“Objection!”
Oh how I used to love shouting that when I was younger. That’s because this isn’t the first time me and Phoenix Wright have crossed paths. Nope, the legendary attorney first won over a legion of fans (including my young self) thanks to his adventures on the Nintendo DS. The original trilogy has since made its way to Xbox, however now it’s the turn of the rookie to get the same treatment.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a collection of three further games in the long running series, those being: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice. Each tale is split into chapters, and the DLC content is included for the latter two titles also. It’s all coming to Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC in January 2024.
This time around there’s a new kid on the block, Apollo Justice. Phoenix Wright meets the youngster years after the once legendary attorney had seemingly given up on his legal career, in rather dramatic circumstances. Always with an eye for talent, Phoenix Wright soon notices Apollo Justice is no run of the mill attorney.
For those new to the legal ass kicking party, these text based adventures follow a group of ambitious lawyers who have a knack (and many rather special abilities) for seeking out the truth and ensuring justice is served. Everything is presented in a wonderfully rich animated world, from the characters themselves to the numerous cut scenes and flashback sequences.
The action always takes place in a courtroom, where seemingly straightforward cases turn out to be a lot more complicated than first thought. Whether it’s theft, murder or even treason, the most straightforward answer is usually the wrong one. Only through carefully studying evidence, scrutinising testimonies and cross-examining witnesses, can our heroes uncover the real truth.
Different characters come with varying abilities. These include a sixth sense for someone who is hiding something, the ability to feel the emotions running through a witness and even projecting insights that highlight everything affecting the senses of a particular person. This makes each story a little more fantastical than just a dry courtroom drama.
Despite the rather slow pace of the storytelling, the cases are well written and full of twists and turns. Although I won’t spoil anything here, there are a few moments that you may not see coming. I’m very much looking forward to seeing each through to its conclusion, however the pacing means playing a couple of hours at a time feels about enough, for me anyhow.
That’s the thing really, if you’re not a fan of reading then these games may not be for you. Just as they were originally, the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is more a collection of interactive stories than video games in the traditional sense. You will only need to use your controller ever so often, usually to choose which evidence to use to blow a case wide open.
There is an option to whack the narrative on auto to save on repetitive button presses, which does feel like the naturally comfortable option. Things will pause once again if your input is needed anyhow. Otherwise, you’ve nothing else to do but sit back and listen carefully to what each party member is professing to be the truth.
Given the nature of the games, apart from looking a little sharper in certain places, they are very much the same experiences that were released the first time around as far as I could gather. This collection looks to be a simple bundle, rather than a remake or even a remaster. However, the museum area will surely please fans of the series.
It’s here where you can listen to the soundtrack to each game, as well as arrange an adorable animated orchestra to play it back. Or if you prefer artwork over music, there are all sorts of images to explore from illustrations and design specs, to a prologue anime. There is even an animation studio, so if (like me) you enjoy hearing “Objection!” shouted over and over again, your dreams can come true.
I spent considerable time with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy and everything ran nice and smooth, in fact I’d go as far as to say the game felt finished (which is unsurprising I guess). I enjoyed my first foray into these later adventures, having only played the first couple of entries in the series way back when on my trusty Nintendo DS. However, with an Xbox release date slated of 25th January 2024, you’ll have to wait a little longer to get back into the halls of justice.
Stay tuned for a full review soon.
Huge thanks go out to Capcom for giving us some access to Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy on Xbox for preview purposes. We’ll follow with a review nearer launch as the game hits Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC in January 2024.
You can pre-order it now from the Xbox Store for £38.94. Alternatively, wishlist it on Steam.
