I think the most impressive thing about Ace Attorney is its ability to combine character design, limited animation, and writing to instantly establish the personalities of its characters. All it takes is one glance and reading one line of dialogue to instantly know who they are and to create a voice in your head for what these people sound like.
It's doubly impressive considering that this was originally a GBA game from 2001 that wasn't localized for four years! And on top of that, the localization is superb! This is one of the funniest games I have ever played; from the dialects of these absurd characters, to Phoenix's interactions with the main cast, to the subtle references to pop culture, to the not-so-subtle yet hilarious puns in all of their names that make you begrudgingly chuckle, this game is a comedy gold-mine.
The one thing that I think makes this work most of all is Phoenix himself. The aforementioned writing and limited animation do a great job in establishing his sarcastic personality, his sense of justice, the moments when he gets way in over his head during court, and the interactions that make him feel like the only normal person in this wide cast of characters. But above all, we get to hear Phoenix's internal thoughts. He has some remark or inquiry about everything, whether that be the bonkers things that come out of witness' mouths, or the important details in cases that turn the tide in his favor. Getting to hear exactly what he thinks is brilliant; it establishes his personality, makes us feel more intimate with him as the playable character, and prevents him from coming off like a jackass or an idiot by saying everything he thinks out loud like many characters in Japanese media do. Great stuff.
And what you get in the end is a fantastic visual novel with great puzzles, writing, characters, humor, stories, and especially fantastic music. I didn't talk about it at all because my words simply can't do it justice.
I highly recommend 8-bit Music Theory's and New Frame Plus' videos about Ace Attorney, as they do a great job at taking a deep dive into how exactly the music and animation (respectively) in this series works so well.
It's doubly impressive considering that this was originally a GBA game from 2001 that wasn't localized for four years! And on top of that, the localization is superb! This is one of the funniest games I have ever played; from the dialects of these absurd characters, to Phoenix's interactions with the main cast, to the subtle references to pop culture, to the not-so-subtle yet hilarious puns in all of their names that make you begrudgingly chuckle, this game is a comedy gold-mine.
The one thing that I think makes this work most of all is Phoenix himself. The aforementioned writing and limited animation do a great job in establishing his sarcastic personality, his sense of justice, the moments when he gets way in over his head during court, and the interactions that make him feel like the only normal person in this wide cast of characters. But above all, we get to hear Phoenix's internal thoughts. He has some remark or inquiry about everything, whether that be the bonkers things that come out of witness' mouths, or the important details in cases that turn the tide in his favor. Getting to hear exactly what he thinks is brilliant; it establishes his personality, makes us feel more intimate with him as the playable character, and prevents him from coming off like a jackass or an idiot by saying everything he thinks out loud like many characters in Japanese media do. Great stuff.
And what you get in the end is a fantastic visual novel with great puzzles, writing, characters, humor, stories, and especially fantastic music. I didn't talk about it at all because my words simply can't do it justice.
I highly recommend 8-bit Music Theory's and New Frame Plus' videos about Ace Attorney, as they do a great job at taking a deep dive into how exactly the music and animation (respectively) in this series works so well.