To those who might've noticed, I am a huge fan of the Ace Attorney franchise. Mostly thanks to my girlfriend, but that's beside the point. I've played the original Phoenix Wright trilogy, the two Miles Edgeworth: Investigation games, I've watched the anime adaptation of the original trilogy and I've now beaten this hidden gem. (I promise I'll play the Apollo games soon). This one is most interesting to me. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures came out in 2015 for the 3DS. The only problem for people living in Europe and North America... Was that this game was a Japanese Exclusive. It was inaccessible through legit means. The only way you could play it legitimately was if you bought a Japanese 3DS, Learned to read and speak Japanese, and buy the game. The majority of people (And something I planned on doing) used 3DS Emulators to run a fan translation of the game. Just like how most people (Myself included) played Investigations 2 which was also Japanese Exclusive for the DS. It wasn't until a few months ago where Capcom announced The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles, a port and official localization of the two games in the series. So I can finally play this and without the use of an emulator.

The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures has a great setting and story that makes it unique. Rather than taking place in modern times like the other games, The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures takes place during the Meiji Era of Japan (More specifically the late 1800s) where you follow Phoenix Wright's ancestor, Ryunosuke Naruhodo as he travels from Japan to London, England on a quest to prove himself as a defense lawyer. I love the setting because not only is it different, it allows the cases to be more unpredictable. Fingerprints aren't a thing during this period, blood tests aren't a thing in this period. In fact, Judicial Practice hasn't been fully established at the time. It makes every case and event feel fresh and fun.

And the cases... My goodness, they are good. There are 5 total chapters in this game and like the previous games, have a murder, investigation, court case, and conclusion. One of the biggest issues with this franchise is the pacing. Some cases drag out for WAY TOO long. Some cases can be around 10 hours long and they eventually become a slog to go through. Though this game has that issue (And according to my girlfriend, cases in the 3D style of games tend to be way longer than the 2D Hand-Drawn Style) I never got bored or tired. I don't mind chapters being long as long as they keep my interest throughout and it doesn't become a case like Investigations where I find out who the murderer and the big twist is but I still got like 5 hours more of the chapter. I had fun throughout and though there were some dumb moments, I never got tired or impatient with it.

And my god... The Music is mindblowing. One of my favorite in the series by far. It's great.

The gameplay this time around is a lot more interesting. Investigating is the same old stuff but with the addition of some side stuff. 2 very interesting characters in this game are Iris Wilson (A 10-year old genius based on the fictional character, John H. Watson) and her partner, Herlock Sholmes (Obviously based on Sherlock Holmes). I won't get into much detail about the characters (They are fantastic though). But the big gameplay system in the Investigations of the game is where the suspect/witness is hiding the truth, Iris or Herlock will start their "Logic and Reasoning Spectacular" and attempt to expose them. Then you must fill in the blanks to come up with a conclusion. It's fun and amazingly animated. The court cases also have a system called the Jury System. 6 Jurors will vote for either guilty or non-guilty. If they vote Guilty, you have a chance to do a Summation Examination to sway their decision by pitting their arguments against each other. It's really fun and paced well.

This game has a wonderful story because of its characters. The already mentioned Ryunosuke Naruhodo, Herlock Sholmes, Iris Wilson, and other characters like your assistant, Susato Mikotoba, and rival prosecutor, Lord Barok Van Zieks. All of these characters have some surprising depth and fun personalities that make the game's writing and acting so fun.

The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures is a great game filled with fun characters, good pacing, fantastic music, and a fantastic ending that makes me so utterly excited to play the sequel in this duology. I love it

4/5

Would Recommend