DS Review: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Not even four months could pass between the next installment of the Ace Attorney series. Capcom has treated us with the sudden release of Apollo Justice, and fans of the series couldn’t be happier. Let us state that this game is just like any other Ace Attorney title. For more information on the series, check our cleverly-written review of Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations, also available for the Nintendo DS. That review will inform you on all the basics of the series, whereas this review will focus on the similarities and differences between previous Ace Attorney titles and the recently-released fourth installment of the series. Worry not, this review is spoiler-free.


As a true installment, Apollo Justice keeps the successful elements of its predecessors and tweaks them a bit for good measure and improvement. Gameplay remains divided into two sections; somewhat-slow-paced point-and-click investigations and ever-so-exciting courtroom proceedings. Your job remains on the defense; acquire information, collect evidence, interrogate witnesses and discover the truth behind each of the game’s four cases. Wacky characters, courtroom drama, and intense moments of both intrigue and hilarity remain. Dialogue is well written for the most part; some incorrect uses of the abbreviation of the world ‘have’ seem weird, but there’s very little to complain there, and jokes and sarcasm are everywhere, guaranteeing many laughs, fan of the series or not.

The cases themselves are mostly great, although one is unrelated to the others and another seems to have a good amount of plot holes. The last case, however, is a true gem in design and presentation. Throughout your adventure you will meet and interact with a variety of characters; an intellectual in clear need of psychiatric help, a serene yet mysterious singer, and a very talkative newsman apparently in love with mints. A new prosecutor is set to battle you, and this one seems like the perfect prosecutor, in search of total truth. Your assistant, Trucy, is as whimsical and clever as Maya from the previous titles, and Apollo himself couldn’t be a more direct representation of Phoenix Wright. Ah, and let’s not forget good ol’ Judge, always at a loss. Luckily, Apollo has a power under his sleeve; the ability to perceive tension and certain ‘ticks’ from witnesses, allowing him to uncover the truth and help the Judge achieve the fair verdict.

Apollo Justice remains a stylus game, with intuitive controls for dialogue progression and menu selections. Players of the first Phoenix Wright title might remember case 5, in which pieces of evidence could be examined in 3D to discover clues or more aspects of the case. This feature is present in Apollo Justice, and although it rarely is seriously needed it’s a nice touch for the title. Since this game is the first Ace Attorney title developed exclusively for the DS, some nice 3D cutscenes adorn some cases, and the colorful and brilliant art style for both characters and backgrounds is well preserved. The soundtrack doesn’t get any better than this, with brand new and exciting tunes to match every mood of the title.

Small differences aside, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is just about as good as its predecessors, with its overall location quality-wise being a matter of personal preference. The adventure, measuring at around 15 hours, is a joy ride for previous Ace Attorney players and newcomers alike, with a vivid and attractive presentation and style that remain true to the series. You will laugh, you will gasp, you might even cry, and it’s all in the name of justice.

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