Apollo Justice is such a bold game in many ways. The first game outside of the main trilogy, and one that, like it or not, is a game all about letting the new come in, and letting the old either die, pass on the torch, or move on. It is a theme you can feel throughout most of the game, and you especially feel it in that stellar first trial, a series highlight, that brings in as much intrigue as it does excitement as you defend a now shady Phoenix Wright, and turn the tables against your own corrupt boss. It really sets itself up to be another classic in the series, but sadly, that is not to be.

While Apollo Justice is a very promising game, after the first case it kind of struggles to find its footing, and as more of the mysteries and plot unfolds around you, it just fails to cash that check it so eagerly promises you at the start. I think the most egregious example being Phoenix, while, yes, bum slightly shitty dilf Phoenix Wright is undeniably amazing, the circumstances that lead to him getting there I harshly disagree with. Really trampling a lot of the message of what the original trilogy's ending to Phoenix's story so powerful, even if he is eventually redeemed.

Apollo Justice's cases are also mostly good, but they definitely fall into the weaker side of the series, but luckily, even the weakest parts of most Ace Attorney games are still pretty good because the flow and rhythm of a case is always there. And in many ways I think Apollo heightens that undeniably great feeling of overturning the odds in a case, purely through sharper audio/visual design. Apollo's voice clips just having this oomph to them that just feels great, and the sprite work is bar none, best of the whole series, don't even know how they got it to look so nice. So even during the final trial of the game which I had many reservations with, it still certainly felt good to be laying on that evidence to the end.

So overall, yeah I still quite enjoyed this game, but it definitely feels like a what could've been. I have nothing but respect for what they attempted to do, and I do understand that the game's development had its own issues which halted the writing, but it just never gets to live up to that initial promise that the first case puts forth, which is a huge shame. I'm not sure how the sequels to this game are going to play out when I eventually get to them, though I'm not exactly thrilled with Dual Destinies, already vaguely remembering how things in it played out. But still, I think this is a pretty good game in spite of its flaws, and I don't think one would have a bad time playing it if they're already a fan of the series.

Achtung, baby!