So, a preface before we begin here: I had never played a visual novel or even text-based adventure game before Ace Attorney. I was very much turned off by the idea of sifting through hundreds if not thousands of lines of text for tens of hours. However, through a combination of being naturally interested in the premise, hearing good things about the series, having one of my favourite Youtubers also play through it at the time and a bundle of it and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, I bit the bullet one day in the middle of August last year and grabbed it. And you know what? It was one of the best decisions of my entire life.
Firstly, before ANYTHING ELSE, we have to talk about the characters because holy mother of Mia are they fantastic. Maya is absolutely precious and goes through a very satisfying arc that is actually shown off to you as you progress rather than implied off screen like many other games would do, Larry is an absolute idiot (but the lovable kind of idiot you know?) who, despite it, is still very compassionate for the people he cares about, Edgeworth is probably the most interesting character I've ever seen in a video game, having layers of his character peeled back through every case he's in, culminating in the absolute brilliance that is Case 4 and even bloody Phoenix is one of the most determined, likable and even at points hysterical protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of playing as. Every character is great though and that's in no small part to the wonderful animation on display.
For being (when you break them down) simple static images, each and every character is full of life and charm. From the delightfully cartoonish courtroom expressions of Phoenix and Edgeworth, to the bonkers mannerisms of some of the witnesses to the wonderfully illustrated progression in thought of the villains from cocky confidence to snivelling sweating, it's absolutely fantastic stuff. It just goes to show that just because you don't have a big budget, doesn't mean you have to skimp out on animation quality (an addage that the rest of the games in this series follow to a tee).
Something that I personally look for in games that can either make or break my enjoyment of them is the music. If music in a game is good, it can vastly improve my experience and leave lasting memories that come flooding back whenever I listen to it again. So what is the music like in Ace Attorney? It's not good: it's absolutely phenomenal. The music is finely crafted to come in at just the perfect time to give the scene it's applied to the perfect amount of either humour, tension or even heartbreak. And listing out every song I like would just be listing out the entire damn OST at that point but my favourites definitely include Maya Fey's Theme, Cornered 2001, Steel Samurai and Investigation ~ Core 2001.
And I haven't even gotten to the gameplay yet which, like literally everything else, is great. You play in 2 phases: Investigation and Trial. Investigation is all about exploring the surrounding crime scene, gleaming new clues and talking with witnesses or people related to the crime at hand. Trial then takes the action to the courtroom where you listen to witness testimony, press their statements, find contradictions whilst all the while dealing with whatever BS Edgeworth (and a certain other someone) throws at you during it. Whilst from a description they may seem a bit boring, the environments you'll be navigating in the Investigation segments (even if just through clicking inputs) are varied and detailed, making it the right amount of obvious so that you'll be inquisitively scouring each and every scene for either clues, evidence or even just little pieces of inner monologue from Phoenix. And then when it comes to the trials, it gives you everything you need to take down your witnesses' statements, you just need to know how the pieces fit together. Sometimes the answer is immediately obvious just from the first run-through alone and other times it requires some thorough pressing to get where you need to be but when the dialogue during said examinations is as good as it is, you'll be wanting to press every single statement just to hear it. It may occasionally require you to think crazy (heh) in order to to solve some puzzles but compared to other games in the series, this one is much more lenient being the first and all.
All of this, combined with the brilliant DLC case, Rise from the Ashes, included with the DS release (and all subsequent releases), should be more than sufficient evidence to show that this game, to me at least, is an utter masterpiece for taking the limitations it was made under and delivering an experience like nothing else because of it. This is one of my all time favourite games ever made and I doubt there'll be many objections to that statement once you play it for yourself.
Firstly, before ANYTHING ELSE, we have to talk about the characters because holy mother of Mia are they fantastic. Maya is absolutely precious and goes through a very satisfying arc that is actually shown off to you as you progress rather than implied off screen like many other games would do, Larry is an absolute idiot (but the lovable kind of idiot you know?) who, despite it, is still very compassionate for the people he cares about, Edgeworth is probably the most interesting character I've ever seen in a video game, having layers of his character peeled back through every case he's in, culminating in the absolute brilliance that is Case 4 and even bloody Phoenix is one of the most determined, likable and even at points hysterical protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of playing as. Every character is great though and that's in no small part to the wonderful animation on display.
For being (when you break them down) simple static images, each and every character is full of life and charm. From the delightfully cartoonish courtroom expressions of Phoenix and Edgeworth, to the bonkers mannerisms of some of the witnesses to the wonderfully illustrated progression in thought of the villains from cocky confidence to snivelling sweating, it's absolutely fantastic stuff. It just goes to show that just because you don't have a big budget, doesn't mean you have to skimp out on animation quality (an addage that the rest of the games in this series follow to a tee).
Something that I personally look for in games that can either make or break my enjoyment of them is the music. If music in a game is good, it can vastly improve my experience and leave lasting memories that come flooding back whenever I listen to it again. So what is the music like in Ace Attorney? It's not good: it's absolutely phenomenal. The music is finely crafted to come in at just the perfect time to give the scene it's applied to the perfect amount of either humour, tension or even heartbreak. And listing out every song I like would just be listing out the entire damn OST at that point but my favourites definitely include Maya Fey's Theme, Cornered 2001, Steel Samurai and Investigation ~ Core 2001.
And I haven't even gotten to the gameplay yet which, like literally everything else, is great. You play in 2 phases: Investigation and Trial. Investigation is all about exploring the surrounding crime scene, gleaming new clues and talking with witnesses or people related to the crime at hand. Trial then takes the action to the courtroom where you listen to witness testimony, press their statements, find contradictions whilst all the while dealing with whatever BS Edgeworth (and a certain other someone) throws at you during it. Whilst from a description they may seem a bit boring, the environments you'll be navigating in the Investigation segments (even if just through clicking inputs) are varied and detailed, making it the right amount of obvious so that you'll be inquisitively scouring each and every scene for either clues, evidence or even just little pieces of inner monologue from Phoenix. And then when it comes to the trials, it gives you everything you need to take down your witnesses' statements, you just need to know how the pieces fit together. Sometimes the answer is immediately obvious just from the first run-through alone and other times it requires some thorough pressing to get where you need to be but when the dialogue during said examinations is as good as it is, you'll be wanting to press every single statement just to hear it. It may occasionally require you to think crazy (heh) in order to to solve some puzzles but compared to other games in the series, this one is much more lenient being the first and all.
All of this, combined with the brilliant DLC case, Rise from the Ashes, included with the DS release (and all subsequent releases), should be more than sufficient evidence to show that this game, to me at least, is an utter masterpiece for taking the limitations it was made under and delivering an experience like nothing else because of it. This is one of my all time favourite games ever made and I doubt there'll be many objections to that statement once you play it for yourself.