The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - Review

It’s finally here! For a long time it seemed like this entry from the Ace Attorney series was never going to see the light of day outside of Japan, but no longer! The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is finally out and even better yet it is playable on the Nintendo Switch (and other platforms). After all of this time, was the Great Ace Attorney worth waiting for? So there’s no mystery, the answer is yes, but I better present my case.

The 19th century is well before Phoenix Wright’s time, instead we meet his ancestor Ryunosuke Naruhodo. Set in a period where Japan and Britain have a burgeoning relationship, although full of tension as Ryunosuke discovers quickly. You begin as a student who gets caught up in the world of law and lawyering. Japan’s judicial system is considered outdated and as a result, Ryunosuke’s friend and law student Kazuma Asogi is about to leave for Britain to learn more about modern courts in Victorian times. Only Ryunosuke finds himself on trial as the only suspect in a murder. Rising to the challenge not only does he successfully defend himself, but discovers his true calling as a defence attorney. After a tragedy, Ryunosuke arrives in Britain being quickly thrown into the thick of it along with his judicial assistant Susato Mikotoba. Ryunosuke finds himself in a foreign unwelcoming land with a judicial system he isn’t familiar with, can he turnabout his situation and become an Ace Attorney? It would be criminal of me to leave out the infamous Herlock Sholmes, the renowned detective and star of popular crime stories based on his adventures. One of the main concerns for why GAA hadn’t previously made it outside of Japan was the use of Sherlock Holmes as a recurring main character, although it seems Herlock is alive and well. 

Included is The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: Resolve, a sequel to the first game which continues the story. While other games in the series have overarching stories, they are often self-contained within that game, Resolve bucks that trend. In a way we’re lucky that we can enjoy both games together, it would’ve been a torturous wait having to see what happens after the events of the first game.

If you aren’t familiar with the Ace Attorney/Phoenix Wright series, they are point and click adventure games set within a murder mystery and courtroom drama, with a Defense Attorney as the protagonist. Working with an assistant you need to investigate crime scenes and places of interest, as well as talking to the accused and other people of interest. Then it’s up to you to fight in court to prove your client's innocence against overwhelming odds, turning around the case and using logic and evidence to uncover the true perpetrator. In GAA this is no different, the basic structure from the other games is present. There are some big changes once you set foot in the British courts, namely the Jury system. 

Initially seen in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, the Jury is made up of six jurors who vote throughout the case, deciding whether the accused is guilty or not. At any time during a case they might overwhelmingly vote one way or the other, but being an Ace Attorney game it’s never truly that simple. If the Jury all votes Guilty there is an opportunity to perform a Summation Examination, a last-chance option to turn the jury around and keep the trial going. Here the jurors can be pressed on their reason for their guilty verdict, where inconsistencies between jurors can be pitted against one another or show evidence that contradicts their statements. Essentially it is another version of the cross-examinations, only with a different approach and a nice respite from lengthy testimonies as you work to win over the jury.

Witness Testimonies aren’t going anywhere, and in GAA it often involves multiple witnesses. It is important to pay attention to other witnesses' reactions to a statement being pressed on by Ryunosuke. You can then press these reactions to gain some unexpected glimpses into the truth of what happened. While it might not be the wildest change to cross-examinations, it does help move along the proceedings while reducing how many testimonies you’ll have to go through in a case. 

A long-standing issue I’ve had with previous Ace Attorney games is still present in GAA. When presenting evidence you know points out a contradiction in a statement, you’ll find it can be rejected and punished. This isn’t because you got it wrong, but because you haven’t examined something in the court records, explicitly triggering an observation that adds extra information to the court record. Because not everything in the court record can be examined as a 3D item, and when you know that piece of evidence is the contradiction, you won’t automatically assume the game won’t recognise it until you’ve had a really good look at it first. Fortunately, it isn’t a common occurrence in the game. You also learn quickly to look at everything in the court record. Overall I had a much more enjoyable time solving each case as it felt like there was less of the ‘moon logic’ found in previous games in the series.

One last minor objection I have is how the game skips text instead of allowing you to speed it up. If you’re a fast reader and don’t want to wait for every word, you can’t just hold down a button and give the text speed a much-needed boost. When you touch the screen or press a button instead you can make all the text appear at once, at risk of skipping some or accidentally making a decision when it comes up at the end of some dialogue. It doesn’t impact the game, but it's definitely a reoccurring nitpick from the series in general.

While the Phoenix Wright games have their darker moments, murder is a frequent event after all. GAA feels like it touches on even more serious themes not mentioned in the other games, especially in regards to the treatment Japanese characters receive from the British. During the first case, you get a glimpse into how the Japanese are viewed by the British and as the cases go on it only becomes more prevalent. The rival prosecutor Barok Van Zieks and the jury itself will often remind Ryunosuke of their thoughts of the “Nipponese”. There is a tension underlying throughout because the relationship between the countries is obviously one-sided. Japan is ever cautious of hurting its standing with the British, while the English look down on Japan and take advantage of the power imbalance. 

There are some truly sad and tragic situations throughout the two adventures, a strange contrast to the over-the-top goofiness that the game will throw at you minutes after. It wouldn’t be an Ace Attorney game without the silly charm that comes with these outlandish situations and characters, even with a change in setting and a slightly more serious tone.

Working with Herlock Sholmes you’ll come to moments where Herlock busts out his ‘famous’ Deductions. Only it turns out Mr Sholmes might be on the right track, but with a little nudge from Ryunosuke you can uncover vital clues and information about what really happened. The ‘Dance of Deduction’ moments in a case are some of the most entertaining and capture the excitement of solving a case. At the risk of having too much of a good thing, I would happily play a game centred around Ryunosuke and Herlock solving cases together as they bounce off each other's observations. 

If you’re finding the court cases difficult or even just want to enjoy the story, you can select Story Mode. This essentially lets the game play out for you, not needing to make any of the decisions. I thought it was a good addition, especially having difficulty butting heads with some of the previous games' strange logic. Even just letting the story mode run will give you many hours of legal drama. 

Not only do you get the two GAA games, but there’s also a bunch of extras to spend some time checking out, some of the more interesting are the Escapades. Mini episodes where characters from the games have more light-hearted interactions, while letting you get to know the characters a little better. The extras provide more than you might expect, and give some interesting insights into the making of these games.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles might not be the most recent Ace Attorney game, but it feels the freshest it’s been for a while. It’s great that we can finally enjoy the adventures of Ryunosuke and Susato. If you want the best Ace Attorney games since the original trilogy then don’t miss out on this game.

The Score

9

Review code provided by Capcom

The Pros

+The best Ace Attorney games for a while (the others are still good, just not this good)

+An interesting story, setting and enjoyable characters

+Finally getting to play this game

The Cons

-Not recognising evidence until you do it the way the game expects

-No ability to speed up text, only skip