Sometimes, revisiting the first game in a series that you've played in full can flip your perspective on how you feel about it. I revisited Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney rather quickly after completing the entire Ace Attorney series, which wrapped up in The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve. I wanted to see if all my journey through this series would make me think differently about the one that started it all. But I'm glad to say, even after seeing everything this series had to offer, this game is still absolutely amazing.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, to me, is a timeless game. 21 years after it's initial release, it still feels as relevant and memorable as ever. Even after NINE more games releasing, this first entry still stands strong in terms of writing, gameplay, and presentation.
Presentation
Talk about a charmingly wonderful game in terms of looks. The way characters are animated takes advantage of the importance of key frames in character animation. The environments and still images for cutscenes are simple, but appealing. There's a certain nostalgic look to this game, it's hard to explain. The strong, but simple art style gives this title such a large appeal in my opinion.
Music
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is very humble and simple when it comes to the soundtrack, but that isn't a bad thing. Most tunes are rather short, but extremely catchy to compensate. It's a soundtrack I could go back to anyday, it' so charming and lovable.
Gameplay
While later games would add more mechanics to aid in your search of the truth, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is down to the basics of series gameplay. You can press witnesses and present evidence during witness testimonies, and in some cases, present or answer a question when asked on the spot during an intense moment in a trial. Investigations are simple too, you can examine environments and talk to people related to the crime to gather more information for your case. Coming to the trial with all the evidence you gathered and making use of it never gets old. I love just presenting the (w)right thing and making the witness tick. While it's very basic compared to later entries, it still encapsulates what makes these games fun.
Characters
I love these characters. I love Phoenix, I love Maya, I love Edgeworth, I love Gumshoe, I love Ema, I love almost everyone in this cast. Of course I hate the villains, but that's the point! These characters just feel engaging and deep, and the way they are written is so charming.
Conclusion
I love Ace Attorney. Even nearly 2 years after I've gotten into this series, I have never gotten tired of it. My first review on this site wayyy back in like, March 2021 was actually of this game. I kinda cringe looking back at that review, it felt very stale and lacked personality in my opinion. I wanted to write this review just to show my love for this game and series in general. So I felt making this my 100th review would be appropriate, especially when my last review was on The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve. Ace Attorney really helped me during a rough time in my life, as cliche as that sounds, but I do feel it has made me improve as a person. Revisiting this game has made me love it even more, and without a doubt, Ace Attorney is my favorite video game series of all time. That's not even a contest.