The Best Ace Attorney Games, All 8 Ranked

8. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Ace Attorney Investigations is the most different game of the entire series, casting players as the ace prosecution attorney, Miles Edgeworth, instead of a defense lawyer. Because of this, the gameplay deviates just a bit from the norm as well, and although the game does have a continuous plot, each case is basically self-contained.

The game is all about investigating crime scenes, and is presented from a mostly third-person perspective. Players move Edgeworth around each crime scene, searching for evidence and talking to witnesses to try and uncover what happened. A skill called “deduction” allows you to point out a contradiction between what is perceived at a crime scene and the evidence. After that, you enter a rebuttal phase, where a witness or rival character gives their description of what happened, and you have to point out the discrepancies and issues with their testimony. It was certainly different for an Ace Attorney game, but just didn’t generally stack up against the other games in the series. It was missing the courtroom drama that made the Ace Attorney games so memorable, focusing on the investigations this time around.  While Miles Edgeworth certainly still had some fun characters and twists, it just felt like it was lacking an important piece of an Ace Attorney game.

7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All

Justice for All introduced some of the gameplay mechanics that would become staples of the Ace Attorney series for years to come. One of these mechanics was Phoenix using the Magatama gifted to him by Maya, in order to remove “psych-locks” people would have when they were hiding information.

Just like its predecessor, Justice for All has a dramatic overarching story that runs across each of the five cases. The final case of this sequel definitely comes close to hitting the amazing notes of the final case from the first game. However, the first and third cases just don’t hold up to that same quality. The third case, in particular, involves a murder at “Berry Big Circus,” and features some terribly annoying and unremarkable characters along with serious leaps in logic during the trial that just don’t always make sense.

6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Dual Destinies brought Ace Attorney out of the world of 2D sprites and into the world of 3D character models, also putting Phoenix Wright himself back in the courtroom. It also introduced a brand new character for the Wright Anything Agency, the rookie lawyer Athena Cykes, who also brings a brand new gameplay element. Athena uses her computer, nicknamed Widget, to run a program called the Mood Matrix. This allows her to analyze the emotions of a witness during their testimony and find when there’s a strange emotion that contradicts what they’re saying.

Like previous games, Dual Destinies uses the five case structure while telling a larger story overall story. There’s a common complaint about the game being too easy, however, and it is true that much of the difficulty of past games is gone, with players not incurring any kind of penalties for wrong guesses. Dual Destinies helped restart the Ace Attorney series, however, introducing new allies for Phoenix, new prosecutors, and setting the foundation for Spirit of Justice.

5. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Apollo Justice was definitely a bit of a surprise, this time around focusing on a young up-and-coming lawyer named Apollo instead of Phoenix Wright. Phoenix is of course still in the game, but he’s fallen from the lawyer profession after suffering a devastating loss in court where he was accused of forging evidence.

While Apollo Justice may not be as likable as Phoenix off the bat, the game has a great first case introduction and Apollo becomes a more relatable character by the end. The cases and story as a whole stay mostly on that same level, with the exception of case three. Apollo also has a different trick up his sleeve than Phoenix’s Magatama, with a bracelet that basically allows him to see the nervous ticks of people while they’re testifying.There’s also an interesting twist with a game system called the MASON system. This saw the jury in a case as well as the player, actually traverse two different time periods assuming the role of Phoenix Wright in a video game. All of these new additions help Apollo Justice stand out and feel distinctly different from the rest of the series, for better or worse at times.

4. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright is only technically half an Ace Attorney game, as it also features the puzzle solving gameplay of Professor Layton. It turns out, however, that this fusion of the two series works exceedingly well. Layton and his assistant Luke are asked for help by a young girl named Espella for help, as she’s being chased by a mysterious force. The pair’s investigation leads them to a strange town called Labyrinthia via a magical book. The same book is then encountered by Phoenix Wright and his assistant Maya Fey, also transporting them to the town.

In Labyrinthia this book basically predicts the future and is accepted as truth. The storyteller who wrote the book disrupts the heroes’ investigation after he writes in a section that prophesizes Layton being turned into a gold statue, and accuses Maya of being a witch. Gameplay switches back and forth between Layton and Luke investigating the town and solving puzzles, to Phoenix defending clients in court who are accused of being witches. The two different styles switch things up nicely, and it’s a blast to see all four characters interacting with one another.

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

Spirit of Justice is the newest game in the Ace Attorney series, and it takes things to a brand new location unlike anything the series has seen before, the mystical Kingdom of Khura’in. This new setting really feels invigorating for the Ace Attorney series, and there’s a ton of fun and interesting new characters introduced, along with bringing back some fan favorites.

Phoenix is in Khura’in to visit his old assistant Maya Fay, who’s spent two years studying there to become the leader of Kurain Village. While Phoenix is off, it falls to Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes to hold things down back in America as even more surprising murder cases pop up. The spiritual mysticism of Khura’in plays into everything about Spirit of Justice, including court trials where a Divination Seance is used to see the last moments of a murder victim. The stakes are also higher than ever before for Phoenix, as the foreign country has instituted a law called the Defense Culpability Act, that forces a defense attorney to suffer the same fate as their client should they be deemed guilty.

2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was the game that started it all, and although it lacks some of the gameplay improvements seen later, it has some of the most memorable cases of the series. It set the foundation of the five-case structure every game would use, and introduced Phoenix as a fledgling defense attorney who just started at the law offices of Fey & Co.

Phoenix is a bit of bumbling lawyer at first, who ends up winning cases through tons of determination and a bit of dumb luck. The first game had a fascinating overall plot, where you learned about the history between Phoenix Wright and the antagonistic prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth. It also ends with what could possibly be the best final case of any game in the series, sending things out on an emotional high note.

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations

One of the standout features of Trials and Tribulations is the villain it introduces named Godot, a truly intimidating prosecutor and easily one of the best villains of the series. Going up against Godot is no easy task, as he seems to always have a plan to combat your every move, and comes equipped with a wealth of coffee metaphors.

The five cases of Trials and Tribulations each tie into each other, on top of bringing closure to the entire original Ace Attorney trilogy in a satisfying way. Each one of the cases featured in the game stands out on their own, but the final case “Bridge to the Turnabout,” brings the emotion for any fan of the series. Trials and Tribulation really is Ace Attorney firing on all cylinders, bringing plenty of surprises and twists while wrapping things up in a well thought out, satisfying way.