I've pretty much only lurked these forums in the past, but I've enjoyed some of the content the wonderful creative folks here have produced over the years. Hopefully there will be some interest here as well for an admittedly niche premise. While crossovers typically don't do it for me, the idea of Beatrice and Battler squaring off in a court room was too fun for me not to pursue. No promises about how well it worked out, of course!


More details on the project page, but just want to reiterate here: the case could be considered to have light spoilers for episode 2 of Umineko. If you are familiar with the red and blue truths, you should be fine. It might not be as enjoyable if you're not already familiar with the two main characters, though! Also, if you have not finished Umineko, do not read the "prologue" PDF. It is optional, but has potential spoilers for all of Umineko.

Apologies in advance for any bugs or hiccups. I've noted one on the project page, and recently some players have stumbled on a rare one where sprites stop showing up onscreen. The latter is fixable with a reset/reload from an older save file, and is unfortunately a known bug with this version of PyWright. Sorry about that.

Thanks for reading, and if you decide to check out the game, I hope you enjoy it!

Just started playing this case, and I must say it's a very solid case, with good mystery and good characters, especially Battler and Beatrice, they don't feel OOC at all. However, I feel a bit stupid, because I just got stuck on Hawkeye's second testimony.



Thanks in advance.

Yeah, that bit is certainly tricky... Here's a hint:



I can give a more explicit hint too, if you'd like. I do slightly regret putting that annoying bit in so early in the case, but I had to gate the player at the triple testimony so that they'd be able to freely press around through the different testimonies

Looks great! I really loved Umineko, but I forgot a lot about it. I think I'm going to go through the VN once again before trying your case...

See you in one month!

(I'm joking. Downloading your fangame right now)

Thanks for the hint, I was finally able to crack the testimony.(And yes, it was a bit evil, but still logical, so I think there's nothing wrong with it.) Also, just reached

All in all, I think that so far it's a very solid case, and I can recommend it to anyone Can't wait to play through the rest of the case. So, back to testmony cracking

PS:

Shouldn't need more than a familiarity with Umineko, really. Hope you enjoy it!




Good job getting past it - should be smoother sailing from there.

Glad you're enjoying it so far! Getting to use the umi OST is a big perk of the setting, of course :)

...I wrote a gigantic review, accidentally logged out, and lost it. That will teach me to write these things in here. I'll try again another time. In the meantime, this is an excellent first case from Xak. The presentation is wonderful and the pacing is excellent. There are some definite logic fixes that are worth adding, though, and some puzzles could use revision.

EDIT: Full spoiler-free review, shortened significantly from my lost draft:

A Beautiful Chessboard with a Few Missing Pieces

As Raymond Chandler once observed, an old-school mystery author will often find that when characters behave in the way the plot demands, they stop acting like believable human beings. The sound novel Umineko no Naku Koro ni dives deep into this problem: are mystery novel characters just pieces in a chess game? Should they be?

Xak's Umineko/Ace Attorney crossover Turnabout of the Golden Witch toys with this problem a little, but ultimately comes down on the side of the chess game. I suspect that Xak set the action early in the Umineko canon (around the end of the second episode or so) precisely because, at that point, the duel between reader and author was still relatively untouched by emotional complications. While this case occasionally suggests the possibility of caring for the characters, Xak doesn't emphasize this. They are pieces. This is a mystery puzzle, first and foremost, a chess match against a playful trickster, delivered with style.

And what style! Graphically, Turnabout of the Golden Witch deploys new interface screens, cleanly drawn maps, custom prosecutor and defense sprites, and all of the presentational tricks one would expect of a top-tier fancase. All of these bits of polish go far in selling the cackling melodrama of Witch's Chess. One logic duel sequence feels like the best interactive version of an Umineko logic duel I've seen; I don't think it has the best logic, but the presentation sells it so well that it doesn't need to. That this is Xak's first released case is impressive.

The pacing, too, is excellent, with one or two exceptions. Xak is to be commended for keeping the game's ambition manageable. There is no investigation, just a trial that methodically moves from one question to the next. Rather than overcomplicate the plot with crazy twists (though some surprises exist, of course), Xak delivers a mystery that does not rely on stupefying the player with dozens of meaningless revelations. Puzzles are introduced with flair, solved, then settled before they overstay their welcome.

Does this case have weaknesses? Yes, at least in the version I played. Xak relies too much on multi-evidence presents. Combined with a few cross-examinations where some reasonable alternative presentations are not accepted, this is a sign that it is not always clear what information a given piece of evidence is supposed to represent. There's a particularly dubious roadblock testimony early in the game that could use rewrites. I discussed this with Xak while writing my review, and we agreed that some changes would be helpful here.

Still, even in its current form, this is an enjoyable case. If you like Umineko and Ace Attorney, you should give it a try! Even if you haven't played Umineko, you might enjoy the stylish presentation and some well-executed puzzles. This recommendation would be even stronger given another round of editing to clear up a few puzzle design issues. But as it stands, this case is easily worth your time.

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Big thanks to Ferdie for the insightful feedback, and the review! I've just finished an update to the game that attempts to address the feedback he provided, you can read about/play it here: https://xak.itch.io/turnabout-of-the-golden-witch/devlog/83283/one-more-update-and-thanks. For those on the fence, I think the game is considerably improved by the removal of the aforementioned "roadblock" in the second testimony.

I know it's a late reply since my last message here but I finished enjoying your fancase around a month ago, and it was really satisfying to find out the answers. :D I especially loved how you managed to reproduce Beatrice and Battler's banter quite well, which was in my opinion what made their debates so enjoyable in the VN.

Thanks for playing, happy to hear you enjoyed it! Hopefully you got to play the updated version of the game, without the
I'm glad to hear the banter landed—that was one of the things I really wanted to get right, but it's hard to be objective on whether you're doing someone else's characters justice.

Very good case. I like it.