This review contains spoilers
Ace Attorney was overall really good, and had tons of great parts. It's undeniably fun to gather evidence and put together the pieces of testimonies to discover how the defendant is innocent despite the mountains of evidence against them, with the fourth case in particular being one I'll never forget. Most of the characters are really fun too, and add to the very clear consensus that this game isn't trying to emulate an actual courtroom at all.
However, I do have a few issues. First, I think there should've been a case between the first and second. Not only does a character we just met in the first case die in the case immediately after, but the actual murderer seems a bit too powerful for an attorney with only one case under his belt. It also would've just made the game a little longer.
Another issue is the way difficulty is handled. I did actually lose a case once, and all that really does is waste your time, because you already know the solutions to each cross-examination you did before losing. This is a problem that would probably take a massive rehaul of the game's structure to fix, honestly, as the extremely linear structure of the entire game only worsens this issue. The linearity also means that there's no extrinsic reason to replay the game, as the events of each case will always be the same (Although I'm sure I'll replay it eventually just to experience the story again).
Visually, the game is alright. I played it with as a part of the trilogy rerelease, and it seems they took the original assets and reused those. That's fine with the character sprites (Although the keyframe transitions don't look super smooth), but some of the backgrounds are very clearly meant to be viewed at a lower resolution. It's not a huge deal, but still.
However, the sound is great! Aside from the awesome soundtrack, the effects used for when a good defense or offense is used sounds like the opposing lawyer is being stabbed, which accompanies all of the over-the-top reactions well. I also love the OBJECTION!! and HOLD IT!! voices for each attorney, which shows their character. The prosecutor of the first case sounds meek, while Von Karma sounds extremely intimidating. Once again, this doesn't make the game a 10/10, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
The point is, this game has some great moments, but also has some issues. I'm definitely going to play the sequels to see if they improve on this one. 7/10.
However, I do have a few issues. First, I think there should've been a case between the first and second. Not only does a character we just met in the first case die in the case immediately after, but the actual murderer seems a bit too powerful for an attorney with only one case under his belt. It also would've just made the game a little longer.
Another issue is the way difficulty is handled. I did actually lose a case once, and all that really does is waste your time, because you already know the solutions to each cross-examination you did before losing. This is a problem that would probably take a massive rehaul of the game's structure to fix, honestly, as the extremely linear structure of the entire game only worsens this issue. The linearity also means that there's no extrinsic reason to replay the game, as the events of each case will always be the same (Although I'm sure I'll replay it eventually just to experience the story again).
Visually, the game is alright. I played it with as a part of the trilogy rerelease, and it seems they took the original assets and reused those. That's fine with the character sprites (Although the keyframe transitions don't look super smooth), but some of the backgrounds are very clearly meant to be viewed at a lower resolution. It's not a huge deal, but still.
However, the sound is great! Aside from the awesome soundtrack, the effects used for when a good defense or offense is used sounds like the opposing lawyer is being stabbed, which accompanies all of the over-the-top reactions well. I also love the OBJECTION!! and HOLD IT!! voices for each attorney, which shows their character. The prosecutor of the first case sounds meek, while Von Karma sounds extremely intimidating. Once again, this doesn't make the game a 10/10, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
The point is, this game has some great moments, but also has some issues. I'm definitely going to play the sequels to see if they improve on this one. 7/10.
SlasherMcGirk
1 year ago