Couch Potato Chronicles: Ace Attorney
by Fearghus McVeigh
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Recently, I’ve been getting into the Ace Attorney games, a series about defence lawyers. Starting with one lawyer and later growing to three, they defend their clients, charged with murder, in court by proving who the real killer is. I have now played every major game in the series including the Ace Attorney Investigations and Great Ace Attorney spin-offs but excluding Professor Layton crossover. Because of this, I figured it would be fitting to rank them all worst to best in my own opinion starting off with my least favourites and making my way up to my favourites. I'll also try to avoid spoiling any major details for those who have not yet played the games. Without further ado, let’s jump right into the rankings.
10. Ace Attorney 2: Justice for All
Starting off with my least favourite Ace Attorney game, we have the second ever game in the series. Justice for All consists of four main cases. The Lost Turnabout, Reunion and Turnabout, Turnabout Big Top, and Farewell My Turnabout. Out of these four cases, only Big Top and Farewell really stuck out to me as being that memorable, and only Farewell in a good way. Turnabout Big Top is often considered one of the worst cases in the entire series and I can easily see why. Every single one-off character in the case is unlikable in almost an entirely different way, including the character you're supposed to be defending, which definitely makes this case annoying to sit through. On the more positive side, Farewell My Turnabout is easily one of the best cases in the entire series and the stakes are raised considerably high, with one of the hardest dilemmas Phoenix has ever had to face. There aren't really any Ace Attorney games that I would say are outright bad. But since this one has the least going for it. It's only natural that it would get the bottom spot in the ranking.
9. Ace Attorney 6: Spirit of Justice
Now here's a game with a really interesting premise but the execution leaves something to be desired. For being the most recent game in the mainline series, and the last for at least eight years, Spirit of Justice really doesn't leave things off on the best note, at least in terms of quality. The main gimmick of this game is that it focuses on the fictional kingdom known as Khura’in; a kingdom where defence lawyers are given the same sentence as their clients if found guilty. Because the princess has a mystical power that lets her see the final moments of the victims, trials are pretty much based solely off of what she assumes she's seeing, even if these final moments don't always show the entire truth. Having to defend innocent people in such a dystopian legal system sounds like it would make for a really interesting game. However, the problem lies in the fact that the game has serious pacing issues. Almost every case overstays its welcome and the game becomes a chore to finish. Not to mention, the third protagonist of the sequel trilogy, Athena Cykes, gets sidelined so hard in this game that the developers had to merge the last two cases to make room for a filler case that they awkwardly tried to squeeze between two of the most important cases in the game. And I haven't even brought up the fact that the game’s main prosecutor, Nahyuta Sahdmaudi, is often regarded as the worst main prosecutor in all of Ace Attorney, and I have to agree. You can tell they really tried to make him interesting, but failed miserably. The main reason I’m ranking it above Justice for All is that it at least left an impression on me, and I actually really liked three out of the game’s seven cases, which is more than I can say about the second game.
8. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures
In the last entry, I talked about how Spirit of Justice was a game that had such an interesting concept but a lackluster execution, and Adventures is a similar situation. However, unlike Spirit of Justice, this game actually has a good excuse for the way it turned out. You see, The Great Ace Attorney Adventures and its sequel, The Great Ace Attorney Resolve were originally intended to be one single game but they had to be split into two for budgetary reasons, as well as to stay consistent with Ace Attorney’s typical 4-5 case structure. Unfortunately, because of that, it puts Adventures in the really awkward position of being loaded with all the setup that gets paid off in the next game, while also needing to work as its own standalone game, which there's an argument to be made that it fails at. Aside from The Adventure of the Runaway Room, which is incredible especially by Ace Attorney third case standards, none of the cases are worth writing home about and so the game kind of falls flat because of it.
7. Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations
Spirit of Justice was a game that had a lot of flaws despite the amount of heart into it, and Adventures turned out the way it did because of its unfortunate circumstances. But now we have a game that actually makes up for a lot of its flaws, and is only so low in the ranking due to the other games in the series being way better; it just falls short in comparison. Let's start with the flaws. This game doesn't have the strongest lineup of cases, none of the mysteries are at all too compelling, and most of the locations are bland and have too similar looking rooms, with the exception of the Blue Badger theme park. However, this game introduces an entirely different gameplay style. Instead of a visual novel, Ace Attorney Investigations uses a top-down overworld you explore, plus as the title suggests, this game allows you to play as the fan favourite character Miles Edgeworth, a prosecutor who following the events of Ace Attorney 1 now believes in pursuing the truth until the end, even if it means he loses a court case. What stops me from ranking this game any higher is that although this was Ace Attorney’s first attempt with this new gameplay format, and said format actually lends itself to Ace Attorney surprisingly well, it's utilized better in this game's sequel, which I’ll talk about later in the list. Miles Edgeworth definitely isn't a bad game, but just doesn't hold a candle to the six games I still have yet to talk about.
6. Ace Attorney 3: Trials and Tribulations
Now here's a game that just barely misses the top half. Trials and Tribulations is a really well written game with a super interesting overarching narrative that each and every case builds up to, with the exception of Recipe for Turnabout, which mostly just serves as a filler case. This game is loaded with interesting cases and its final case, Bridge to the Turnabout, is often considered one of, if not the best Ace Attorney cases ever, and I absolutely get why. Even if there are a few cases I prefer, it’s not because there's anything wrong with the case. In fact it might even be flawless, it's just that some cases are even better in my eyes. This game makes for an amazing conclusion to the original trilogy and the fact that it still manages to end up in the bottom half is a testament to how good the other games are.
5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
This is a game I debated putting below Trials and Tribulations but something about the original Ace Attorney game is still so magical to me that I don't think I'll ever quite get over it. And it
definitely isn't even nostalgia bias either because the first time I played this game was a month ago. The cases in this game are just so simple yet sweet, and do an amazing job at endearing you to all the game’s iconic characters like Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Miles Edgeworth, and Dick Gumshoe. There's a reason this series eventually bloomed into one of Capcom's golden children alongside Street Fighter, Megaman, and Resident Evil. Every case in this game is memorable and helped shape the franchise into what it is today.
4. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Coincidentally, the fourth Ace Attorney game is in fourth place. Apollo Justice gets a lot of hate for being a next gen story, having flawed writing, and its controversial perception gimmick. Said gimmick requires you to activate the mechanic when prompted, figure out what part of someone's statement is a lie, and then find out what their ‘tell’ is to catch them in the act. However, the fact that this game took a lot of risks just makes me love it more. This game introduced so many new mechanics that spiced up both the investigations and trial segments to help prove who the real killer is and it makes the gameplay a lot more fun, which makes up for all the flaws in the writing. Apollo Justice was a great game to continue the series with after the ending of the original trilogy.
3. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit
As you might recall, earlier I mentioned how Miles Edgeworth was good, but its concept was better utilized in its sequel. The cases in this game all tie together in such a great way that I can’t help but love it. This game has such a great cast of new characters such as Verity Gavèlle, Eustace Winner, and Eddie Fender and they're all such welcome additions to the franchise. Not to mention this game presents Edgeworth with the interesting dilemma on whether he should continue down the path of a prosecutor, or if he should switch to being a defence lawyer like his father. I have no idea how the entire world, outside of Japan, went thirteen years and seven months without this game but it was definitely worth the wait.
2. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve
Speaking of sequels to spin-offs that took a number of years to get localized outside of Japan, as I mentioned during Adventures’ segment, the two Great Ace Attorney games were meant to be one game before being split in half. Since most of the setup cases were part of Adventures, Resolve is able to skip to the good stuff fairly quickly after a tutorial and a leftover case from the first game. I cannot stress enough how interesting the last three cases are. Something I failed to mention earlier about The Great Ace Attorney games is that they add a bunch of new mechanics on top of the already existing Ace Attorney format. These mechanics include cross-examining multiple witnesses and pursuing them when they react to each other's statements, convincing the jury to overturn their guilty verdict so the trial can keep going by figuring out which of their findings contradict each other, and correcting Herlock Sholmes’ deductions when they drift away too far from the truth. And these gameplay elements only work to enhance the already great Ace Attorney gameplay style. The way they're utilized here is especially fun, since you have to solve the mystery behind a series of murders that led to tension between Japan and Britain. All this is to say The Great Ace Attorney tackles really interesting themes that really get to shine in Resolve.
1. Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies
This may be a controversial pick for the top spot, but I really like Dual Destinies. Upgrading Ace Attorney’s graphics to three-dimensional models was definitely a bold decision and I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't have preferred it if they had stayed 2D. But, this game’s stellar case lineup honestly makes me forgive that minor transgression. Turnabout Reclaimed, Turnabout Academy, and Turnabout for Tomorrow are all up there with some of my favourite cases in the entire series, and the addition of a third lawyer with Athena Cykes was handled really well, at least in this game. Athena is such a fun character and the mood matrix mechanic that serves as her equivalent to Phoenix’s magatama or Apollo's bracelet is really fun, as you have to take someone’s testimony, see which emotions they feel while saying each of their statements, and figure out which emotion seems the most out of place. It's a really fun mechanic and fits into the game so naturally. Many people hate the whole “Dark Age of the Law” this game focuses heavily on but I only saw it as the natural conclusion all the previous games in the timeline were leading up to. This game represents everything I love about Ace Attorney, and for that, I can't help but love it the most.
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