Ace Attorney Anthology

Genre: Compilation / Visual Novel / Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Ace Attorney Anthology is a Compilation that contains within it two other Compilations. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, released on multiple platforms over the years and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2019, includes Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulation. And Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, includes the games Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, all previously released on Nintendo 3DS (with Apollo Justice also being released on the original Nintendo DS). All of the included games combine Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure elements, with players taking the role of an attorney combing through witness testimony during a trial to find contradictions that refute their arguments against your clients, with additional gameplay coming in the form of investigating crime scenes to gather information to bolster your client’s case.

Here is what I thought of each of the compilations in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy	Compilation / Visual Novel / Graphic Adventure	1	A-
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.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy	Compilation / Visual Novel / Graphic Adventure	1	A
tl;dr Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a Compilation of Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure games comprising fourth, fifth, and sixth mainline games in the Ace Attorney series. This bundle is an excellent value with three superb games at their very best, with plenty of extra content. I do think you should play the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy first, but if you liked those games, this bundle is an absolute no-brainer.

In short, these are six truly great games in the Visual Novel/Graphic Adventure genre. And since these are the first mainline entries in the franchise, this is a great entry point for the series for anyone looking to start, and it’s cool to see the gradual progression in the series’ visuals as you progress from the original trilogy to the Apollo Justice sequel trilogy.

That said, the Phoenix Wright trilogy is a bit more old-fashioned, and I think this trilogy’s $30 price tag on a trio of remastered Nintendo DS games is a bit on the high side. This is balanced out a bit by the more modern sequel trilogy, though it also bumps the price up to $50. By comparison, this bundle of both trilogies cuts $20 off the total price, with a standard price of $60 for all six games, which seems fairly reasonable to me.

As compilations go, Ace Attorney Anthology is a good value for six excellent games that kick off an outstanding game franchise, and if you’re a Graphic Adventure or Visual Novel fan and have missed out on these prior to now, this is absolutely a great way to start. Each game in the franchise is an absolutely superb Visual Novel/Graphic Adventure with a great story, memorable characters, and excellent courtroom drama-backed gameplay. The only thing that could make this collection sweeter is the inclusion of the Ace Attorney Investigations spin-off games, the Great Ace Attorney prequel games, and the non-canon Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright crossover game… but barring a comprehensive package like that, Ace Attorney Anothology is one of the best compilations you’re likely to see in the Visual Novel or Graphic Adventure genres.

tl;dr – Ace Attorney Anthology is a Compilation of two Compilations – Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, all combined including the first six mainline games in the series. All of these games are a superb blend of Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure with a fun courtroom drama story. If you’ve never tried this series before, this is a great starting point and a good value.

Grade: A

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