It doesn't surprise me to hear that this game had a mixed reception when it first came out in Japan in 2015, because I most certainly did not vibe with it as much as a lot of people did and do. The 6 years of waiting undoubtedly did not help.
I'll start off by saying that the presentation is excellent. The series' transition to 3D was incredible, but this game truly takes it to the next level. The animations are better than ever, and the Dance of Deduction sequences are beautiful to look at. The game’s cast is also fantastic, and I’d go as far as to say this is probably the best AA ensemble we’ve had yet. The music’s also incredible, but it’s Ace Attorney, so what else is new?
Due to some genuinely interesting design decisions that were made, all of the cases in this game, imo, suffer from severe pacing issues, in addition to some of the mysteries just not being all that interesting. The first and second cases are decent but go on for far too long, the third case is solid but doesn’t reach the heights of some of the other cases in the franchise, the fourth case is an absolute bore and the fifth case is interesting, but not interesting enough for it to go on as long as it did. Again, none of them are outright bad (There aren’t any Turnabout Big Tops or Turnabout Serenades here), their pacing is just really, really off.
I’m not going to jump into GAA2 immediately (the thought of playing two Ace Attorney games back to back sounds exhausting), but I’ve heard it pretty much fixes all the issues in this one and is one of the best games in the franchise, so I’m looking forward to it.
I'll start off by saying that the presentation is excellent. The series' transition to 3D was incredible, but this game truly takes it to the next level. The animations are better than ever, and the Dance of Deduction sequences are beautiful to look at. The game’s cast is also fantastic, and I’d go as far as to say this is probably the best AA ensemble we’ve had yet. The music’s also incredible, but it’s Ace Attorney, so what else is new?
Due to some genuinely interesting design decisions that were made, all of the cases in this game, imo, suffer from severe pacing issues, in addition to some of the mysteries just not being all that interesting. The first and second cases are decent but go on for far too long, the third case is solid but doesn’t reach the heights of some of the other cases in the franchise, the fourth case is an absolute bore and the fifth case is interesting, but not interesting enough for it to go on as long as it did. Again, none of them are outright bad (There aren’t any Turnabout Big Tops or Turnabout Serenades here), their pacing is just really, really off.
I’m not going to jump into GAA2 immediately (the thought of playing two Ace Attorney games back to back sounds exhausting), but I’ve heard it pretty much fixes all the issues in this one and is one of the best games in the franchise, so I’m looking forward to it.