The first game of the Ace Attorney series, a total banger and so much better than I expected. I've always heard so much about Ace Attorney through years of memes and crossovers like Marvel vs Capcom 3, but somehow was not quite prepared for what I was getting myself into.
Ace Attorney is a VN originally released on GBA, and it certainly has its restraints, whether from technical limitations or simply being the first in a series, the devs were still trying to figure out the conventions of this series and it shows in some ways. The trials are written and designed in a way where the game leads you to the right answer, to the point by the end I had figured out its patterns -- if you're being asked if you REALLY want to keep doing something, you almost always want to keep doing it. If you're being asked if you have evidence, even if you don't think you do, you should claim you do anyway, and there are so few pieces of evidence on hand it's typically quite easy to deduce which one you're supposed to use just by rule of elimination. That said, despite the game being quite easy, it's still so satisfying to go through these cases. The characters are written with such distinct manners of speech, the animations are timelessly captivating, the "objection", "hold it" voice lines never get old the music is just so iconic as well -- Ace Attorney perfected the formula for this type of game from the jump. It's quite easy to see why this game has endured for so long.
To talk about the writing, I really do love the story and the cast of characters.
Phoenix Wright is such an instantly captivating protagonist -- fresh out of law school, he's under all sorts of pressure, his first case is defending his best friend in a murder case, he has little experience and is flying by the seat of his pants, everyone around him has all the answers and he's struggling to keep up. However, despite all this pressure, he is fiercely loyal -- to his clients, to his friends, to his principles, and that's such an admirable quality. He's also such a funny guy, he plays the role of a straight man in a world full of eccentric people quite well. I often found myself relating, and laughing at his disbelief in the insane things happening around him.
The deuteragonist, Maya is with you for 90% of the game. Your second case is defending her in a murder case, and she garners the players sympathy from the get go. She goes through one of the most horrible things, being accused of murdering her own sister, when she's already quite a sheltered person with little experience outside of her home. It's easy to feel sorry for, and attached to her in this case. After you defend her innocence, she sticks around as a supporting character, and often helps Wright as a spirit medium. I thought this spirit medium element, while made with sweet intentions writing wise, it was a little weird to see how her design changes when she's speaking through her sister and it definitely took me out of it at first. But I appreciated seeing how Wright and Maya bonded over their shared respect for Mia, who still watched over them even after passing. As a deuteragonist, Maya brings a level of hope and optimism to the story when things are at their lowest. When Wright feels like he hits an impossible road block, Maya is always there to pick him up and show him that there is always a way to move forward. Even though she has no legal experience, and is not very good at being a spirit medium, she does everything in her power to see a case through and help prove someone's innocence, just like Wright did for her. She gets put on trial, arrested, tazed, but never allows herself to lose her determination. She is an integral part to the core of this game's themes and story.
Miles Edgeworth was a character who also surprised me. I expected a more cold, stoic character. And while he can fill that role, there's a human side to him that I really didn't expect. In the latter half of the game, he gets deconstructed so thoroughly -- at one point there is an earthquake and in response he has a panic attack and becomes completely impossible to talk to. Yet, the game never plays this off for laughs like a more lowbrow story might. It's treated quite seriously and explored fully, in these sorts of games that would typically be comedy relief, and I was relieved to see this treated with this level of care. Edgeworth while opposite to Wright in many ways, such as his pessimism, his nihilism, even his job as a prosecutor, or his color scheme, also reflects Wright. He is so compassionate that it destroys him, the thought that he played a part in letting a murderer in his childhood get away destroyed him so thoroughly that he spent 15 years prosecuting, even going as far as forgery and shady deals. He is so loyal to people he was friends with in only the fourth grade that he doesn't want Wright to defend him even when nobody else will. He is such a perfectly written rival character, I can see why he has so many fans after playing this.
The side characters are all quite memorable and distinct as well, of course. It really did impress me just how much variety there was in character design and speech mannerisms. Everyone, no matter how brief their appearance is, leaves their mark in their own way.
As for the themes, considering the context of this game, developed by a Japanese developer and the history of the legal system in Japan, along with the game taking place in Japan in the original release, there's a counterculture element to this game that may be hidden for those who don't know much about Japan's legal system. In Japan, the conviction rate is 99%. That is staggering. There is some commentary that could potentially be observed here -- it's often pointed out how some of the prosecutors in this game will forge evidence, some will even try to intimidate you outside of the courtroom, one even outright assaults you. It's interesting to see just how far Capcom takes this idea of corruption, to the point where the game ends on a trial exposing a cover up where a prosecutor murdered a defense attorney. Even outside of the prosecutors, there's also a really interesting case that shows how much control a corporation in the game has over the courtroom earlier in the story. To put you in the pilot seat of someone who has all of these impossible odds against him reflects an optimistic theme, that no matter how bad a system can get, you can still oppose it and win, even in a system where your odds are less than 1% of victory.
Ace Attorney is a VN originally released on GBA, and it certainly has its restraints, whether from technical limitations or simply being the first in a series, the devs were still trying to figure out the conventions of this series and it shows in some ways. The trials are written and designed in a way where the game leads you to the right answer, to the point by the end I had figured out its patterns -- if you're being asked if you REALLY want to keep doing something, you almost always want to keep doing it. If you're being asked if you have evidence, even if you don't think you do, you should claim you do anyway, and there are so few pieces of evidence on hand it's typically quite easy to deduce which one you're supposed to use just by rule of elimination. That said, despite the game being quite easy, it's still so satisfying to go through these cases. The characters are written with such distinct manners of speech, the animations are timelessly captivating, the "objection", "hold it" voice lines never get old the music is just so iconic as well -- Ace Attorney perfected the formula for this type of game from the jump. It's quite easy to see why this game has endured for so long.
To talk about the writing, I really do love the story and the cast of characters.
Phoenix Wright is such an instantly captivating protagonist -- fresh out of law school, he's under all sorts of pressure, his first case is defending his best friend in a murder case, he has little experience and is flying by the seat of his pants, everyone around him has all the answers and he's struggling to keep up. However, despite all this pressure, he is fiercely loyal -- to his clients, to his friends, to his principles, and that's such an admirable quality. He's also such a funny guy, he plays the role of a straight man in a world full of eccentric people quite well. I often found myself relating, and laughing at his disbelief in the insane things happening around him.
The deuteragonist, Maya is with you for 90% of the game. Your second case is defending her in a murder case, and she garners the players sympathy from the get go. She goes through one of the most horrible things, being accused of murdering her own sister, when she's already quite a sheltered person with little experience outside of her home. It's easy to feel sorry for, and attached to her in this case. After you defend her innocence, she sticks around as a supporting character, and often helps Wright as a spirit medium. I thought this spirit medium element, while made with sweet intentions writing wise, it was a little weird to see how her design changes when she's speaking through her sister and it definitely took me out of it at first. But I appreciated seeing how Wright and Maya bonded over their shared respect for Mia, who still watched over them even after passing. As a deuteragonist, Maya brings a level of hope and optimism to the story when things are at their lowest. When Wright feels like he hits an impossible road block, Maya is always there to pick him up and show him that there is always a way to move forward. Even though she has no legal experience, and is not very good at being a spirit medium, she does everything in her power to see a case through and help prove someone's innocence, just like Wright did for her. She gets put on trial, arrested, tazed, but never allows herself to lose her determination. She is an integral part to the core of this game's themes and story.
Miles Edgeworth was a character who also surprised me. I expected a more cold, stoic character. And while he can fill that role, there's a human side to him that I really didn't expect. In the latter half of the game, he gets deconstructed so thoroughly -- at one point there is an earthquake and in response he has a panic attack and becomes completely impossible to talk to. Yet, the game never plays this off for laughs like a more lowbrow story might. It's treated quite seriously and explored fully, in these sorts of games that would typically be comedy relief, and I was relieved to see this treated with this level of care. Edgeworth while opposite to Wright in many ways, such as his pessimism, his nihilism, even his job as a prosecutor, or his color scheme, also reflects Wright. He is so compassionate that it destroys him, the thought that he played a part in letting a murderer in his childhood get away destroyed him so thoroughly that he spent 15 years prosecuting, even going as far as forgery and shady deals. He is so loyal to people he was friends with in only the fourth grade that he doesn't want Wright to defend him even when nobody else will. He is such a perfectly written rival character, I can see why he has so many fans after playing this.
The side characters are all quite memorable and distinct as well, of course. It really did impress me just how much variety there was in character design and speech mannerisms. Everyone, no matter how brief their appearance is, leaves their mark in their own way.
As for the themes, considering the context of this game, developed by a Japanese developer and the history of the legal system in Japan, along with the game taking place in Japan in the original release, there's a counterculture element to this game that may be hidden for those who don't know much about Japan's legal system. In Japan, the conviction rate is 99%. That is staggering. There is some commentary that could potentially be observed here -- it's often pointed out how some of the prosecutors in this game will forge evidence, some will even try to intimidate you outside of the courtroom, one even outright assaults you. It's interesting to see just how far Capcom takes this idea of corruption, to the point where the game ends on a trial exposing a cover up where a prosecutor murdered a defense attorney. Even outside of the prosecutors, there's also a really interesting case that shows how much control a corporation in the game has over the courtroom earlier in the story. To put you in the pilot seat of someone who has all of these impossible odds against him reflects an optimistic theme, that no matter how bad a system can get, you can still oppose it and win, even in a system where your odds are less than 1% of victory.