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.

The influence this game takes from Ace Attorney is as blatant as it could be, and at first I was surprised by how well this game stacks up to the legendary source material. The dialog is witty and the art is amazing, but the cracks start to show when you reach the end of the game. Ace Attorney games have a proven formula for solid endings, setting up an emotional through-line in each of its cases which build up to an emotional finish. Aviary Attorney goes a different way, sneaking in little mysteries about the past which set the stage for an explosive finale. It’s not a bad strategy, but Ace Attorney lets you get attached to its characters for fifteen hours before the emotional punch, Aviary only gives you three. You hardly have time to get invested or understand those clues before everything you know is being upended and twists cause the plot to fly off the rails. If a twist happens before players have a good grip on the setting or characters, it doesn’t create the exciting sense of shock it’s supposed to, just a sense of confusion. For all its clever dialog and amazing visuals, a story can’t be recommended if it’s the textbook definition of a letdown.

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.

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?

"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' "

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

The mysteries themselves are quite simple and the unique mechanics behind them (notably the time limit and the fact that the game continues even if you fail your cases) don't get much usage as a result. And while they can be fun in the moment-to-moment experience you probably won't be scratching your head at any point while thinking of a solution.

Normally I would care a lot about that lack of depth and mechanical complexity, but I can set it aside in this case because the game does a great job of compensating in other areas. The old-fashioned visuals, music, and dialogue all mesh with the setting and story in such a strong way that it feels oddly immersive despite being a bunch of animals in Restoration-era France. The core story was far more political than I was expecting given its silly initial premise and the game did a surprisingly good job of handling the topics it brought up with nuance and compassion.

So even though Aviary Attorney was quite weak in the aspects I initially played it for, I still enjoyed my time with it overall because of its strengths in the areas I normally wouldn't focus as much on in a mystery game. So you may want to adjust your expectations accordingly before you start playing, but it should still be a good time regardless.

Um jogo estilo Ace Attorney que me decepcionou um pouco, talvez porque eu esperava demais.

Jogo BEM mal otimizado para computador, os lugares que o jogo simplesmente trava ou buga são... vários

História ok, poderia ser menos edgy em algumas partes, mas não é ruim
Personagens e OSTs legais, definitivamente a melhor parte do jogo
Tem um minigame de 21, esse é legal também

Story completed, including all three end-game branches. An enjoyable visual novel in a Revolutionary France-style setting, Aviary Attorney sees the player guiding its two protagonists through some light puzzle-solving and courtroom-drama scenarios, alongside furtherance of an interesting story through narrative choices. Each scene is illustrated with beautiful hand-drawn art and, while the use of anthropomorphic animals (mostly, but not all, being birds) does nothing much for me, this quirkiness doesn't detract from the game and does at least make it more memorable!