Here comes Justice

So I'm a big Ace Attorney fan. And I mean really really big. And that's the reason why I had Apollo Justice:Ace Attorney imported from the States before Euro release. Having devoured it in two days straight, I've got some interesting things to say about this supposed reboot of the franchise. Namely that it isn't even a reboot at all. OK, so it's got shiny upgraded sprites, new 3D sequences and some DS specific features, but crucially these are taken far less advantage of than you might think. In fact, it seems as though the level of interactivity has actually taken a step back from Capcom's last effort at a DS Ace Attorney, namely the truly outstanding extra case that was included with the English language version of the original game. Intriguing and original concepts do pop up, most noticeably a very neat X-Ray machine minigame, but these are absurdly underused.

The other main problem with the game is the characterization, unusual as creating memorable characters has always been a forte of the previous games. And to a certain extent, that's the problem here. Previous games introduced us to such a compelling cast of individuals that shrugging them off here is a big issue. Apollo himself and his assistant Trucy are straight cyphers of Phoenix and Maya, and the rest of the cast simply doesn't click so well. Major culprit in this case is the new prosecutor, Klavier Gavin. He's a perfectly good and interesting character, but he lacks the nasty, spiteful edge that previous prosecutors brought to the courtroom, and as a result, you never really feel any enmity towards him.

Having Phoenix Wright himself around doesn't really help break the mould either. He appears in every case in some capacity, and the overarching story arc also focuses on his fall from grace. In fact (SPOILER ALERT!) by the last case, the game drops all pretence and actually morphs back into a Phoenix Wright game (brilliantly the scenes set in flashback are downscaled to use old-school sprites), via some truly bizarre moments where the fourth wall is totally broken.(END SPOILERS)


So that's quite a lot of words ranting off against a series I profess to love. So here's the real kicker.

The game is brilliant

Despite everything I've said above, it retains all of the series's fantastic trademarks, namely terrific scripting (very well localized indeed), a genuine sense of tension and drama in the courtroom and some of the finest, most gripping stories ever told in games. It's one of the few games you can laugh out loud at one minute and then be deadly serious about the next.
So my final thoughts? The game is a missed opportunity for sure. But it still plays to the strengths of the series, and remains a brilliantly written and executed slice of adventure gaming. And that's good enough for me.