Just finished Case 2. That dragged on and on. I honestly really hate when they show you the culprit in the opening cutscene for a case, because it just turned playing the case into "When is that guy going to finally show up?" and then "There he is. When am finally going to take him down?"
That and the terrible pacing made it a real chore to get through. Definitely one of the most forgettable cases in the series, to me.
Does anyone else feel like the localization has been a huge step down from previous games? Characters seem to speak awkwardly and there's glaring typos all over the place - really takes me out of the game. Case 2 was all about "Yokai, yokai, yokai!" when I feel like they could have just used "demon," and Blackquill's "Justice-dono" nickname is just... awkward. Don't even get me started on the introduction to Mood Matrix. "I can hear his heart's voice! Heart, heart, heart, HEART!" All this "dark age of the law" stuff is pretty cringe-worthy, too.
And, this might sound weird, but I can see where IGN was coming from with the "too linear" line. I feel like I'm not so much playing a game anymore as I'm just reading a digital novel that needs my input every now and then.
The "notes" function tells you exactly where to go and what to present to who, when it used to be something you had to think about to figure out what to show to who to get them to reveal or elaborate on something. The characters are also constantly telling me exactly what I need to do, and sometimes thing that would have required evidence or something in previous games is just automatically figured out by the characters. And why even have a penalty bar anymore? If you fail you just get it refilled and go back to exactly where you failed. There's no tension anymore. I loved playing the games by only allowing myself to save during breaks in the action.
Fulbright's already getting on my nerves. I miss Gumshoe. He was a character without being a caricature.
I'm interested in seeing more of Kay's story, though, that cutscene early in Case 1 with the blood and the nightmare-faced people was surprisingly creepy. It makes me wish this game had a little bit more 999 in its tone and delivery. Suddenly it seems awfully upbeat for a game where people are constantly being brutally murdered.
Anyway, I'm just hoping this game picks up, because so far it hasn't come close to the first 4. It hasn't even pulled me in as much as AA:I did, and I *hated* that game for ditching the courtroom.
Time to start Case 3.
EDIT: Oh! And where'd INVESTIGATING go? You used to be able to investigate any area you could stop in, and it revealed a lot of funny stuff and character moments. If Case 2 is any indicator, you can now only investigate specific "important" areas? Laaaaame.