This was a very interesting story. However, the author's lack of understanding of legal trials made the second half really tough to slog through. For instance, in Japanese and Western-style courts (which this seems to be mimicking, in homage to Ace Attorney), the burden of proof is always on the prosecution. You also cannot hold a population responsible for the actions of a single member and enact group punishment; this is literally a war crime. It's also a serious crime to withhold evidence from the defense. The defense is also entitled to voir dire any perspective witnesses ahead of time, and both sides are required to provide a list of all witnesses. If this was not attempting to mimic Ace Attorney, these nitpicks would not matter much. I would urge the author to consult someone with more knowledge of legal trials in any future revisions.
The following is a response to above, mostly explain intentions and our thought process since we have thought about this before writing. It is... rather long since we just want to be clear and firm. Apologies if I overexplain myself:
While I appreciate the critique about the legal proceedings in chapter 3, I would like to say the entire event is just a more dramatic way to explain a rather tense situation. It is not meant to mimic any official legalities of real-life law, especially since the game does not have the same rules that govern us (to an extent as some of the parts I added in writing are non-canon to the source material).
While yes, it is supposed to be a reference to AA gameplay and art-wise, it is just only that. A massive reference. I wrote this in a sense to answer a question I had while brainstorming a year ago: "How would a trial work if it is not official, yet handled by officials?" to which I ignored all presumptions of rules that usually prolong stories like these and made it so that each character is doing this just because of emotion and pride especially since the parties involved are nowhere near the profession that they are supposed to mimic. This is the equivalent of a veteran, a police man, and a private investigator making their own courtroom. Because of that, I may not change the process and proceeding if I am to edit this section. I may clarify some moments after I get a better idea, but overall, it is not a legal trial because it is not the right people, yet it is a reasonable action at the time and conflict if we consider the setting.
Ace Attorney, which does have the same governed rules as us, means that they have to follow the law that is the same as ours. Preparing witnesses and evidence and exchanging info are mainly required and, most of all, legal. However, other than preparing evidence, it is not a luxury everyone is allowed in the situation I made. While, yes, legalities are essential as a reference, so are the setting and the situation in which I placed them. Which to be fair, the Scriviner did say later on that "this is not a real trial" since the intention is not to incriminate them but rather knowing what actually happened.
I want to explain myself on this as I expected; specifically, some would critique the Chapter 3 event as not being "correct" to real-life law, which is my intention. I wouldn't say I like it being too close to reality. If I am to mimic it and do actual research, this entire update will take many months to be accurate (as I do not have any friends in the legal business, especially the... niche of the situation.), and I do not want to force our readers to go through several unnecessary steps to explain and wait especially since the wait for this update was already too long. That, and I mostly just wanted to surprise people. Besides, that entire event is just 10-20% of the game, so it is not a focus to be so accurate as everyone is already screaming at me for monster seggs.
Hope this helps clear it up!
If you're talking about gameplay, we did add a Guide that is available in our development log. While brute forcing is fine, as this is a visual novel and you can brute force anything there, we didn't want to lower the difficulty as we want it still be somewhat challenging. The flow might be revisited in the future, but that still mostly will be better explanations and maybe more hints if we are to add new content (Which to be fair, if you do question a certain line, it will show a hint so we thought it would be enough).
Maybe also because we are not really the best English speakers/writers and I genuinely sometimes think I am dyslexic with how I write and talk recently :v
As I said before, I really do like the story. I also really appreciate the artwork. You all did a great job. I look forward to the revisions in the future that improve the game.
One thought I had was a way to use the trust system to double as a sort of resource for hints, if the player needs them. Right now, you only lose trust if you make a wrong guess. Maybe you could also deliberately spend one of your trust points to get a hint. This would maintain the difficulty but allow us to get in-game hints if we need them. It could also serve as a way to get insight into what the main character is thinking at the time, how his mind functions. This might make the gameplay a bit more dynamic, too. Add a bit of a risk vs. reward mechanic.
> Aside from that, when you have a world where the rules are different, it’s important to lay them out ahead of time
No, not really. Majority of readers have enough intelligence to pick up those rules on the fly as they witness them in action firsthand. “Laying rules ahead of time” is called “info-dumping”, and its a narrative tool that is rightfully criticized by both readers and writers alike.
That aside, game never explicitly tells that it try to mimick any sort of court. I’m not sure if you have noticed that or not, but societies in monster hunter universe aren’t exactly modern and progressive, and expecting a civilization that is stuck somewhere in stone age to be up to par to modern law rules is ridiculous.
There are ways to lay out rules and world build without info dumping. Info dumping is just the least talented way to do it. It can be incorporated into the story in ways that make sense and are interesting.
The court scene is mimicking Ace Attorney (which is confined by the author), which takes place in a Japanese court. But there’s more to it than just legal rules. There are many logical inconsistencies. It’s still an overall good story. I look forward to the changes that will come.