Review: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trilogy, taking the visual novel to a whole new level

Table of Contents

1. Respect your past, accept your future
2. Objection!!! This party turned into a funeral!
3. Take That!!!! A port, but the quality remains the same?
4. Hold It!!!! More fun than ever
5. A pleasure not only visual, but also auditory
6. Following the recipe, even in the mistakes
7. Essential for anyone looking for non-stop fun

for years, Phoenix Wright knew only one house: Nintendo's handheld consoles. But finally, after a long wait, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is released to PS4 e PC, making this franchise see the light of day for the first time on consoles and also on computers.

Responsible for the franchise Capcom is already the company of the year during this first quarter of 2019, with Resident Evil 2 Remake, Devil May Cry 5 and now finally with the so renowned Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

A Capcom provided a review copy of the new trilogy port of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and now you check all the positives and negatives of the game.

Respect your past, accept your future

Making its first appearance on the Nintendo DS on October 11, 2001, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney made a milestone in the history of visual novels (visual novels, with the story told in dialogue only). Being able to stand out from so many of the same genre, the game has always managed to captivate everyone who played it.

Not only making a huge success in Japan, but also in the West, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney wouldn't stop there, earning nothing less than more than 10 named Ace Attorney titles. Being direct sequels, spin-offs (parallel stories in the same universe), collaborations and even anime and movies,Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, on April 9 of this year 2019, is finally brought to consoles, and it's better than ever.

Objection!!! This party turned into a funeral!

In the game you control Phoenix Wright, a freshman in the world of law, with no experience in the courts of law, but who suddenly learns of a murder involving his best friend. That's where the game starts.

Ace Attorney has its gameplay summarized purely in dialogues. They are, of course, extensive texts to read and this is one of the points that alienates most of his audience, since the game is not localized in other languages. Only English and Japanese.

However, negative points like this don't detract from how good this game is, whether for its story, its fun gameplay, its trials (court trials) or its phenomenal soundtrack. And not just him, but his franchise as a whole.

Take That!!!! A port, but the quality remains the same?

A trilogy of the franchise was already released for the Nintendo 3DS on April 17, 2014, where it had a compilation of the 3 sequels of the game in one game. Heavily acclaimed and being an absolute success, fans were worried about the new port (portability from one platform to another) of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney protocols for PS4 e PC. Using arguments that the story or its fun gameplay would be compromised, along with its interface that is aimed at a smaller screen, since the game is based purely on dialogues. But that, fortunately, is not the case.

Of course, the new port had to remove some functions, such as using the Nintendo DS and 3DS microphone to scream. Objection! or the famous Take That!, and also the option to use the touch to select evidence, present profiles and even answer options during dialogues.

But none of these functions removed make the game lose its impeccable quality present not only in one game but also like all others present in the trilogy.

Hold It!!!! More fun than ever

Ace Attorney is best known mainly for its history, but nothing prevents something serious from being treated with a lot of humor, right? In this new port of his trilogy, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney manages to extol and offer more fun and amusing situations than anyone else.

Its captivating story grips you and keeps you on the edge of your seat at all times. Even when you turn off your console, you keep thinking about that trial still unresolved, about that unfinished outcome and that's one of the strengths Ace Attorney.

You are free to save at any point in the story, whether to make a decision, present evidence, or even stop playing and pick up where you left off, but the thing is, you can't stop playing!

Really! You will never play something like Ace Attorney, at least not in terms of visual novels. Where even after solving a case or finishing a trial, you already want to jump to the next one, with a racing heart, a smile on your face or even a tension in the air, wondering what the events of the next case will be.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney manages to perfectly balance a story that easily hooks anyone, from those with little experience with visual novels to those with the highest aptitude in the genre.

With an engaging gameplay, where you study and visit various locations during the game looking for clues, observing objects, talking to witnesses, making mental notes or even paying attention to essential details to present during the trial.

A wide variety of eccentric witnesses to question, defend and even judge, are also present in the games. Going from an actor who dresses in Samurai in a children's program until questioning a Parrot during a trial, this being one of the most iconic (and funniest) moments in the entire game.

This and other reasons make Ace Attorney don't be boring and much less repetitive. It easily becomes dear to the heart of the person who plays it, and this port extols just that. A quality game deserves a quality portability, and both fit well in this trilogy.

This port brings with extreme quality and care the textures and models of the characters, whether during the judgments or expressions of the same during the dialogues. As much as the port loses the crispness of the Nintendo DS, it remakes and remasters with a lot of passion for the player.

A pleasure not only visual, but also auditory

One thing we can't help but mention, of course, is how well-crafted the audio is in this port. If you've ever played any game in the franchise on a portable version, you know how problematic the audio was at times, presenting frequent problems such as hiss and sometimes a "brittle" feeling.

Obviously this wasn't exactly the game's fault, but rather the price that unfortunately is paid for a console you can take anywhere. But fortunately, this price is not paid for those who opted for this port of Ace Attorney.

The soundtrack accurately exalts all the sound effects present in the game, and not only that, but with some themes presented during the game, being the theme of Damon Gant, Steel Samurai and even the Bach sonata played at the beginning of Justice for All.

One thing that is obviously clear to the player initially is that the game has no voice acting, if you take away what Phoenix or some other prosecutor yells during the trial. But just like our dear The Legend of Zelda, the voice acting is replaced by a wonderful and definitely unforgettable soundtrack, which after being heard just once, sticks in your head like gum in a shoe!

One of the proofs of this is its Orchestra, which is still very successful in Japan, filling theaters to present not only the much-loved soundtrack but also to make musicals of some cases present in the game, with the orchestrated soundtrack in the background, of course.

The new port of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney it perfectly does something few games can, maintaining the essence of a game that has aged very well for new ears and even for those who have already heard its soundtrack. She is a treat for anyone who dares to venture into this world of Ace Attorney.

Following the recipe, even in the mistakes

As has been said several times during this review, the game is impeccable in bringing all the elements of ports and previous games in the franchise with a new makeover, but by following this cake recipe, it also carries its mistakes with it.

They are few, however, they are present. Due to the lack of gameplay itself in the game, it has no bugs. But many times some dialogue that doesn't make much sense could easily be discarded and removed from the final version of your port.

Of course, as you examine a witness, she will say more things to distract you from the contradiction, be it random words, gestures, and even small talk. But in some cases, it clearly points out a contradiction, but you can't point it out, even though you have evidence for it.

Unfortunately the game ends up being linear in a certain way, where you have to present evidence and point out contradictions only where the game wants and not where you see one. This is a very negative point, but that doesn't make the story any less interesting, as you end up having to find the right contradiction to point out. Thus adding a certain extra difficulty to the game.

Essential for anyone looking for non-stop fun

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy works for those who don't want to stop having fun without having to go to another game. This franchise is one of the most renowned in the portable environment and its new port is here to show just that.

Captivating characters, a plot full of twists, intrigue, fun and a lot of emotion. With a wonderful soundtrack that deserves to be heard by all.

Even having some negative points in its history and gameplay as already pointed out, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney deserves to be played by everyone, and its port is the definitive version for any player who wants to enter this world.

Easily becoming one of the best, if not the best in the visual novel genre, Ace Attorney is a milestone in gaming history and will forever be remembered as such.

It is worth remembering that his trilogy contains not just one, but obviously three games of his franchise in a row. Being them, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Justice for All e Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations.