The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Review

In the court itself, the game is about presenting evidence, cross-examining witnesses and, in due course, objecting. Ace Attorney is a fun game that lets you solve puzzles, look at your evidence, find inconsistencies in testimony, discover new angles and turn a trial upside down. For those looking for an action-packed version of lawyer action and judgment, there are better games, but Ace Attorney has a fantastic story to tell, and its charming character cast is a bit too much to highlight a visual bog-standard novel.

When it comes to court drama in the video game world, there's no argument that Legal Eagle is the best version of the case, Capcom's long-running crime series. Ace Attorney is less about the court than it is about showing how crazy the villains can be, and when you look at certain characters, you know why they do it. I think it is important for many aspects of The Great Ace Attorney games to act as ace counsellor, but their narrative goals are different enough to disappoint longtime series fans without providing an alternative for those who think the series is too stupid.

The Phoenix Wright series and in general the Ace Attorney series are a fun, well-written and clever series of lawyer simulation games in which you solve cases in court, cross-examine witnesses and use the evidence presented to support your case. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is the culmination of Phoenix Wright's brilliant presentation, a switch-up port, some whimsical characters and a captivating story between the two games. It doesn't change much about what made the show great, but it does provide a story in its own right and a great starting point for anyone interested in the show.

There is no real twist here, no simple twisting of the story of Phoenix Wright's descendants in Victorian London, which has proven to be The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles "favourite game thanks to the return of series creator Shu Takumis in the writing and directing chair. The familiar rhythms and the usual Ace Attorney story in five chapters are set aside, other traditions seem less stable, allowing the game to resist assumptions and surprise the player. This is a rewarding moment for longtime fans of the show, and it's the perfect time to try Phoenix Wright - anyone who enjoys visual novels and puzzles owes it to themselves to delve into it.

As a result, the game is essentially a Japanese court process that acts as a tutorial and introduces players to the basics of witness cross-examination and evidence, but with the added complexity of juries. The different personalities of each jury add an extra level of fun by pitting the players against each other, contrasting their conflicting statements and pointing out holes in their arguments. Despite its long run, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles feels that it is less legal filler than previous games, with cases that have nothing to do with each other and are tied into the main story of international intrigue.

The same goes for cross-examination of several witnesses on the witness stand, an idea put forward by Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright. There is also the usual cast of eccentric and entertaining witnesses, defendants and other various discontents. The animated interludes are easy on the eye and provide a welcome respite and reward the talking heads who make up much of the game.

Speaking of characters, it's rare to find a game in which there's not a single character you don't like. While the more gameplay-oriented sections don't quite make the graphic mark, the game is beautifully animated and brimming with vivid details, anime-inspired personalities and lively character animations. It is rare enough to find games in which there are not a single character you like.

It always bothered me that entries in the series never left Japan, including the two Great Ace Attorney games, a prequel and a duology set in Meiji Japan and Victorian England respectively. Capcom has fixed this with The Greatest Ace Attorney Chronicles and has combined the two games in a new package with improved graphics for the Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC (I play on the Switch). We reviewed 17 gambling sites in our top 10, and while these two games adhered to the themes of the series, such as believing in your client, The Great ACE Attorney Chronicles presents a much more complex world, one of international politics played out with Japanese characters subjected to racism in a world dominated by the British Empire.

It is a stark contrast to the cheerful modern world in which Ryunosuke, a descendant of Phoenix Wright, holds court. The story jumps back and forth between Meiji-era Japan and Victorian London, with many delightful twists. Past games have explored modernity, but director Shu Takumi had exhausted the story he could tell with series protagonist Phoenix Wright.

Having played through all ten cases of the game, I never felt that the story had reached the dramatic heights of its predecessors. The story of the two sequels follows Ryunosuke Naruhodo, a young Japanese lawyer who travels from Japan to Victorian England in the Meiji era to learn about the British law system that prides itself on being one of the largest in the world. His Japanese ancestor, Phoenix Wright (or Ryuichi Naruodo as he is known in Japan) was a Japanese law student who came to Britain to study the legal system there.

The adventure has all the trappings typical of an Ace Attorney game, with a colorful cast of characters, crime scenes investigations and courtrooms, but it dispenses with the familiar patterns found in Ace Attorney games to favor a fresh, well-timed and well-drawn structure. Each entry in the series has introduced new modifiers (for example, sniff, magatama ply, justice bracelet, truth diva, seance and Spirit of Justice ), but the familiar pattern of investigation, trial, second investigation and the closing of court remains unchanged.

I've come across moments in which I had to work out a few steps of the story before I wished to run, but that's part of what makes The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles work so well. The new scenery and characters give things a fresh feel, and playing an Ace Attorney game feels a bit like coming home. As with any good mystery game, there are fun and interesting twists and turns to unravel the story, and the game makes it clear that Naruhodo is there for you to prove that this is the only possible solution.