Gameplay
The Ace Attorney games are basically visual novels, with a few added elements thrown in to shake things up. There’s a ton of text you’re going to be reading in each game, and the story and characters are the main draw. Players advance text by either tapping the touch screen or hitting a face button. Each case will generally have a period where players are investigating the crime scene, or crime scenes. During these times you’ll use menus to navigate to different areas, talk to witnesses, and gather information.
Different areas can be examined with a menu prompt, and then you use the touchscreen to click on areas or items of interest to find out more. Oftentimes there might be small minigames like spreading powder on an item and blowing it off to find fingerprints.
After collecting info and preparing, it’s time to hit the main course of the Ace Attorney games – the courtroom. During these sections, players advance through text in the same way, squaring off against the prosecution, and defending their clients. Different witnesses will be called in, and the goal is to find discrepancies in their testimony. You have access to a log of evidence and info that you can bring up by hitting the right shoulder button at any time. After the testimony, you get your chance for cross-examination. Here, you can either press each statement, which can sometimes uncover more information, or you can present evidence that contradicts the witnesses’ testimony and moves the case along.
Finding these discrepancies and holes are the key to moving forward in Ace Attorney. The iconic “Objection” or “Take that” is used when the player stumbles upon a big contradiction or some kind of info that changes the course of the case. Even though you’re mostly just advancing the text, the games do a great job of building intensity and adrenaline in cases through their presentation and music. Character animations really add to the overall eccentricity of the games, as witnesses, the prosecution, and even Phoenix Wright himself react with ridiculous and over the top animations to everything.
The gameplay of the series may be simplistic, but overall the games have fascinating characters backed up by good localization and scripts.
