YMMV / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Conflict of Interest

• Anti-Climax Boss: "In A Turnabout is Worth a Thousand Words", Phoenix can't give decisive proof Kylie did it, but he has enough information for the jurists to make the call. The jurists agree with him, and Kylie confesses.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Obadiah Williamson has become one as of "Turnabout Consequences". Some people think that while harsh, his Secret Test of Character was needed to test Wright's integrity. Others see that as a pointlessly cruel Kick the Dog moment, some even going as far as to claim it to be Obadiah's Moral Event Horizon. The later part of Turnabout Into the Unknown shows this may have been intentional, however, as Phoenix calls him out for his manipulation and methods, causing Obadiah to have a Heel Realization.
  • Francisco Mendirez can be this. An incredibly evil defendant who employs the Not Me This Time argument is regarded as an effective twist, but the fact that he's such an awful human being who can potentially get away with his actions is a contentious issue. Either it's a shocking and interesting Karma Houdini or it feels unsatisfying and cruel, especially since he's second only to Luciano in terms of vileness.
  • Gladys Porter is also mixed in terms of fan reception. Either she's a complex Jerk with a Heart of Gold with an interesting character arc or yet another unlikable character who brings the mood down more than anything.
• Best Boss Ever: As usual, there's a few.
  • Sir Gallante is a highlight of the second chapter, being a Large Ham with a complex yet flawed moral code. His testimonies and dialogue never fail to entertain and his outlandish schemes are interesting to reveal, with successfully poking holes in his stories and worldview being both a satisfying and emotional challenge.
  • Puremadness is a master of Insane Troll Logic with her testimony being nonsensical and utterly irrelevant, yet it's so unique and hilarious that it's a welcome and refreshing change of pace from the more serious and bleak opponents in this Darker and Edgier game.
  • Pearl Fey is an effective Player Punch as well as an interesting opponent in terms of gameplay. Her testimony revolves around her feeding you with hints of her crime, yet with her too scared to admit what she's done. It's intentionally easy, yet an emotional rollercoaster where the culprit never lies about their actions.
  • Finnegan Hood is an Amoral Attorney who believes his adopted daughter to be responsible for a brutal double murder. Hiding his Papa Wolf nature behind a sly troll, he derails the trial using his intelligence and legal knowledge, turning the court into a chaotic mess while providing a different and exciting opponent who is satisfying to outwit due to the challenge he presents.
  • In a similar vein, Jane Hood is this. Her testimony is more outrageous and inept than her father's, but makes up for it's lack of difficulty in terms of sheer novelty and entertainment, making it a short yet extremely entertaining battle against an opponent with no self control or common sense. Like Puremadness, she has nothing to do with the crime, yet is a welcome change of pace with an interesting set of tactics to ovecome.
  • Kristoph Gavin's battle is seen by many as being better than in Apollo Justice. His skill as a defence attorney shines through and he's a scarily gifted opponent who uses a mixture of legal and illegal tactics to dominate the trial. While it's impossible to beat him, staying afloat long enough is a unique and thrilling challenge and a demonstration to why Gavin is so dangerous.
  • Carlo Luciano/Morton Dreisen is a well liked Final Boss due to being incredibly challenging and exciting. A skilled infiltrator with a sociopathic personality, he's a remarkable liar who doesn't break under pressure, meaning that visual clues are rendered moot against him and making it far more difficult to poke holes in his stories. Beating him is incredibly satisfying due to how large a feat such a victory is, making him a worthy conclusion to the game's many interesting opponents.
• Best Level Ever: The final two cases are usually the most well liked.
  • Chapter 4 has an interesting setting and more than one solid Player Punch to tug at your heart. The mystery has plenty of effective twists and turns and the witnesses are challenging yet interesting, having a good amount of complexity to their actions. While Pearl Fey being the shooter is controversial, it's generally regarded to be a Tear Jerker despite views on how it's handled.
  • Chapter 5 is long, complicated, and satisfying. Giving Trucy Wright and Obidiah Williamson time to shine adds some unexpected yet welcome gameplay changes and the past and present cases are both well written and exciting. The hoods are both incredibly popular due to their personalities and Carlo Luciano is well liked as a Big Bad due to how horrendous and dangerous he is as a person.
• Broken Base: The culprit of Case 4 caused this. While many think Pearl being the shooter is a very well-executed Player Punch, others feel her reasons for it don't make sense and contradict her character. In particular, some think that while Pearl's depression and attempted suicide make sense, the fact that Morgan's brainwashing still has enough of a hold over her to make her shoot Maya against her own will seems too unreasonable.
• Complete Monster: Carlo Luciano is a vicious and vindictive assassin who worked for the Rivales Family. Killing numerous people for his employers, Luciano helped Francisco Mendirez butcher the Cadaverini Family, faking his death with the help of Mendirez when Michael Rivales ordered him killed. Upon Mendirez trying to kill him in a fit of paranoia, Luciano dedicated himself to making him suffer for his betrayal. Impersonating Mendirez after he becomes the head of the family, Luciano kills Cody Hackins and attempts to have Maya Fey assassinated, forcing Mendirez's allies to take the fall for these crimes in order to make them think that he betrayed them. Luciano later kills three people and frames Mendirez for the murders to get him sent to jail as the final part of his revenge to ruin his reputation. When Phoenix reveals Luciano's crimes to the court, Luciano takes Detective Watters hostage and tries to kill Phoenix.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Fangame or canon, any Ace Attorney media is bound to have this.
  • Virgil Black aka Sir Gallante is beloved as a villain, despite the mixed reception to the case. He's a charming and layered character with a sympathetic motivation who is a challenging and satisfying boss. The knight outfit is unique and endearing and the fact that he's a Graceful Loser makes him even more popular. Despite all his awful deeds, his death is quite the Tear Jerker, especially because of how violent it was.
  • Sir Gallante's bird only appears a tiny bit and is popular due to being badass and hilarious.
  • Pure Madness is also this, due to being a good representation of troll culture as well as a funny and complicated character with some surprising and interesting Hidden Depths. The fact that she also pisses off Obidiah Williamson also scores her points, especially for those who dislike him.
  • Meredith Fey is also well liked as a character due to being an effective Anti-Villain with an impressive amount of layers. Her motivation is well presented and her personality is fitting and interesting, making her a formidable foe and captivating character. The fact that she also goes through some Character Development is also well received, and makes her a sympathetic and Tragic Villain despite her evil deeds.
  • Both of the Hoods are well liked due to being charming and humorous Card Carrying Villains who lighten the mood of an incredibly dark case. While they would otherwise seem like filler characters who add nothing but padding, they're so memorable and interesting that their appearance is a breath of fresh air and adds yet another layer to an already interesting case.
  • Salim Kushari is a likable and charming witness who provides an effective Player Punch when Kristoph Gavin frames him for the murder.
• Friendly Fandoms: With Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: The Contempt of Court, another fangame from Court Records. Conflict of Interest was actually inspired by Contempt of Court and both cases' authors had a Friendly Rivalry going over who would release their game first. Fans of one tend to be fans of the other. This game even hints that both games take place in the same universe.
• Funny Moments:
  • After Phoenix suggests that Kylie plagiarizes her music, she tries to cover it up by singing her testimony. The Judge instantly realizes she's plagiarizing again as it's the same song Apollo kept repeating during Machi's trial.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The scenes of Maya planning the Fey Reunion take a much darker turn after case 4.
  • Sir Gallante's claims to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist get a lot harsher knowing he was unwittingly doing the Rivales Family's work all along.
  • EVERYTHING in the scene where Trucy talks to Dreisan. She questions him about Carlo Luciano, and it's later revealed that he is him. On a rewatch, it's clear he suspects she figured his identity out at first, which has terrifying implications. If Phoenix wasn't able to catch him at the trial, he would have been after Trucy next!
• Heartwarming Moments: As Tear Jerker as Pearl's fate was, both of her endings provide some hope for her:
  • If Phoenix proves her motive, Maya visits her in prison, apologizing for everything. As she's about to leave, Pearl asks her to stay to help her move on. The scene ends with Maya saying she loves her.
  • If she goes free, she's about to leave town when she encounters Apollo, who encourages her to go back to her loved ones.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Kira 'Rina-Chan' Buckland actually did some voice clips for Trucy in this game before she was announced to portray her in Spirit of Justice!
  • The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve ended up having a Villainous Breakdown involving breaking the witness stand, just like this game.
• I Knew It!:
  • A lot of fans were right about Raphael Donatello being a part of the mafia and being the sniper in case 4. However, they were wrong about him being the culprit.
  • Several people correctly guessed that Yossarian was Mendirez. Few guessed that the real truth was a lot more complicated though.
  • One that was both right and wrong at the same time: Dreisan was also a very common guess for the game's Big Bad. As it turns out though, while this is true he's not Mendirez.
• Jerkass Woobie: There's a few.
  • Obadiah Williamson, of all people. He's filled with guilt over not being able to prevent an innocent man from being arrested and his only friend is brutally murdered. His cynicism has made him a lonely and pessimistic man and his obsession with confronting the truth alienates him from everyone, causing him to become a pariah among law enforcement and retire in disgrace. Even his forged evidence was somewhat well-intentioned, as his intended victim can end up being a Karma Houdini.
  • Gladys Porter may not be the most likable person, but her life is full of loss and betrayal. Not to mention the fact she's murdered before she can gain some closure about her circumstances.
• Love to Hate: Nathen Togamera is such a despicable Hate Sink, that you'll be rooting for his humiliation and defeat as soon as his true colors are shown, but his Large Ham actions and ruthlessness make him a memorable foe and all the more satisfying when his crimes are revealed. He's easy to root against and very popular due to his personality and intelligence.
• One-Scene Wonder: Kristoph Gavin. He's an incredibly formidable opponent who provides the challenge many thought were missing in his canon appearance and he's such a slimy bastard that he steals the show for his limited screentime.
• Player Punch:
  • Cody Hackins being murdered comes as this, especially since he was only a teenager who had done nothing bad enough to warrant his death.
  • It comes to it when you realize that Pearl Fey was the only person able to shoot Maya. And then you are given the choice to accuse her or not.
• The Scrappy:
  • Sarah Keyes is not well liked, due to being irritating and obstructive. The fact that she sidetracks the trial to put the blame on Wayne Parker feels more bloated than interesting, especially since the other characters are far more popular than she is. While she does have a Freudian Excuse, she feels more unnecessary than anything else.
  • Anton Simms can also be seen as this due to being a one note Straw Fan who gets old quickly and is an unnecessary and trivial antagonist. His otaku personality is also rather grating, and the fact he doesn't really change much makes him feel like a Flat Character more than anything else.
• Shocking Moments: The Reveal in Case 5 caused this reaction to many, with it turning out that not only is Francisco Mendirez your client, but he's not even the game's real Big Bad. The true mastermind was Carlo Luciano!
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Turnabout on the Web, and by extension the rest of the fangame, to the original version of The Rogue Turnabout, which is considered by many (including the author himself) to have numerous plot and writing issues. Turnabout on the Web on the other hand is one of the most well-received fan-cases ever created, and the game only got better from there. It got to the point where the author made heavy revisions to The Rogue Turnabout to make it more up to the standards of the later cases.
• Tear Jerker: Anything having to do with Pearl's motive during case 4.
• That One Boss: Kristoph Gavin is this intentionally. He's far more challenging than anyone before him and his testimony is so airtight that the only way to "beat" him is to fail.
• Too Cool to Live: Jimmy, A.K.A Steven Jameson. Gladys Porter too.
• The Woobie:
  • Pearl Fey. Saying she is broken is pretty much an understatement.
  • Salim Kushari. His life was ruined because Kristoph Gavin wanted a scapegoat.