If you're not aware of Capcom's Ace Attorney franchise, you're undoubtedly familiar with the memes. The image of Phoenix Wright, clad in his bulky suit and spiky hair, yelling "OBJECTION!" while aggressively pointing across the courtroom is perhaps one of the most iconic video game images of all time. For a good reason, too, those who've experienced the rush of disproving a sly witness's testimony will no doubt understand the rush of adrenaline that fuels Ace Attorney's battles of logic and deduction. The latest entry in the franchise, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, delivers on everything fans of the previous game crave from the series while introducing elements and characters that ensure it stands out from its predecessors... if you're willing to sit through copious amounts of filler.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles combines two prequels in the franchise initially only released in Japan: The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve, in one convenient package available on Nintendo Switch and Steam. The story follows Ryunosuke Naruhodo, a Japanese student who finds himself embarking on a trip to London to learn the ways of the country's evolving legal system. Along the way, Ryunosuke will have to defend clients, investigate crime scenes and interact with a large, colorful cast of characters who are out to either help or hinder his progress.
Fans of the previous Ace Attorney games will feel right at home in Chronicles. Much like every game in the franchise, the gameplay formula is iterative, taking the established core of the franchise and sprinkling in a dose of unique mechanics. Beginning every case feels like a new opportunity to grow alongside Ryunosuke, a man clearly out of his depth but willing to push himself to grow into the lawyer he was destined to be. Investigations are complex affairs, split across multiple days and trials that allow players to truly delve into the game's multi-layered logic puzzles. While its presentation may seem basic at first glance, many of the puzzles presented throughout the game are more than a little challenging, requiring a keen sense of observation and deduction to solve.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a game that rewards players who pay attention. While many of the game's more obvious puzzles wave their clues about like a flag billowing in the wind, those alone aren't enough to solve a case. Witnesses may present the most rudimentary facts first, but the longer they're in the spotlight, the more convoluted their tales become. If you're not paying attention, a vital clue may slip right under your nose; given the game's theme of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-esque whodunnits, it's apt that players are made to carefully observe and weigh up every witness's testimony, much like the great Herlock Sholmes himself.
This may sound boring to the uninitiated, just listening to people and pointing out lies. Yet The Great Ace Attorney takes the fantasy of actually winning an argument on the Internet and condenses it to a courtroom. It's compelling from start to finish, assisted by the game's gorgeous presentation. While the graphics don't really hold up to much scrutiny (these are originally 3DS games), the character models and art design are stunning. No two characters look the same, and while there are only a handful of animations to go around, they're all filled with so much life. Seeing a witness's proud confidence slowly dissolve while the beautifully composed music begins to swell is a unique experience only found within the Ace Attorney franchise, and Chronicles delivers it in spades.
Of course, to reach those satisfying moments, players will need to sift through plenty of filler. Too much filler. Both Adventures and Resolve are decently long games, but it often feels like most of that run time is padded with pointless conversations. While the characters themselves are wonderful and interacting with them is a treat, it quickly becomes apparent how much repetition is inserted within those dialogues. The courtroom battles and Dances of Deduction (a new gameplay mechanic introduced in Adventures) are always worth the long gaps, but reaching those points can feel arduous. If you're not skipping dialogue every once in a while as characters discuss a topic that's been covered three times already, you're a more dedicated fan than most.
Yet even within those convoluted and occasionally dreary discussions, the game can still shine. Ace Attorney is known for its quirky character writing, and Chronicles has some of the best in the series. Ryunosuke is surrounded by folks who often steal the spotlight from him, most notable being Herlock Sholmes, who serves as both a pastiche and satirization of the iconic Sherlock Holmes. No character is wasted; everyone has a moment to shine and prove themselves in what could very easily have been a story that hyper-focused on Ryunosuke, given that his lineage is directly tied to Phoenix Wright.
While The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles does have those moments that drag the game's pace down to a crawl, they're never enough to truly rob the game of excellence. Putting up with those moments results in some of the most compellingly unique combat found in video games, where your weapons are your own calculated deductions. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles serves as both an excellent starting point for players who've always been avoidant of the series as well as a beautiful continuation of the franchise that long-time fans will no doubt play over and over again.
The publisher provided CBR a copy of this game for review purposes.