After almost 12 years since the release of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, the defence attorney saga continues on with rookie attorney Apollo Justice, in the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy.

In this trilogy, which features Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, we will once again return to court for a new lineup of cases, as well as a new set of characters and even some returning faces.

Considering that the original trilogy were previously only available on Nintendo consoles and mobile, it’s certainly a treat for new players who want to get into the series more even since the Phoenix Wright trilogy landed on PC, or even veteran players who wish to relive the story with various quality of life features.

Legal Journey Begins Anew

Taking place seven years after the first trilogy, we are introduced to a new protagonist in Apollo Justice, who takes the case of a great lawyer who was involved in a murder case. However, it’s mainly in the first game in the trilogy that Apollo is put in the spotlight, before switching back to Phoenix Wright. Apollo is still in the story, along with other important characters – Athena Cykes, Trucy Wright, and Maya Fey.

In addition, there are two special episodes that were previously released as DLC. While these additions were received with open arms, we were slightly disappointed that there was another DLC that wasn’t included in this trilogy, being the Turnabout Quiz, which required players to have a deep understanding of Japanese culture.

Granted, it makes sense to have this DLC be exclusive to Japan until now considering its content, but it’s still a bit disappointing for the Ace Attorney fans who wanted to experience it.

It’s All Wright

The storytelling is what you’d expect from a Phoenix Wright game, being a visual novel and has you reading a lot to recognise evidence and easily cross-examine each case. That being said, it does take quite a hefty amount of time to go through each episode in the trilogy.

The game will have you move around to various locations to collect evidence, and also constantly press on to get additional information during cross-examinations. Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice adds on a new mechanic in the form of now being able to identify the defendant’s and witness’ emotions, which doesn’t necessarily make a difference to the difficulty of the game, but rather some extra flavour text for players to enjoy.

The addition of the “History” mechanic is extremely helpful as it allows players to re-read past dialogues that we may have accidentally skipped over without any problems.

For players who may have played through the game before and would want to revisit their favourite scenes in the game but don’t want to go through the hassle of playing through the entirety of the story from the start will be in for a pleasant surprise; as players can now freely choose the episodes they want to play, and can even opt to jump straight into the court and defend your client, making this a feature that longtime fans will surely love.

If you’re someone who just wants to enjoy the story without wanting to worry about the clue gathering segments, you can simply just turn on the “Story Mode” feature, where the game automatically answers all the questions and solves the puzzles for you, so you can just sit back and relax as you see the story unfold in front of you.

Visually Appealing

Given that this Trilogy acts as a remaster of the original titles, it’s no surprise that the graphics have also been updated to look more high definition. The character sprites look sharper and higher quality, which looks better compared to the originals.

Not just that, but the 2D backgrounds also got a good visual overhaul, making the sprites stand out even more. Switching to 3D graphics in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, the 3D models of the characters, as well as the environments also look better than before, allowing for a more pleasant viewing experience overall.

Considering that the game is not graphically intensive for you to tweak the game to the highest settings, you’ll be able to enjoy the game with the best graphic options without a hitch.

Bonus Content

The bonus content available in this trilogy is incorporated under the Museum, which brings in some a handful of appealing content for players to enjoy. In most cases, content like this would normally be locked behind the player’s progress, but not for this game. However, there’s a lot of big spoilers in there, so it’s best not to thread too deep into the Museum if it’s your first time playing through the trilogy.

The Ace Attorney series has arguably one of the best soundtracks out there, and for the OST enjoyers out there, you’ll definitely appreciate the music player that’s available through the Orchestra Hall. There are more than 175 tracks available, including performances from live concerts, as well as two brand new tracks that are unique to this new collection. Just like any other music player, you can also create your own playlist and enjoy your curated list of tracks all the time.

Additionally, there’s also an Art Library that features various artworks, character designs, background designs and key visuals for each game, making it a treasure trove of content for hardcore fans of the series to fully enjoy.

For those who love creating Ace Attorney content, then you’ll certainly find the Animation Studio to be right up your alley. With this, you can freely create compositions with dialogue from the characters in the game. Not only that, you can also change backgrounds, character poses, and much more, so you’ll be able to set up that perfect dream scenario with your favourite character.

Verdict

As someone who has previously played the Phoenix Wright trilogy, the presence of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy was something that is indeed long awaited.

This trilogy acts as a pretty complete collection that comes packaged with various additional content and improvements to the graphics, as well as quality-of-life features that makes for an even more enjoyable playing experience. It certainly makes it easier for both new and old players to enjoy the case rather than relying on save states like before.

For those who were still on the fence about getting the Trilogy, you’ll certainly won’t regret getting it.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy was reviewed on PC via Steam.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Release Date: 2024-01-25

Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One

Join rookie attorney Apollo Justice and his mentor, the legendary Phoenix Wright, in this collection of 3 games! This title features 16 episodes (including previously DLC-only episodes) and supports English, French, German, Japanese Korean, and Traditional and Simplified Chinese.