Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney box art
Playing Played Wish List Backlog
Add to Shelf Add to List

See more on IGDB

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005)

Capcom

Expanded Game of Gyakuten Saiban

Nintendo DS

4.31 from 2541 ratings · #106 top rated on Grouvee

4738 members have it in their collection · 191 playing now · 622 backlogged · 582 wish listed

How long? Main story 23h · with extras 21h · 100% 19h (from 40 logged playthroughs)

Meet Phoenix Wright, the rookie defense lawyer new to the scene with the wildest cross-examination skills in town! Take on five intriguing cases to reveal dramatic, stunning, and even comical court proceedings. Use both the touch screen to investigate the crime scenes, question witnesses and present shocking evidence. “Objection!”...It’s outrageous fun! You won’t be able to put down this laugh-out-loud, riveting adventure!
Remove Ads with Grouvee Gold

Details

Developers
Capcom
Publishers
Capcom, Nintendo
Genres
Adventure, Point-and-click, Puzzle, Visual Novel
Themes
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Franchises
Ace Attorney
Series
Ace Attorney
Event
Nintendo E3 2005 Press Conference

Release dates

  • Sep 15, 2005 (Japan) Nintendo DS
  • Oct 11, 2005 (North_America) Nintendo DS
  • Mar 31, 2006 (Europe) Nintendo DS
  • Mar 08, 2009 (Australia) Nintendo DS

Also available on

Remove Ads with Grouvee Gold

Featured in lists

Games Everyone Should Play At Least Once by Roach · 155 games · 5
bideo games ive played (and finished) by whosduster · 108 games · 3
Visual Novel / Text Heavy Games by Roach · 76 games · 2
Every Adventure Game I've played, ranked by shinespark · 176 games · 1
çöp by Rerogshi · 298 games · 0
Games, Ranked by Cukie · 112 games · 0

Rating distribution

5 stars
1161
4 stars
1067
3 stars
276
2 stars
22
1 star
14
Remove Ads with Grouvee Gold

Community All Reviews Statuses

Twilit_Fox

Status Twilit_Fox Oct 25, 2024

One of the best uses of soundtrack and presentation that I've ever seen.

I played this game about 14 years ago (always on a friend's house on his DS, so very nostalgic!) and always wanted to get back and play the rest of the series.

Since I played it before I remember a lot of the stories behind the cases, …

Read more

One of the best uses of soundtrack and presentation that I've ever seen.

I played this game about 14 years ago (always on a friend's house on his DS, so very nostalgic!) and always wanted to get back and play the rest of the series.

Since I played it before I remember a lot of the stories behind the cases, who the culprits are, many of the twists. But still.. my heart gets pumping and I get excited everytime that Pursuit music kicks in and the screen shakes cause I presented the right evidence. Even though I ALREADY KNEW I was gonna be right! That is the sign of a great game right there.

Read less
2 Comment Permalink
BurningKirby

Status BurningKirby Aug 22, 2024

Just finished the fifth case, Rise From the Ashes. It really is a perfect capstone to an already great game. I'm glad they added it in. It's a bit overlong but I love the cast of characters for this case and it feels like an even better sendoff for Wright and Edgeworth than the fourth case was.

I played this …

Read more

Just finished the fifth case, Rise From the Ashes. It really is a perfect capstone to an already great game. I'm glad they added it in. It's a bit overlong but I love the cast of characters for this case and it feels like an even better sendoff for Wright and Edgeworth than the fourth case was.

I played this game over the course of many years, but it's finally done. I'd feel weird writing a review because of how long it's been since I first started it, but as for how good it is-- there's a reason it kicked off such a beloved series. If you can get it, I'd recommend playing the 3DS version. The touchscreen isn't necessary of course but feels natural when investigating crime scenes. Also, the character art is less pixelated than the GBA and DS versions while still looking like pixel art unlike the recent releases of the trilogy, which look a bit too smoothed over for me. But that's really gonna be personal preference in the end.

Read less
3 Comment Permalink
Yuna67876

Status Yuna67876 Oct 30, 2023

I keep forgetting to update this but I got credits in this after finishing the fourth episode. I am not done yet though because of the extra case that was added on the DS is included in this version. Hopefully should get this episode done and the game done by weeks end

2 Comment Permalink
BurningKirby

Status BurningKirby Oct 22, 2023

Just did a speedrun through the first 3 cases so I could get to the fourth because I think I didn't complete that one. Sold my original copy a long time ago but I picked up the trilogy during the eshop shutdown sales so I could finish it. Even in the speedrun with a guide, that third case really drags. …

Read more

Just did a speedrun through the first 3 cases so I could get to the fourth because I think I didn't complete that one. Sold my original copy a long time ago but I picked up the trilogy during the eshop shutdown sales so I could finish it. Even in the speedrun with a guide, that third case really drags. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it's definitely my least favorite of the cases I've played, which are scattered across the various games.

Read less
1 Comment Permalink
Yuna67876

Status Yuna67876 Oct 14, 2023

I am about 6 hours in now through this past week I put in (been my go-to morning game before lunch). This game has a lot of heart and it can be seen throughout the game. I am on episode 3 about 20% way through the game (according to the preset goals on completionator), and it has been good. My …

Read more

I am about 6 hours in now through this past week I put in (been my go-to morning game before lunch). This game has a lot of heart and it can be seen throughout the game. I am on episode 3 about 20% way through the game (according to the preset goals on completionator), and it has been good. My only takeback is I wish this game had a text log option, I am playing the re-release of the trilogy that came out in 2019 and I'm using a guide to get all achievements but this game sadly has no text log so it can be hard to follow sometimes for me a bit. No text log also has a thing for the first time players because if they needed to look back on something they would not be able to do so it sucks that it was not included in the re release.

Read less
2 Comment Permalink
Yuna67876

Status Yuna67876 Oct 10, 2023

Will be starting this tomorrow, since this joined game pass i thought i restart this, even though i own it on steam, i do not use my xbox often so might as well use it every once in a while.

0 Comment Permalink
TheBeautifulEric

Status TheBeautifulEric Dec 26, 2022 Completed

Replayed this again and it's still a blast. I think the writing is charming and funny, I like the scenarios, and I like seeing the character development. The power of the antagonists felt daunting and having Phoenix overcome them feels great. The game feels comfortable to play whether you're playing on DS, mobile, or PC (the platform I'm currently playing …

Read more

Replayed this again and it's still a blast. I think the writing is charming and funny, I like the scenarios, and I like seeing the character development. The power of the antagonists felt daunting and having Phoenix overcome them feels great. The game feels comfortable to play whether you're playing on DS, mobile, or PC (the platform I'm currently playing on).
Spoiler for this game and for Apollo Justice: One of my complaints from Apollo Justice is that it felt like Apollo had help for every single case, but playing through the first game again I realized the same could be said for Phoenix in this game.
Looking forward to continuing the series.

Read less
1 Comment Permalink
cefer

Status cefer Jul 1, 2021

recently finished the first game in the ace attorney series. played through the ace attorney trilogy on the switch. I really enjoyed it, finished in a little less then 20 hours, can't wait to see what the next game holds as lots of new features were introduced in the final case, which I hope to see carried over into the …

Read more

recently finished the first game in the ace attorney series. played through the ace attorney trilogy on the switch. I really enjoyed it, finished in a little less then 20 hours, can't wait to see what the next game holds as lots of new features were introduced in the final case, which I hope to see carried over into the next game, along with a possibile increase in difficulty like the final case as it was like the game was no longer a tutorial. Not saying it wasn't hard to begin with but the difficulty spike from the 4th case and the 5th was extremely significant.

Read less
2 Comment Permalink
internpepper

Status internpepper Nov 12, 2020

I'm late to the party, but I liked this visual novel/adventure game a whole lot. Great characters and cases.

0 Comment Permalink
JayGatsby

Review JayGatsby 4/5 · Apr 1, 2020

objectively really iconic, i think about this game a lot. idk why im rating it 4 stars, i think mainly just cause i like the later games better still and i had to have some way to differentiate my feelings on them

0 Comment
Tubbymora

Status Tubbymora Sep 14, 2019

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Update #3

Wright goes to court and decides to defend himself (probably the best decision since White basically has all the other attorneys in the state in his blackmail list). After a long court session going back and forth, it looks like Wright is about to win and prove that he is innocent while Mr. White …

Read more

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Update #3

Wright goes to court and decides to defend himself (probably the best decision since White basically has all the other attorneys in the state in his blackmail list). After a long court session going back and forth, it looks like Wright is about to win and prove that he is innocent while Mr. White is guilty.... BUT here comes freakin' Edgeworth messing it up once again, providing Mr. White an alibi by making it seem like he was the one who put the bug on Mia's phone thus changing the whole scenario of the crime scene. When all hope is loss, and just when Wright is about to give up hope, Mia's spirit is able to invade Maya's body and give Wright a key piece of evidence. Definitely was not expecting that lol. Turns out the receipt with the bloody writing on it dismisses the entirety of Mr. White's made up alibi. And just when things are looking up, Edgeworth steps in again and it looks like that the trial is going to extend to another day. But Mia (in Maya's body) steps up and begins reading a list of victim's that Mr. White had blackmailed... shocked and scared, Mr. White quickly admits to the murder of Mia in front of the court. Mr. White is found guilty, Wright is innocent, and all is well. Fey & Co. becomes Wright & Co. and now he runs the law firm with Mia's little sister Maya.

Read less
1 Comment Permalink
Aleosha

Review Aleosha 1/5 · Jul 3, 2018

Absolutely horrible

This logical game actually lacks any logic. Enough to say that your sidekick is a teenage priestess medium. You must solve your cases using most irrational acts, such as summoning spirits. If you fail to grasp what the authors meant, you must hear the same dialog over again. And it may take up to 10 minutes of your real life. …

Read more

This logical game actually lacks any logic. Enough to say that your sidekick is a teenage priestess medium. You must solve your cases using most irrational acts, such as summoning spirits. If you fail to grasp what the authors meant, you must hear the same dialog over again. And it may take up to 10 minutes of your real life. Sometimes, you'll have to exhaust all of your dialog options to get a new clue (although some of the clues are actually valid in a logical sense). Some of the rules for attorney:

All defendants are always claim to have committed the murder and ask not to defend them Everything has a clock inside. Maybe this is even a speaking clock You can't win without summoning a ghost. Ever

Read less
0 Comment
whyboder

Review whyboder 4/5 · Jan 2, 2018

Pretty good story

3.8/5

This was really fun. Attractive story, creative gameplay and very likeable characters. Unexpectedly good for a visual novel. Totally recommended.

0 Comment
whyboder

Status whyboder Jan 2, 2018

This was really fun. Attractive story, creative gameplay and very likeable characters. Unexpectedly good for a visual novel. Totally recommended.

0 Comment Permalink
Dallen

Status Dallen Jul 14, 2015

I have no OBJECTIONS with this game. It's made me LOL more than I could remember.

0 Comment Permalink
jamie.ly

Review jamie.ly 4/5 · Aug 22, 2014

I have heard about Phoenix Wright since his first game came out for Game Boy Advance. Unfortunately, I was in college at the time and had largely stopped buying new games.

I'm glad I went back and played this, as it seems like a new genre to me--something between interactive stories like Choose Your Own Adventure and point and click …

Read more

I have heard about Phoenix Wright since his first game came out for Game Boy Advance. Unfortunately, I was in college at the time and had largely stopped buying new games.

I'm glad I went back and played this, as it seems like a new genre to me--something between interactive stories like Choose Your Own Adventure and point and click strategy games in the King's Quest vein.

The cases were all well written although somewhat contrived, and I enjoyed how the clues and investigation were internally consistent. There weren't a lot of places where you have to make a big leap in intuition (although there were a few). The game transitions between investigative portions and courtroom scenes, mixing up the action and keeping it fresh.

From a game design perspective, some of the choices regarding how the game works were interesting. For example, investigation played a large role in the game, and I don't have the impression that it is really in the purview of a defense attorney (I could be wrong). Still, it seems to be included to make the game more entertaining, and it works. I suppose I make this point because I think if I were to design a game around being an attorney, I might get caught up in procedural elements (as if it was a simulation), while this game eschews that accuracy for engrossing play. I suppose that is also true in many other games, but I thought it especially notable in this domain, since there are so many rules governing how things work.

Read less
0 Comment