Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

"Despite being the weakest entry in the series so far, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is still a great game"

If you've been keeping track of the "Phoenix Wright" games, then the second half of the title might be familiar to you. This is because Apollo Justice is simply the new main character who is included in the 4th installment of the "Ace Attorney" series (Phoenix Wright was the main protagonist of the first 3). The first three games were actually ports of GBA games that were released on the DS so that a North American audience could experience it and thankfully enough, they were a success which led to Capcom deciding to make a new Ace Attorney game exclusively for the DS with all its features in mind. However, this game was met with a lot of skepticism because of the fact that it seemed to be trying to change too much and the developers might lose sight of what really made the Ace Attorney games so good but after playing through this new installment myself, I am happy to report that this game is far from a big disappointment and definitely has me looking forward to the next game.

Unlike the previous Ace Attorney games in which you played as Phoenix Wright, this entry in the series has you taking control of a rookie attorney, Apollo Justice. Apollo is pretty much in the same situation as Phoenix was in the first game, he's a new defense attorney who's scared, nervous, and taking on a trial that may be just a bit too big for him. With only a minimal amount of evidence and his mentor to help him out, he enters the courtroom defending a client accused of murder for his first time.

Fans of the series will quickly notice that this is almost exactly like Phoenix's first trial and you would be quite right. While this game certainly is different from the Phoenix Wright trilogy in a variety of ways, the roots and the core of the series is still present. One of the things that the Ace Attorney series has always focused on is the story and this new entry is no different. Each case in this game is full of mystery and at the start you'll know next to nothing about the crimes that have been committed. However, slowly and surely, you begin to uncover several clues during investigation and when you begin defending your client in an actual courtroom, the amount of plot twists that happen will dazzle you. When you finish a case, you'll be amazed at everything you had just gone through and the sort of facts you uncovered. All the Ace Attorney games made me feel this way and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is no different.

Other than the plot, one of the things that the Ace Attorney series is renowned for is its huge cast of memorable characters. This is one point where Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney feels a bit disappointing, but still succeeds. If that didn't make sense to you then I'll explain it more simply: the characters aren't quite as memorable as the ones that were present in the Phoenix Wright games but nonetheless, they are still pretty memorable and have way more personality than most characters that you see in most games today. The main protagonists Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright (his assistant) are both very likable and have interesting personalities. The minor characters were a bit disappointing, some of them just didn't seem to have big roles in the case and their personalities seemed a bit dull as some characters in the previous Ace Attorney games seemed just like them (one of the characters in Case 2 for example seems to be trying to pull off a similar style as Dahlia Hawthorne from Trials & Tribulations, but doesn't exactly pull it off as well as Dahlia did). Regardless of that fact, some of the characters are still very unique and memorable. Some of the most memorable ones come from the third case like a kind-hearted singer who suffers from amnesia and a pianist who can't speak English, while there are also a number of interesting personalities from the other cases like an introvert girl who shows her emotion by drawing faces on her sketch pad. In the end, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney's cast of characters is good and likable, but they never really had the same impact on me as the villains and witnesses from the previous games.

As a text adventure game, the Ace Attorney games are also expected to have an extremely good script, and all the games, including Apollo Justice, have succeeded when it comes to that. The localization team for this game was pretty much amazing. They were able to include lots of witty, humorous, and smart dialogue which ensures that we won't be falling asleep while playing through the cases. There are also various references to certain things in real life like emo stereotypes, language barrier issues, and slang. Overall, the translation team did a wonderful job in translating this game from Japanese to English, just like they did with the previous three games. It isn't perfect though as you'll always see the occasional typo here and there but when you think about how video games haven't reached the same level of popularity worldwide as movies and books, you can't exactly expect them to proofread this game perfectly without error.

Now, so far when it comes to the overall story and plot qualities, the game seems to be doing quite well but one of the things that most people looked forward to was the new gameplay mechanics. However, let's first look back at the basics that the series has had since the beginning:

There are two main phases to this game. The investigation phase and the courtroom phase. During investigation, you view the game from a first-person perspective (usually as Apollo) and search crime scenes for clues, talk to people to get more information, and trigger key events. All this eventually builds up to the courtroom phase. This is where the game shifts to a third-person perspective where you must guide Apollo and help him prove to the court that his client is indeed innocent. To do this, you have to listen to witnesses testify about their experiences relating to the crime, point out contradictions in their testimony which can help get your client off the hook, and present evidence to prove that you know what you're talking about. Of course, there is also a prosecuting attorney that's trying to get your client proven guilty. In this game, Klavier Gavin, a prosecuting attorney who also happens to be the leader of a rock band, is your opponent and it's up to you to keep pointing out contradictions and proving him wrong until you can finally reveal the ultimate truth and prove your client innocent.

Since this game was developed straight for the DS, Capcom reported that they would be using the DS' technology more efficiently and would make greater use of the touch screen. Did they end up delivering? They definitely did, even though the new features are a bit light. In the original trilogy, the investigation phases pretty much consisted of you moving around, talking to people, finding out information, and presenting items to people in order to get more information. This time around however, you won't just be doing that. Instead, with the help of the DS interface, you'll also be using the powers of forensic science to figure out just what happened at the crime scene and how it happened. Using the touch screen, you can search for fingerprints on certain pieces of evidence, examine pieces of evidence in 3D by rotating it around and zooming in and out, use x-ray machines to see through envelopes to read letters which you are forbidden from opening, and more. There's certainly a lot more interactivity here than there ever was in the Ace Attorney games and hopefully the future games will make even greater use of this.

Apollo Justice doesn't only take advantage of the DS technology to make the game more interactive though, it also took advantage of it in terms of graphics. By far, this is the most beautiful game in the series. The character sprites are marginally more detailed than the ones in the Phoenix Wright games and crime scenes are also recreated in 3D to give you a better idea of what really happened. There's even a beautiful CGI segment in one of the cases which you'll love absolutely love seeing. The character animations are also much more fluid in this game and you'll simply be surprised at how much more detailed the characters are. There are still a few rough spots in the environments and some old character sprites are recycled but those are just very minor complaints that don't really significantly hurt the graphical quality of this game all that much.

The audio in Apollo Justice is definitely one of its highest points and one aspect of the game where I don't have any major complaints. The music here is definitely very fitting and helps enhance the mood of the game as a whole. Whenever you uncover a shocking new secret, a suspense theme helps build up to bring a feeling of eeriness to the moments afterwards. When you prove that your client is innocent, a very cheery and happy victory theme plays which makes you feel extremely satisfied. It's moments like these that need the music the most and luckily, the music is always there. I also feel the need to praise the sound effects as they are all very solid and almost always used at the perfect moments.

An issue for many reviewers when it comes to the Ace Attorney series is that the games have no replay value and Apollo Justice is the same deal. But honestly, give it a break, it's an adventure game. Have adventure games ever been about replaying them and finding out little trinkets hidden away in secret locations? No, they're about an emotional experience filled with a deep and detailed story that makes a huge impact on you the first time you play through it so in that aspect, Apollo Justice doesn't fail since it never had to accomplish anything in the first place (and it even exceeds expectations in a way since some people may even replay cases to see a favorite moment again). As for the overall length of the game, you're definitely getting your money's worth here. Four cases might not seem like a lot, but when you consider the fact that some of these cases can last for more than 5 hours and the fact that each of these cases are just filled with a lot of quality storytelling, the price tag of $30 doesn't really seem to matter that much.

In the end, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a great adventure game. To be honest, it doesn't stand up well to the first three Ace Attorney games and is probably the weakest entry in the series so far, but by no means does that mean this game is bad. It proves its worth as a text adventure game by delivering lots of witty and humorous dialogue, interesting (but not quite unforgettable…) characters, and great atmospheric music. If you dislike adventure games or haven't played any of the previous games in the series (what in the world are you waiting for?) then I wouldn't really recommend this game but any fan of the Ace Attorney games or text adventures in general should consider giving Apollo Justice a purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/08, Updated 11/14/08

Game Release: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (US, 02/19/08)