I'm a huge fan of Ace Attorney, so if this game was just Ace Attorney with birds (and so many taxonomy puns to sate a nerd like me), that would be good enough for me. Fortunately, by the end of the first case, this game pretty clearly tells you that it is not just Ace Attorney with birds, and it's going to put its own spin on things. Unlike Ace Attorney, there's no game over. The game works with your failures, and your decisions have real consequences. If this feature wasn't present, the game's time mechanic where it is entirely possible to get to the trial without getting all the evidence you need would be extremely frustrating, but it doesn't bother me very much seeing as the game will continue in some form no matter what.

I thought going in that the decision to set the game in 19th century France was just another gimmick to go with the bird one, but no, the entire plot of the game hinges on it. I enjoyed this very much. DGS had some historical context in it, but this game takes it to another level.

One thing that disappoints me, however, is the art. It looks lovely, but it's just public domain art by J.J. Grandville. I really wish they went with using his works as inspiration for original artwork. That would make the instances where they do have to use original artwork stick out less, they wouldn't have to contend with as many awkward poses, and there could potentially be room for more expression. However, the soundtrack of public domain classical music was the perfect fit for this game. It was lovely and sorted the game nicely.

I'd recommend this game to Ace Attorney fans, but bear in mind you're getting a different experience. The trials are very easy, but the freedom you have to fuck up during investigations and see the consequences of it makes this quite distinct. Get the game on sale though.

Pep's Detective Deep Dive - Game 4
The bourgeois are not human (literally)

Well, this was a pleasure. Calling Aviary Attorney "Ace Attorney but with birds" feels like it does a disservice to just how funny, well-written and surprisingly deep this game is. I haven't played Ace Attorney yet (watch this space) but if it's anything like this I'm very much looking forward to it.

The art is gorgeous, with every character and background beautifully illustrated. The writing is sharp and funny, and the socio-political commentary is very clever, even down to the choices of which animal would portray what character.

It's funny, it's profound, and what's more - it's all based on real art, real people and real events. Highly recommended.

"Are you ready for your catchphrase lessons?"

Conan Doyle gulps

Terry Pratchett breathes heavily

Mercedes Lackey nods nervously

Eoin Colfer sighs

They all say in unison: "Yes Darya Noghani, author of the iconic line 'You are bourgeois of the worst kind' "

Ptákovina. Doslova a do písmene. Herní satira formou jakože bajky s přenádhernou rytinovou stylizací, která zaujme na první dobrou. O to více, že herně jde o neskrývanou poantropomorfizovanou aluzi na Ace Attorney sérii. Tedy typ specifické hratelnosti, která na PC dosud nemá důstojného zástupce (pokud vůbec nějakého). A to, bohužel, platí i po Aviary Attorney, který se o to snaží; sympaticky, ovšem neúspěšně.

V první moment zarazí, že ono se to u kultovní capcomácké série neinspiruje. Ono ji to každou svou mechanikou (i zvuky) nestydatě vykrádá. Jenom v opoznání horším a nedotaženějším provedení. Čili tam, kde se předobraz skládá ze tří složek (adventurní pasáž shromažďování stop a důkazů, obsáhlé dialogy ve stylu vizuálních novel a samozřejmě rozcupování výpovědí svědků během samotného soudního přelíčení), kdy každá je sama o sobě hrou sama o sobě, tak zde zbyla jen kostra tohoto konceptu. Čili adventurní část tu sice je, ale nic moc se v ní dělat nedá. Vizuální novela to je, ale taková, kdy vskutku jen neinteraktivně odklikáváte dialogy a nic více. A samotné přelíčení je průběhem i zvraty příliš nalajnované na to, aby měl člověk (ehm, pták) pocit, že opravdu musí zapojit mozek při vznášení námitek, argumentaci či předkládání důkazů.

Navíc je to krátké (sotva čtyři hodiny, "originál" se v každém díle pohybuje v řádu desítek hodin), málo komplexní, přímočaré (nějaké větvení tu díky přelíčením je, ale dopad na průběh je spíše symbolický), nezamotané a co hůře působí to že tvůrcům došly finance z komunitního zafinancování. Výsledkem čehož je viditelně uspěchaný finální akt, aby to jakž takž vytvářelo alespoň nějaký náznak dějového oblouku a uzavření. Nedaří se to však a nechává si to otevřenou hradní bránu (ne, toto nejsou zadní vrátka) pro případné pokračování. Ono to vlastně ani nijak neskončí, jen se to v jednom momentě utne uprostřed děje a... A nic.

Že dosavadní řádky, krom pochvaly stylizace a výběru žánru, jsou výrazně negativní? No ano, ale pak je tu jeden aspekt, který neradno podceňovat. Má to totiž výtečně napsané dialogy. Zapracování vyspělejších podtónů funguje, esence "lafontainovství" zvířecí Paříže na sklonku 18. století je podchycena přímo výtečně a škorpení ústředního dua nepůsobí nuceně. Ba dokonce je opravdu vtipné. Ostatně právě duo ptačích právníků je tím vůbec nejlepším, co tento titul nabízí. Zasloužilo by si být v lepší hře; respektive ve hře, která by navzdory svému okopírovanému konceptu byla důslednější a dotaženější v tom, o co se snaží.

very cute, the drawings are charming and the humor mostly hits. the "timed" structured can be a bit annoying though, it's specially annoying when you decide to visit a place, there's nothing/nobody there and then a whole day passes, or when you miss a very important proof because of bad timing

i understand the time mechanic can lead to a lot of frustration, it frustrated me, but the game does deal with your failures, and it's not just an automatic game over. i think if it's worked on with a bit more time and budget it's a template for a very yood system, and something ace attorney could even implement to combat the staleness i feel the franchise is going through

Sights & Sounds
- The visual design is extremely eye-catching. It's consistently good throughout the game. It's hard to not have a soft spot for a game that looks like a bunch of old-timey political cartoons
- The character designs all follow the "realistic animal head on human body" theme
- The music is all classical all the time. I'm not a classical music whiz, but I did recognize some Bizet and Debussy. Not sure if all of the composers are similarly French. Some of the music also appears to be original, and these tracks do a good job fitting in with the classical composers
- There's no voice acting, so you'll just have to imagine all the animals speaking with exaggerated French (or in one case, Belgian) accents. That's what I did anyway

Story & Vibes
- It's basically Ace Attorney with animals. You're a bird person instead of a person named after a bird. Your sidekick is a spunky little sparrow instead of a spunky anime schoolgirl. Similarly, your rival is a also no-nonsense prosecutor with whom the protagonist shares some backstory. But in this game, he's a rooster (with a riding crop, for some reason)
- The vibes are also similar. Like the Ace Attorney franchise, Aviary Attorney doesn't take itself too seriously either
- With all these similarities, you may be tempted into suspecting that this is a parody. It's really more of an homage
- The story has its own unique flavor, fortunately. Everything takes place during a French revolution, and the class struggle between the idealistic, democracy-starved laborers and the entrenched, greedy nobility makes for a surprisingly interesting backdrop for the narrative

Playability & Replayability
- The commonalities aren't merely surface level; the gameplay is very similar. If you've tried an Ace Attorney game, you'll be familiar with what's going on. You travel around and investigate different locations, gathering clues and conducting interviews to help you defend your client
- Eventually, you'll wind up in front of the judge to cross-examine witnesses and make good use of the evidence you gathered and point out inconsistencies
- None of this is too difficult if you're paying attention. The game does hold your hand a little too much at times, in my personal opinion. There were a few times where I was about to screw up, but the game essentially screaming, "Are you sure?" then, "Are you SURE you're sure?" quickly set me down the more favorable path
- There's three different endings, but I'm fairly pleased with the one I got. I might try to shake things up in a replay, but it'll be a while before I'm back for that

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I'm pretty sure this game could run on anything, and there's not a ton of action going on at any point, so I didn't encounter any bugs or other issues
- If you wind up buying and enjoying Aviary Attorney, also check out Chicken Police. It's an extremely similar game, right down to the character designs (the protagonist and his sidekick are also birds) and investigative gameplay

Final Verdict
- 7/10. Now let's say you and I go toe-to-toe in bird law and see who comes out the victor?