Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Genre: Compilation / Visual Novel / Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This collection is included in the Ace Attorney Turnabout Collection along with The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. It is also included in Ace Attorney Anthology, along with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy.)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a collection of the first three games in the Ace Attorney series (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations). These games were originally released separately on the Game Boy Advance in Japan and Nintendo DS in America. These releases retain the story and gameplay of the original games, while improving the game’s artwork and soundtrack to more modern HD standards. The three games in this collection can all be played independent of one another, and all feature similar gameplay. However, it is recommended to play the games in order, as the latter games build on the story of what came before.

For those who aren’t familiar with the series, the gameplay here lies somewhere between a Graphic Adventure and a Visual Novel, with players interviewing witnesses and inspecting various locations prior to a trial, and then representing their client within the trial by speaking with witnesses and pointing out when their testimony in contradicted by the evidence.

This is a pretty good setup that largely avoids one of the common problems of the Graphic Adventure genre, the “just what the heck do I do now?” frustration – the game’s icon during investigation shows the player not only what can be interacted with, but what has no new information to reveal, and during cross-examination in the courtroom, there are clearly only a limited number of options available to the player, but they can’t just brute force their way through a trial, since the player has a health bar of sorts that measures the judge’s patience with Phoenix Wright’s courtroom shenanigans.

Speaking about those courtroom shenanigans, anyone familiar with the justice system will soon realize that this game’s depiction of it in no way resembles reality. There is no jury, just an easily-swayed judge. There’s also no “innocent until proven guilty”, and in fact in most cases Phoenix Wright must not only prove the innocence of his client, but must also prove the guilt of the real culprit.

This series was supposedly based on Japan’s court system, but even there the game has clearly taken liberties – the characters here are all cartoonish in their logic and reactions to one another, and before long things like spirit channeling become not just a plot point in the game, but actual mechanics in how Wright obtains information. In other words, if you want a serious, realistic depiction of courtroom drama in a videogame, this ain’t it.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. By simplifying the court process and removing or greatly oversimplifying things like the discovery process and rules of procedure, the gameplay is rendered pretty straightforward so the focus can be placed squarely on logic-ing out the contradictions that can save your client, and the game’s cartoony nature makes for an extremely memorable cast of characters whose over-the-top mannerisms and reactions have become the stuff of legend. Phoenix Wright’s own “Objection!” shout and finger-pointing pose has itself become extremely iconic, but just about every character here is delightfully memorable.

Still, as great as these games are, and while the presentation is as good as ever on the Nintendo Switch, there is one nagging issue here – namely, one of value. See, these games are nearly two decades old now, and playing them together makes it all the more clear how much the trilogy re-used assets from one game to the next. Capcom is charging $30 for this collection, despite that the only thing added to this release is the updated presentation. For me, that seems a bit on the pricey side.

To play devil’s advocate though (ha), this is the same price as the version of the game on other platforms, and far, far less expensive than trying to track down copies of the original DS games, so even if it isn’t a great deal, you’re not likely to find a better one, and these are pretty phenomenal games.

While $30 may seem like a lot to ask for three 20 year-old games, this is probably about as good an offer as you’re likely to get for the original Phoenix Wright trilogy, and make no mistake – these are excellent games, with extremely memorable characters, great gameplay, and overall one of the best experiences you’re likely to find in the genre. If you’re willing to pay up for this lawyer, you’ll likely find his services to be exemplary.

tl;dr – Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a collection of the first three games in this series of investigation and legal drama games that lies somewhere between a Graphic Adventure and Visual Novel. This is a fantastic collection of three superb games with memorable characters and wonderful gameplay, but $30 for three games that are nearly 20 years old seems a bit much, even if you’re not likely to find a better deal on these games elsewhere.

Grade: A-

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