I've only once made a mistake that was my own, the rest have either been what I mentioned before or the answer is so obtuse I finally just save scum trial and error it, though thankfully that's only been a couple times.

[@Shadethewolfy]

"Nope, you can't present the banana; you need to present the PHOTO of the banana. They are completely different. _PENTALTY!!_ " - 1-5 "Ah ah ah~ You need to press that statement before presenting, even though no new information will be added. Penalty~" 2-2 "Oh my, it looks like you're a few steps ahead of this case and have already figured out the obvious twist. Which means you're wrong. Penalty~" - Also 2-2, interestingly enough

[@MeteoBahamut]

Man that Barok van Zieks impression is spot on.

[@TheEricFeigner]

First I'd like to say, I really do appreciate how quickly you shot out that into self plug thing. It makes it feel like you care about us because it was done at the quickest pace imaginable since it had to be at the front of the video. But I also love how it was done quickly out of spite. Or something.

[@rcbob9258]

Yahtzee: I love Ace Attorney games but I also hate them Me: Oh, then maybe he should look at Dangan-- Outro: Please don't bring up that fucking Danganronpa game again Me: ...Nevermind.

[@steelcladgamer6578]

I want an Ace Attorney game based on Kafka's "The Trial".

[@coolgreenbug7551]

That would take the Ace Attorney problem of "Stop telling me how I have no option and just let me play the GAME!" problem to the max

[@BugsyFoga]

“OBJECTION” - Phoenix Wright

[@SinHurr]

Sustained! - me

[@ThePoltergust5000]

People have talked about how Yahtzee's example of a clever puzzle is a direct reference to an ingame puzzle a significant way into the game, but I also want to call to attention how spot-on the mockup of a conversation between Ryu and Susato at 4:29 is

[@Nyaliva]

"I want to feel like anime Columbo" My favourite Yahtzee quote forever.

[@astarothgr]

It's been ...what, 13 or so years I've been watching Yahtzee now? ...and god damn, this one, THIS SPECIFIC episode was so creative! The dude is really putting an effort into these, and it shows! Looking forward to another 13 years my dude

[@Son-Michael]

The funny thing is, if I remember correctly, they got inspiration from Columbo when they made the first Ace Attorney. So it's pretty close to anime Columbo... but without the miniskirt.

[@samlipton7872]

I sense a top 5 entry! That was a lot of praise and strong feelings about this game

[@chestedarmor5578]

I sense too much hate for top 5

[@lnsflare1]

I hope to see Yahtzee review the Danga- *gunshot* Zero Escape trilogy.

[@Magmafrost13]

3:07 Dante's Inferno beats it to the punch by a few hundred years

[@ciphergacha9100]

Sub genre

[@MissSallyB1]

so going by the visual at 4:55, this leads me to conclude that everybody in the Zero Punctuation universe is actually wearing full-body white leotards.

[@E1craZ4life]

My thinking for adding replay value to detective games is a pseudorandom Cluedo factor. The answer to who did what where and how is decided by a series of decisions ranging from important to seemingly trivial leading up to the incident, and if you can remember what decisions you made, you can revisit scenarios as you desire.

[@azzzanadra]

How about, everytime you play a case, the murder/criminal is someone different, with different motivations and methods

[@E1craZ4life]

@@azzzanadra I don’t think that’d be fair to players who want to study a particular scenario and their decision making process during the endeavor.

[@azzzanadra]

@@E1craZ4life I mean, each time you start the case, the murder victim is the same, but how they died and who killed them is different

[@E1craZ4life]

@@azzzanadra What I'm saying is that the answers aren't decided by random chance but by a series of decisions made by the player leading up to the incident.

[@tika5635]

Thanks!

[@theescapist]

Thank you!

[@espio87]

That love/hate relationship with Ace Attorney strikes too close to home. I wish visual mystery had a difficulty setting too but I get the feeling that would force the writers to make more than one very dense script for the game. I think the hardest part of an Ace Attorney game was the seance part in Spirit of Justice. The puzzles there were some of the hardest (for me at least).

[@dijon_mustard]

Personally, I found the DLC case in the 1st game to be the most challenging. The cases in the 2nd game were difficult in the sense the "correct" contradictions didn't feel like the ones you found out naturally. Always weird, mundane things you point out until Phoenix spends 300 minutes explaining why this mild contradiction is actually important

[@ihaetschool3361]

@@dijon_mustard i mean, 1-5 is complete bullshit, and you can even completely doom your save file a a certain point

[@DefendYoungstown]

I now want an anime Columbo. Given the state if the artform nowadays, there *would* be a miniskirt, because it would be an isekai series, and the titular character would now be in some alternate universe in the body of a dubiously aged late teen girl... but still sounds like Peter Faulk, rocks perpetual bedhead, has the squiggy eye, chomps a cigar, and wears the rumpled coat.

[@Crase1986]

I like how Yahtzee is shilling for the Escapist, like he isn't carrying the platform on his back by himself.

[@xSaraxMxNeffx]

All the more reason to shill. Who better to bring in money than the only person anyone recognises

[@shawndavis779]

2:40 "Ryunokuke Naruhodo, no I will not attempt a Japanese accent.." Don't worry, Yahtzee, that was like nails down a chalkboard.

[@bluelogic8621]

Steins;Gate is an excellent VN though. Granted it's a bit wordy, which Yahtzee doesn't like as stated in this video, and also full of technobabble as it's a very science-based story. If you don't have about 60 hours to spare for the VN watch the anime instead, it's a worthy adaptation.

[@Playbahnosh]

White I totally agree with this (Steins;Gate being my all time favorite anime), I don't see Yahtzee touching it with a ten foot pole. Even less as so many people keep recommending it. Yahtzee is a snarky, smarmy contrarian at heart, that's what started this entire series. After all these years of hating on anything vaguely Japan related, he begrudgingly had to admit liking some anime games, like the Yakuza series or the Persona games, etc, but he always prefaced it with a HUGE load of snark and cynicism as to separate himself from it as much as possible. Yes, Yahtzee IS a tsundere. The only reason he even touched a visual novel - the stomping grounds of fat, sweaty weebs clasping their body pillows with one hand and their knobs with the other - is the video game drought. Ace Attorney is an outlier in VN land, since it's not chock full of anime titties and underage tentacle porn, and it has a coherent story to boot. If your only exposure to visual novels is the Steam charts and sweaty anime youtubers, then I can't really fault you for wanting to nuke Japan just one last time. Anime and Japanese games are aquired tastes for western audiences, and that's putting it mildly. You either fall into it headfirst, and emerge years later in your favorite Neptunia cosplay clutching a body pillow, or you stay very far away from the whole thing and sometimes throw rocks at it to see if it's still alive. While Yahtzee dipped his little toe in anime land due to sheer curiosity (and contractual obligation I'm sure), he is far from diving into anime, VNs or the deeper part of this pool.

[@EbonySaints]

@@Playbahnosh Honestly, I actually have to think for a while when it comes to a recent-ish popular VN that actually goes Dream of the Fisherman's Wife on anyone. (To be fair, I haven't kept up with any releases in five years so who knows.) It's just such an overplayed trope that I don't think any studio or artist does it out of obligation unless it's their calling card. I'm starting to think that it's just a stereotype from the days of Urotsukidōji and La Blue Girl being on the kids shelf right next to PBS shows at the local Blockbuster that has never died off.

[@Shadethewolfy]

@@Playbahnosh Umineko is just as much an outlier as Ace Attorney. No anime titties or underage tentacle porn there. Only sadness, despair, abuse, murder and a main cast consisting of adults that do everything in their power to make the reader *_HATE THEM._* Oh yeah, also magic. Lots of magic. Go read Umineko. Do it or I'll choose YOU for the next Twilight killing.

[@TwoTonTiger]

God, "simpering smugfuck" is a truly wonderful expression haha

[@marcosfidelis4171]

Nick, let him go faster! I want to see how fast he can go

[@theescapist]

We might break the spacetime continuum if he goes faster, have to be careful.

[@volcryndarkstar]

@@theescapist Good. Space and time are overrated.

[@Anonymos185]

Any faster and Eminem will sue The Escapist for identity theft

[@DeskOfKidAdorable]

I dunno, Yahtzee, the ballad of Chevy Chase was supposedly sung well into the 1800s. Isn't it at least possible if not plausible the name could have fallen into Cockney slang usage around the turn of the next century, even if it was never actually used?

[@amazingdrewH]

Yahtzee's description of anime fans would work better if I didn't know he goes to work in a bathrobe

[@kacklina]

I love my Yakuza, jrpgs, and Ace Attorney games, I also like a lot of anime, but yes, the intro is so on point,from starters it looks like the freedom flag of all the fandom are boobs, and the community can be the worst bunch of weirdos, sometimes this people act as if you were in a cult with them when you talk about games or anime.

[@JameboHayabusa]

The worst ones lately have been Nier imo. If you don't love the games unconditionally, they act like you just skeeted their mom, left them all without any contact info, and spat on their dogs grave. Like yeah, the Taro games are good, but they aren't infallible masterpieces without any flaws lmao.

[@MrLeerolljankins]

@@JameboHayabusa as someone who unironically is a fan of the Nier games can’t help but to agree then again can’t it be argued that’s pretty much true for all fandoms literally there’s always that few sections of them that are always the most annoying and obnoxious bunch of said fandom

[@JameboHayabusa]

@@MrLeerolljankins I love nier too, and yes you could say that about a lot of fandoms. I was just surprised with ut.

[@Wolfrover]

"Small point, Capcom, but I'm pretty sure 'Chevy Chase' wouldn't have been Cockney rhyming slang for 'face' in the year 1900." Sorry to be the bearer of historical trivia, Yahtzee, but the name 'Chevy Chase' comes from a medieval ballad about a hunt in a chase (hunting ground) in the Cheviot Hills -- and how it started a war between Scotland and Northumberland. "The Ballad of Chevy Chase". The ballad is first recorded under Henry VIII, and was still well enough known in 1855 to be name-dropped in Elizabeth Gaskell's _North and South_ . The actor? His birth name was Cornelius, poor thing.

[@SnuSnuDungeon]

"Anime fans are like vegans without the moral superiority or the - no actually, about the same body odour. " This is the most accurate description of fandoms I've ever heard

[@dragonicbladex7574]

@@GreyWolfLeaderTW I mean, for the most part I think it's an apples to oranges comparison, neither superior nor inferior, I just have a preference for one style over the other. I mean you can't really claim superiority of one sub-medium over another because there's just so much stuff inside of it

[@nicklager1666]

The japanese version of L.A. Law is looking pretty sweet. I kind of miss Richard Dysart and Corbin Bernsen though.

[@BoomBoomBrucey]

I've been trying to wrack my brain to remember where that bear is from in your picture, please tell me and end the suffering.

[@nicklager1666]

@@BoomBoomBrucey Harvey Birdman

[@BoomBoomBrucey]

@@nicklager1666 omg yes, thank you. I wasn't even close to getting it 😅

[@fatmanbravo6]

Woo! Great episode Yhatz! RIP your inbox though...

[@nemoatkins7328]

1:35 The irony is, I could see Yahtzee at least liking the concept of Steins;gate if he looked into it. I mean, alternate universes, dark storytelling (not as dark as some of the games in the creator's library of works, like Song of Saya, but still dark), relatively little of the anime tropes he seems to dislike (not to the extent it's non-existent, but there's certainly less of it than might be expected, probably helped by most of the cast not being school students) and some really neat concepts that get explored...I could see it being something he enjoys more than he might expect, though that is admittedly not saying much considering visual novels in general don't seem like his kind of thing!

[@Spinnermist]

Yes, but it's probably not just about whether he'd like it, but if it'd make a good episode, and if it's worth annoying fans pestering him after because they think he's got hooked on japanese games, rather than good games he likes, and would make a good review, that happen to be Japanese.

[@louisagreer1700]

As a long-time Ace Attorney fan, all of your criticism is perfectly valid and this is why I love you.

[@ChristianBawden]

A game where you could play as anime columbo would be incredible

[@MadMadNomad]

Or just a Colombo game, period. Forget the reboot, hollywood. Just hire that guy who does Peter Falk impressions on youtube and get a studio that's done stuff like it before and give us a game, you cowards.

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

The Cockney Slang "chevy chase" has nothing to do with the actor, it's referring to the Cheviot Hills on the border of England and Scotland. It's gone by that name since at least 1388, where a skirmish called the Battle of Otterburn took place, recounted in "The Ballad of Chevy Chase." So yeah, it probably WAS in use in 1900.

[@nickcap7355]

0:34 Yeah that was good Yahtzee, thanks for slowing it down some for me.

[@blake-81]

3:23 ... Yahtz, dude... Did you just played the whole Tsundere trope right there completely straight? Ya've really caught the Weebie Jeebies, mate.

[@crimsonstrykr]

Yahtz: B-Baka!!

[@alsoSeeb]

"Oh, a Japanese detective-style game review? Boy, I bet he'd *really* hate Danga-" -endcard- Figures.

[@RiflemanIII]

Funny you should mention that, because a lot of Ace Attorney's existence can be explained by the fact that both Perry Mason and Columbo were big hits in Japan.

[@jguns3738]

Detective Gumshoe's whole design is "Columbo if he was huge"

[@BlueCrimson10]

*about to write a satirical comment* Hey Yahtze if you like Ace Attorney then you should check out Dangan- *sees the credits say "please don't bring up Danganronpa"* ...oh.

[@RFTL]

So it's time to bring up Avery Attorney Instead :-P

[@nevogolan6505]

If you think anime can't make miniskirts work with giant raincoats you underestimate us good sir

[@Sora383]

You know after watching this last week then a few crime shows that point he makes about the defendant hiding something and the lawyer sticking by the defendant is a pretty big staple in a lot of crime shows. And when the show is an hour long is normally happens like 22 minutes in .

[@OGNoNameNobody]

I hope CAPCOM hires Ben for the next Ace game; That Diamond Butt Plug line he wrote was *classic* _Turnabout Courtroom_ goodness!

[@LuLe232]

Thank you Yahtzee, for expressing our feelings about anime so eloquently.

[@comiccinema8177]

Sooooo….should I be the one to mention to all the people saying “Dante’s Inferno is the oldest fan fiction” that Yahtzee specifically stated the Sherlock Holmes thing was the oldest SUBGENRE of fan fiction? As in the oldest plot line/style of fan fiction, not necessarily the oldest fan fiction period?

[@mikehab7453]

"Less is more" is a powerful lesson that visual novels should learn from. And a lot of anime, for that matter.

[@bbrake]

I like that at 4:56 we learn these characters are actually a fleshy brown color, but wearing stark white body suits.

[@mrkisukes]

My favorite Ace Attorney trial was the final trial of the 2nd game. The 2nd game was probably overall the weakest imo, but hot damn if that trial wasn't absolutely amazing with its tension and payoff.

[@sarafontanini7051]

oneof the best ace attorney villains too, though the only one that isn't part of an overt overarching plot

[@16BitGamerCat]

So, fun fact for Yhatzee, sometimes there's more than one contradiction you can make in a single testimony, or multiple pieces of evidence you can present to make the same contradiction, which by default makes it better than the other ace attorney games because of how much nicer it is to just be able to present the receipt showing that the accused only had 3 books immediately instead of HAVING to present the photo showing the 3 books in question beforehand. (Looking at you PL VS PW:AA CASE 1!) Edit: Plus, in this game you aren't stupid enough to not flip over a fucking receipt until you're told to. Well, after you get the tutorial for it anyways.

[@faresalsayed9005]

Case five in the first game is a perfect example of this **spoiler alert for Case five of the first game** In case five you can win by two ways The first is by cross-examining Tobias Gregson and force him to reveal his deal with the culprit or cross examining the culprit and proving he couldn’t have witnessed the crime

[@16BitGamerCat]

@@faresalsayed9005 the first one I noticed was in Case 4, Game 1, where you *SPOILERS* Can present either the bookstore recipt or the photograph of the scene to make the point about the number of books at the scene. You always need to present both in the end, but you present the photo automatically if you present the receipt first, unlike presenting the photo first, where you have to manually present the receipt.

[@rasenganknight]

Four words: The zero escape series.

[@jasonfrancese8359]

No, oldest fanfiction was Lancelot. Totally cool new character never seen before someone rewrote all the stories who’s cooler than Arthur, a better person than Arthur, and who Guinevere secretly really wants to bang.

[@Wolfs0n]

Good ol Yahtzee and his snarky sense of spite

[@srwapo]

Oh, someone please draw Yahtzee some fan art of Columbo in a miniskirt.

[@ruggedlemmings9163]

Watched a buddy of mine stream an Ace Attorney game the other week, and while I can certainly see how some people would like them my quasi-knowledge of actual court procedure made watching it drive me absolutely insane. In a single cross examination there were no less than 12 causes for an immediate declaration of a mistrial.

[@faresalsayed9005]

I mean the game series is a satirical piss take on the Japanese legal system so The procedures being stupid is par for the course

[@charcharmunr]

They're based on, essentially, a vague notion of how the Japanese legal system works. Perjury only exists when it's inconvenient for the defense, evidence can just show up midway through, surprise witnesses happen all the time and the true culprit somehow ALWAYS ends up on the stand. Alsoeven if you've proven your client innocent beyond even a SHADOW of a doubt you still keep going for no reason. That said, later games do it better where the clinching argument against the guilty party is ALSO something that shows your client's innocence. Reasonable doubt just isn't a thing apart from, like, one example in a relatively inconsequential thing as part of another case. Trying to apply genuine court procedure concepts to AA is just gonna get you headaches.

[@ruggedlemmings9163]

@@charcharmunr Exactly my point. Like I said, I can understand the appeal of these games and if I didn't have the (admittedly very little) knowledge of court procedure that I do (mainly from participating in Mock Trials back in high school) I'm sure these games would be just fine with me. But when things come up like "The detective gave you the wrong autopsy report" or I'm just sitting there watching my buddy's stream like "What the actual fuck?!"

[@Thesaurus_Rex]

I think Dante's Divine Comedy is the oldest fanfiction subgenre: "I travel through history and/or mythology with people I think are cool."

[@EroPantherH]

Of all the visual novels he can randomly pick and piss on, Steins;Gate. Well, it is probably one of the finest visual novels in existence so it is reasonable for that to immediately pop in his search.

[@fwg1994]

It's also one of the few where it's characters feel like actual people, not that the initial impressions they give off would make you think that. But also what little I've played of the visual novel, it's also maybe one of the worst offenders I've seen of just being incredibly verbose. Like the writers just wanted us to thoroughly understand all the science related to what was going on and suggests the plot was theoretically possible.

[@THB192]

@@fwg1994 That's, like, every visual novel and it really tends to put me off them. Fate Stay/Night is the worst about this. It's one part exciting action and character drama to two parts cooking show. You could literally cut out all the action elements and you'd have a slice-of-life that teaches you how to cook food. And I'm not speculating because *that happened*.

[@EroPantherH]

@@fwg1994 Well, Steins;Gate is one of the only visual novels that I played without getting bored, and I've played a fair share of visual novels.

[@dragonicbladex7574]

@@fwg1994 I feel like a lot of that verboseness adds to it personally, to me it's interesting little fodder and an aesthetic choice and makes the world feel uniquely believable unlike a lot of other vns

[@spectrumbots4268]

The Anime Saga of Zero Punctuation is a wild ride so far!

[@TheZombieKing]

_"But I like them, but OOH, HOW I HATE THEM!!"_ Yahtzee is what we degenerates call a "Tsundere".

[@jennyderr1426]

4:45 that is actully a more crass version of something that actually happened in the game, but its even more weird there.

[@Shekel-Shoveler]

If this hole reviewing thing falls through, Yahtz could always get a career reading the small print for ads

[@Montesama314]

Ironically, of all the ridiculous things in the Ace Attorney universe, a guy from California having a century-past Japanese ancestor isn't one of them.