You can't change destiny, but you can remaster it

Dual Destinies was Phoenix and co's first 3D adventure - barring the Japanese release of that wacky detective crossover - and, just like I was a decade ago, I'm impressed by how well their over-the-top art style has been translated.

Ace Attorney's knack for eccentric characters carries a lot of water for this game's overall story -- like I also observed back in 2013, the early cases are underwhelming, and its "dark age of the law" plot doesn't really get rolling until quite late.

Dual Destinies also under-delivers on the "investigation" part of its gameplay formula, as a lot of scenes don't even have an Examine button -- and this lack of interactivity and flavor text makes the early cases' slow-moving narratives stand out even more.

At least newcomer Athena's "mood matrix" mechanic gets plenty of opportunities to spice up conversations and cross-examinations. The variety here is a welcome improvement on how anemically Apollo's debut used his own new trick.

(Alhough it's disappointing that Ema's forensic evidence minigames are totally absent, until the Turnabout Reclaimed DLC case.)

In the end, while I'll still heap praise upon this game's characters and overall flair ...

... the bulk of its cases aren't all that engaging, in their investigations nor in their narrative pacing.

Given that, I'm not sure whether I should expect Spirit of Justice to have aged more gracefully.

Progress: Finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies