Screenshot of an investigation segment in episode 5 of the first Ace Attorney game

Does everyone else also always wait to examine the body last?

I always go over all the other things on the crime scene, and go through all the dialogue options with my sidekick first, out of fear that I will trigger the game to wrap up the investigation and force me to move on - but I know that it will at the very least require me to examine the body before it does that.

Basically the same thing as the old "trying to take the wrong path first" in other games, but I never hear anyone mention it in the context of Ace Attorney or Danganronpa or whatever. Only one game comes to mind that recognizes that this is an issue, and it's Rain Code: when you've investigated everything you need to, you are given the option to "finish the investigation", but can keep on examining things, talking to NPCs, etc. for however long you wish.

I wish every mystery adventure game would implement this, and that every RPG where this is applicable had something like the "You can sense a powerful presence beyond the door." that the Shin Megami Tensei series does before bosses in its dungeons.

This was cross-posted to Cohost and to my blog on Neocities.

Comments from the original publication:

Vaudeville Ghost's Cohost avatarone (1) vaudeville ghost @vaudevilleghost, 30 Sep, 2024
in my default mode i usually avoid examining the obvious thing first, but i am prone to capricious whims where i will just go for the body first

My current avatar: a digital drawing by me, of the Persona 2 character Jun KurosuAlexandra IDV ✨💙 @AlexandraIDV, 30 Sep, 2024
I certainly experience those impulses, but I've just been burned a few times too many to give in to them anymore, as curious as I always am about The Main Obvious Thing.