Recent reviews by Sir System Error

More bad than good is a good way to describe my feelings on Tyrion Cuthbert. There's plenty to like about it, but there's a lot I didn't like and that tended to stand out more than the positives. If there was a neutral option in Steam ratings, that's what I'd give it. I have more to say, but character limits got in the way, so I'll try to sum it up as best I can.

Tyrion Cuthbert is an Ace Attorney style game set in a world of fantasy. One of the twists is magic, and it amused me the mechanics were cribbed from Dungeons and Dragons. The other is the Eye of Horus. This functions similar to a cross between Phoenix Wright's Magatama and Athena Cykes' Widget. You periodically see characters' thoughts and emotions on screen. It can also be used to pry the truth out of others as part of the argument system. Arguments also occur near the climaxes of trials.

Now, there's a lack of polish due to the budget. Most notable is the art. It's drawn well; it mostly manifests in not being as animated, especially lacking breakdowns. I suppose it's an understandable consequence of a lower budget. Still, some optional text pertaining to a reused background reads like an angry dev having a temper tantrum about complaints. Lost me some respect. There are plenty of pointless portraits on the walls, though! Musically, the game is great. The testimony themes have three variations, nice touch. Allegro is frantic, like the truth might slip away at any moment. Then there's the final courtroom argument song, which is intense.

My biggest problem with the game lies in the characters. A lot of the core cast acted laughably immature for adults. I had to shake my head at them several times. It wasn't to the total detriment of the writing, but it was just a little jarring seeing them act more like angsty, bratty, lovestruck, etc. teenagers in places. The two worst for me were, unfortunately, the assistant and the main antagonist.

The antagonist was a creepy girl with DDLC vibes. I joked with a friend that it almost felt like the developers realize they couldn't write foreshadowing, so they didn't even try. She rewrites reality right in front of the player in the form of text boxes changing with glitchy effects, which happens constantly in cases she's involved in. There's no subtlety; they couldn't rein it in at all. Nearly everyone in universe is unsettled by her. I wasn't; I was just shaking my head. I had mixed feelings here. The payoff was fantastic, but I felt it could've been better if this was a twist or at least slower to come out instead of shoved in your face. Anyone who's seen The Mastermind in AA knows how that can work.

The assistant has a tragic backstory, fancy design, is an accomplished mercenary at 19, is heavily implied to be high-level nobility, and picks up things (especially magic) super fast. Yeah, she's one of those kinds of characters. The writers dedicate multiple long scenes are committed to building their romantic relationship, complete with multiple CGs. The game loves to repeat variations on the phrase "you remember the warmth of Celeste's hand." Yeah, you. What would be internal monologue being in second person is awkward since Tyrion is his own character, but that made it uncomfortable. I didn't care for their relationship at all. And I like a good romance, especially friends to lovers! It just didn't get the proper time to develop, even with all the scenes they dedicated to it. I actually mashed through some of it because it got to be grating. I guess what I'm saying about this is that it could've been much more slow burn. Especially since there was a sequel planned from the beginning. I do like the start of relationships not being the end, i.e. writing active relationships, but with how they wrote it here, I don't have much faith. Who knows though, maybe they just wanted to get the house in order, so to speak. The one thing I will say about her is that having her as the "muscle" was an interesting twist on the usual lawyer/assistant dynamic seen in AA.

Then there's the wasted or even thrown away potential. Ruby Tymora is the biggest example of the former. She's set up as the protagonist's mentor figure and surrogate mom, but they barely have any interaction. You would think case 1 would be a good moment to show their dynamic. Instead, Celeste is put in the assistant role. Why? To push the ship, I guess. It causes a big moment in Case 4 to fall flat on its face because there wasn't much buildup in the character interactions, namely because there weren't enough of them. As for the latter, the game spends a bit setting up a sort of criminal mastermind as a major antagonist. He's first mentioned in Case 3, shows up out of nowhere in Case 4, then gets unceremoniously killed by the creepy girl in a stinger scene. Honestly, with the game's writing at that point, it wasn't so much shocking as it was frustrating.

Yeah, the writing can be hit or miss. Overall, I'd say it needed more text. Brevity is the soul of wit and all that, but when it comes to a visual novel, it's the little extra stuff that really brings it to life. That's what makes AA so charming. It could have partially solved the problem with Tyrion x Celeste. The plot holds together for the most part, but falls apart when it comes to the bigger picture. Plot points drift in and out. There's stuff like an inexplicable deus ex machina at the end of Case 4, or a big mystery in Case 3 that goes unaddressed. Because of this, there was noticeable telling instead of showing. Like there's a big exposition dump about Ruby's history with not much hinting about it beforehand. There would have been plenty of opportunities for that, particularly Case 4, but they go unrealized.

Also, you get a badge. Okay, it's not a badge, but the game goes out of its way to say it's like a BADGE. No one has any reaction to presenting it. For all the good the game does in feeling like an Ace Attorney game (it even has a stepladder to examine!), that was a bizarre failing.

Now there's good in there, although some of it comes with bad. I was a fan of the prosecutor, Aria Steelwind. I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Tyrion much more than Tyrion and Celeste. The game almost wrecked her character for a joke at one point, but it turns that on its head later. There were plenty of enjoyable minor characters besides the main ones. The cooking twins, the bratty little prince, and especially Tyrion's childhood friend (who is another victim of unrealized potential). Or the last case prosecutor, who has an incredibly badass moment at the trial's conclusion. It's kind of telling I liked these more than Celeste.

I also enjoyed the argument system. Shame that it's never actually the final thing that does them in, but if you think of the Empowered Eye as a chill victory lap, it's all good. That said, it kind of falters with the big epic confrontation near the end of Case 5 not being the end of it, but that's about the only blatant example.

One small thing I liked was the red herring evidence. You get a lot dropped on you that you might not even use, especially when it comes to spells. Granted, some of this just doesn't get used because the script brings it up without your prompting. It also means there's tons of stuff to sift through, complicating things in court.

That said? While I do have a lot of complaints about this game, it was never awful. I still enjoyed it overall. Even at its worst, it was in an entertaining trainwreck way. While I do have this as Not Recommended, it's weakly so. I didn't hate it. It's just that I feel there was a lot of room for improvement here. But if you're craving more Ace Attorney, it'll scratch that itch for you. As mentioned, there seems to be a sequel on the way from a stinger at the end. Writers tend to improve as they go along, so I'll be looking forward to seeing if the quality increases.

I AM GUNDAM!

I will never think of seagulls the same way again after playing this game.

While an okay game that isn't bad for the price, which is about the only reason why you might want it, it's also a somewhat flawed game. You may see this and think it's similar to a flash game known as Karoshi. I sure did, and went in expecting something like that, except with a bacon twist. But the problem is, this game can't decide whether it wants to be that, or if it wants to be Just Another Hard Platformer, as evidenced by the boss and stay-alive levels. Those really detract from the gameplay, breaking up the flow and generally being an annoyance. It's fun when it's not being like that, despite some of the levels being long, but it's overall more of a hassle than it's worth putting up with.