Man. MAN. I went into this fully expecting to have the rug pulled out from me, and you also managed to pull out the floorboards beneath said rug. There's so much I want to say and I have no idea how coherent this will be, as I am currently very sick.
I was really stoked about the inclusion of some characters that generally receive less love: Angel, Desiree, Lisa Basil, and how they all fit into this beautifully carved narrative. I figured this had to have some kind of supernatural element early on, but uh. Let's just say I really underestimated that part? I definitely took too much at face (ha) value and in the moment where the world first goes dark right after the real Jamie Strange is seen for the first time and the Fiend goes. "Oh yeah I manipulated you like you would not believe lol" I just about lost my mind. Because I fell for it too! Even though I'd figured out some earlier on! Like the Fiend's thoughts being a slightly different colour and in the female voice chip made me suspect Something was up (I have crap eyes and hearing, but after a certain point I have to stop and think), but I just believed her statement that her powers could only work in close proximity, hence I was fully onboard with the Two Hotels theory. I definitely caught the jewel dealer line but I thought (somehow?) that the POV character at the time was meant to be an older Iris Hawthorne despite that not making sense. THEN when she was "revealed" as Jamie Strange I brushed it off as some kind of coincidence. Uh. Big mistake there on my part LMAO. Taking the Fiend down felt AWESOME though, though I think the whole "Dahlia's arm reaching through her mouth" thing is going to show up in my nightmares.
Massive love to everything with Phoenix and Trucy. Trucy's my favourite mainline character and it's so good to see her written well and actually getting to do a case with her dad! Too bad it had to be a trauma case and not something a little more lighthearted, but you win some you lose most of them. Also adored "a very pissed off" Edgeworth as co-council, he was hilarious and his riffs with Phoenix were top notch. There were a couple points (with Klavier specifically) that I wondered if the writing was a little too mean-spirited, but with the Fiend poking into everyone's brains, it all makes sense.
Though on that note, if I am going to criticize anything about the case, it's how Desiree's substance abuse disorder was treated. Addiction's a serious issue and I felt it was handled in a way that was clumsy and mean (just throwing her under the bus as "an addict" was uncomfortable).
I hope something in that mess of a review made sense. Chances are I'll replay this in a week or so to fully appreciate the foreshadowing.