*So Gregson's body was right there in that bag all through that casual hotel scene. EW. ...I love it.
*I also loved how that final piece of evidence had been inside Karuma all along.
*I think it was in this case Van Zieks said "Pray forgive the discourtesy of filling my hallowed chalice whilst I stand accused of murder". Definitely among my favourite quotes of his.
*"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for the truth." I mean sure, but what a thing to say to your best friend during one of the most difficult times in his life.
*I'm not sure "UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH" was the best way to put it when Kazuma thought he wouldn't be able to find the truth and not allowed to keep prosecuting. Before that "-RGH" I read it less like a scream in despair and more like something akin to a toddler having a meltdown, like he was about to throw himself onto the floor and pound it with his hands and feet, which I... assume wasn't the intention.
While satisfying to see everything come together, this case felt overly stuffed to me. Some of the information we learn could have come earlier and benefitted both this case and other ones. But that sort of goes for the entire duology - the first game is basically a slow start and this one goes from 1 to 1000.
Also, I've been thinking before that later games in the franchise tend to seem like their respective final cases are trying so hard to be maxed out, highest stakes ever, most personal connections and backstory-related stuff ever, etc etc, but this one takes the cake. And once Stronghart started screaming and Buckingham palace got involved I had to agree with Stronghart - the trial was becoming a farce. Him as a judge with his unicorn was fun though, I hadn't expected that.
Since it was already a direct continuation of case 4 they could just as well have made that cut a bit later, I feel. And/or added some more breaks to signal that this would take a while. That last bit of the trial just. Never. Ended. And sure, I still got through the whole thing in one go, so I guess it was engaging enough. Though more than anything I think that's evidence my medication is working.
Earlier in the game I had been thinking it would've been cool to have Sholmes as an actual investigation partner at some point, so it was a lot of fun to have that and getting to play as Yujin. Loved their deduction and Yujin's tapdancing. And the reveal with Jingoku was interesting, I wouldn't have expected that from a judge we'd seen since the very first case of the first game. What a vile man. And it put his timely tossing of Menimemo in a whole new light.
This was supposed to be Ryunosuke's crowning moment and I was playing as the guy, but really I was much more mesmerized by what was going on in the prosecutor's stand. Kazuma's flaws and struggles felt believable and to me, he's one of, if not the, AA-character that feels the most human. Which in contrast I think might explain while I wasn't as keen on Ryunosuke in this game as in the previous one - he suddenly felt more written, if that makes sense. Kazuma's prosecution-animations were great especiallly in how subtle they were (for AA-standards, at least).
His and Barok's dynamics were very interesting. I'd love to see how they got on after this. Their backstory/-stories were pretty typical AA-final-case-things, but it was done in a different enough way to not feel like just a rehash of previous final cases.
There were some nice moments after the case ended also, particularly Iris referring to Sholmes as her dad, Ryunosuke getting Karuma, and of course his and Kazuma's final locking of swords. It circled back pretty well to the start of the first game, beginning and ending with their bond. And, just like case 2 in that game, with them getting separated and Ryunosuke taking over Karuma, though in a much nicer way this time.