Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice for all is a pretty interesting title to talk about, the “black sheep” of the trilogy as it were, the game at large has a really interesting general consensus, where most folks would agree that while the majority of the game isn’t good, the final case is one of the series’ absolute finest, and makes the whole thing worth going through just to get to that point. I feel that that viewpoint does a lot of JFA a bit of a disservice, though admittedly I do have some somewhat spicy takes about this one. There’s some general gameplay improvements here like being able to present character profiles as evidence and having a more flexible health system, but the main new addition here is the Psyche Locks, which I’m a tad conflicted on, while they do make investigation segments more interesting, their actual in-universe presence is pretty contrived and annoyingly glanced upon, like Phoenix is basically given a magical lie detector, but not only does it not work in court for reasons literally never touched on, but Wright doesn’t just have the bright idea to go up to everyone and ask whether they’re the culprit or not, know I know that sounds silly, but the game literally establishes in case 4 that Phoenix is ALLOWED to use it that way, it just never happens for the sake of the story, which kinda bothers me a lot, but overall it’s whatever, I can suspend my suspension of disbelief.

As for some more hot takes, I actually really like the soundtrack here and prefer it to that of the first game’s even, the OST isn’t quite as catchy and doesn’t have as many “banger” tracks per-se, but it makes up for it with some truly gut-wrenching emotional and dramatic pieces, from Announce the Truth to core to the credits theme and to ALL the Reminiscence themes-GOD these Reminiscence fucking HIT. The first game had some good emotional pisces, but the stuff in JFA just genuinely gets to my heart, and I can’t get enough of it.

On to the cases though! The Lost Turnabout kinda faces a dilemma where it needs to explain the game’s mechanics in case the player hasn’t picked up the first game yet, but that wouldn’t make much sense in-universe seeing as Wright already knows how to lawyer, so the solution is was using a somewhat generic amnesia plot line giving the characters an excuse to go over everything again. Yeah it’s kinda annoying, but it doesn’t really bother me too much. I know some people who HATE this case, like consider it the literal worst in the series even, but honestly I don’t really get that, like yeah it’s really simple and the tutorial stuff is annoying, but the characters are mostly pretty fun, and there’s some fun contradictions, really I think it’s mostly just inoffensive, and being a tutorial case I don’t think there’s really much reason to get too up in arms about it.

Reunion and Turnabout is an interesting one, cause honestly I’m not even sure what the general consensus on it even is, like It’s considered the second best case in the game by most, but at the same time people still push the narrative that everything pre case 4 is pretty bad, and when it comes to this case, I honestly don’t really see it. It relies a lot on the supernatural aspects of the series which I don’t enjoy much, but it subverts your expectations and ends up being a really clever murder plan using no channeling whatsoever. It seems hopeless at first, but is really satisfying to nail down. It introduces us to series staple characters like Pearl Fey and Franziska Von Karma, both of which I personally find to be really enjoyable, and the culprit here is a definite highlight, Ini Miney isn’t the series’ first “tragic villain”, that title goes to Yanni Yogi, but I think she’s the first one I ended up actually feeling really bad for, she has a really unique tragic backstory, and it does a similar thing to turnabout Samurai where it’s not completely clear whether the victim Turner Grey actually drugged her or not, you get why she’d want to kill him, but like it’s still fucked up and tragic. Honestly I think my biggest issue here is that I don’t like Maya needing to be the defendant again, this on top of her being kidnapped in case 4 is really frustrating, she’s a fun character and has great synergy with wright, but she spends most of the game being a damsel in distress which is just really disappointing, making the only full case in the game where she gets to really shine is…

Turnabout Big Top, from the very early days of the Ace Attorney fandom, this case was the very commonly agreed upon “worst case in the series”, and through all the changes in opinion this freaking fandom has gone through over the years, this title has impressively remained pretty intact, people REALLY don’t like this one, and alright… I’d like to make clear that I do get why people hate this one. The subplot with a bunch of the characters wanting to marry a 16 year old is bad and creepy, some of the characters can be kinda annoying, and there are some pretty ridiculous leaps in logic. All of that is true, yes, but here’s my take on it, this is one of the most subversive cases in the original trilogy in a lot of ways, and I think the general circus setting makes the tragedy here really fascinating. Firstly the defendant Max Galactica is barely even likable, which is kind of a series first, the dude is a total self loving jerk, with the quote on quote “nice humble guy” here being, of all people, the culprit. The entire circus gang here is really interesting to see in this time of crisis, the headmaster loved by everyone has passed away, but most of the crew seems not all too bothered, and I feel the game uses this to display the way many try and cope with grief, from Moe trying to just laugh it off and hide his depression, to Regina dismissing the notion entirely. By the end the circus crew is forced to accept everything that’s happened, including that one of their own is responsible, and Phoenix’s take down of him is raw and unfiltered, a depressing reality check for everyone involved. It was an extremely bold choice to make the culprit literally disabled, and while Acro’s want to murder a kid, but here’s the thing, Acro is a disabled man literally doomed to the circus for the rest of his life, him existence being made into an endless comedy being stuck only knowing these annoying over the top clowns, I honestly think it’s reasonable that he’s somewhat go insane, regardless of how good he hides it. The tragedy here isn’t quite as compelling as the one from case 2, but dammit this shit is still really heartbreaking, at the end the circus crew is forced to face the brutal reality of everything that’s happened, but come to know that they have each other, and can move forward to a brighter tomorrow.

But finally, we’ve got the big one, Farewell, my Turnabout. In all honesty, I don’t really have much to say about this case that hasn’t already been repeated by many others over the years, but needless to say, yeah this shit’s amazing. I feel like most people coming into this series had a feeling that they were gonna play the “guilty defendant” card at SOME point, and DAMN did they play this card well. Matt Engarde is such a great villain, he’s a complete contrast to the culprits of cases 2 and 3, just being this insanely evil celebrity hiding his facade behind the mask of an oblivious airhead. The whole dynamic between him, Juan Corrida, and Adrian Andrews is so compelling and provides a fascinating critique of celebrity culture, with them being prived upon for pretty much their whole lives, leading to Matt and Juan slowly becoming hyper-obsessed rivals getting to the point of driving their former loved ones to suicide, all just for the ability to get back at one another, to be more beloved and more popular, it’s an exaggerated display of the most disgusting areas of celebrity culture that’s fascinating to see broken down here. One of my favorite details the game never really touches upon is that the woman driven to suicide by Matt and Juan’s rivalry, Celeste Inpax, was long assumed to have left a suicide note due to remains of ink on her corpses’ finger, but near the cases end it’s revealed that there never end was a suicide note, meaning that after Juan found her hanged body, he literally dipped her fingers in ink so that the public would assume that a note was left, all JUST so that he could get back at Engrade, absolutely depraved… Andrews then is the one left with bearing the consequences of the two’s maddening hate, and her character is arguably one of the most complex in the series, she’s heavily implied to be somewhat mentally ill with needing to always be heavily dependent on someone, along with being a survivor of a failed suicide, she’s not entierly “inocent” what with being the one to further frame the crime on Engarde, but still goddamn throughout this case her worst fears and anxieties are constantly being brought to the forefront, and it is truly saddening to see. Cases like these serve as an example for the main conceit of Justice for All, why the legal system NEEDS prosecutors. For most of the first games, prosecutors were portrayed pretty heavily as the “bad guys” with Edgeworth kinda being the face of them for Wright. And while Wright was the one to teach Edgeworth his wrongs back then, in JFA, after coming back from his self discovery and finding his reason to live, Edgeworth comes back, and manages to show wright the true meaning of the courts, it’s not just about needing to trust in a client, or get a client found guilty, it’s about both sides coming together to find the truth. Without a prosecutor, there would be nothing stopping Wright from just accusing Andrews and leaving it at that, but Edgeworth, despite giving Andrews some choice words and quite a hard time, was ultimately there to defend her, only when the shields and the swords are crossed, is when the light can be made bare to see. It is through Franziska Von Karma’s warped views that Edgeworth is able to confront his past, while Franziska is obsessed with victory and being perfect, Edgeworth has come to realize that you shouldn’t be perfect, that’s not what makes you a good prosecutor, a good human. It’s all about coming together, and using everyone’s opposed viewpoints and perspectives, that is the only way for the courts to prosper… And GOD there’s so much other great stuff I haven’t even gotten to yet, like how great Gumshoe is here as an ally to Wright, or how cool Shelly the killer is as a terrifying presence, with the final choice with him being so powerful, possibly leading to that absolutely GUT WRENCHING bad ending that never fails to hit me in the feels, but I feel like I’ve said most of what I needed to, Farewell, My Turnabout is just as good, if not even BETTER than most make it out to be, and even if the rest of JFA really WAS garbage, it STILL would’ve made going through the whole thing 100% worth it.

I know that I’ve kinda neglected to go over and dwell on a lot of JFA’s shortcomings, but honestly, I just really love this game at the end of the day, and I feel that despite everything, it makes for a fantastic followup that helped fully define with the series is, with deeper, more complex plots and characters that I still find myself thinking about to this day. Honestly, the fact that this game was somehow fully written by 1 person over the course of only FOUR MONTHS is insane, even if you hate JFA, you can’t deny that for the amount of time given, this script absolutely hit it out of the park, a true testament to the sheer power of love, dedication, and a WHOLE lot of alcohol.

The first Ace Attorney title is really as iconic as it gets for me, right off the bat from the first case, the formula is just captivating, there's not much in gaming like the feeling of finding a contradiction in Ace Attorney, and this title has a lot of really clever ones. It’s supported by some great spritework and a banger soundtrack, though I do think compared to most of the series’ later titles, the OST here is a tad overrated, it’s still nevertheless really great

The First Turnabout's story is really not much to write home about storywise, but IMO it does a fantastic job at introducing you to the game’s world, the character relationships, and its rules.

Turnabout Sisters continues on this trajectory, expanding with new characters and mechanics. I do feel like the case itself though is the game’s weakest one though, it’s not “bad” but some moments like the finale feel a tad rashed, though I do enjoy just how pathetic Red White ends up being on the stand, and that he’s taken down via blackmailing him, seeing as how he basically built his whole empire off of blackmail. Of course Mia comes back here via Maya channeling her, and in general I’m not really a fan of supernatural elements like spirit channeling in this series, I tend to prefer Ace Attorney when its rules are more grounded in reality.

Turnabout Samurai is a really underrated one I feel, it lets us see a lot more sides of Wright, Maya, Edgeworth, and Gumshoe, while also having a really cool setting with Global studios, and a surprisingly dark bittersweet conclusion, I like how it’s kept kinda vague whether Jack Hammer actually killed his co-star Manuel, it’s never outright stated, but we do know that he would have it in him seeing as he planned on killing, Vasquez, who is also a really unique villain for this series. The fact that the crime was done in self defense means that, realistically, she could’ve gone out of it with not much reciprocation, but seeing as she had dark ties and secrets, it makes sense she’d rather not get her hands dirty, even if by trying to pin the crime on Powers, she ended up burying her own grave landing her presumably a far worse sentence. Powers is also a pretty standout defendant I feel, this is the first case in the game where it doesn’t spoil who the culprit is in the intro, so I feel a lot of first time players might’ve actually suspected Powers guilty, but throughout the case you slowly form a bit of a bond with the guy and realize he’s kinda just a really nice chill dude, which really highlights the idea of the trust between defense attorney and defendant. Really if it wasn’t for the annoying side characters and long-winded investigation segments, I think this could’ve gone out as an all time classic, albeit a simple one.

Turnabout Goodbyes then IS very much an all time classic though, it starts off with a great fake out depicting the events of the crime in a way that makes it seem as if Edgeworth was the culprit, seeing as the game revealed its killers ahead of time in the first 2 cases, it’s fair to assume most thought at this moments that Edgeworth WOULD be the final culprit, but it’s then subverted when you learn that he’s actually the defendant, allowing him and wright to bond more as the game delves into their past. Edgeworth is easily my favorite character in the series, and one of my favorites ever actually, and he gets a ton of great development here, and the game portrayed his clear emotional turmoil very well, also love how Gumshoe goes from being really rude towards wright at the beginning, to them working together a lot here, their bond is really nice and Gumshoe is also just inherently very likable. I really enjoy a lot of the smaller flourishes here like the mystery of Gourdy that gets thrown into the mix, I know some people don’t really like that weird side stuff, but idk I think needing to solve smaller riddles on the road to eventually solve the whole case is really satisfying, and it also lead to a lot of funny moments. Ace Attorney’s sense of humor has always been one I really enjoyed, and the jokes here like Gumshoe’s secret weapons and cross examining the parrot are great. Edgeworth’s story ties in with the culprit’s tragic past really well, and the game having an asshole defense attorney as the victim here does a good job with making it clear that both sides of the law can be corrupt. The series definitely throw all its eggs in one basket with Von Karma here, having wright take down this legendary prosecutor who never lost a case THIS early on in the series feels kinda odd, even if to be fair Phoenix got INSANELY lucky here. Von Karma being tied to the crime feels a tad contrived, but I don’t really mind seeing as he’s a really fun villain, the main thing that kinda bothers me though is that Von Karma didn’t really have a clear motive to set this whole thing up, feel like that should've been fleshed out a bit more, but other then that this is a really fun one

Finally there’s Rise From the Ashes, which feels a bit weird to talk about alongside the rest of the game seeing as it was a later inclusion. This case is pretty notorious for its slow pacing, and yeah the beginning segments can kinda drag, but honestly as someone who’s been able to bear with some REAL long Visual Novels, it never bothered me all too much, seeing as what it sets up later pays off with some REAL fantastic stuff, Damon Gant is iconic for a reason, he’s not particularly deep in any way, but as a villain he’s really intimidating, and fun to eventually take down. I know a lot of people don’t really fuck with the DS gimmick segments, but idk I still kinda find them novel, and the security tape during the second trial leads to a lot of really fun contradictions. The case adds a lot of fun new characters (and also Meekins), the new music is some of the best in the game, the story is really interesting and well thought out. Really if you overlook the pacing, I do think there’s a ton to love here.

At the end of the day, yeah Ace Attorney 1’s a really fun time! It doesn’t reach the complex and/or emotional highs of most of its sequels and spin-offs, but it still does a fantastic job at introducing new players into this fantastic universe.