I had a pretty good time playing this game. The first couple of cases were pretty basic, the answer to "Who dun it?" is pretty apparent or revealed too early. Even though the game was originally made for the GBA, I think it is remastered quite well for modern platforms, the controls are intuitive and the performance is solid.

Solving the cases felt a lot like trial and error to me or there was a deus ex machina blowing the case wide open and not many eureka-feeling moments that I was looking for
Except the last case, now that one was a roller coaster ride,
I really loved the addition of 3D elements and combing through videos in that final case, really felt I was solving a case instead of blindly going through every option to find what unlocks the next stage of the case

A lot of frustration while figuring out how exactly the game wanted me to proceed was subdued a lot with the excellent soundtrack that I even listen to outside of the game at moments and the pleasant artwork and animations, some of the expressions Edgeworth or Mia makes are hilarious and still stick around in my thoughts lol

the characters are the highlight of this game truly for me. they are fun to hang out with or interview, people who either put their personalities on their sleeve or are really bad at hiding their true motives lol

Overall, it was an enjoyable time and I am excited to continue playing the series. But I feel this type of game would truly shine if it allowed me to progress making incomplete findings and making incorrect assumptions and eventually failing a case spectacularly and the consequent mystery of finding out what went wrong. As of now, it's a very guided experience with very little chance that you'll fail a case

I had a pretty good time playing this game. The first couple of cases were pretty basic, the answer to "Who dun it?" is pretty apparent or revealed too early. Even though the game was originally made for the GBA, I think it is remastered quite well for modern platforms, the controls are intuitive and the performance is solid. I played on a PS5.

Solving the cases felt a lot like trial and error to me or there was a deus ex machina blowing the case wide open and not many eureka-feeling moments that I was looking for, but the story and characters were engaging enough to keep me going. I had a lot of frustrating moments trying to figure out how exactly the game wanted me to proceed, I feel it would have been better if the game allowed me to proceed to the next stage whenever I wanted not railroaded into doing the very specific thing the game wants me to do to progress.

Except for that last case though, now that one was a roller coaster ride, a revelation that happened to me around halfway through the case that I did not see coming at all but was so obvious in hindsight still sticks around in my thoughts as I write this. It really felt I was solving a case instead of blindly going through every option to find what unlocks the next stage of the case. I also really loved the addition of 3D elements and combing through the videos section in that final case
The excellent soundtrack elevates key moments in the game and I even listen to them outside of the game at moments and the pleasant artwork and animations bring it all together, some of the expressions Edgeworth or Mia makes are hilarious and still stick around in my thoughts lol. I would have liked a "Retro Mode" that made the game look and sound more like how it would on original hardware because I think the artwork is drawn for that resolution and display and some of the charm is lost with the upscaling the developers have done for this remaster.

The characters are the highlight of this game truly for me. they are fun to hang out with or interview, people who either put their personalities on their sleeve or are really bad at hiding their true motives lol

Overall, it was an enjoyable time and I am excited to continue playing the series. I feel people who like figuring out the narrative would like this game. It's no outer wilds but its stands tall nonetheless. But I feel this type of game would truly shine if it allowed me to progress making incomplete findings and making incorrect assumptions and eventually failing a case spectacularly and the consequent mystery of finding out what went wrong. As of now, it's a very guided experience with very little chance that you'll fail a case

What a wild experience this was, playing the original Ace Attorney game and finally seeing what the hype is about with this series. Thank you Game Pass!

For the most part, I absolutely loved the courtroom segments of this game. They are the meat of it of course, and solving puzzles, finding contradictions, it's so much fun. The music goes along with this perfectly, I love it so much. Each case has some absolutely wild twists that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way to the end. Investigations are a different story though, these mostly just drag. In universe, trials must reach a verdict within three days, and most of them here take up all of that time. This means you'll be asked to investigate three separate times, running around the same areas and solving puzzles to progress. It gets draining after a while, even if there are some big WOAH moments here and there.

This game also has some pretty ridiculous writing if I'm being honest, such as requiring you to do something stupid so that Phoenix is left at a disadvantage in the coming day in court. These range from walking up to the person who you're going to accuse of murder and waving evidence at them, to Phoenix being too stupid to turn a piece of evidence around and look at the other side until he's about to lose a trial. It's baffling honestly.

With that, I guess I'll just give my opinions on the individual cases. Cases 1 and 2 are pretty solid, I enjoyed them a lot even if they were pretty simple. Case 3 is alright but it definitely drags. The investigation segments here aren't really fun, but the final day in court might just make up for all of that honestly. Edgeworth is the best. Case 4 is absolutely incredible. I loved it to bits. Everything just fits together so well and I was glued to the screen during it, there are so many amazing twists, and it's a perfect conclusion to the story.

However, in all rereleases of the game, there is an extra case to play. This was originally meant to take advantage of the Nintendo DS and encourage buying the game a second time, even if we never got the GBA version in the west. Case 5 definitely screams DS though, and it leaves me pretty split on it. Investigation segments take FOREVER here because there are added gimmicks meant to take advantage of the touch screen and microphone. These have been reworked for the HD version, but they still just feel like a waste of time. The courtroom segments are pretty great though. I love the story here and all the new characters. It was super satisfying to finally fit all the pieces together and it adds a lot to Edgeworth's character, which is great.

I know I complained a fair bit here but I really did enjoy myself playing this. The game is a little rough around the edges but there's nothing quite like the feeling of figuring out a contradiction and watching everything fall into place as the music ramps up, it's AMAZING. I am most definitely interested in playing more of this series, because if the original game is this well put together, that's a great sign.

Also Phoenix and Edgeworth are definitely gay holy shit.

Ace Attorney franchise is amongst the most popular visual novel videogames, so naturally, I often hear good things about it, be it from friends who like the genre or online discourse. I decided to give the first game a try to see what all the ruckus was about and well shit, it’s GOOD. Before I start talking more about it, there’s a tiny nitpick that I’d like to get off my chest.

About halfway through the game, I was reading some online trivia regarding the franchise and found out that the English localization changes A LOT when it comes to character names and where the story takes place (US in the localization and Japan in the original). I was negatively surprised to find out about this because even though Capcom is a Japanese game developer, it is not uncommon for them to make games that take place in the US with American characters as well, such as the Resident Evil franchise, for example. Why does this annoy me? Because it just feels unnecessary. Sure, it might be cool for Americans, but I’m not American, and not just me, but everyone playing a version that’s not the Japanese one has to play with the American names and all. Like I said, nitpicking, but I hate this feeling that I’m having a “fake experience.” Anyway, I don’t expect anyone else to give a shit about this, just felt like saying. With that out of the way, let me actually start writing about the game.

The story is centered around five cases, each of which could be an entire movie plot; they’re truly that interesting. Even though each case is centralized on itself, the characters and references to previous cases are still present, reminding you that this is all part of one journey – and what a journey it is. The cast is full of intriguing and unique characters, and the interactions are mostly enjoyable. The investigation aspect of the game is genuinely interesting, and I really enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny. However, the main charm of the game resides in the courthouse sections. Although I wasn’t sold on every resolution and plot twist, I was certainly interested in paying attention to the details the entire time. Those sections are definitely a ride of various emotions, and the soundtrack does a damn fine job in creating atmosphere, tension, and satisfaction. The gameplay is simple, and the puzzles are not hard to figure out. Even if you get them wrong at crucial points, the game is still very forgiving. But I say this in a positive light – it is very accessible to anyone who wishes to play while still managing to be intriguing most of the time. And of course, the humor may not be for everyone (not in my case, got me grinning a lot), but you can’t deny how full of charm this game is.

With that said, I would definitely recommend this game not only to those who have shown previous interest in it but also to those who have never played any VN. It is a good way to get into the genre. I can say without a doubt that the Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban franchise has gained a new fan who cannot wait to play the rest of the series.