Great finisher to this second trilogy. While not as amazing as the first trilogy, still worth the playthrough! Ace Attorney games are just great!
People are kinda harsh on the 3DS Ace Attorney games, but to be honest, I find them extremely enjoyable. Even more than the original trilogy in places.
There might be a slight tonal shift towards more fantasy and over-the-top themes, but the characters are still solid and the Ace Attorney formula is incredibly difficult to fuck up at this point (Also the new versions of classic themes from the soundtrack are amazing).
Spirit of Justice starts a bit slow (cases one and two are a bit whatever), but once it gets past that initial hump it's kinda great. Cases three four and five all feature really creative murders which are extremely fun to unravel (as long as you have tolerance for the series leaning very hard into the whole spirit channelling thing; which I don't mind, but I get why it bothers some people), and you get some really fun character dynamics like Athena and Blackquill or Phoenix and Edgeworth investigating cases together.
Overall very entertaining with a couple of genuinely emotional moments.
My only real complaint is that the new prosecutor kinda sucks, he feels more like a plot device than a fully realized character.
As much as I enjoy sympathetic prosecutors, I feel like if they make another Ace Attorney we need a return to a Manfred Von Karma-style prosecutor. Just a real bastard of a guy that it's fun to hate. I kinda miss that.
There might be a slight tonal shift towards more fantasy and over-the-top themes, but the characters are still solid and the Ace Attorney formula is incredibly difficult to fuck up at this point (Also the new versions of classic themes from the soundtrack are amazing).
Spirit of Justice starts a bit slow (cases one and two are a bit whatever), but once it gets past that initial hump it's kinda great. Cases three four and five all feature really creative murders which are extremely fun to unravel (as long as you have tolerance for the series leaning very hard into the whole spirit channelling thing; which I don't mind, but I get why it bothers some people), and you get some really fun character dynamics like Athena and Blackquill or Phoenix and Edgeworth investigating cases together.
Overall very entertaining with a couple of genuinely emotional moments.
My only real complaint is that the new prosecutor kinda sucks, he feels more like a plot device than a fully realized character.
As much as I enjoy sympathetic prosecutors, I feel like if they make another Ace Attorney we need a return to a Manfred Von Karma-style prosecutor. Just a real bastard of a guy that it's fun to hate. I kinda miss that.
This one is the actual Apollo Justice game, as it explores him the most as a character and gives him the most satisfying backstory. This game plays into the supernatural elements of previous games to a far greater extent, and I found most of it enjoyable.
The worlbuilding of Khura'in is interesting even if some of the writing issues form Dual Destinies are still present. The second case is a phenomenal standalone case that further develops Trucy and the Gramaryes from Apollo Justice.
The third case is pretty good as far as third cases go, but the emotional moments are ruined a bit by the pun names being even dumber than usual (someones real name is revealed to be Rheel Neh'mu) Case 4 is a massive disrespect to Athena as a character and her development since a bad plot unrelated case is all she gets but at least Uendo saved it somewhat. Nahyuta is also easily the weakest link of this game's cast, and I'm one of the few who enjoyed him in case two instead of immediately hating him.
The finale is the longest case in the series and it's mostly excellent, the twists were great and used established rules for spirit channeling/death visions creatively, also I fucking love Paul Atishon babyyyy
The worlbuilding of Khura'in is interesting even if some of the writing issues form Dual Destinies are still present. The second case is a phenomenal standalone case that further develops Trucy and the Gramaryes from Apollo Justice.
The third case is pretty good as far as third cases go, but the emotional moments are ruined a bit by the pun names being even dumber than usual (someones real name is revealed to be Rheel Neh'mu) Case 4 is a massive disrespect to Athena as a character and her development since a bad plot unrelated case is all she gets but at least Uendo saved it somewhat. Nahyuta is also easily the weakest link of this game's cast, and I'm one of the few who enjoyed him in case two instead of immediately hating him.
The finale is the longest case in the series and it's mostly excellent, the twists were great and used established rules for spirit channeling/death visions creatively, also I fucking love Paul Atishon babyyyy
This review does not account for Turnabout Time Traveler, as I haven't been able to play the DLC yet.
As a third game in the Apollo trilogy, it showcases the third and probably last of Apollo's backstories, and this one is to me the most enjoyable, and the more satisfying when it comes to his themes.
What strikes me is that there is not much to say about this game, it is good but it is not striking.
As a third game in the Apollo trilogy, it showcases the third and probably last of Apollo's backstories, and this one is to me the most enjoyable, and the more satisfying when it comes to his themes.
What strikes me is that there is not much to say about this game, it is good but it is not striking.
rayfa's gimmick > athena's
So idk if I've ever cried to an Ace Attorney game before this but I cried to this one like multiple times.
I don't know if I like it as much as the OG trilogy, but I definitely liked it more than Dual Destinies and frankly I would play it again. The way people talked about it I was absolutely not expecting to like it but it's a good time with some really fun characters and a story I was not expecting to be as invested in as I ended up being.
I don't know if I like it as much as the OG trilogy, but I definitely liked it more than Dual Destinies and frankly I would play it again. The way people talked about it I was absolutely not expecting to like it but it's a good time with some really fun characters and a story I was not expecting to be as invested in as I ended up being.
kind of a step back in terms of gameplay despite the interesting new twists on the formula
i think this game is a bit underated, i love the mix between everyone POV, another case with maya being acused and that final case my god i bawled my eyes out
AAAAAAAAAAA
go to my dual destinies review. ctrl+c -> ctrl+v. then replace every mention of "athena" with "apollo" and you've got the gist of my feelings on this game
ITS THE SAME FUCKING PROBLEM. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT PHOENIX WRIGHT ANYMORE. HIS STORY HAS RUN ITS COURSE, AND THATS IT.
THIS GAME WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE APOLLO THE BACKSTORY HE'S NEEDED FOR 3 GAMES NOW, AND HE IS THE LEAD DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR LESS THAN HALF THE GAME. HOW
LEGITIMATELY 99% OF APOLLO'S BACKSTORY COMES WITH ONE SINGULAR CASE AT THE END OF THE GAME. AT LEAST ATHENA GOT 3 CASES.
look it's still an ace attorney game, the characters are great, the case plots are okay (mostly due to the same struggles with subtlety that AA5 had). nahyuta is a solid prosecutor with a good emotional element thrown in, and he's a very different vibe than the rest of the prosecutors, which is nice.
it's not as if this game is awful. it's fine. but i just end up thinking throughout the entire game "what if phoenix wasn't here?" "what if apollo or athena got this case?" "why the fuck did maya get kidnapped again are they out of ideas?"
it feels like pandering to capcom higher ups because they never played past the first case of AA1 and think that phoenix is the only thing that sells ace attorney games.
they learned from absolutely NONE of their mistakes from dual destinies (other than maybe a slightly more climactic ending?). this game feels like an absolute waste of some of the most likable and interesting characters in all of gaming.
you HAVE the foundation!! you HAVE apollo, and athena, and trucy, and nahyuta, and an idea of where you want to go with apollo's backstory, and an interesting raise of stakes with the DC act, yet all of this is thrown away because phoenix needs to be here.
i don't dislike spirit of justice. but i can't truly say that i had a great time with it either. it's an incredibly frustrating game because i see exactly how it could be better, but it just... isn't. that's how i would describe spirit of justice. it just isn't.
go to my dual destinies review. ctrl+c -> ctrl+v. then replace every mention of "athena" with "apollo" and you've got the gist of my feelings on this game
ITS THE SAME FUCKING PROBLEM. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT PHOENIX WRIGHT ANYMORE. HIS STORY HAS RUN ITS COURSE, AND THATS IT.
THIS GAME WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE APOLLO THE BACKSTORY HE'S NEEDED FOR 3 GAMES NOW, AND HE IS THE LEAD DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR LESS THAN HALF THE GAME. HOW
LEGITIMATELY 99% OF APOLLO'S BACKSTORY COMES WITH ONE SINGULAR CASE AT THE END OF THE GAME. AT LEAST ATHENA GOT 3 CASES.
look it's still an ace attorney game, the characters are great, the case plots are okay (mostly due to the same struggles with subtlety that AA5 had). nahyuta is a solid prosecutor with a good emotional element thrown in, and he's a very different vibe than the rest of the prosecutors, which is nice.
it's not as if this game is awful. it's fine. but i just end up thinking throughout the entire game "what if phoenix wasn't here?" "what if apollo or athena got this case?" "why the fuck did maya get kidnapped again are they out of ideas?"
it feels like pandering to capcom higher ups because they never played past the first case of AA1 and think that phoenix is the only thing that sells ace attorney games.
they learned from absolutely NONE of their mistakes from dual destinies (other than maybe a slightly more climactic ending?). this game feels like an absolute waste of some of the most likable and interesting characters in all of gaming.
you HAVE the foundation!! you HAVE apollo, and athena, and trucy, and nahyuta, and an idea of where you want to go with apollo's backstory, and an interesting raise of stakes with the DC act, yet all of this is thrown away because phoenix needs to be here.
i don't dislike spirit of justice. but i can't truly say that i had a great time with it either. it's an incredibly frustrating game because i see exactly how it could be better, but it just... isn't. that's how i would describe spirit of justice. it just isn't.
wait this game was 8 years ago?