Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Turnabout Delights

24/12/23

Christmas games come in a ton of shapes and sizes - though, sadly, for the GBA this shape and size is normally ‘pretty damn bad’ and ‘takes an hour to finish’. Such as it is, I didn’t really want to turn this Christmas review into a yearly bash-a-thon, so we’re going a little… obscure, in a sense, when it comes to its Christmas spirit. So without further ado, let’s take a look at one of the very best visual novels - not only for the Game Boy Advance, but ever - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, a brilliantly funny, charming, sometimes melancholy, but above all heartwarming tale that I’m delighted has gained so much love and recognition over the two decades since it’s original, Japanese-only release.

Oh, and of course…

As opposed to my partner who’s consistently drowning under a torrent of various visual novels, I’m not quite as experienced in the field. Sure, I’ve played Danganronpa, the original Fate/Stay Night and the Zero Escape trilogy, but I’m not the biggest visual novel guy. In the west, at the very least, Phoenix Wright is probably the most popular and well known visual novel of them all, though that certainly has much to do with the crossover with the classic ‘point-and-click’ adventures I’m sure all of played around with as a kid. Full disclosure, I didn’t actually play through the GBA version of the game for this review - I’ve played it several times, but only on the 3DS and PS4 re-releases, which are pretty much identical sans an additional case that was added on the DS re-release, Rise from the Ashes, which I’ll be omitting discussion of from this review. I did extensively go over footage of the GBA game, so I’m not just working from the memory of the hi-res re-releases.

Ace Attorney, as with the rest of the series, is divided into two distinct modes of gameplay, whilst consistently delivering storytelling, exposition, and characterisation through the classic visual novel style. In most cases, you’ll begin by traveling to various areas related to the case, gathering clues, interviewing witnesses and generally building your case for the main event; the trials. These are more straight visual novel affairs, where you’ll go over the various witnesses and pieces of evidence, backing up your claims and dismantling faulty testimony with the various pieces of knowledge you’ve gathered over the course of the chapter. More complicated cases will have multiple cycles of going between exploring and court sequences as new details come to light and further investigation is required. The investigation segments are closer to classic point-and-click adventure segments, pixel hunting for anything and everything you can get Phoenix’s grubby little paws on, running into all kinds of colorful characters as you do thus to build your case. It’s pretty straightforward, for the most part - occasionally you may find yourself a little stuck, but the selection of areas to visit are small enough that you’ll eventually stumble on who or what you need.

The other mode - and by far the most engaging - are the court cases yourselves. These are closer to straight visual novel segments, but every now and then you’ll need to cross-examine witnesses, breaking down each and every one of their statements, until you find the lie and use a piece of evidence to push towards the truth. It’s never as simple as that, of course - everytime good ‘ol Nick feels he’s cracked the code, the opposition will pull a goddamn updated autopsy report out of thin air, or the judge will just *conveniantly* decide to allow the witness to ‘fix’ their story. As the game goes on, you’ll be juggling more and more complicated testimonies, with a much larger variety of evidence to utilize, which rackets up the difficulty in a satisfying, understanding manner. The court cases are nothing short of incredible, with the most well paced ones culminating in some of the most satisfying denouments in, I’d say, all of gaming. Getting to literally the witnesses, prosecuters, and whoever the hell else happens to be in the courtroom literally crack under the assault of Phoenix’s verbal assault is perpetually a delight to see.

Set in the near future, Ace Attorney features a reformed legal system (technically the series is set in Japan - depending on the localization you play, Phoenix Wright is either set in America or Japan, leading to a veritable treasure trove of continuity issues and worldbuilding that never ceases to be hysterical) where trials must be settled within three days of commencing. Phoenix Wright, a junior partner in a small law office, is at the very beginning of his career. Almost instantly, due to dire events, he is thrust into the limelight as he takes on a series of high-profile cases. Joined by the mystic Maya Fey, Phoenix fights for the innocence of his clients, always seeking out the true mastermind behind the murders he investigates - even if that puts him the firing line of the top of the line prosecutors obsessed with delivering guilty verdicts; chiefly, the ace prosecutor, and Phoenix’s former classmate, Miles Edgeworth.

Phoenix Wright features four cases though it’s dozen or so hour-long playtime - one of which will ease you into the general rhythm of presenting evidence, cross-examining the testimony of witnesses and generally not screwing up the one thing Phoenix is meant to be good at - but man, isn’t throwing out an irrelevant piece of evidence, or presenting your lawyer badge to everyone you meet hilarious? How the hell does this man hold down a job, actually? Taken as a whole, the cases aren’t exactly a cohesive, single story building to an all-encompassing climax; rather, it’s the characters that are slowly built up and explored, especially in Phoenix and his main prosecutor rival, Miles Edgeworth. Each case relatively works as a standalone story Being a visual novel, the characters are consistently the star of the show, and every single case will hand you one new character you’ll rally behind… even if, occasionally, they aren’t the kind of people you *should* be rallying behind. Look, if you really, really like April May for her, ahem, sparky personality, who am I to judge you? But in any case, the characters are probably the single strongest asset this game has; there is no single conversation involving Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, or ace detective Dick Gumshoe that aren’t pure comedy or emotional gold and the personalities do an incredible job of bouncing both humor and humanity at one another without fail.

Also, Edgeworth is really latently gay for Phoenix - this is canon for a variety of reasons, but I just wanted to post one of the best screencaps of the game.

I will say it’s not the most consistent game in the series - the first case is little more than the tutorial, and the third is so far apart from the core throughline that culminates in the final case that it kind of feels ancillary compared to the second and fourth. But they aren’t remotely bad - it’s just a case of being compared against royalty, so to speak. I’d say the second ranks higher just for having a really strong pace throughout its storyline, and a fantastic mastermind to tackle. But the fourth, and final (at least in the original release) case of the game is special for far more than just that.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney culminates in not only what is far and away the best, most emotional and engaging case of the game, it presents a strong argument for being the best in its original GBA trilogy, and perhaps beyond. Turnabout Goodbyes squarely focuses on the life, lies, and internal struggles of Miles Edgeworth, who whilst consistently presented as a smug asshole up until this point, is constantly peppered with minute darts of sweet, meaningful characterisation that imply he’s a much deeper, stranger, and above all charmingly hilarious individual. It’s a beautiful case, managing to toe the line between madness and true deductive reasoning, and it cements Edgeworth as far and away my favorite character in the franchise. I’ll be honest, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is worth playing *just* for Turnabout Goodbyes.

But beyond the fantastic storytelling, the rollercoaster of emotions, the cases present and charmingly sweet characters constantly being thrown at you, above all, Ace Attorney is one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. When it matters, the game knows to take itself seriously - these are frequent stories of people getting killed, after all - but it never fails to capitalize on a great opportunity for a hilarious joke. Phoenix, whilst kind of a weird guy in his own right, frequently feels like the one sane person in a mad, mad, mad world. This can come from the relatively stupid, yet hilariously charming fools like Larry Butz or Detective Gumshoe, to the genuinely unhinged Maya Fey (positive) or Redd White (negative), who seem to take genuine pleasure in driving Phoenix insane. Utterly mad things occur left and right by pure happenstance - the truth of a case comes down to the testimony of a bloody parrot of all things - but they never feel too far out of pocket, but just feel like daily occurrences in the near future of… the mid 2010s!? What the hell!?

Enough praise cannot be heaped on the audiovisual presentation of this game; character designs are eye catching and memorable, with many of the one-off characters having some gimmick that’ll sear them into your memory (looking at you Redd White and your goddamn suit). It’s also interesting to see that whilst the game’s exploration segments have the most simplistic, static poses endemic to the visual novel genre, the court case segments feature a surprising amount of animation - simplistic, sure, but they do so much in selling the panic and excitement as the cases reach their climax. But it’s the soundtrack that does the heavy lifting in establishing a sense of tone, setting and above all, urgency. Seriously, if you’ve been reaching the climax of a case, the music begins to quicken in pace and intensity, as the culprit begins to visually break under Phoenix’s verbal assault and you’re NOT practically punching the air from the sheer excitement, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we could ever be friends. Beyond the cases, though, certain tracks like Turnabout Sisters Ballad that play in the calmer, quieter moments that frequently cap of the most high-octane cases that resonate me long after the game has wrapped. Honestly, in retrospect, I’d say this has one of the strongest soundtracks of any GBA game, period; it’s that good. Also, I’d be remiss to not mention the snippet of voice work in the game - Phoenix’s ‘OBJECTION!’ is such an ingrained piece of culture for these games it’s possible it’s the only thing you’d know about the series!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is an incredible first entry in what would become one of the most legendary visual novels of all time. Exciting, charming, hysterical, but above all heartwarming, this is a story of some of the most well realized characters in all of the medium, culminating in one of the best cases in the entire franchise. The game doesn’t consistently hit these highs - the first and third cases are on the more forgettable side, by comparison - but when The fact that this game is that good, it's not even my favorite of the GBA trilogy… Well, let’s just say, when we get around to the third game, I’ve got a LOT of good things to say. In any case, if you’ve ever been interested in the visual novel medium, or just want a hell of a good mystery/adventure title, you can’t do better than the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

Thank you so much for reading my review of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorny on the Game Boy Abyss! Happy Holidays ‘yall, and apologies if this review seems rushed - I literally forgot that I planned to do this for Chirstmas until a day or two ago, so I had to slap this together just so I could do the ‘Almost Christmas’ joke. We’ll be back to our normal programming next week - I’m on holidays, so I want to bang out a few more reviews before I head back to work. As always, you can email me at mgeorge7003@hotmail.com, or cckaiju@gmail.com if you have any requests or questions. I’m also over @Lemmy7003, wondering what the hell I’m doing with my life. Thanks again for reading, and I’ll see you in my next review!