Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy /// A Video Game Review

Good things come in threes.

There are three Lord of the Rings books. We got three Star Wars trilogies. The Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney OST has three discs.

And then there's the Ace Attorney Trilogy, a collection of some of the greatest games I've ever played. I knew as soon as I finished the final case that I would need to write a review. After all, I seem to have a habit of doing one video game review a year (Undertale in 2018 and Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright in 2019; I somehow ended up doing them both in March, almost exactly a year apart).

I don't want to waste any time, so let's jump right into it!

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Overview

Phoenix Wright has just arrived on the courtroom scene, fresh out of law school. His first case? An old friend, Larry Butz, is being accused of murdering his girlfriend. With the help of his mentor, Mia Fey, Phoenix proves his worth by showing that Larry is actually innocent. It should be a great victory, but it turns sour when Mia is brutally killed by the same murder weapon a month later. Now Maya, her younger sister, is blamed for the crime, and Phoenix will have to face against the undefeated Miles Edgeworth, a prosecutor who will do whatever it takes to get his guilty verdict.

With Maya at his side, Phoenix takes on hopeless cases, ranging from theft to murder. He will defend innocent people, question crazy witnesses, and go up against Edgeworth, the whip-wielding Franziska von Karma, and the mysteriously-masked Godot. It's all leading up to the toughest, most personal case of his career . . .

The Ace Attorney series is an old one. The first game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, originally released in Japan on the Game Boy in 2001. It got a North American localization for the DS in 2005, with a fifth case having been added that utilized the DS's touch screen and that better bridged the gap between the first two games.

The second game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All, came out in Japan for the Game Boy in 2002, being localized on the DS for North America in 2007. The third game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, has a similar story. It came out in Japan on the Game Boy back in 2004, and was released in North America for the DS in 2007.

In 2010, all three games were brought to WiiWare for North America. It wasn't until 2014 that they were bundled together in one collection with updated graphics for the 3DS. Finally, in 2019, the games were given another graphics overhaul and launched as a collection for PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.

As I mentioned in my review of Layton vs. Phoenix, I enjoyed both characters so much that I purchased games from their respective series before I had even finished their crossover. The Ace Attorney game I purchased was the original trilogy. Sometime after I had finished the crossover in March last year, I started playing the first title in the trilogy, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I only played the very first case before putting it down for a while. At the time, I was finding it hard to transition from the 3D, plot-driven, orchestral-scored Layton vs. Wright to the 2D, seemingly non-plot-driven, retro-scored game.

Fast forward to June, when I was on holidays with my family. I decided I should keep playing Ace Attorney--and I was hooked. It became my obsession; I would play multiple times a day for an hour or two at a time. I played the vast majority of the game on that vacation. I finished the last bit in July and waited until September before starting Justice For All. Not sure how long it took me (it was either October or November), but I jumped into Trials and Tribulations almost right after, finishing the trilogy on the 30th. I had a set a goal to complete the collection in 2019, and that's what I did.

Now I'm a massive fan of the Ace Attorney franchise. I'm currently collecting all the games and playing them in order. I want to obtain as much merch that I can and am just obsessed in general with the series. So how did the trilogy get me so crazy about Ace Attorney? Well, you're about to find out--but keeping this review spoiler-free isn't gonna be easy . . .

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Negatives

As with my other game reviews, I like to get the negative stuff out of the way so we can focus on the good aspects. You might recall that in my previous two game reviews, I've listed the fanbase under this category. To be honest, I haven't encountered too many fans of the series. They seem to be generally positive, but I do know that some people ship Nick and Miles and draw art for it, which I'm obviously not impressed about. I don't understand why people will take two characters--of the same gender and who have some form of a non-romantic relationship--and ship them. People can just be friends, y'know!

There's some mild swearing in here. Just your standard h-ll, d--n, and d--mit. I don't think anyone took God's name in vain? But I don't quite remember. Either way, language isn't severe, and it doesn't happen all that often.

The trilogy does have some sexual content, with some double entendres and whatnot. I believe the first game had the most, particularly in the second case, but there are a couple scattered throughout the other two titles. Larry's girlfriend is mentioned to have had some sugar daddies. A patient at a clinic is a bit of a perv; even more so is an old man in "Recipe for Turnabout." Not only does that character make that particular case one of my least favorites, but there's also an overtly effeminate, homosexual, drag-practicing chef by the name of Jean Armstrong. (This game was obviously made before these issues became really big in society, so I'm not sure what the purpose of it was.) There's a nun named Bikini, but she only mentions the swimsuit on occasion and never actually wears one. Some female characters are not always, shall we say, fully covering their chests. For example, April May (one of the witnesses in "Turnabout Sisters") is showing a good deal of cleavage and is, er . . . a bit bouncy, if you know what I mean. The worst case (aside from Jean) is Mia herself, as her top shows off a lot. It gets worse when she's dead and channeled by Maya or Pearl.

Oh yeah, an element of the game that might bother some people is the whole "spirit channeling" thing. Female members of the Fey family are strong in their connections with the dead, and are often spirit mediums. This is how Mia sometimes shows up to help Phoenix again, or how some cases are solved. I personally wasn't ever uncomfortable with it, because it just felt like it was simply part of this fictional world. If you're super cautious about this because of real-life possessions or whatnot, I understand. But I think you should also consider that this is also just a story, and stories can include stuff like this as if it were a natural aspect of that world.

Finally, in terms of violence: most of the cases are about murders. Therefor, you will see some blood on objects, or pools of blood. As far as I remember, the actual killing is never shown; only the aftermath is seen. It should also be noted that suicide is sometimes mentioned, and at least one case ("Farewell, My Turnabout") deals with the topic. An image in the game shows a man finding a woman who's hung herself; we only see the lower half of her body dangling above the floor. Suicide is never glamorized, but rather presented as a sad reality.

Positives

Where to start, where to start . . . First of all, the plots and writing in the trilogy are superb. Seriously, you could pull a lot of writing lessons from the three games. Each individual case (which always has interesting scenarios and environments) stands on its own, but some end up being connected to the others. They start off simple enough, getting more intense and more complex as you go along, not just in each game, but in the collection as a whole. Then the final case of Trials and Tribulations tops it all off by being the most intense, most complex, most personal case of them all. Every loose thread you thought had been ignored are all wrapped up and concluded. Lemme tell you, that was a thrilling experience.

The writing is also fantastic when it comes to characters and their arcs. Every major character seemed to have some arc throughout the games. Edgeworth's is one of my favorites, because of just how really well-done it is. Godot was another personal favorite, and it saddens me that he only got to be in one game, Trials and Tribulations. Seriously, all the characters, from Nick and Maya to Gumshoe and Franziska to even the one-off witnesses, were given quality attention when it came to writing them. You can't help but love them, or love to hate them. Okay, some characters don't fit under those two extremes, but seriously! They're just that good.

Finally, in terms of writing, the humor almost always landed with me. If you enjoy puns, there's a lot of them in the game--and most of them come from the characters' names! The Japanese tend to love their puns, and they didn't hold back with some of the names. There's the abovementioned April May, a police officer named Dustin Prince, a detective called Luke Atmey . . . you get the idea. There's plenty of others. One of my favorites is Detective Dick Gumshoe. "Gumshoe" is another word for detective, and investigators used to be called private dicks. Therefore, his name is literally Detective Detective Detective. It's pretty clever. Actually, if you choose to play the games, do yourself and look at the name meaning for each character on the Ace Attorney wiki. The developers put a lot of thought into the names.

But yeah, going back to the subject of humor. The game often had me laughing to myself, and sometimes even out loud. It could've been from Gumshoe's bumbling, or Franziska constantly whipping people, or Moe the clown's terrible jokes, or Godot's obsessive coffee guzzling, or any number of things in between. There's a lot of strong comedy, and that's one thing that really endears the games to me.

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How about the gameplay itself? Well, I think it should mentioned that these are kinda like visual novels (not sure if they exactly fit into that category or not). There's a lot of reading involved, and not much in terms of what you "do," per se. The most gameplay comes from the puzzle-solving aspect. Apparently the Ace Attorney titles are considered adventure games, but I feel like it's a mix of that with the visual novel genre and puzzle games.

Anyway, gameplay is split up into two types: investigations and trials. Investigation periods are a bit like those point-and-click adventure games; personally, they've always reminded me of those old Club Penguin missions. You click around the different environments to gather clues and evidence, and question various people on various topics related to the case. In Justice For All, Psyche-Locks were introduced. When a person is hiding something really important by lying, these locks appear. To break them, you have to present the right evidence that you've collected to get all the info. Once you've done all that you need to, you move on to the courtroom.

While investigations are definitely fun, I've always enjoyed the trials the most. You cross-examine witnesses, who always tend to either lie or forget stuff. You have to present the correct evidence on the right statement to prove that their testimony is bogus. It can get a lot more complicated than that during some cases, but I can't divulge the how or why without entering spoiler territory. Trust me when I say it's so satisfying when you present evidence and the music stops. It means you're on the right track, which is definitely confirmed when the "Objection!" or the "Pursuit" theme begins to play.

Speaking of music, the trilogy's soundtrack is HECKING DOPE. Okay, so Ace Attorney's soundtrack will probably always feel like the classic one in the series. As I'm playing the Ace Attorney Trilogy HD on my Switch with Chloe and Kaitlyn, the music is giving me serious nostalgia--and I only played the first game half a year ago! (Maybe it feels that way because Layton vs. Wright used music from that game.) Justice For All and Trials and Tribulations both had great OSTs as well, changing up what was already composed while still maintaining the same feeling, and sometimes using the old songs when they fit. I also love how the "Objection!" theme from Trials and Tribulations has become Phoenix's main theme. Definitely fits, especially once you've played the game and know how it ends.

What about any resounding themes or messages? Obviously the games don't set out to teach you anything, but there are things you can draw from your own ponderings and conclusions. Allow me to share some that I've found:

1. Believe in people and their potential for good. Nick learned from Mia to always believe in his client. That's why he's defending them, isn't it? Because he believes that they're innocent, and that they didn't commit the crime. Now, that doesn't mean this won't come back to bite you. There's a certain case--won't mention which one 'cuz spoilers--that really challenges the idea of a client being completely innocent. But Nick refuses to give up the ideal, and that's one reason why I like him: he can be very optimistic, even in the face of terrible odds.

2. Always pursue the truth. That's a really important theme that comes up quite often. Phoenix reminds Edgeworth that their goal is not a verdict, but to uncover the truth. That's what's most important, that the truth wins at the end of the day. Never settle for a comfortable lie, even when the truth can become very uncomfortable.

3. There are times when you'll need to buckle up and be strong. Mia tells Nick in his first case that a lawyer "can only cry when it's all over." Maya puts aside her grief over her sister's death to be strong for Nick, so that he can stand strong in court. There'll be a time for crying or mourning later on, but you may have to hold back the tears and keep your head held high.

4. Learn to forgive yourself. Won't say who, but a character blames themselves for something that happened in the past and acts out in anger toward others, accusing them because they themselves can't come to terms and deal with the past. There are things that are out of your control, and you have to stop beating yourself up about them and move forward.

5. Anyone can change; they just sometimes need a little push or reminder. At least a couple characters do this, and it's really touching how things turn out with them in the end. You can never force people to change, but you can always be the force that they see and are inspired by to change themselves.

I'm sure there are other messages you can pull out of the games, but these are just a few really good ones that I've gathered. I always love when a book, movie, or video game can give you some food for thought without banging you over the head with it.

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What else . . . I've covered the writing in all of its aspects, the gameplay, the music, the themes. The art style works really well for the games. I always love seeing what the new characters look like, or how the design of the old characters might change or evolve. Other than that, I don't know what else to add. This post is getting long anyway, so let's wrap things up!

Conclusion

I think a good story is tested in the aftermath.

Sure, you might've had a blast along the way. You were hooked and kept coming back for more. You had to find out how things ended. But what happens after the end, when the credits roll? Are you happy with where the characters are at (or at least satisfied to a degree) and how the conclusion played out, but still feel saddened that it's over? Does that bittersweet feeling rise up when you think about the story later?

For me, a good testament to how I feel after finishing the trilogy is the emotions that stir within me when I hear the end credits music from Trials and Tribulations. When I bought the Ace Attorney Trilogy HD on my computer, I purchased it with a special soundtrack. One of the tracks is the credits music, which I actively tried to avoid listening to before hearing it in-game. Now when I listen to it, it ignites that emotional "great story hangover" in my stomach. Knowing that the Ace Attorney series doesn't stop with the first three games is nice, but it's still the finish of that story. It makes me happy that I spent nearly 75 hours of my life with the trilogy and heartbroken that it had to end.

Are the games perfect? No, of course not. Like I said in my Undertale review, there will never, ever be such a thing as a 100% perfect form of entertainment. And even though it looks like there's a lot of negative content thanks to my big paragraphs, spread that out over three games and you'll find it really isn't all that bad.

At the end of the day, I had a freaking great time. I always had a blast playing the trilogy.

I fell in love with wonderful characters. I felt their joy and their pain, and inwardly cheered for them to get back on their feet, even when the situation looked overwhelmingly impossible.

I laughed at the jokes and was greatly entertained.

I tapped my foot to the beat of the fantastic tunes that burst through my headphones.

I was intrigued by the storylines, and my jaw dropped at some of the twists, chills racing up my spine.

I was moved by the themes that I gathered, and I contemplated them a good deal afterward.

I loved being able to say "Objection!" into my 2DS's microphone at the end of each game

And now I can cry because it's all over.

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Well, there's my enthusiastic fanboy review of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. I truly I hope I did it as much justice as I could (yes, pun intended). What're your thoughts? Would you now pick up a copy of the game? If you've already played, feel free to chat about it and your experience with me!