Really interesting fan game that exemplifies both the recurring strengths and weaknesses of Ace Attorney as a series. This is an obvious labor of love that, while mostly its own thing, also takes deliberate strides to more elegantly segue between the trilogy/Investigations and Apollo Justice than the official games ever attempted. Maya not being present for Phoenix's final pre-timeskip trial is given an explanation here, which makes sense even if it isn't satisfying. Likewise, Edgeworth is finally given a chance to show off the character development he received in his spin-offs. It's the little touches like these that show how the developer truly cares about the AA storyline in a way Capcom almost seems reluctant of doing.

It's amazing how the main plot here is basically the same as the one from Dual Destinies, except Contempt of Court actually has, like, foreshadowing... yet is somehow also less obvious with its twists. In general, the writing is pretty good - at its best, the characterization of the legacy characters is indistinguishable from in the official localizations. There are a fair number of frustrating typos, but I can't really fault a (nearly) solo dev for that when it still has way less than Justice For All, a shorter game that costs money to play.

The whole affair definitely feels a bit fanficcy, with new sprites that look suspiciously like recolors and an edgy, omniscient main antagonist who is more obnoxious than threatening (though that's definitely the point, at least near the end). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though; it's honestly rather charming. Gameplay is just like the 2D AA titles - you're actually required to think and aren't just told the answer to every puzzle (like in DD for instance). There were only a few moments where I needed a guide to progress, certainly no more than in the originals, though there is one particular moment early on with an obvious solution where progression is rendered almost impossible due to the UI blocking your view of an object you need to click on.

The first two cases stand alone (until they don't) and are just damn good Ace Attorney, channeling the brevity of the earlier games to refreshing effect. Unfortunately, the penultimate case is one of those that exists mostly as a prologue to the final one, and while it has an interesting through line with some great moments it's really frustrating watching the characters repeatedly fail to understand obvious clues you, the player, figured out hours prior. The final case is also far too drawn out in an attempt to be epic, but that's been a problem since the DS rerelease of AA1, and this one doesn't start wearing out its welcome until the last couple hours, which is remarkable in its own way.

In the end, Contempt of Court more or less lived up to the hype for me. If you're willing to understand the nature of its shortcomings, you'll find a wonderful, insanely fleshed out fan game that not only improves the overall canon of its source material by existing, but somehow manages to be better than a fair few of its more technically advanced brethren. Highly recommended, but only for Ace Attorney diehards who have played every game released up to at least Investigations 2.