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    Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

    Game » consists of 4 releases. Released Jun 09, 2016

    The sixth mainline entry in the Ace Attorney series released worldwide for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016.

    Thoughts on Spirit of Justice

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    Bowl-of-Lentils

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    Edited By Bowl-of-Lentils

    Before I share my thoughts on Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice, I think it is important to explain my history with this goofy courtroom drama that has been going on for more than a decade now.

    History With Ace Attorney

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    I've been playing the Ace Attorney series almost since it first became a thing in the West, playing the original game in 2006 on the old fat Nintendo DS. I love the series. I love the series for all the reasons everyone loves Phoenix Wright: great characters, screaming objection into the microphone, getting testimony from a patriot, all that great Ace Attorney stuff. When I was a little kid I really enjoyed adventure games like Day of the Tentacle and Phoenix Wright felt like a grand return to that genre after it had disappeared on most modern platforms at the time. Since then I've finished every officially released Ace Attorney game, including all the spin-offs and I even played a bit of Investigations 2. Since everyone has different opinions on which games are their favorites, here is my ranking of the series so you can know where I stand:

    1. Trials and Tribulations
    2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
    3. Justice for All
    4. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright
    5. Apollo Justice
    6. Dual Destinies
    7. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

    Now if I could put this list on a physical plane, the original trilogy would be far above the other entries in the series by a large margin. Although I just said I loved the Ace Attorney series I honestly feel that the rest of the franchise hasn't even gotten close to capturing the brilliance of the first three games. A lot of this has to do with Shu Takumi, the writer, designer and director of the original games, leaving the franchise after Trials and Tribulations and the sort of confused direction the franchise took thereafter. After Apollo Justice the franchise has been in the hands of Takeshi Yamazaki, who has written and/or directed all the Investigation games and the newest mainline titles on the 3DS. A lot of these, Investigations 1 and Dual Destinies in particular, have gimmicky gameplay systems that are usually just reskins of older mechanics, monotonous characters that love to harp on their one or two character traits or phrases, incredibly bad pacing with courtroom sections that last too long, dead simple mysteries that treat the player like they are an idiot, and an overreliance on bringing back old characters even when they play no actual role in the story.

    However, while Investigations 1 is irredeemable in my eyes, titles like Dual Destinies certainly have their good moments, I really enjoyed some of the new characters as well as the final twist, and Investigations 2 seems like a big improvement over the first from what I've played. So Takeshi Yamazaki's take on the Ace Attorney series is not completely horrible but the mediocrity of these titles really put a damper on my enthusiasm for the Ace Attorney series and I had very little interest in playing more of the franchise after Dual Destinies, unless Shu Takumi was involved.

    Which brings me to the newest entry by Takeshi Yamazaki, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice. I was not expecting much form this game but with Takuro Fuse, the current character designer for Ace Attorney, Co-Directing with Yamazaki I had a small hope that the game might turn out better than the recent titles, since Fuse seems to really understand the spirit of the franchise, but I wasn't holding my breath.

    Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised.

    Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice may be the most solid entry in the Ace Attorney franchise in a long time. While it is still far from competing with the original trilogy, Spirit of Justice manages to finally find a good stride after the franchise has stumbled and tripped over itself for the past decade.

    Capturing the Spirit

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    One of my biggest complaints with the previous 3DS title, Dual Destinies, was that the cast had far too many "main characters" fighting for the spotlight. The story's focus was obviously centered on Athena but she had to share the leading role with Apollo from the previous game and of course big papa Phoenix would overshadow both of them whenever he appeared. Spirit of Justice fixes this problem by separating the cast into groups: Phoenix is working abroad by himself, where he can't steal anyone's thunder, while Apollo and Athena stay behind in the States, who work well as a pair since they are both fairly inexperienced. Not only does this allow the characters more room to breathe on their own but it also adds a sense of tension to the narrative.

    Phoenix Wright: Time Lord
    Phoenix Wright: Time Lord

    Phoenix is a stranger in the strange land of Khura'in, where his years of law experience don't apply to this unfamiliar court system. Not only that but the environment is openly hostile, with the country's people being actively against lawyers and a law that sentences the accused to death along with his defender if found guilty. This sense of tension also extends to Apollo and Athena, who have to run their law office without the guidance of their mentor. The characters really feel like they are thinking on their feet in Spirit of Justice and it gives the episodes a sense of energy and consequence that has been missing is recent installments. This energy is also represented in the game's pacing, which is much faster this time around.

    Investigations really do add a lot to the game's overall experience
    Investigations really do add a lot to the game's overall experience

    Dual Destinies had very long drawn out courtroom sections that always felt like they should have ended 3 or 4 testimonies before they do. Spirit of Justice is much faster paced, keeping the story moving at a decent clip with new reveals and twists happening at a steady rate. Courtroom sections seldom last more than a single day but the episodes don't feel shorter thanks to the return of more detailed investigation segments. For whatever reason investigations where shortened down to just examining the murder scenes in Dual Destinies, instead of every area, but Spirit of Justice brings back the fully featured investigations of old. These give a nice respite between the chaotic courtroom sections as well as allowing characters more opportunities to develop and have comedic banter. The game does occasionally move a bit too quickly, with characters coming to conclusions very suddenly or certain reveals not having enough time to sink in, but I still thought it was much preferable to Dual Destinies' elongated cases. Another improvement in Spirit of Justice, that may not be as immediately noticeable, is that the visuals are greatly improved from the previous entry.

    Dual Destinies was a beautiful game, one of the best looking 3DS games when it first came out 3 years ago, but when you see all the small changes SoJ does to character models, colors, and animations, it's hard to go back.

    Dual DestiniesSpirit of Justice
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    One of several one-time animations
    One of several one-time animations

    Not only are the visuals more polished but even the franchise's trademark "character transformations" are very cleverly done and even managed to surprise a veteran of the series like myself. There are also a lot more unique animations that are only shown once such as in the second episode when a character's testimony includes them doing a stage performance in the courtroom that is all fully animated in-engine. You can tell that the series' artist, Takuro Fuse, Co-Directed this title because of just the shear verity of visuals and how well they are integrated into every aspect of the game. However Fuse was not the only man putting his all into Spirit of Justice, you can also feel Yamazaki being a lot more thoughtful with the game's writing.

    Rayfa goes through a lot in SoJ
    Rayfa goes through a lot in SoJ

    While Spirit of Justice certainly has a lot of returning characters, the biggest of which is Maya, it puts the focus much more on the new characters from the Kingdom of Khura'in. Because these new characters are not bound by the previous history of the franchise they have the ability to change a lot more than the main cast. Princess Rayfa especially develops and grows a lot as a character. Rayfa doesn't just suddenly change in the final chapter either, she develops bit by bit in each episode which makes the drama in the game's climax that much more satisfying. Not only are the new characters well done but I felt that Phoenix and the gang were written much more consistently as well. Dual Destinies had a strange problem where the main cast, especially Phoenix and Apollo, would act like stoic professionals when the player wasn't controlling them but then they would transform into inexperienced goofs when they were the lead for the episode. Thankfully the cast in SoJ act in-character at all times, making cases like the one where Apollo and Phoenix face-off against each other a lot more entertaining than they would have been. Maya's characterization was also pretty spot on and Ema Skye is finally back to her old science-loving self instead of the grump she was in Apollo Justice. There are also lots of fun twists throughout the whole game, instead of just in the final case like in Dual Destinies, and there is great use of foreshadowing that really makes every reveal meaningful.

    All in all I would say that Spirit of Justice is a big improvement over recent entries in the series and gives a little bit of something for every type of Ace Attorney fan. However that doesn't mean the title is without flaws.

    Losing Faith

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    While Spirit of Justice is a very solid entry in the Ace Attorney series, it still suffers from many of the problems that have plagued the franchise in recent installments.

    This line gave me a good chuckle
    This line gave me a good chuckle

    To begin with a few small complaints, the soundtrack for Spirit of Justice is rather weak. The score is effective and adds the proper amount of gravitas to important scenes but it lacks the memorials tunes of the older titles. None of the new songs are particularly memorable and even the arrangements of returning themes sound like uninspired midi remixes that lack the catchiness of the original chiptunes. Maybe it is just because the last Ace Attorney soundtrack I heard was Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, which had a beautiful score, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed by Spirit of Justice's less-than-stellar soundtrack. Also the Divination Séance mechanic is interesting on a visual level but is annoying to use. There are just so many things to examine that it is overwhelming at first but eventually boils down to just clicking on one of two things over and over again, making it feel too simple. However, the game's greatest flaw is a much more complicated problem that has to do with the franchise's long history.

    Athena's episode was short but still decent
    Athena's episode was short but still decent

    The Ace Attorney franchise is sort of being crushed under the weight of its own legacy. The series currently has three main characters, several "assistant" characters, and a whole bullpen full of prosecutors among other side-characters that keep reappearing in each game. Some fans love having all these reoccurring characters, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited when I heard Maya was returning for this title, but there are just too many characters and plotlines going on for everything to get the proper amount of attention. I think Spirit of Justice deals with this problem pretty well by separating the cast into groups, as I mentioned before, but it still doesn't allow for everyone to get their time to shine. Athena is sort of pushed to the sidelines in this entry with her only getting one short episode where she is the lead, which I still enjoyed, and she is pretty much forgotten in the game's final case in favor of focusing on Apollo. Even Maya, for all the hype about her return, never even gets to do a case with Phoenix in the main game and is pretty much just a side character that does a couple of testimonies (gotta get the DLC if you want to actually have a proper episode with her).

    Also the franchise is STILL not addressing any of the developments from Apollo Justice. What the heck is going on with Apollo's mother and his relationship with Trucy? How come everyone seems to have forgotten that they created a jury system at the end of that game? There are some interesting developments in terms of learning about Apollo's past in SoJ, and I think it is handled a lot better than the sudden reveal of Apollo's best friend in Dual Destinies, but it has been almost a decade since Apollo Justice came out and none of the cliffhangers from that title have been addressed. There are hints during the ending credits that these plot points could be the focus of the next installment but it just feels like someone rubbing salt in the wound of all the fans that have waited so long for a resolution to Apollo Justice.

    Ema munching out of frustration due to the lack of a Dai Gyakuten Saiban localization
    Ema munching out of frustration due to the lack of a Dai Gyakuten Saiban localization

    Ace Attorney is beginning to feel like a long running mystery novel series or a movie that has had one too many sequels. These characters somehow keep getting into progressively unbelievable situations and the franchise's history and lore is beginning to be more of a burden than anything else. More characters and plotlines keep being added but it really feels like the series just needs a reset. Maybe have a game with a totally new cast in a new setting, something different like Meiji-Era Japan or a steampunk London. Maybe even Sherlock Holmes could show up. That would be cool...

    Conclusion

    Anyway, despite some of my troubles with Spirit of Justice, and the direction of the franchise in general, I think the game is a very solid entry in the series. While it still doesn't quite capture the magic of the original trilogy, it feels like the series is finally beginning to find its own path. It seems that Takeshi Yamazaki and the rest of the team at Capcom are learning from their mistakes and making positive changes. All the new gameplay systems are still gimmicky but at least the writing and pacing seems to have finally found its footing. If nothing else I am actually excited to see what an Ace Attorney 7 would be like, which is something I haven't felt in a long time.

    As a side note, going back to my ranking of the series, I think I would put Spirit of Justice above Dual Destinies and maybe even above Apollo Justice, but that placement changes depending on how I'm feeling.

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    ArbitraryWater

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    The Ace Attorney franchise is sort of being crushed under the weight of its own legacy. The series currently has three main characters, several "assistant" characters, and a whole bullpen full of prosecutors among other side-characters that keep reappearing in each game.

    I definitely felt that problem acutely with Spirit of Justice. Athena barely does anything in this one, and her individual case is the worst one in the entire game. While I, like you, have been in the series for the long haul and get all of the callbacks and cameos, I have zero idea how much anyone who picked this game up without touching any of the other ones would fare. I get the impression that the ending of Spirit of Justice is an active attempt to either shove Apollo into the sidelines (and thus give him his own spotlight and set of problems) or put him away entirely... which to be totally honest, I'm not going to complain about either. The spinoffs avoid this problem to an extent, though the only great one of those is Ace Attorney Investigations 2... and I'm not really sure how much of that is just the amazing fan translation.

    I haven't gotten around to finishing the DLC case, so I'm not really sure where I'd rank this game among the others, but I really didn't like the Khura'in setting. Something about the ridiculously over-the-top nature of an entire country based around hating lawyers was a little much for me, even if it made for an appropriately bonkers final case. And then there's Sadmadhi, who I actively dislike as a prosecutor... but yeah. Good blog.

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    LiquidPrince

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    Great read. But my question is do Duel Destinies and Spirit of Justice not have physical NA releases? I can't find them anywhere online. If not, then super bummer, because I will never purchase a digital game from Nintendo.

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    alistercat

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    @liquidprince: No physical western releases for either games. I wouldn't expect any in the future.

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    Bowl-of-Lentils

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    #4  Edited By Bowl-of-Lentils
    @arbitrarywater said:

    I haven't gotten around to finishing the DLC case, so I'm not really sure where I'd rank this game among the others, but I really didn't like the Khura'in setting. Something about the ridiculously over-the-top nature of an entire country based around hating lawyers was a little much for me, even if it made for an appropriately bonkers final case. And then there's Sadmadhi, who I actively dislike as a prosecutor... but yeah. Good blog.

    Thank you for reading :)

    I didn't really talk about Sadmadhi at all but I agree that he is certainly one of the weaker prosecutors in the series, I even liked Blackquill more than him, but I didn't think he was actively horrible and he served his purpose in the story. I kind of enjoyed the Khura'in setting, mainly for the colorful visuals, and I did think the whole "a country that hates lawyers" thing was a bit over the top at first but I was able to accept it after they explained the history behind it. Also I'm in the middle of playing the DLC episode right now and I'm enjoying the "back to basics" feel of it, since right off the bat they push aside all of the supporting cast just to focus on Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, and Butz.

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    Miyoron

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    I'm not quite done with the game yet since I soon will be in a Pokemon hole, I'm saving case 5 for later. This was a fun read and I feel like I'd agree with you on pretty much all points here. I felt Dual Destinies had just too many characters you lawyered with and it made me not really like Athena that much since it felt like "man I just wanna play Phoenix after like 5 years without him". I came around on her a lot more on this game though because she did get to spread out her wings more with Phoenix busy elsewhere.

    Something I kind of wish they wouldn't have is the random voice clips from the crowd because they made me cringe each time they popped up haha.

    Good read good read~

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    Bowl-of-Lentils

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    #6  Edited By Bowl-of-Lentils

    @miyoron: Thank you, I am very happy that you enjoyed the blog :)

    I also agree that the crowd voices were pretty cringe inducing, mainly for the stilted pronunciation of the Khura'inese. The voice acting in Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice was done by Cup of Tea Productions and I think both games have fairly poor voice acting overall. I like some of the voices, Apollo is fine and Matt Mercer as Sadmadhi is good, but I never liked Phoenix's voice or the breathy anime monotone most of the characters have. Thought the voice acting was much better in Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, that game has my favorite Phoenix and Maya voices and the Judge in that game just sounds awesome.

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    alistercat

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    @lentfilms: They ruined my impression of Klavier. In my head he has a german accent but in the game they gave him a generic american anime voice.

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    Miyoron

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    @lentfilms: Yea I agree on some of the character voices being pretty cringey too.

    I never tried out the crossover game. I've actually never tried a Layton gave to be honest haha. Maybe I should look into it some time!

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    Bowl-of-Lentils

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    #9  Edited By Bowl-of-Lentils

    @alistercat: Yeah and Edgeworth also sounds off, he is a bit too deep and not British enough. Again PLvsPW did his voice a lot better as well.

    @miyoron: Not a big fan of the Layton games, although I have been trying to get into the series, but I'd still recommend trying out PLvsPW. Although if you just want to hear some voice clips for comparison you can check out the game's page on Behind the Voice Actors.

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    ghost_cat

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    Is it possible to turn off the VO in the game?

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    Bowl-of-Lentils

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    #11  Edited By Bowl-of-Lentils

    @ghost_cat: No, but there isn't actually that much voice acting. So even if you can't stand the character's voices you don't hear them speak very often outside of the main cast screaming Objections.

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