One of the weaker Ace Attorney entries, but entertaining nonetheless.
I've been a fan of the Ace Attorney series ever since the first one was released on the DS way back in 2005. The games in the series have been consistently funny and interesting (although Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney was, in my opinion, the low point of the series), and I've always looked forward to each new game in the series. Having said that, while Spirit of Justice was fun, and I'd recommend it to hardcore fans, it seems almost paint-by-numbers, despite some alterations to the formula. If you haven't already played the first three games in the series, go do so - the trilogy is available in the 3DS eShop, and they'll all better than this one.
The premise behind Spirit of Justice is that defense attorney Phoenix Wright has traveled to a foreign country, where he soon gets wrapped up in courtroom drama, as is par for the series. The main difference here is the country has a law called the Defense Culpability Act, where anyone who defends a client who winds up receiving a guilty verdict is then sentenced to the same punishment as the accused (i. e. death). Personally, I find it a clumsy way to raise the stakes, mostly because it doesn't change the gameplay one bit. In every game in the series, failing to prove your client innocent results in a game over, and you have to reload your last save, and it's no different here. It's the same kind of logic that The Purge follows - needlessly violent and drama for drama's sake. That said, at least the game does address the ramifications following such a law, but I felt it eats up way too much time in an already bloated story.
The other major change in this game is a much more interesting one: the country's priestess has the ability to view the last moments of someone's life. Since memories don't lie, it's Phoenix's job to correctly interpret these final moments so his clients are found innocent. It's a neat little twist on the formula that's quite appreciated.
However, when it comes down to it, the main problem with Spirit of Justice just comes down to the writing. While these are detective games where the player's job is to put together the puzzle piece by piece, a good chunk of the game is spent looking at crime scenes and talking to witnesses. There's very little player interaction here; tapping on a part of the crime scene in order to get a description is no more involving than turning a page in the book. Investigations were always the more "boring" part of Ace Attorney games, but they drag on forever in Spirit of Justice. My final playthrough clocked in at seven hours longer than the last game, Dual Destinies, and that would be even longer if I hadn't bought the DLC chapter. There were many parts where I was practically begging the game to let me in the courtroom, simply because I was so tired of being dragged from location to location when I had already figured out a good chunk of the puzzle and was itching to test my knowledge in court.
The other main problem in SoJ is that the characters just weren't that likable. Ace Attorney games tend to be defined by their prosecutors, who are generally complex characters that work as great antagonists to Phoenix Wright, not because they're evil, but because they have great reasons to behave the way they do. In the first game, we see Miles Edgeworth progress from someone bent on winning every case to understanding the importance of seeking the truth. Franziska von Karma, in the second game, has a grudge against Phoenix and wishes to embarrass him in court. But in Spirit of Justice, we get Nayuta, whose last name is so long I'm not even going to bother to look it up. He's a monk, who supposedly is so tied to the spirits that he can guide trials as he sees fit. Except, it's all crap, and the player knows it. Nayuta is needlessly antagonistic, wishing for Phoenix and his friends to lose, despite knowing that they will be executed due to the DCA. The final case in the game makes him a little more interesting, but ultimately I feel he is one of the weaker prosecutors in the series.
Aside from Nayuta, the other characters aren't up to snuff. The priestess who shows the memories of the dead is a whiny brat, whose "I'm better than you" act gets old really fast. Even more disappointing is that in two of the cases, the defendant is one of the main characters, which removes all doubt of their guilt, really shattering my suspension of disbelief. At least let me pretend the defendant might be guilty! Even worse, the true killer in each case are incredibly obvious (aside from one curveball that even in hindsight doesn't make much sense).
However, I will say that the final case of the game blows the rest out of the water, which is common for the Ace Attorney games, but so much of the game drags that it's difficult for me to recommend it for someone who's isn't already a fan of the series. Play the original trilogy first, play Dual Destinies, play that crossover with Professor Layton, and only get Spirit of Justice if you're still itching for more. Or hell, go play Danganronpa or something.
