Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations (Gyakuten Saiban 3)

[Muyotwo]

Glad you enjoyed it. I did find myself growing increasingly frustrated by EVERYONE having huge Psyche-locks, but it didn't hamper my overall enjoyment of the game at all.

Spoiler: show

You did use the photo to show that the staff originally had the Amethyst attached to it. And I like Iris-Feenie a lot more than I like Maya-Nick, despite the objections of Pearl. More Edgeworth would've been appreciated as well, but I wouldn'tve been happy at all if there had been more Franziska at the cost of more Godot.

[Vran]

That reminds me.

Spoiler: show

No Mia x Godot made me a very sad panda. Mia didn't seem to be upset with Godot, so it's like ... what the hell. Also, I'm sleepy so I don't know if I said this already, but ... I was upset that Godot was with the living! Given that the game had already gone ahead and bulldozed through the previous games' precedent of "the judge doesn't believe in hocus-pocus," I was actually hoping to discover that Godot was a ghost. You know, the whole "unfinished business" schtick which, while cliche, would have fit him so well. It felt so very, very crappy that ...
(a) he went to prison,
(b) he went to prison for "murder,"
(c) he went to prison for a murder he only carried out because he HAD to, otherwise she'd have killed every one on that island -- Maya, him, and Pearls too! She was a selfish, heinous bitch!!


About Iris x Feenie. Well, I really, really fell for Iris. Maybe I'm just a superficial sucker (she's such a cutie! XD) but I warned myself all throughout the chapter that she was going to be revealed to be just as evil, if not even more evil, than her sister Dahlia so I had to reel it in and be careful. Imagine my pleasant surprise upon discovering that Dahlia had swapped places with Iris right around the time Iris started to be colder to Phoenix. Imagine my REALLY pleasant surprise when I discovered that Dahlia had only ever met Phoenix twice -- the day of the murder for which Phoenix was accused, and the day in court when she was found guilty of that same crime -- and that every other day he had spent with his amazing angel he had been spending it with Iris, and she had 100% reciprocated. I about pumped my fist into the air when she told him that if she'd had to pick between Phoenix and Dahlia five years ago she would have picked Phoenix, and that that's PRECISELY why Dahlia wouldn't wait any longer for Iris to try and get the phial-locket back.

But despite this, she only knew him for one-sixth the time Maya has. Six months versus three years. Maya's been through many more harrowing experiences with Phoenix which no one can deny would forge stronger bonds between the two. Also, Phoenix had been away from Iris for five years. And during those five years, while he admitted to her that he never could bring himself to believe that the Dahlia he knew would have tried to kill him, that doesn't mean that like any rational human being he didn't have his own share of doubts and didn't try to put Dahlia (i.e. Iris) out of his mind. Five years of distance between them grew, and three years of closeness between him and Maya grew. Iris returns to just such a scenario. So ...

It's hard for me to root for Iris x Feenie, as much as I love Iris herself, over Phoenix x Maya. Does that make sense? I like Iris more than Maya. Heck, Maya's my least favorite of the main three Feys. (Pearl > Mia > Maya) But I don't hate Maya, either, and this isn't about which girl I like more: it's about which girl, realistically, Phoenix would be more likely to go for. I think it'd be less logical for him to dump Maya for Iris at this stage in his life than to do the opposite, even if neither situation is all that appealing.

The other thing is, it's hard for me as a fan of the games to root for Iris x Feenie simply because Iris didn't even exist until Game 3 and, let's face it, she and her sister were totally the queens of Game 3. They starred in Cases 1, 4, and 5, roughly 60% of the game. And they stole the spotlight away, big time, from Cases 2 and 3. All the same, they didn't even exist prior to this. 10+ episodes' worth of canon preceded them, and about 90% of that featured Maya and Phoenix working together to solve mysteries. So, as a fan of the games, I feel like rooting for Iris x Feenie is too much like rooting for the new kid on the block ... like ... if, for example, a girl was introduced in Harry Potter Book 7 and she liked Harry and he seemed to sorta reciprocate, even if she was 100% my kind of girl, I'd still be upset at Rowling for having Harry pair off with her. You don't do it in Book 7, ma'am. And I feel the same way about Phoenix's love interest. :\ I don't think it's proper to introduce such a major player so late in the canon.

But I love her. lol

About Psyche-Locks: well, if you played the 2nd game, you remembered how once or twice they showed you 5 locks but you only had to solve one or two of them and the rest shattered too. I noticed that in the 3rd game this was the rule rather than the exception: I think the number of times I saw 5 locks and had to genuinely solve all 5 was fewer than I have fingers on my left hand for the final two cases combined. So it wasn't all that bad.

[Muyotwo]

Spoiler: show

I still found it odd that someone like Larry would be putting up as many Psyche-Locks as Matt Engarde had in the final case. And despite the companionship between Maya and Nick, I just don't see any romance there. They're friends, sure, but it's not really the blushy-stammery stuff that Iris and Wright have in case 6. ABL and I discussed this at length, and weirdly, I think that Maya-Larry makes a lot more sense xd. They both have the same somewhat annoying personality and helped bail Edgeworth out in the first game. Your Fey ranking table is obviously faulty though. Mia > Pearl > Maya is the one true sequence. And it's not really clear that Godot had to spend any lengthy time in prison, since it was justifiable homicide. Also, Mia x Armando was confirmed in the first case, if you recall back, she mentions "her boyfriend" was poisoned.

[Vran]

No, no: I don't mean confirmed ever. I mean confirmed for the future. That A was once B does not mean it is still B.

So in that sense, I found PW3's credits lacking compared with PW2's, even if PW2's the worst of the three.

Also,

Spoiler: show

I really do disagree with your Maya x Phoenix "just friends" analysis. From Phoenix's side, that was arguable all the way up until Case 5 (the third game only had 5 cases, not 6), but Case 5 blew that theory away with Phoenix, who was so, so scared of that bridge, upon seeing it in flames and Larry telling him "No! Don't do it, man!", still going ahead and lunging onto it in a desperate effort to rescue Maya from an as-yet unconfirmed murderous presence on the island ... that, to me, is not the sort of thing one simply does "for his friends." Phoenix would not have done that for Larry or Edgeworth. He would have stood on the other side of the bridge and been like, "Man, I hope they're okay! "

To put it to you another way, if an earthquake occurred and it was Edgeworth and Phoenix, Edgeworth would plant himself to the ground until the tremors stopped and afterwards would look for Phoenix. But if it had been somebody he romantically loved, and if he saw that they were in immediate danger of dying (e.g. they're on a rocky ledge and the earthquake causes them to stumble backwards off the ledge), I think Edgeworth would rise from the ground and race towards them. Same sort of thing.

But as from Maya's side? There's just no way around it: she all but spells it out to Nick multiple times in Games 2 and 3. It was especially obvious in Game 3 Case 5 that Maya was very jealous of Iris and, when she would say things like "Nick and Iris sitting in a tree, k i s s i n g!", she was saying them to downplay her own feelings towards Nick ... typical coping mechanism whenever Person A likes Person B but Person B likes and is liked by Person C, leaving Person A all alone.

[Muyotwo]

Originally Posted by Vran

No, no: I don't mean confirmed ever. I mean confirmed for the future. That A was once B does not mean it is still B.

Spoiler: show

Mia is kind of... dead. Godot is not. This puts a damper on their future chances for love. "Hey, Maya, would you mind channeling Mia for a while? It's our anniversary, so, if you'd change into this first, that'd be... hey, where are you going?"

Spoiler: show

And I think even though you've established that Nick cares about Maya, but people risk/sacrifice their lives for friends as well as lovers in typical animeish fare. I would say he would do it for Edgeworth or Pearl, but not Larry, as Larry is downgraded from "close friend" in the first game to "someone I know" in the third. And considering Edgeworth passes out when earthquakes occur, I don't think he's likely to be saving anyone in that instance.

[Vran]

PW4 continues to be interesting.

Spoiler: show

I'm torn by how much I like Trucy's personality and how much I can't stand her alleged age + relationship to Phoenix Wright and how much more I cannot stand her wardrobe. Great girl. Fun girl. Spunky girl. Cute girl. Funny girl. Smart girl. But man does her ugly skyblue top hat and cape get on my nerves.

We were formally introduced to Miss Skye a few moments ago, and it lent further evidence to my suspicion that Trucy is not Nick's biological daughter. I want her to be, but the math just doesn't add up. According to Ema Skye, she [Ema] was with Phoenix in the omake chapter of PW1 "ten years ago." And she describes the case, herself, and Phoenix as we remember them. But if Trucy is 15 years old, then that would have to mean that Phoenix had a five-year old daughter at the time we met him in PW1. It doesn't add up.

So I guess the question I have is, why did Phoenix adopt Trucy? and if he didn't adopt her, then what the hell is going on here!? O_o

[Vran]

Finished the 2nd case in PW4. The one with Wocky Kitaki, Alita Tiala, etc.

I like how we get to look for thumbprints again and get to check the evidence in three dimensions just like how we were able to in the bonus episode of PW1, but the newest game isn't perfect. The new cast of characters are a lot less interesting overall than the ones we grew to know and love from the original games. Apollo is less interesting than Phoenix, Trucy is less interesting than Maya, Ema is less memorable than Gumshoe, and Klavier Gavin doesn't hold a candle to Miles Edgeworth. Then again, neither did Franziska von Karma, and Godot, while an interesting fellow, was a grossly unimpressive prosecutor.

(not a spoiler, but something of a tangent: I talk about why I like one feature of both Prosecutor Gavin and Defense Attorney Justice)

Spoiler: show

Indeed, that is the one area where I have to give Mr. Gavin credit: he's probably the best prosecutor (professionally) we've seen yet, even better than the supposed geniuses we saw in von Karma and Edgeworth. Gavin reminds me of the Japanese prosecutors I've seen in Japanese legal dramas and films -- intelligent men and women who are more interested in uncovering the truth than they are in "winning" or "losing" cases. For this reason, Prosecutor Gavin is a welcome breath of fresh air. While neither his character design nor his personality are to my liking, his professionalism is really quite nice. It was great to see him cooperating with Justice in a realistic manner -- not handing Apollo the case but also not interested in pegging the crime on Wocky Kitaki at all costs the way that Edgeworth, the von Karmas, and Godot have all done. Also, it was really a welcome change of pace to see Gavin not take Apollo's "victory" in court personally. He didn't blow gaskets like Edgeworth, Franziska, or Godot did. No spat-out coffee or hurtled coffee mugs. No grimaces. No banging on the courtroom podium. The worst we ever saw him do was backwards-bang the courtroom wall with his fist, and he did that very rarely and also in the middle of the trial, not at the end of it.

I suppose that's something I like about Apollo, too. Minus the bracelet sequences, Apollo seems to be a much more capable defense attorney than Phoenix Wright when both were greenhorns. Whereas Phoenix was portrayed as "unusually lucky, " a sort of idiot for all seasons, if you will, Apollo has been portrayed merely as brash. Insofar as he makes "GUWAH!" grimaces in response to the prosecution's challenges, they're almost always because he's formed a solid theory, run with it, got the judge running alongside him, and has to be brought back to the ground by Mr. Gavin that the theory, while good, still doesn't address oddities A, B, or C. In other words, Phoenix's theories always seemed to be highly improbable-but-possible and it fell to him to prove that, however improbable, they were what really happened. Apollo on the other hand hasn't had to push any theories which were too improbable. Almost everything he's pushed for in court has been modestly probable, and his only problem has been that he steps on the gas, assuming his theory to have been confirmed, when in fact he still has yet to disprove the competing theory or theories. Now granted, the bracelet sequences really make Apollo out to be this supernatural freaky luckier-than-thou dumber-than-most defense attorney, and that's quite unfortunate. It doesn't help matters that these sequences are way less fun than Psyche-Locks. Not that Psyche-Locks were necessarily very fun either, but the bracelet is just too much of a waste of time. All it does is add an extra layer to the already-tediously-overlayered process of pressing witnesses during cross-examination. Before, we had to listen to the witness testify, and then we had to re-listen to it during cross-examination. Now we have to listen to their testimony, listen to cross-examination, and listen in sloooooooooooooooooooooooow moooooooooooooooooooode to segments of their cross-examination. It's ridiculous. -_-;

The problem with the game so far is that no one's been more interesting to me than Phoenix or Trucy, and the problem is ... Trucy is less interesting than who she has replaced (Maya Fey), and Phoenix is less interesting in his Mia Fey role in this game than he was in his DA role in the previous games. I like Phoenix more than Apollo, but I like Phoenix more as a DA than as a mentor. Though it is cool in its own campy way to see Phoenix as the mentor, I suppose.

Where is someone to match Pearl Fey? Where is someone to match the hilarity of Phoenix/Maya, Phoenix/Edgeworth, Phoenix/Oldbag, Edgeworth/Oldbag, Edgeworth/Gumshoe, and a host of other character interrelations from previous games? The only bones PW4 is throwing us is that Ema sky loves to munch on her Combo®-like snacks and that Trucy brings up inappropriate comments about her panties in punny situations ("wouldn't you like to see what's inside my panties?" being the most obvious of the many obvious panty jokes thus far).

Where is Future Maya? Where is Future Edgey? Where is Future Franziska? Where is Future Pearl? If they don't show up soon, I'll be disappointed. It'll be even more disappointing if they don't show up until the ending credits (which would constitute the lamest of cameo appearances), and of course it'll be the most disappointing of all if they don't make it in period.

[Doppleganger]

Gavin was the prosecutor? I thought he was Apollo's mentor?

Originally Posted by Vran

Where is Future Maya? Where is Future Edgey? Where is Future Franziska? Where is Future Pearl? If they don't show up soon, I'll be disappointed. It'll be even more disappointing if they don't show up until the ending credits (which would constitute the lamest of cameo appearances), and of course it'll be the most disappointing of all if they don't make it in period.

Sorry to disappoint, but...

[Vran]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Gavin was the prosecutor? I thought he was Apollo's mentor?

Click the spoiler tag, Mr. Doppleganger, sir. It'll refresh your memory of what was known about the Gavins by the start of Chapter 3.

Spoiler: show

Kristoph Gavin was Apollo's mentor and employer, sort of like Mia Fey to Phoenix Wright. But he was proven guilty of murder by Apollo Justice and the accused: none other than our very own Phoenix Wright! And so he was incarcerated, and Apollo was left without a mentor and without a job.

Klavier Gavin was Kristoph's brother and is an on-again off-again prosecutor and rock star. Seven years ago, he was involved in the case in which Phoenix Wright, the defense attorney, was found to have forged evidence. Wright was disbarred and went into exile. Gavin returned to Germany and began a successful career as a rock star. He returned to Japan upon learning that his brother Kristoph and been convicted of murder and that the defense attorney responsible for proving Kristoph's guilt to the court was none other than his apprentice, Apollo Justice. Klavier wanted to see Apollo for himself. Phoenix and Klavier seem to know one another, although the extent to which they know each other remains unclear. Is it just through the court case seven years ago? Is it just through their mutual link to Kristoph? Or is it both these? or even possibly something more?

Phoenix Wright's relationship with the Gavins superficially appears to be:

• Kristoph: good friends
• Klavier: was either the prosecutor for the case in which Wright was later discovered to have forged evidence or else was involved in the case in some other way

But his relationship with the Gavins, reading between the lines, appears to be something much more:

• Phoenix: it could still be the case that, for whatever reason, Phoenix was wrongly accused of forging evidence -but- did not deny the charges against him because the alternative would have been worse. In other words, Phoenix did not forge evidence seven years ago, and he's the same swell guy now that he was back when we knew him. He's just taking one for the team ... whoever the team may be. (Trucy, perhaps?)
• Kristoph: a fake friend. Kristoph pretends to be Phoenix's friend but is really not, and vice versa Phoenix pretends to be Kristoph's friend but is really not. This fake friendship lasted seven years until each was forced to reveal the truth. Phoenix, ever the justice-seeker, ensured that the truly guilty party, Kristoph Gavin, went to prison; while Kristoph, having pretended to be Phoenix's friend and going so far as to defend Phoenix in court forthe very crime which he (Kristoph) committed, was forced to both renounce his friendship as well as client in Phoenix Wright as he stood on the witness stand and attempted to extricate himself from the murder of which Phoenix had originally been accused.
• Klavier: still not known for certain. Is he a guilty man, or will he be a guilty man, just as his brother Kristoph was? Was he guilty of his own crime back seven years ago when Wright was disbarred? Who's to say except those who have completed the game? Being only at the very start of Chapter 3, I'm nowhere near ready to say for certain whether Klavier Gavin is a good man as he seems to be or whether he's in fact just as sly, superficial, and deadly as was his brother Kristoph.

[Doppleganger]

I spent some of the evening reviewing the PR cutscenes on YouTube.

My verdict...

IRIS IS SUPERIOR

DOWN WITH MAYA

FUDGE THAT BULLCRACKER

I MEAN COME ON WHAT THE FUDGE?!

[Loki]

Sometimes I have no idea what the hell you're saying because of your own self censorship.

Are you still in school or something? Cause it's kinda weird that you still do it.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by Loki

Sometimes I have no idea what the hell you're saying because of your own self censorship.

Vran was talking about how he preferred Iris to Maya, and how he felt the Maya pairing with Phoenix wasn't as good as with Iris.

I concur.

I feel the Maya development is being forced because the players have simply known Maya longer. Iris is a much, much better match for Nick.

Originally Posted by Loki

Are you still in school or something?

http://forums.upnetwork.net/showpost...5&postcount=10

[Loki]

If you're out, why do you still censor yourself?

I mean, if you don't want to swear, just don't swear. Don't use fake swears. It's like saying you're religious and you won't use condoms, but you're gonna tell your girlfriend to get on the pill so you don't have a premarital baby.

[Doppleganger]

You can keep a secret, OK?

Part of the censorship-swear thing was influenced by that episode of South Park where all the swearing lead to the reanimation of stone gods that killed everyone. >_>

Sort of.

But the main reason I self-censor is for some people, a pseudo-swear is enough. Most people don't have your mentality, especially if "most people" refers to a soccer mom who would faint if her child so much as heard "crap" (which I don't say outside of quotes) at a band concert.

Like in politics, where the most innocent of phrases can be mutated into a racial slur, the average sensitive person is highly superficial. So long as it's candy coated they'll let it pass, and it's been my experience that it's worked very well.

The reason I write in the pseudo-swears is because that's how I talk. My speech is peppered with the stuff, although more of it revolves around food and drink than weird abstracts.

[Muyotwo]

Your upbringing must have been mee kroby

[Weebos]

Picked up Justice For All again today, woooooooo.

[Amras.MG]

Which one of the Phoenix games should I get? And are they actiony?

[Muyotwo]

As I said, definitely get Ace Attorney first, and they're more about the story, but you'll get sucked in pretty quickly.

[Weebos]

Its heavy on story, you must get the first one first.
Also, just beat Justice for All, time for the foray into Trial and Tribulations.

[Talon87]

Phoenix Wright Mombolea, a fun music video that couples fan animation of Phoenix Wright characters with a Latin pop song

Spoiler: show

List of Characters (in order of appearance):
#-# follows the pattern Game Number dash Case Number for minor or one-time characters

0m00s: Yanni Yogi (1-4)
0m06s: Larry Butz
0m17s: Phoenix Wright
0m20s: Godot
0m23s: Redd White (1-2)
0m25s: Juan Corrida (2-4)
0m27s: Richard Wellington (2-1)
0m30s: ??? (Gumshoe maybe?)
0m31s: April May (1-2)
0m32s: Gregory Edgeworth, Turney Grey (2-2)
0m35s: Manfred von Karma, Lotta Hart
0m41s: Maya Fey, Acro (2-3), Bat (2-3), Mr. Grossberg (1-2)
0m46s: Ini Miney (2-2), Shelly de Killer (2-4), Joe Darke (1-5)
0m55s: Neil Marshall (1-5), Jake Marshall (1-5)
0m57s: Pearl Fey, Cody Hackins (1-3), Bruce Goodman (1-5), Morgan Fey, Polly (1-4)
1m01s: Wendy Oldbag
1m12s: Dick Gumshoe, Matt Engarde (2-4), Jack Hammer (1-3), Will Powers (1-3)
1m20s: Penny Nichols (1-3), Dee Vasquez (1-3), Adrian Andrews (2-4)
1m26s: Frank Sahwit (1-1)
1m27s: Bellboy (1-2), Mia Fey in Maya Fey's body
1m30s: Max Galactica (2-3)
1m34s: Moe (2-3), Winston Payne
1m38s: no clue ^^;
1m39s: Maggie Byrde (2-1), Lana Skye (1-5), Angel Starr (1-5)
1m54s: Benjamin Woodman and Trilo Quist (2-3), no clue who the woman is
2m09s: Miles Edgeworth
2m14s: Russell Berry (2-3)
2m23s: Judge
2m38s: I don't remember a specific dog, Mike Meekins (1-5 or 2-1, depending on how you slice it)
2m42s: Franziska von Karma
3m01s: Damon Gant (1-5)

Sorry that I don't recognize everybody. Haven't played back through any of the games yet except for 1 so anybody else is basically me remembering who they were and then looking them up. Saw a few people who maybe were meant to be Luke Atmey but I couldn't tell for certain. Decided to look them up and I guess they turned out to be characters I completely forgot about from Game 2. ^^; (Richard Wellington and Turner Grey.)

It's very heavy on characters from the first two games but the inclusion of at least one Game 3 character for sure (Godot) leads me to post this here just in case any of the ones I don't remember or recognize are also from Game 3. In any event, enjoy!

[Talon87]

Wow, has it really been two years since I re-beat AA2? My original intention had been to re-play PW1, PW2, PW3, and Apollo Justice along with Miss Daisy since a) I wanted to refresh my own memory of the games' events and b) I wanted to provide Miss Daisy with a PW gaming buddy so as to encourage her to play them all so as to permit me to show her hilarious comics without spoiling her on major events in the later games. But I wanted to take a short break after completing PW2, and ... well, you know me. ^^; Two months turned into two years.

But I'm back! :o Capcom's 44%-off sale of Ace Attorney 5 proved irresistible, and thanks to a small gift of cash I received recently, I decided to not let this limited-time offer pass me by. But I'm not one to cut ahead in line! Things have to be done in their proper order. So even though I've made the purchase, the plan is to set AA5 aside for right now and to go back through Games 3 and 4 first, playing them each for the second time in my life, reliving the excitement and refreshing my memory. Then after I do that, I'll play AA5. (Though maybe this time I'll take a three-year break instead. ;o )

So pull up a chair, get comfy, and enjoy yourself a hot cup of joe: 'cause Uncle Talon's about to provide case-by-case thoughts as he plays back through!

P.S. Pearl Fey is best Fey.

[takkupanda]

Yep! Pearly is the best! Even I have completed AA1 and 2 but left AA3 somewhere in the story when things got busier. Maybe I'll pick it up again too!

[Talon87]

About two thirds of the way through the first case. I had forgotten just how long Game 3's first case is compared with Game 1's or even Game 2's. Not really a complaint -- or if it is, then it's only one of, "Aw man, foiled expectations!" I'm mostly pleased by {spoilers}, and am frequently reminded by Ms. Mia Fey's animation that her Game 3 incarnation is suh-MOKING hot. "End the impossible standards for women!"

Case 1 spoilers:

Spoiler: show

Dahlia Hawthorne is quite the black widow.

Case 5 spoilers:

Spoiler: show

The writing in these games is by all means generally praiseworthy, but one curious oversight(?) in this early case is the establishment that Mia Fey had only met Dahlia Hawthorne for the very first time on the day she poisoned Diego. Isn't this a little strange for first cousins born to women who lived in a religious commune? Perhaps I'm just not remembering some of the details. Perhaps it's also revealed in Case 5 that Morgan Fey raised Dahlia in secrecy. Or that Dahlia was raised by her father. I don't remember. But if Dahlia was raised at Kurain Village, then it seems weird to me that Mia wouldn't have known her face until the day Diego died.

[Talon87]

Completed Case 1, into early Case 2. (Just met Desirée DeLite a few minutes ago.) I have had a series of grins on my face that I keep noticing every so often. Part kid in a candy shop, part grown man reliving his childhood, I'm having a blast with Case 2 so far:

Spoiler: show

even though I distinctly recall not being a very big fan of the case in general when I first played it -- the story, the soundtrack, the characters, all of it -- and especially not of Luke Atmey.

I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps I had too high expectations back then that were let down? Perhaps I had too low expectations now? Perhaps it's little more than the power of nostalgia? Whatever it is, I'm not head over heels in love with this case or anything but I definitely find it charming.

Luke Atmey has a serious case of chuunibyou.

Spoiler: show

Funny that I now have an otaku term to apply to what bugs me so much about his character.

Also -- possible spoilers for much later in the case?

Spoiler: show

I don't think I ever realized it before now, but it suddenly dawned on me while playing earlier that Luke Atmey's name is a play-on words of "Look at me!", something which describes his personality fairly well.

[SoS]

RE: your case 5 spoilers

Case 4/5 spoilers here.

Spoiler: show

I believe the point is made that Dahlia and Iris were raised by their father, George the jeweller, who took them away upon realising that Misty's branch of the family would be coming to power.