Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice Review

Is Phoenix Wright's new adventure objectionable?
phoenix wright spirit of justice, Nintendo, E3, 2016, exclusives

Prominent characters of the Ace Attorney series return for Spirit of Justice, of course everyone at the Wright Anything Agency, but also Phoenix’s old assistant Maya who was absent in the previous game Dual Destinies. There are also prosecutors and detectives that make a return through various points. It’s great to see so many characters from across the Ace Attorney series return and interact with each other, in addition to new characters. For however different Khura’in may feel from the setting of other Ace Attorney games, the characters introduced there feel right at home.

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Each has their own quirks and eccentricities, like the royal priestess Rayfa who refers to Phoenix as “barbed head” or the crazy rebel that constantly gets himself arrested and loves it because he gets free meals. There’s also a brand new prosecutor introduced named Nahyuta Sadmahdi, who plays a role in every case and believes in reading victims their last rights during trials along with defeating “putrid” lawyers. The characters of Spirit of Justice are as vibrant as ever, with their eccentricities represented in not only the well written script but their over-the-top animations as well. Each case also starts with a slick anime cutscene introducing the events and characters.

phoenix wright

The Khura’in characters feel unique and separate from the ones we know, making Phoenix and the others look and feel even more out of place in the spiritual Nepal-like country. The music also plays a big part of this differentiating feeling, with tunes having a sound similar to what you’d expect from folk music in the Nepal or Tibet region.

The new setting can also factor into gameplay, forcing you to consider aspects about the religious rites and procedures of Khura’in. The Divination Seance is also used as gameplay mechanic, showing you the scene of the victims death. As the scene plays out words pop up on screen with different sensations of sight, hearing and touch. The royal priestess also gives testimony of what the victim experienced, and your job is to watch the scene and find contradictions between it and the testimony. You can pause the scene that plays out, flip between each testimony and then pick out the sensations that doesn’t match.

Beside the Seance, the rest of Spirit of Justice’s gameplay is what you expect from an Ace Attorney game. There’s a ton of text and story exposition, and the game is split into the usual two parts of investigation and trial. You can travel around to different locations investigating and finding evidence for each murder before the trail. Then during the trial your job is to listen to witness testimony, and use your evidence or logic to point out discrepancies and issues.

phoenix wright

Gameplay elements from across the series also return, like Phoenix using his Magatama to undo psyche-locks that people have for information, or the therapy sessions that Athena uses to find discrepancies in witnesses’ emotions. In some regard it can almost feel like there’s too many unique gameplay elements, with some of them not serving as much of a purpose as they did in the past, and almost feeling out of place.

During trials there can also be leaps in logic and the presentation of evidence that make things unnecessarily difficult. For the most part finding contradictions flows well, but sometimes it can boil down to randomly picking between multiple pieces of evidence that could make sense in a situation. This can lead to frustration at times if you end up failing and have to start the case over from the beginning.

Spirit of Justice’s new setting and characters really are enough to make the game feel fresh, even if most of the gameplay is what we’ve seen before. It’ll be interesting to see where Capcom takes the series, along with Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice, considering the resolution of everything in the game. Fans of the Ace Attorney series should find an enjoyable new adventure with their favorite characters, while newcomers may find a good entry point in with the new characters and setting.

SCORE: 4.5/5- GREAT


PROS

• The new setting, characters and music feel vibrant and different for the Ace Attorney series.

• Divination Seance adds some nice variation to gameplay in trials.

• Has a dramatic overarching story, with plenty of twists, and some info on Apollo’s background.

Editor's Choice smallest

CONS

• Frustrations from the series are still present, with seemingly random evidence and contradictions at times.

• Fourth case, while fun, fills like filler and doesn’t contribute to the overall story.

 


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Author
Hayes Madsen
A connoisseur of all things RPG related, and always looking for the artistic expression in gaming. His love of Gundam is only matched by his love of Pizza. Playing Games Since: 1991 Favorite Genres: RPGs, JRPGs, Strategy,