It might be a bit of a controversial take, but I’ve always preferred the Ace Attorney games with Apollo Justice over those with Phoenix Wright. That’s not to say the Phoenix Wright originals are bad, but I just found Apollo a far more relatable and likeable character. That probably says a lot about me, but it’s why I’m so happy that Capcom  has finally graced us with a collection of Apollo’s various Chords of Steel workouts with the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy.
From Apollo’s first case supported by his mentor Kristoph Gavin, to the last revelations in Spirit of Justice, you follow the loudest attorney (and friends) in defending a variety of clients in cases that are always heavily stacked against you. Each case in each of the three games stand apart, with a few exceptions, and then are all tied together neatly by the final case each time. However, unlike the Phoenix Wright Trilogy, the three games in this collection vary a touch more.
All the normal narrative bells are here; different prosecutors, a wild variety of witnesses, and a load of twists to contend with. However, the three games are drastically different in tone. The levity and general dumb nature you would expect from Ace Attorney is still here, but it’s just a shade darker, stoic, or mysterious than before. Another thing to note is they really go off the deep end in these three games with the weirdness of the witnesses, and it’s marvellous.
If you’ve ever played an Ace Attorney game before, then you’ll know the drill with this latest collection. You’ll get a client in dire straights, gather your evidence, then defend them in court. Largely though, your time will be divided between investigations and courtroom sequences. In the former, you’ll wander between areas and either examining the environment or chatting with characters to find evidence. In the latter, you will be hearing the testimony of witnesses and presenting evidence to expose inconsistencies and find the truth.
The key difference between the games is in the new mechanic introduced in each one. Apollo Justice allows you to Perceive the nervous ticks of witnesses to expose lies. Dual Destinies introduces the Mood Matrix, where Athena can hear the emotions of witnesses to discover inconsistent emotions to what the witness is describing. Finally, Spirit of Justice, brings Seances allowing you to see the last moments of the victim to uncover new details.
Which of these you prefer is down to you – mine is the Mood Matrix – but a problem with this trilogy which wasn’t the case with the previous one is that these mechanics don’t really get to be explored fully. The Magatama had a couple of games to settle in, but the Seances only appearing in one game didn’t allow them to be refined. Although, I did enjoy previous game mechanics returning in later games, like the Magatama in Dual Destinies for example.
There’s other little refinements in the gameplay for Apollo Justice Trilogy. For instance, when I got to Dual Destinies, I realised that the painful navigation of the first game in this collection and the original Phoenix Wright Trilogy is all but gone and replaced with a list of locations. So, no more having to remember which set of locations you have to go through to reach the specific one you want – thank the Judge! Also, the Trilogy allows you to choose not only the game you want, but which chapter of each game – farewell, Turnabout Serenade.
Other little features completing the release are a museum that contains cutscenes, key art, concept art, and music from the three games. You can also create little dioramas of the characters, messing with poses and expressions in a fun little photo mode. It’s all additional fluff compared to the meat of the main attractions, but for someone like me (who loves concept art and music), it’s an excellent addition to an already solid overall package.
Visually, the largest improvements are in Apollo Justice, which is not only the oldest title, but also the only one of this trilogy that was on the DS. The sprites of the main characters and witnesses look incredible, with only certain background assets like unnamed guards looking rough. Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice were on the 3DS using 3D models and so haven’t had the same jump in fidelity outside of sheer resolution, but still look excellent with the cutscenes being a particular highlight – a claim that can’t be made about Apollo Justice because those cutscenes are not the best.
I probably don’t need to say much because it’s a very known quantity at this point, but the music and sound design throughout is just incredible. The music is a solid step up in quality from the Phoenix Wright Trilogy – which wasn’t even bad to begin with – due to the step up in original technology, and the classic sound effects are still here in force from the sound of the text creeping along the screen to the beep of selecting an item of evidence.
The biggest, and only real, problem with this collection is the lack of the consistency across the games. With the original releases being spread across two gaming consoles and introducing different gameplay concepts each time, this collection doesn’t feel as cohesive as the Phoenix Wright Trilogy or the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Each individual game is still good-to-excellent in its own right, but just don’t gel together very well. This didn’t diminish my overall enjoyment, but it’s important to highlight.
