The elephant in the room when discussing issues Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy Some argue this is not a true trilogy. Three games have just been remastered and re-released – 2007’s Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, 2013’s Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, and 2016’s Ace Attorney: Souls of Justice. ,fifth. , and the sixth mainline game in the Ace Attorney series of courtroom comedy visual novels. But despite this, many long-time fans were surprised when last year’s announcement that the remake was being marketed in this way, as it never really felt like the original was being read as a single continuous narrative.
Ace Attorney fans have been a little spoiled in this regard in the past. Most video game trilogies are loosely connected when you really look at it, but Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is indeed loosely connected. yes What it claims to be: three games developed by the same creative team coming together to form a story that pays off with a highly satisfying ending that weaves together nearly every thread from start to finish. The same goes for Ace Attorney Chronicles, a prequel duology that was made alongside the Apollo Justice-era game when it was first released, and it only really hits home if you play both parts to the end get payback.
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In contrast, the three games now known as Apollo Justice are each more independent. Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that while Apollo Justice’s name appears in the title of the collection, Phoenix Wright returned to his top billing in the latter two games of it, which really shows that sometimes The awkward push and pull of people drew this compilation to be republished in a different direction. However, they still had to give it a name to differentiate it from the Phoenix Wright trilogy, and none of that is Apollo Justice’s fault, so I think it makes sense as a title. It just had the unfortunate side effect of creating an expectation that the Apollo Justice trilogy wouldn’t quite deliver.
Like its easily flustered protagonist, the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney trilogy is a bit disjointed, especially compared to the two well-written collections that came before it. If you try to treat these games as a single narrative, there’s a clear trend: cliffhangers are never followed up, and important plot points slip away between games. Coupled with the aforementioned confusion over who exactly should be the protagonist here – this results in supporting characters being frequently established and then unceremoniously shuffled offstage to ensure that later games can accommodate all six or so. Contenders for the lead role in the series – things are starting to look a little confusing.
Even if you’re not the type of gamer to get bogged down in the minutiae of story, the more practical puzzle elements of all three games suffer to some extent from the same vagaries. Nearly every Ace Attorney game has introduced something new to differentiate it from the previous one, but in later games it feels less like a solid foundation being built upon and more like a well-designed expansion , but started before proper planning had been granted. Across all three games of the Apollo Justice Trilogy, the balance between introducing new investigation mini-games and relying on more traditional dialogue and reasoning sections has shifted noticeably, as to how much “useful” (your mileage may be will vary) There is also a noticeable change in attitude towards prompting. Assistant roles should be offered proactively.
These are not new criticisms, though, and in fact I draw on my knowledge of the reception of the original version of the game. This imbalance isn’t a failing of the remake, although bundling three games together does highlight it. Don’t forget, these games were originally released over a span of nearly a full decade, including the largest main series production gap to date; while the main development team remained largely the same, directorial duties were handed over twice during this time to series creator Shu Takumi first had a reduced role in the production, then left entirely after Apollo Justice’s eponymous entry to focus on the spin-off debut. If it feels like this series is trying to unite a group of games released at the most disparate stages in the series’ history, that’s because it’s actually happening.
Fundamentally, this isn’t actually a bad thing. Don’t just take my word for it either. Fans generally agree that one game in this trilogy can be compared to the Ace Attorney series’ historical highlights. Which On the other hand, the competition among the three games featured here is fierce, but that’s a recommendation in itself. The differing opinions on the matter suggest that different personal preferences were fairly catered for, rather than any definite decrease in quality.
The thing is, a few disconnects don’t prevent Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy from containing some of the best, most compelling writing in the entire series. These three games are literally comparable to the Phoenix Wright or Ace Attorney series. Some individual stories are stronger and more memorable than others, but that’s true of every Ace Attorney game; some of the series’ most iconic characters only existed seven years between the two main trilogies. It will not appear until after the year cosmic time jump.
It’s hard to imagine how the series could have stayed fresh across six main installments without the addition of Phoenix’s adopted daughter, Jade, who freed up previous supporting characters Maya Fey and Emma Skye to enjoy some well-deserved character development ; Or the series’ first non-posthumous heroine, Athena, who joins the fray as the third playable character in Dual Destinies. The emergence of Apollo and Athena as a powerful and unique pairing ultimately forces Phoenix to transform from a standard anime male protagonist (whose views we should assume are very similar to our own) into a more defined character with his own right.
While it’s certainly disappointing to see a promising source of developing drama between games cut off, there’s a positive side to it. It would be unfair to categorize the games in the Apollo Justice trilogy as being stuck in the status quo. They’ve continued to advance the series in terms of plot and gameplay, but the light touch with out-of-context callbacks makes for a more welcoming experience for new players. While I’d still urge newcomers to the series to start with the Phoenix Wright trilogy for maximum appreciation, if you prefer the Apollo Justice-era look of the series, there’s no real barrier to starting here. While the trilogy format might make that last point moot, it’s worth mentioning that you can play the games in any order: everything in the remaster is unlocked from the start, so you don’t need Progress through Apollo Justice For example, play Dual Destinies. Heck, you don’t even need to play every game in Case 1 if you decide you want to jump in; it’s a little weird if they’re all new to you, but you just do it.
On a technical level, the remaster itself looks beautiful, with the only exception being some noticeable pixelation on the 2D character models when playing at 1440p, which is the locked resolution of the Switch without it connected, and also the Steam Deck the default resolution on. This shouldn’t bother anyone who plays the game on a monitor or TV, and for some it might not even count as a negative, as the remake’s shift from pixel art to smoother lines has been a long-standing feature of Ace Attorney A bone of contention among fans for many years.
The 2D background art is noticeably improved, with a softer watercolor look compared to the Phoenix Wright trilogy, which helps make the character sprites stand out more. The six-year gap between Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies has been made evident by the series’ shift from 2D to 3D graphics, resulting in the first remastered game here looking like it’s getting more than the two new games More significant visual upgrades. This is another example of this trilogy’s glaring inconsistencies, but once again, this isn’t a negative so much as a quirk that you can’t help but take note of when watching them side by side, but it doesn’t matter The individual games are not fun at all.
In addition to the three main titles, the Apollo Justice Trilogy also bundles two additional story chapters and six alternate costumes for the main playable characters, all of which were originally released as Dual Destinies and Souls of Justice. of paid DLC released; as well as comprehensive galleries of artwork, animations and music from all three games, plus access to a brand new animation studio.
However, parts of the previously Japan-only DLC have yet to be localized, so English completers will have to continue to struggle as they lose access to the Turnabout Deduction quiz and the Basara-inspired DLC alternative costumes for Phoenix, Apollo, and Athena. (Yes, sadly, marveling at the fact that tiny twin Apollo is actually quite hijacked is still the domain of Japanese 3DS users.) Completionists who already own the original plus all the DLC available on DS/3DS might best remember , the only brand-new material of any weight here is the animation studio. Whether this is disappointing or not may depend on whether you expected to be able to play these games easily on modern hardware, with the accompanying introduction of more detailed artwork and an honor (aka achievement/trophy) system.
Okay, so, where does all this leave us? A trilogy may not really be a “trilogy” but a collection of three very good games, the excellence of which at least one of them will statistically be a hill you’d be happy to die on. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Apollo Justice Trilogy brings an increasingly difficult-to-master classic to your choice of PC, Switch, or last-generation PlayStation/Xbox console. A brief opening screen even identifies this re-release as part of an act of game preservation, and it’s refreshing to see Capcom acknowledge the issue directly, although given their recent track record with remasters and remakes, their The concerns are not surprising.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a little less consistent than its two previous series, but it’s still bringing a series of gems to the new one at a time when those games were at risk of becoming obsolete. platform and audience. was left behind. Whether the game’s attempt to position itself as a standalone trilogy will be an effective appeal to new players remains to be seen, but if you’re already a fan of the series, it’s an absolute must-play – and if you’ve played through the last two For those of you who were drawn into the series through its remake and haven’t played these three games yet, you’re in for a special treat.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy Releases today on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC (via Steam) for £40/$50. This game was reviewed using the Nintendo Switch version of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy provided by the publisher.
