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Ace Attorney, known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban (逆転裁判, Gyakuten Saiban? lit. "Turnabout Trial"), is a series of adventure/visual novel games in which players assume the role of a defense attorney in a fictional courtroom setting which is based on the Japanese legal system to strive to find their clients "not guilty", using investigation, evidence, and cross-examination to prove their case. The first three games in the series, originally released only in Japan and in Japanese between 2001 and 2004 for the Game Boy Advance platform, have been ported to the Nintendo DS as well as localized into English and other languages. The series has been developed for the DS from the ground up starting in the fourth game. The DS remakes and games in the series take advantage of the DS' features, including the microphone and touchscreen.
The first three games feature and are sometimes referred to by the eponymous main protagonist, Phoenix Wright. The fourth game, set some years after the previous ones, introduces a new protagonist, Apollo Justice, who takes over for Phoenix.
The first three games feature and are sometimes referred to by the eponymous main protagonist, Phoenix Wright. The fourth game, set some years after the previous ones, introduces a new protagonist, Apollo Justice, who takes over for Phoenix.
Setting
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The game takes place in an urban city set in 2016 and later; for the Japanese versions, this city is somewhere in Japan, while the English localization places the games in Los Angeles, California.[1] Localization differences will sometimes reflect the differences between these societies, for example the side of a car the driver's wheel is on. Additionally, the names of the major characters have been adapted for localization; for example, the main character of "Ryuichi Naruhodo", whose last name is a pun on the Japanese phrase for "I see", has been renamed in the Western versions as "Phoenix Wright", referencing the phoenix that rises from its own ashes, and a pun on the word "right".[1]
The fictional future justice system is such that when a person is accused of a crime, they are immediately given a bench trial presided by a judge, a prosecuting attorney from the state, and a defense attorney that must completely prove the accused innocent of the crime. Trials last 3 days at most, due to the large number of cases that the courts must deal with; if the accused cannot be found innocent after this time, their case is consigned to a higher court. The majority of the work during a trial is on the shoulders of the defense attorney who must cross-examine the witnesses brought forth by the prosecution to find contradictions in testimony to clear their client. By the time frame of the fourth game, an option for a jury trial has also been established.
The fictional future justice system is such that when a person is accused of a crime, they are immediately given a bench trial presided by a judge, a prosecuting attorney from the state, and a defense attorney that must completely prove the accused innocent of the crime. Trials last 3 days at most, due to the large number of cases that the courts must deal with; if the accused cannot be found innocent after this time, their case is consigned to a higher court. The majority of the work during a trial is on the shoulders of the defense attorney who must cross-examine the witnesses brought forth by the prosecution to find contradictions in testimony to clear their client. By the time frame of the fourth game, an option for a jury trial has also been established.
Characters
~Phoenix Wright Arc~
Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney, Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations)- The protagonist of the first three games. At the start of the first game, he has recently aquired his attorney badge. He's been defended by and worked for Mia Fey at her law office. He took over the office and renamed it Wright and Co. after an incident in the first game. He's known for his wild guesses of the real truth in the courtroom, and being able to turn things in his favor.
Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney, Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations) - Phoenix's rival in the courtroom. As a child, he aspired to become a defense attorney, but for certain reasons, he became a prosecutor. Through his mentor, Manfred von Karma, he learns to use dirty tricks to turn things in his favor. He's known as the "genius" prosecutor who always gets a guilty verdict.
Manfred von Karma (Ace Attorney) - Edgeworth's mentor and a prosecutor. He's more ruthless and meticulous than Edgeworth, and has always gotten a guilty sentance out of the court.
Franziska von Karma (Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations) - The daughter of Manfred von Karma. She became a prosecutor at the age of 13 and hasn't lost a case since. She uses a whip very frequenty during a trial to punish Wright, the witness, and even the Judge.
Winston Payne (Ace Attorney, Justice for All, Trials and Tribulations) - A prosecutor known as the "Rookie Killer". He serves as the first prosecutor in the first case in all four games.
Mia Fey (Ace Attorney, Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations) - Coming from a family of mediums, she chose the path of a defense lawyer instead. She's Phoenix's mentor and can help him out in a tough spot.
Maya Fey (Ace Attorney, Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations) - Mia's younger sister and medium-in-training. She's currently the Master of her small village, Kurain. After an incident in case two of the first game, she stayed on as Phoenix's assistant.
Pearl Fey (Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations) - Mia and Maya's young cousin. She is very innocent and knows nothing of the world outside of Kurain village. Pearl is very smart and sometimes can figure things out ahead of Phoenix. She's also a very gifted medium; moreso than Maya.
Godot (Trials and Tribulations) - A prosecutor that suddenly shows up at the Prosecutor's office. He's a new prosecutor, but seems to have more experiance than he lets on. Godot regularly drinks seventeen cups of coffee during a trial.
d**k Gumshoe (Ace Attorney, Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations)- A police detective from the homicide division, who is often the head of the cases. He provides key evidence and info both during investigations and on the stand.
The Judge (Ace Attorney, Justice For All, Trials and Tribulations) - The presiding judge for most of the series, he's easily swayed by the witness and evidence. However, he always makes the right judgement in the end.
~Apollo Justice Arc~
Apollo Justice - A rookie defense attorney, and the main character. He gets his start defending Phoenix Wright in court, aided by his mentor, defense attorney Kristoph Gavin. He wears a braclet that helps him notice the witnesses subtle changes in movement and see through their lies.
Kristoph Gavin - A defense attorney, and mentor to Apollo Justice. He's also friend with Phoenix Wright, and is Prosecutor Klavier's older brother. Kristoph is very level-headed and polite, and a little poetic at times.
Klavier Gavin - The main prosecutor in Apollo Justice. He's also the lead singer and guitarist for the rock band, "The Gavinners". Klavier became a prosecutor at 17, and unlike past prosecutors, is very honest, friendly, and cares about getting the right person a guilty verdict, even if it means losing a case.
Trucy Wright - Apollo's assistant and Phoenix's adopted daughter. She's a magician who shares the same abilty with Apollo to notice people's subtle movements.
Ema Skye - A detective in the Criminal Affairs department. She recently came back from studying forensics abroad in Europe. Ema is pretty unenthusiastic about her job, but gets excited about "scientific investigations". She knows Phoenix through a court case nine years ago.
Phoenix Wright - The former protagonist of the series. Nowadays he plays piano and poker in a Russian restaurant called the Borscht Bowl Club. He's gone undefeated for seven years. Even thought Phoenix is no longer a lawyer, he's as brilliant as ever and helps Apollo out in tough spots.
~Gyakuten Kenji Arc~
Miles Edgeworth - A genius prosecutor who hates crime with an almost abnormal passion. He used to be a ruthless prosecutor who would do anything to get a guilty verdict, but now he's focused on finding the truth.
d**k Gumshoe - A detective in charge of investigation at the police department. He believes in Edgeworth's abilities from the bottom of his heart and has a strong bond of trust with him.
Mystery Girl -Not much is known about her at this point, other than the fact that she's 17 years old. You can see a full-body picture of her here.
Returning Characters - Wendy Oldbag, Cody Hackins, Will Powers, the Bellboy, Adrian Andrews, Franziska von Karma, and a young Ema Skye. Possibly more to come.
Gameplay
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The games in the Ace Attorney series are primarily point-and-click adventure games, though they require the player to collect evidence and to present it to the witnesses when they are in court. The game is presented primarily using animated two-dimensional manga-like sprites, with text dialog, sound effects, and minimal spoken clips to simulate speech.
There are two phases to each case, Investigation, and Courtroom sessions. Investigation includes the ability to visit several key locations in the case and talk to people involved with it in search for evidence; the second game also introduced the "Psyche-Lock", a system through which the defending attorney can break mental barriers to learn the truth from uncooperative witnessess during investigation. Players can present both evidence and, from the second game onwards, profiles of people involved with the case. In the fourth game, the Psyche-Lock system is replaced by the "Minuku" system, in which the player have to distinguish truth from lies in people's statements by deciphering their body language.
Courtroom sessions are generally made up of testimonies consisting of statements by witnesses. The player may cross-examine the witness to locate a contradiction by showing a piece of evidence that relates to what the witness has testified. The player may also "Press" the witness, asking the witness to clarify a statement. Sometimes, pressing and presenting evidence will lead to additional statements added to the testimony. Presenting evidence successfully may also lead to new lines of testimony altogether and it is almost always the only way to proceed in the game.
Presenting evidence is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger, as in the game's logo, and shouting "Objection!" ("Igiari!" in the Japanese version), accompanied by a word bubble of the same word, both which have become iconic representation of the series. If the player presents the wrong evidence, attempts to present at the wrong time, or fails other parts of in-court questioning, they lose some measure of acceptance by the judge, and if the player is wrong too may times, the case will be declared over with a guilty charge for the accused, and the player will have to restart from his/her last save point or the beginning of the court session.
In the second and third game, the player also has the ability to see when someone's hiding something. If one asks a question out of court and the interviewee lies or doesn't want to answer, so-called Psyche-Locks will appear. By presenting the Magatama, a sacred object given to Phoenix by Maya, one can slowly break the interviewees down by presenting evidence to them, eventually breaking all Psyche-Locks and forcing them to answer appropriately.
In the DS remakes, the game utilizes the touchscreen in addition to the normal controls, and also the microphone, allowing the player to shout "Objection!", "Hold It!" or "Take That!" at the appropriate times, though they can also select these options via more common entry methods. The remake of the first game for the DS included a brand new fifth case created specifically for the remake, with additional aspects of gameplay that fully used the DS special features; for example, one could dust for fingerprints by tapping the screen to apply fingerprinting powder, then blowing at the DS microphone gently to blow them away, or by using the 3D capabilities of the DS to render the collected evidence, with the ability of the player to find additional evidence by this means. The fourth game of the series, which is the first game developed completely for the DS without a prior GBA release, also includes a number of these elements.
Each game is made up of 4 or 5 cases with the games and the cases have some interconnectivity, reoccurring minor characters or similar crime elements.
There are two phases to each case, Investigation, and Courtroom sessions. Investigation includes the ability to visit several key locations in the case and talk to people involved with it in search for evidence; the second game also introduced the "Psyche-Lock", a system through which the defending attorney can break mental barriers to learn the truth from uncooperative witnessess during investigation. Players can present both evidence and, from the second game onwards, profiles of people involved with the case. In the fourth game, the Psyche-Lock system is replaced by the "Minuku" system, in which the player have to distinguish truth from lies in people's statements by deciphering their body language.
Courtroom sessions are generally made up of testimonies consisting of statements by witnesses. The player may cross-examine the witness to locate a contradiction by showing a piece of evidence that relates to what the witness has testified. The player may also "Press" the witness, asking the witness to clarify a statement. Sometimes, pressing and presenting evidence will lead to additional statements added to the testimony. Presenting evidence successfully may also lead to new lines of testimony altogether and it is almost always the only way to proceed in the game.
Presenting evidence is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger, as in the game's logo, and shouting "Objection!" ("Igiari!" in the Japanese version), accompanied by a word bubble of the same word, both which have become iconic representation of the series. If the player presents the wrong evidence, attempts to present at the wrong time, or fails other parts of in-court questioning, they lose some measure of acceptance by the judge, and if the player is wrong too may times, the case will be declared over with a guilty charge for the accused, and the player will have to restart from his/her last save point or the beginning of the court session.
In the second and third game, the player also has the ability to see when someone's hiding something. If one asks a question out of court and the interviewee lies or doesn't want to answer, so-called Psyche-Locks will appear. By presenting the Magatama, a sacred object given to Phoenix by Maya, one can slowly break the interviewees down by presenting evidence to them, eventually breaking all Psyche-Locks and forcing them to answer appropriately.
In the DS remakes, the game utilizes the touchscreen in addition to the normal controls, and also the microphone, allowing the player to shout "Objection!", "Hold It!" or "Take That!" at the appropriate times, though they can also select these options via more common entry methods. The remake of the first game for the DS included a brand new fifth case created specifically for the remake, with additional aspects of gameplay that fully used the DS special features; for example, one could dust for fingerprints by tapping the screen to apply fingerprinting powder, then blowing at the DS microphone gently to blow them away, or by using the 3D capabilities of the DS to render the collected evidence, with the ability of the player to find additional evidence by this means. The fourth game of the series, which is the first game developed completely for the DS without a prior GBA release, also includes a number of these elements.
Each game is made up of 4 or 5 cases with the games and the cases have some interconnectivity, reoccurring minor characters or similar crime elements.
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I'd heard about this game when it first came out, but didn't buy it until several days ago. I'm still working through the second game, and have yet to play the third one. I'm so getting Apollo Justice when it is relased in the US. These games are addicting and once you play it, you just can't stop. (Literally. The second case in "Justice For All" kept me stumped. I couldn't sleep at night, and when I did, I dreamt about it. Argh. Dx)
