“It’s only natural for living creatures to fight to protect their own lives. But what makes us human is that we fight for others. But who do you fight for? How hard must you fight…? That’s the true measure of what human life is worth.”

In a way, the entire Ace Attorney Trilogy revolves around this ending remark. After all, we wouldn’t even be playing as a defense attorney if not for that very thing. Many major character arcs throughout the series thus far have been about questioning and growing out of one’s own, often selfish ambition. And it’s perfect that this game is the culmination of all of that, and it’s especially perfect that the main antagonist of the game is the complete antithesis to that statement.

But to call Trials and Tribulations merely just a perfect conclusion would honestly be underselling it. It ties everything up from the first and second game so well that I was genuinely shocked to have learned that a trilogy was not originally planned. In fact I found myself liking cases from older games more because of how effortlessly some of the cases here contextualize them. In my AA1 review, I wrote about the game case by case but while I felt like it was a good way to represent that game, Trials & Tribulations is different. Every single episode flows so well into one another that I think covering it all individually would be doing it a disservice. That’s how well paced everything is.

Everything throughout the games is at its peak here. Even though no new gameplay mechanics have been added to the main investigation sequences, like the Psyche-Locks in Justice For All, they are still easily at their best here, they're much more cohesive, and much better paced, relying far less on just looking in another area after you're done with another and doing a better job of linking you along and giving you a clearer idea of exactly what you need to do, who you need to talk to, etc. The trials are still as engaging to play through as ever, with some moments that genuinely just made me giddy, on top of some actual "holy shit" twists. None of these parts feel forced or as if they're desperately trying to evoke a reaction out of you, no - they are just that well written. The filler case trials too, which I usually wouldn't be as invested in really caught me this time around. And it doesn't really ever feel like there are any significant leaps in logic when cross examining or presenting evidence, as borderline silly some of the trials can get. For all I care the killer could have been an angel that fell from the sky and I would still be following through the whole way. That is a testament at how good Trials and Tribulations is at handling it's cases.

Even in spite of the middle act being largely filler, the writing is still fantastic, this especially shines through at the fourth and fifth cases, the latter of which even managing to get me misty-eyed by the end of it. Above I briefly talked about what I think to be the most prevalent themes throughout the trilogy, that being altruism and identity. And I think that’s the true tragedy of Trials and Tribulations. Throughout the game characters often hide things in the interest of others, even when it’s extremely risky and they often hide things to protect others, even when it’s eating them from inside, the main mystery solving of the game being based around finding what they’re hiding. But how hard must they fight? Ultimately it comes down to one thing, which I’m sure you’ve heard time and time again between this game and the last two, being the truth. That sometimes the best thing to do is to let the truth come out, even if you believe that it will hurt others. Ron DeLite believes that if his wife were to find out he was Mask DeMasque, it would make her hate him, but Desiree ends up loving Ron more for it. Misty Fey conceals her identity from us because she believes that she’s tarnished the name of the Fey clan and can't face Maya, but when it comes to light that she acted and died only to protect her daughter only strengthens her resolve. Iris doesn’t reveal that she was in Dahlia’s place while dating Phoenix in fear that it would ruin his memories with her, but Phoenix reassures her that it’s exactly what he needed to hear. So on, and so forth.

And of course, you’ll notice that every culprit throughout each and every case is the subversion of this, they act out of pure self interest, going to extreme lengths to make sure the truth is as buried as possible and making sure that others suffer for their deeds. The obvious one being of course Dahlia Hawthorne. In fact, she says it straight, she has never cared about anyone except herself. Almost everything she’s done within the game has resulted in a death or a near-death. If our fight for others is how we weigh human life, then Dahlia is inhumane, which I think frankly is the point.

”For all of eternity, you’ll have to remain as Dahlia Hawthorne. A miserable, pathetic, weak creature who can never win at anything…”

A more tragic, but in my opinion also more interesting example is Godot. Of course, it would be a crime to discuss this game without bringing him up. Over the course of the game’s story he’s presented as enigmatic and vengeful towards Phoenix, and as a prosecutor, he’s a pretty entertaining character, not quite as arrogant as others but his suave personality makes him very fun to face off against and it makes what comes next hit all the more harder. There are clues dropped here and there, but it’s not until the fourth and fifth cases until we get any real insight into his origin, and damn is it a sad one. Of course he did still kill somebody, and make no mistake, the game doesn’t try to glorify that in any way but I think it’s interesting to see how he represents both sides of the coin, he’s constantly fighting himself between vengeance and a genuine desire to protect Maya, but in the end the former gets the best of him and he gets Misty killed. But again, once the truth comes out, he feels healed. I think it’s especially interesting what he says to Phoenix at the end of the final trial.

“You never ran away from Mia’s death. Instead, you picked up where she left off, as a true defender of the people.”

And that’s where we come full circle. Even when facing tragedy, we have to remain strong for ourselves and those around us. I remember after beating the game and watching the credits roll, I just sat there pondering everything the game was telling me, and when it all came together it felt magical. Trials and Tribulations is a mastery. It is a story of closure, not just for the characters but for the player. Not just within itself, but for the games that came before it. I couldn’t possibly think of a better way to cap this trilogy off, so for now, all I can really say? Bravo.