Dual Destinies
Jun. 22nd, 2021 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenitsyTo spare all my discord friends from having to hear my rant about Dual Destinies YET AGAIN, I am going to just throw all of this out there in one place, we'll see how this goes and how long this post is.
So first things first: I actually really enjoyed Dual Destinies! At this point it's pretty safe to say that Simon Blackquill is my favorite character in Ace Attorney - like oh, the enormous threatening criminal is actually just trying to nobly sacrifice himself to save an innocent person (while being a total snarky bitch about it) AND ALSO he wears electrified shackles to keep him in line? Did Capcom just, like, summon him from my id? I also think that the Big Reveal (you know which one) was really cool -- in the end, the execution of it needed some work, but the concept was great. Also, Cosmic Turnabout and Turnabout for Tomorrow are among my favorite cases in the whole series. They're intense and compelling. Also, Miles's return is a GREAT moment.
So this is not a Dual Destinies hate screed. But I am gonna get into what doesn't work, and what I'd do instead, if it were up to me.
DD retcons and ignores what made Apollo Justice an interesting game. To make my bias clear: I really liked AJ. I have already ranted this rant a little bit, but basically what it comes down to is that having Beanix as a character is a fascinating choice. We last saw Phoenix seven years ago as an idealist who always sees the best in people! He's willing to take on corrupt systems and fight for truth and justice! And then he becomes Beanix, this jaded, unhelpful jerk who has hidden motivations and a master plan. He's spent years putting together his case against Kristoph, building MASON, getting the evidence he needs. He forges the trump card, he manipulates Apollo, he keeps a big ol' secret for Lamiroir. I absolutely get why a lot of people did not like this change and do not like this game. But I think it's fascinating and that Beanix is a great evolution of his character, with the believing-in-justice torch passed on to Apollo (who does handle it differently - he's less idealistic but tbh a better lawyer).
Then Dual Destinies happens and... that's all just gone. Phoenix re-took the Bar and got a better suit and a cute little Clark Kent curl and now he's a naive bluffing idealist again! Kristoph who? Poker champ where? Trauma what? Everything is fine! And while I can handwave that -- in fic I always write him as the poker champ inside, with his new suit as a persona -- it's a bummer that the change was ignored. We don't get to see Phoenix recover, we don't get to see him grow and become the next version of himself. It's literally like none of that ever happened. That's bad storytelling.
Athena is a missed opportunity. I always hesitate to do public criticism of female characters because female characters tend to either get irrational hatred or completely ignored, and I don't want to play into that. But I don't think it's fair to talk about DD's flaws as a game without talking about this. When the game starts, it seems like Athena is going to be the new POV character, the way Apollo was in AA:AJ. But then she has her breakdown and Phoenix rushes in to take over the case. That's pretty much indicative of her arch. It's not that Athena has no agency or doesn't get to be a POV character, but she also exists very much as a plot point. Even though the climactic cases are about her mother's murder and her trauma and history, very little of the story is about her. As a character, she pushed aside all of her trauma to focus on becoming a lawyer - sure - but we don't see her as a motivated and intense go-getter, we see her as a perky teenage girl, who freezes up when she's in the courtroom.
I don't want to dismiss the perky teenage girl archetype. That's a totally valid and good character to have! But we also already had Maya in the trilogy and Trucy in AJ. While these three characters are very different, they're cut from the same basic cloth, and because the game steers so heavily into Perky Athena I don't think we get the kind of depth we do with Maya (who got to grow up over three games and deal with her family trauma - without even taking into account fully adult, mature Maya in SOJ!) and Trucy (AJ literally ends on a note that she's not as happy as she pretends, she's perky but she's also been forced into being a breadwinner since she was a pre-teen, her biological father abandoned her and then is murdered, there's a lot going on there!).
If DD had leaned into Athena's trauma, I think it would have worked. But instead, her trauma only comes up when it's a plot point to push her aside, it's not something we see through cases that aren't really about that. If they let her have modes other than "happy" and "panic attack" that would help. (To be fair: my memories of Monstrous Turnabout and Turnabout Academy are pretty sketchy, so I may be minimizing it, but the game literally never mentions her mother's murder until the later cases so it also clearly isn't being used as a motivating factor, either.)
Holding back big reveals makes no sense. I get that the game doesn't want to let you in on all of the backstory or the twists early on, which is fair! But, as noted above, the unwillingness to let on anything means you can't dig much into Athena as a character. It also makes no sense for Phoenix, the man who hired her, to not know anything about her backstory. And like sure, he's used to random teenage lawyers, he survived Franziska von Karma and Short Haired Klavier Gavin, he he didn't ever have to give them job interviews. (I think it might be hinted or stated that he knows some of it? I don't remember though - but if he does know, he doesn't, you know, talk to Athena about it, even when Simon shows up in court, which seems like a thing you'd talk about!!)
And you know what? It makes no sense that Apollo wouldn't know. Because here's the thing: Apollo and Clay were best friends from middle school. They used to hang out at space center together. They did it so much that there's a picture of Clay with the GYAXA crew, including Still Alive Metis! Given that connection, Apollo probably should have met Athena and Simon when they were all younger. And even if he somehow didn't - Athena was shy so she never left her room, and Simon just wasn't there that day, sure - he should absolutely have known about Metis and her death and Simon having been found guilty, and as a result would know who Athena was.
Basically what it comes down to is that by saving all of that backstory for the last two cases, you force characters to behave in ways no one actually would by never talking or thinking about any of it. That in turn makes it feel like less of a big exciting reveal and more like bad writing.
The Dark Age of the Law also makes no sense. Of all the things in this rant, this one is really minor. But gee, is the court really corrupt now? You don't say! But uh... remember how Damon Gant used to be the chief of police, and Manfred von Karma was an undefeated, cheating prosecutor for years? Redd White had the whole legal system in his pocket? Everyone assumed that Edgeworth was lying and falsifying evidence for a couple of years? Their legal world has always been like this! Centering a game around legal corruption doesn't work if I can easily imagine characters reminiscing about equally bad or worse corruption that they already brought down.
Okay yeah, that's all pretty messy, but how do you fix it, smartiepants?
I'm not gonna pretend I have all the solutions. I'm not a games developer, I don't know what goes into crafting all the narratives here, and it's much easier to suggest revisions you'll never have to figure out the logistics of, but here are some big changes I'd make.
So first off, a lot of the basic premise stays. Athena's mom was murdered, Simon took the fall (thinking he was protecting Athena). Years later the murderer comes back and kills Clay. Athena still gets accused by Aura, Aura still forces them all into a trial, Apollo still has doubts. Phoenix even still retakes the Bar! The Big Spoiler Reveal is still the same. That stuff is all good foundation to work from.
But...
Give all the characters actual arches!!! That is not rocket science. You do not need to be a member of GYAXA to figure that out.
Specifically what I'm thinking about is: Phoenix has JUST retaken the Bar leading into the tutorial case. He's mentoring Athena through it similar to how Mia mentored him, d'aww. But he also has a lot of asides in it when Athena gets enthusiastic where he makes comments about "Was I ever that bright eyed and naive?" It's clear that he's still jaded and maybe even unsure if going back to practicing law is the right move, but he isn't sure what else to do. He thinks about what his mentor told him and wonders if he'll ever be able to really believe in his clients again.
In the tutorial, I would also swap out Juniper for Clay. Because the thing is, while in theory I like the idea that we get to see Athena's best friend and have her care a lot about defending her... a) we can still do that later in Academy, and b) it just doesn't have the emotional importance it should because Athena's been out of the country for years and they didn't really keep in touch. On the other hand, one of the big flaws in the later cases is that Clay feels tacked on because we never saw him and Apollo interact. So put Clay in the hot seat, and even if Apollo isn't the lawyer on the case because it's Athena and Phoenix, let him be in the lobby freaking out until Clay is like, "I'M FINE!!" and it's cute! Athena can feel the pressure because it's her first case and what if she fails?!? Apollo will hate her!! And she can be a little insecure because she thinks that OF COURSE Apollo would win, he's such a good lawyer, and she's so new and young and no one takes her seriously yet!!
That way, we kick off an arch for Athena where she's insecure and wants to be taken seriously; and we get continuity and kick off an arch for Phoenix where he's still really in Beanix mode, even with the fancy suit. And we get to see Clay and Apollo and learn about their relationship, which makes it more of a gut punch when Clay dies.
I don't have specific tweaks I'd make to Monstrous or Academy. I found both of those cases prettttty forgettable, tbh. (Which is a shame for Academy in particular, because a) Klavier!!! should not be forgettable!! and b) having Juniper should be important to Athena!! but the case did nothing for me.) So those can stay or go, who cares, but what matters is: when Simon is introduced, he and Athena do clearly know each other. Apollo thinks that everything that happened was a tragedy and wants to make sure Athena is okay during a recess, and she bristles because OF COURSE she's okay, she's a PROFESSIONAL, stop talking down to her!! (He wasn't, but she is insecure!) And Phoenix knows a little too but actually thinks Simon is guilty because, you know, why wouldn't he be? Athena insists he didn't do it and Phoenix doesn't take that seriously either, so then you have, again, Phoenix being jaded and Athena not being listened to.
SO EVENTUALLY you get to Cosmic Turnabout. And honestly it's mostly still the same - poor dead Clay, Starbuck gets accused, Apollo bounces from the WAA, etc. But the things that matter are the interplay between Phoenix and Athena. Athena actually gets to have feelings about being back at the space center and everything that happened with her mom, and because of that Phoenix worries she won't be able to make it through the case. She starts to think maybe he's right. Then there's a moment when things look really bad for the defense, and Phoenix is ready to throw in the towel, but Athena won't do it - she believes in her client! She's gonna prove he's innocent! And she does, and Phoenix is proud but conflicted. He has a moment of "I miss Mia, I miss when I could feel that, will I ever feel that way about a client again?" But this is also the culmination of Athena's character arch -- she's been so insecure, no one has taken her seriously, and now she's actually done what Phoenix couldn't or wouldn't by proving Starbuck's innocence basically on her own, toss in a moment of respect from the judge and even Simon, and BOOM, CHARACTER ARCH CONCLUDED.
But story-wise the other thing is I want to introduce a piece of evidence that feels like it goes nowhere, very early on. I don't know what exactly, but something that Athena sees and notices and that she actually discussed with Apollo before he takes his leave, but he dismisses as unrelated or not that important. It should be a pretty minor thing, Athena is a little frustrated that he's not taking her seriously, but it goes nowhere anyway... but it does stick around in the court record going into the final case.
Anyway, the case wraps up basically the same way, Starbuck is innocent, hooray!! But at the cost of Athena being accused. CLIFFHANGER.
Turnabout for Tomorrow would get more significant changes though because here's the thing: I haven't talked as much about Apollo in this, because he's not really that important to DD as a story. What DD does with him is let him take a dark turn... but not really that dark. Well, I want to do more with it than have him walk out in frustration and then insist that Athena be proved innocent so he can really believe it. Here's my fix: Apollo is drowning in grief and anger over Clay, he still walks out and goes to talk to Aura... and then when Aura pulls her robot uprising and takes hostages, demanding Simon's case be re-tried to prove Athena is guilty and not Simon, Apollo is her chosen prosecutor, and he actually thinks she did it. That lets you pit Phoenix and Apollo against each other, it lets Apollo actually be wrong as a result of all of his anguish, it gives Clay's death a lot more emotional consequence, and even when he's forgiven at the end it can set him up as still feeling guilty and out of place, which in turn can set up his decision to stay in Khura'in at the end of SOJ.
I honestly think Apollo is the best actual lawyer in the series, I like when he gets cocky and intense, and I think he'd make for a great antagonist for this sequence. Most importantly, though, by pitting Phoenix and Apollo against each other, with Apollo directly stating that he thinks Athena is guilty and he's going to prove it, Phoenix is finally pushed to a breaking point. He knows and cares about Athena. Things look bad for her. Even Apollo thinks she did it. But he just can't believe it. And when he realizes that, when he actually believes in his client against all evidence, you get a breakthrough! And suddenly he's PHOENIX again. He isn't going through the motions of caring, he now actually cares and has re-found his passion. BOOM, CHARACTER ARCH CONCLUDED.
The other big change I'm interested in is the Big Reveal. Like I said up top, I think it's a great choice - having the Phantom be Fulbright, who was there all along, who'd even helped them many times, is a great twist. But the execution falls a little flat because after the moment when you present the evidence ... that's kind of it. You get Edgeworth showing up to let the know that, GASP, Fulbright's body was found and so this is definitely an imposter, but that feels so cheap to me. The confirmation should really come from the work the characters do.
So that brings me back to the little bit of evidence I mentioned earlier, that Athena finds and no one really pays attention to. The thing is, by having Apollo prosecute, it really does make it harder for him to just apologize and have things be fine and dandy. Even if his grief and anger and mistrust are understandable! So my thought is that after Pheonix proves Athena is innocent, and Simon is exonerated and takes back over prosecuting, and the Phantom reveal comes up, Apollo remembers whatever it is that Athena found. He didn't take her seriously at that point but he does now - so he gets to go, "Wait! What about the macguffin we found?! Athena, you were right, it IS important!" And whatever it is is what proves, once and for all, that the Phantom has been impersonating Fulbright but it's really him. That way the reveal comes from the characters, and you have Apollo atone a little for his mistake by making it clear that now he does see that Athena was right all along.
One slight bummer to all these changes would be the lack of Edgeworth. I really love the Edgeworth sequence in the game - it's fun and funny and I am hear for the shipping vibes of more mature versions of Phoenix and Edgeworth having gotten their shit together and finally being a couple. (Not that that's actually in the game but... you know what I mean.) But this is the kind of thing people mean when they say "kill your darlings" in writing. I love the Edgeworth stuff in DD. But if the story is really about Athena, then he's not core to it, and you have to sacrifice his role to make the story overall more satisfying. What I would probably do instead is either have him be taken hostage alongside Trucy, or he shows up to negotiate the hostage stuff but stays at the space center with Aura and is still able to talk to them on the phone - similar to Aura or her robots - to chime in periodically. It's a much less active role, but I think that's necessary to put the active focus back on to Athena, Phoenix, and Apollo.
It's also worth noting that none of this really changes anything about Simon's role in the story. It just shifts the focus away from him and to Athena, which I think is how it should be. Simon is my very favorite character, but I'm okay with him being a little bit of a Sexy Lamp that Athena needs to save, if it gives her actual agency in her own story. Keep Simon in chains, torture him just a little bit, and let him prosecute a whale. That's all his character really needs for the story to work, as long as it's not his story, and it really shouldn't be.
So there you have it! It's not a real outline but at least I have this to reference every time Dual Destinies comes up in conversation and I just want to "arrrghHHH BUT THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES--" and have to stop myself.
So first things first: I actually really enjoyed Dual Destinies! At this point it's pretty safe to say that Simon Blackquill is my favorite character in Ace Attorney - like oh, the enormous threatening criminal is actually just trying to nobly sacrifice himself to save an innocent person (while being a total snarky bitch about it) AND ALSO he wears electrified shackles to keep him in line? Did Capcom just, like, summon him from my id? I also think that the Big Reveal (you know which one) was really cool -- in the end, the execution of it needed some work, but the concept was great. Also, Cosmic Turnabout and Turnabout for Tomorrow are among my favorite cases in the whole series. They're intense and compelling. Also, Miles's return is a GREAT moment.
So this is not a Dual Destinies hate screed. But I am gonna get into what doesn't work, and what I'd do instead, if it were up to me.
DD retcons and ignores what made Apollo Justice an interesting game. To make my bias clear: I really liked AJ. I have already ranted this rant a little bit, but basically what it comes down to is that having Beanix as a character is a fascinating choice. We last saw Phoenix seven years ago as an idealist who always sees the best in people! He's willing to take on corrupt systems and fight for truth and justice! And then he becomes Beanix, this jaded, unhelpful jerk who has hidden motivations and a master plan. He's spent years putting together his case against Kristoph, building MASON, getting the evidence he needs. He forges the trump card, he manipulates Apollo, he keeps a big ol' secret for Lamiroir. I absolutely get why a lot of people did not like this change and do not like this game. But I think it's fascinating and that Beanix is a great evolution of his character, with the believing-in-justice torch passed on to Apollo (who does handle it differently - he's less idealistic but tbh a better lawyer).
Then Dual Destinies happens and... that's all just gone. Phoenix re-took the Bar and got a better suit and a cute little Clark Kent curl and now he's a naive bluffing idealist again! Kristoph who? Poker champ where? Trauma what? Everything is fine! And while I can handwave that -- in fic I always write him as the poker champ inside, with his new suit as a persona -- it's a bummer that the change was ignored. We don't get to see Phoenix recover, we don't get to see him grow and become the next version of himself. It's literally like none of that ever happened. That's bad storytelling.
Athena is a missed opportunity. I always hesitate to do public criticism of female characters because female characters tend to either get irrational hatred or completely ignored, and I don't want to play into that. But I don't think it's fair to talk about DD's flaws as a game without talking about this. When the game starts, it seems like Athena is going to be the new POV character, the way Apollo was in AA:AJ. But then she has her breakdown and Phoenix rushes in to take over the case. That's pretty much indicative of her arch. It's not that Athena has no agency or doesn't get to be a POV character, but she also exists very much as a plot point. Even though the climactic cases are about her mother's murder and her trauma and history, very little of the story is about her. As a character, she pushed aside all of her trauma to focus on becoming a lawyer - sure - but we don't see her as a motivated and intense go-getter, we see her as a perky teenage girl, who freezes up when she's in the courtroom.
I don't want to dismiss the perky teenage girl archetype. That's a totally valid and good character to have! But we also already had Maya in the trilogy and Trucy in AJ. While these three characters are very different, they're cut from the same basic cloth, and because the game steers so heavily into Perky Athena I don't think we get the kind of depth we do with Maya (who got to grow up over three games and deal with her family trauma - without even taking into account fully adult, mature Maya in SOJ!) and Trucy (AJ literally ends on a note that she's not as happy as she pretends, she's perky but she's also been forced into being a breadwinner since she was a pre-teen, her biological father abandoned her and then is murdered, there's a lot going on there!).
If DD had leaned into Athena's trauma, I think it would have worked. But instead, her trauma only comes up when it's a plot point to push her aside, it's not something we see through cases that aren't really about that. If they let her have modes other than "happy" and "panic attack" that would help. (To be fair: my memories of Monstrous Turnabout and Turnabout Academy are pretty sketchy, so I may be minimizing it, but the game literally never mentions her mother's murder until the later cases so it also clearly isn't being used as a motivating factor, either.)
Holding back big reveals makes no sense. I get that the game doesn't want to let you in on all of the backstory or the twists early on, which is fair! But, as noted above, the unwillingness to let on anything means you can't dig much into Athena as a character. It also makes no sense for Phoenix, the man who hired her, to not know anything about her backstory. And like sure, he's used to random teenage lawyers, he survived Franziska von Karma and Short Haired Klavier Gavin, he he didn't ever have to give them job interviews. (I think it might be hinted or stated that he knows some of it? I don't remember though - but if he does know, he doesn't, you know, talk to Athena about it, even when Simon shows up in court, which seems like a thing you'd talk about!!)
And you know what? It makes no sense that Apollo wouldn't know. Because here's the thing: Apollo and Clay were best friends from middle school. They used to hang out at space center together. They did it so much that there's a picture of Clay with the GYAXA crew, including Still Alive Metis! Given that connection, Apollo probably should have met Athena and Simon when they were all younger. And even if he somehow didn't - Athena was shy so she never left her room, and Simon just wasn't there that day, sure - he should absolutely have known about Metis and her death and Simon having been found guilty, and as a result would know who Athena was.
Basically what it comes down to is that by saving all of that backstory for the last two cases, you force characters to behave in ways no one actually would by never talking or thinking about any of it. That in turn makes it feel like less of a big exciting reveal and more like bad writing.
The Dark Age of the Law also makes no sense. Of all the things in this rant, this one is really minor. But gee, is the court really corrupt now? You don't say! But uh... remember how Damon Gant used to be the chief of police, and Manfred von Karma was an undefeated, cheating prosecutor for years? Redd White had the whole legal system in his pocket? Everyone assumed that Edgeworth was lying and falsifying evidence for a couple of years? Their legal world has always been like this! Centering a game around legal corruption doesn't work if I can easily imagine characters reminiscing about equally bad or worse corruption that they already brought down.
Okay yeah, that's all pretty messy, but how do you fix it, smartiepants?
I'm not gonna pretend I have all the solutions. I'm not a games developer, I don't know what goes into crafting all the narratives here, and it's much easier to suggest revisions you'll never have to figure out the logistics of, but here are some big changes I'd make.
So first off, a lot of the basic premise stays. Athena's mom was murdered, Simon took the fall (thinking he was protecting Athena). Years later the murderer comes back and kills Clay. Athena still gets accused by Aura, Aura still forces them all into a trial, Apollo still has doubts. Phoenix even still retakes the Bar! The Big Spoiler Reveal is still the same. That stuff is all good foundation to work from.
But...
Give all the characters actual arches!!! That is not rocket science. You do not need to be a member of GYAXA to figure that out.
Specifically what I'm thinking about is: Phoenix has JUST retaken the Bar leading into the tutorial case. He's mentoring Athena through it similar to how Mia mentored him, d'aww. But he also has a lot of asides in it when Athena gets enthusiastic where he makes comments about "Was I ever that bright eyed and naive?" It's clear that he's still jaded and maybe even unsure if going back to practicing law is the right move, but he isn't sure what else to do. He thinks about what his mentor told him and wonders if he'll ever be able to really believe in his clients again.
In the tutorial, I would also swap out Juniper for Clay. Because the thing is, while in theory I like the idea that we get to see Athena's best friend and have her care a lot about defending her... a) we can still do that later in Academy, and b) it just doesn't have the emotional importance it should because Athena's been out of the country for years and they didn't really keep in touch. On the other hand, one of the big flaws in the later cases is that Clay feels tacked on because we never saw him and Apollo interact. So put Clay in the hot seat, and even if Apollo isn't the lawyer on the case because it's Athena and Phoenix, let him be in the lobby freaking out until Clay is like, "I'M FINE!!" and it's cute! Athena can feel the pressure because it's her first case and what if she fails?!? Apollo will hate her!! And she can be a little insecure because she thinks that OF COURSE Apollo would win, he's such a good lawyer, and she's so new and young and no one takes her seriously yet!!
That way, we kick off an arch for Athena where she's insecure and wants to be taken seriously; and we get continuity and kick off an arch for Phoenix where he's still really in Beanix mode, even with the fancy suit. And we get to see Clay and Apollo and learn about their relationship, which makes it more of a gut punch when Clay dies.
I don't have specific tweaks I'd make to Monstrous or Academy. I found both of those cases prettttty forgettable, tbh. (Which is a shame for Academy in particular, because a) Klavier!!! should not be forgettable!! and b) having Juniper should be important to Athena!! but the case did nothing for me.) So those can stay or go, who cares, but what matters is: when Simon is introduced, he and Athena do clearly know each other. Apollo thinks that everything that happened was a tragedy and wants to make sure Athena is okay during a recess, and she bristles because OF COURSE she's okay, she's a PROFESSIONAL, stop talking down to her!! (He wasn't, but she is insecure!) And Phoenix knows a little too but actually thinks Simon is guilty because, you know, why wouldn't he be? Athena insists he didn't do it and Phoenix doesn't take that seriously either, so then you have, again, Phoenix being jaded and Athena not being listened to.
SO EVENTUALLY you get to Cosmic Turnabout. And honestly it's mostly still the same - poor dead Clay, Starbuck gets accused, Apollo bounces from the WAA, etc. But the things that matter are the interplay between Phoenix and Athena. Athena actually gets to have feelings about being back at the space center and everything that happened with her mom, and because of that Phoenix worries she won't be able to make it through the case. She starts to think maybe he's right. Then there's a moment when things look really bad for the defense, and Phoenix is ready to throw in the towel, but Athena won't do it - she believes in her client! She's gonna prove he's innocent! And she does, and Phoenix is proud but conflicted. He has a moment of "I miss Mia, I miss when I could feel that, will I ever feel that way about a client again?" But this is also the culmination of Athena's character arch -- she's been so insecure, no one has taken her seriously, and now she's actually done what Phoenix couldn't or wouldn't by proving Starbuck's innocence basically on her own, toss in a moment of respect from the judge and even Simon, and BOOM, CHARACTER ARCH CONCLUDED.
But story-wise the other thing is I want to introduce a piece of evidence that feels like it goes nowhere, very early on. I don't know what exactly, but something that Athena sees and notices and that she actually discussed with Apollo before he takes his leave, but he dismisses as unrelated or not that important. It should be a pretty minor thing, Athena is a little frustrated that he's not taking her seriously, but it goes nowhere anyway... but it does stick around in the court record going into the final case.
Anyway, the case wraps up basically the same way, Starbuck is innocent, hooray!! But at the cost of Athena being accused. CLIFFHANGER.
Turnabout for Tomorrow would get more significant changes though because here's the thing: I haven't talked as much about Apollo in this, because he's not really that important to DD as a story. What DD does with him is let him take a dark turn... but not really that dark. Well, I want to do more with it than have him walk out in frustration and then insist that Athena be proved innocent so he can really believe it. Here's my fix: Apollo is drowning in grief and anger over Clay, he still walks out and goes to talk to Aura... and then when Aura pulls her robot uprising and takes hostages, demanding Simon's case be re-tried to prove Athena is guilty and not Simon, Apollo is her chosen prosecutor, and he actually thinks she did it. That lets you pit Phoenix and Apollo against each other, it lets Apollo actually be wrong as a result of all of his anguish, it gives Clay's death a lot more emotional consequence, and even when he's forgiven at the end it can set him up as still feeling guilty and out of place, which in turn can set up his decision to stay in Khura'in at the end of SOJ.
I honestly think Apollo is the best actual lawyer in the series, I like when he gets cocky and intense, and I think he'd make for a great antagonist for this sequence. Most importantly, though, by pitting Phoenix and Apollo against each other, with Apollo directly stating that he thinks Athena is guilty and he's going to prove it, Phoenix is finally pushed to a breaking point. He knows and cares about Athena. Things look bad for her. Even Apollo thinks she did it. But he just can't believe it. And when he realizes that, when he actually believes in his client against all evidence, you get a breakthrough! And suddenly he's PHOENIX again. He isn't going through the motions of caring, he now actually cares and has re-found his passion. BOOM, CHARACTER ARCH CONCLUDED.
The other big change I'm interested in is the Big Reveal. Like I said up top, I think it's a great choice - having the Phantom be Fulbright, who was there all along, who'd even helped them many times, is a great twist. But the execution falls a little flat because after the moment when you present the evidence ... that's kind of it. You get Edgeworth showing up to let the know that, GASP, Fulbright's body was found and so this is definitely an imposter, but that feels so cheap to me. The confirmation should really come from the work the characters do.
So that brings me back to the little bit of evidence I mentioned earlier, that Athena finds and no one really pays attention to. The thing is, by having Apollo prosecute, it really does make it harder for him to just apologize and have things be fine and dandy. Even if his grief and anger and mistrust are understandable! So my thought is that after Pheonix proves Athena is innocent, and Simon is exonerated and takes back over prosecuting, and the Phantom reveal comes up, Apollo remembers whatever it is that Athena found. He didn't take her seriously at that point but he does now - so he gets to go, "Wait! What about the macguffin we found?! Athena, you were right, it IS important!" And whatever it is is what proves, once and for all, that the Phantom has been impersonating Fulbright but it's really him. That way the reveal comes from the characters, and you have Apollo atone a little for his mistake by making it clear that now he does see that Athena was right all along.
One slight bummer to all these changes would be the lack of Edgeworth. I really love the Edgeworth sequence in the game - it's fun and funny and I am hear for the shipping vibes of more mature versions of Phoenix and Edgeworth having gotten their shit together and finally being a couple. (Not that that's actually in the game but... you know what I mean.) But this is the kind of thing people mean when they say "kill your darlings" in writing. I love the Edgeworth stuff in DD. But if the story is really about Athena, then he's not core to it, and you have to sacrifice his role to make the story overall more satisfying. What I would probably do instead is either have him be taken hostage alongside Trucy, or he shows up to negotiate the hostage stuff but stays at the space center with Aura and is still able to talk to them on the phone - similar to Aura or her robots - to chime in periodically. It's a much less active role, but I think that's necessary to put the active focus back on to Athena, Phoenix, and Apollo.
It's also worth noting that none of this really changes anything about Simon's role in the story. It just shifts the focus away from him and to Athena, which I think is how it should be. Simon is my very favorite character, but I'm okay with him being a little bit of a Sexy Lamp that Athena needs to save, if it gives her actual agency in her own story. Keep Simon in chains, torture him just a little bit, and let him prosecute a whale. That's all his character really needs for the story to work, as long as it's not his story, and it really shouldn't be.
So there you have it! It's not a real outline but at least I have this to reference every time Dual Destinies comes up in conversation and I just want to "arrrghHHH BUT THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES--" and have to stop myself.
