As a wise rock band once said: The phoenix will ri-i-ise again! Ace Attorney rises for a 6th time in this arc of the series but does the Phoenix stand proud and brave with open wings or has its flame died out to a pile of shriveled chicken nuggets?
After six installments what more can you bring to the table?
Now I don’t want to sound rude for long time fans of the series but how can you innovate in a graphic novel medium after so many years? Well you leave the paved route of “realistic plot” to venture into the realm of the supernatural… At least that’s what the good people of Khura’in seem to think as the right thing to do. Phoenix Wright only just landed in this far kingdom yet trouble seemed to arrive on that exact same plane he did. A young merchant (swindler) that acts as his guide is taken at the Themp’ul Temple (what’s in a name?) by the city guards on accusation of murder. Phoenix wouldn’t be himself if he wouldn’t sneak into the trial room to give us the long awaited OBJECTION-meme after a load of accusations based upon memories of dead people point towards his new young friend being the culprit! There he finds out that being a defense attorney is frowned upon in Khura’in and if he fails to lift the accusation his client will receive the death penalty. Oh and attorneys get that sentence as well when they fail to prove innocence… No wonder Phoenix is the only defense attorney to be found…
The dead know everything
In Khura’in the trial system is based upon visions of victims’ last moments during a Divination Séance where Rayfa (one of the main characters that CAN actually dance!) decides if a person is to be found guilty or not. But the séances can be misread and thus Phoenix finds this way of trialling rather “trial and error”-esque. He takes it upon himself to outsmart the verdict from beyond and somehow he unchains a revolution in the kingdom. Without spoiling too much every episode of the game builds upon the grand finale that is just “fingerlickingly” good! The story is a daring one as not everyone will appreciate the trip down “paranormal activity”. But I think it is a daring concept that is well executed and it being isolated to this particular kingdom (read: game installment) it is a nice stir in the series’ mechanics and storytelling. You’ll of course be following old characters such as Apollo as well. There’s still stuff to be done in the LA based office! But you’ll see that it soon intertwines with our hero in the East!
New and old fans will be enticed by the great storytelling and ethereal interrogation mechanics
This being a graphic novel game mixed with cross interrogations there is of course a lot of reading and thinking to be done. Luckily as in every Ace game there’s just enough animation going on to keep you entertained and to be able to “read” emotions on their almost kissable 3D faces. The added depth from the 3DS system really brings the court rooms, sceneries and animated cutscenes the justice it deserves! And yes I just did that! Whether you’re looking at sprites, full 3D models or the great cutscenes there’s always enough going on without distracting you from what’s really the focus of the game: Proving innocence and shout stuff!
OBJECTION! already on the 3DS homescreen you can spam the meme over and over again! AUX that system and let your neighbors in on the fun too! (We are not responsible for neighborhood complaints)
There’s always a little tear of joy in my eye when I hear the very first OBJECTION in another Ace Attorney game. Whoever thought of adding that sound in the very first iteration should be awarded a medal! It has made its way into pop culture and it’s like waiting for the crawling credits in every other Star Wars movie; You know it’s there and it’s coming! Now apart from that the Ace series has proven to master voice acting pretty well and the score is always so amazing. A lot of them are just re-scores from older songs but still, they fit every scene and when you build up tension during the interrogations and the musical score builds up accordingly, it is pure joy! Already in the very first cutscene you can hear the ceremonial song and it is absolutely perfect for this setting!
Now this being a series how hard is it to enter as a fresh new attorney willing to give this series a try? It’s good. Really, every character is introduced with some background info that is basic yet enough to understand their involvement. Whether it’s a new or an old character you will not miss out on important clues and notes to continue your investigation. Does it add something if you played the other games? yes of course it does. It adds to the relations between characters and their motives to act some way or another. It is a big plus if you’ve played the other games but it is not necessary to be able to enjoy this episodic title.
DLC
The game takes back mechanics from other installments that were missing in the previous one so apart from the recurring characters there’s some decent fan service in terms of gameplay mechanics offered as well! Where the game really offers some fan service though is with the DLC. They add some what-if scenarios and they’re perfect to fill your Phoenix hungry belly untill Capcom releases the next one. You should count a good 25hours of gameplay if you read everything extensively and really get into these type of games! replayability is, with every graphic novel game, kind of scarce… But there’s always something you could’ve missed and I caught myself playing the previous iterations more than once too.
Conclusion:
It’s a daring risk to implement the supernatural theme into the series but it feels like a one time deal considering it all happens in this far away kingdom. It offers quite some fan service like the moving around the 3D scene mechanics, recurring characters and strong DLC! The story is actually more solid than initially thought and some of the more important characters are well fleshed out and you really get their motives. I think this Ace Attorney rises high and bright again but I am already stoked on how they will keep the flame alive next time!
