High on my 2024 “most anticipated” list was Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, a compilation released on the Switch in January. My first foray into the Ace Attorney series occurred seven years ago with the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy, which was old news by then. Still, I had a great time with the games. The style of gameplay (visual novelization, new to me at the time) proved engaging, and the characters were immensely entertaining. (Not to mention that Phoenix Wright’s inclusion in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 finally made sense!) When I saw that the latest Ace Attorney games had been compiled, I really couldn’t wait to jump in. Upon the compilation’s release, I unceremoniously dropped Tears of the Kingdom (hey, it had a good run), and started in on a new set of colorful courtroom adventures.

The first game in the series, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, picks up seven years after Phoenix Wright’s last turn as an attorney. It starts in the shoes of his protégé, the young Apollo Justice. Apollo has a ways to go in terms of, well…learning to point and yell things in the courtroom, but he’s managing well enough under the wing of his mentor, Kristoph Gavin. Together the two take on a case involving none other than Wright himself. Retired from the legal profession, Wright has been making his way as a poker player and (sort of) pianist. When he is charged with the murder of another player, he seeks the best counsel in the form of Apollo and Gavin. Wright’s case, “Turnabout Trump,” is filled with plenty of wild twists and turns, not to mention one particularly personal twist for Apollo that eventually sets him off on his own path as a lone defense attorney. Of course, Apollo is not fully alone; it wouldn’t be an Ace Attorney game if he was! He soon takes on a sidekick, Trucy Wright, Phoenix Wright’s fifteen-year-old daughter who’s also a magician (still so many questions there), who provides assistance and plenty of “peanut gallery” commentary along the way.

Heading back into the Ace Attorney world felt a little like a homecoming. From the courtroom scenarios overseen by that ubiquitous bearded judge with one too many opinions, to the back-and-forth examinations, to the famous pointed (and pointing) interruptions, to bearing witness to Apollo’s constant inner dialogue, the familiarity was very welcome. Not so welcome were the grand leaps in logic required to match scenarios with evidence. I quickly became stumped at certain points in even just the first case! Yeesh. That was the one things about the original games that I didn’t care for. However, at least I knew to expect it. And as I’ve continued into the second case, I’m keeping a much closer eye on dialogue and queues that do, honestly, point to the present solution. I’ve so far been completely clueless once, and it’s because I didn’t trigger a sequence of events properly. With that out of the way, I finally see where the second case, “Turnabout Corner,” is going…though I still don’t quite get how the name of the case itself relates. All will be revealed in good time, I guess.

As to the characters, I liked interacting with Phoenix Wright well enough, but I like Apollo much more, so far, anyway. Maybe it’s just because he’s young and a little dense, but I’m finding his take on the world to be much more humorous, and his nervous naiveté is endearing. His sidekick and Wright’s daughter, Trucy, is also a riot. She’s fearless! Not always in a good way, but still. She has her own little “sidequest” in the second case that’s so ridiculous, I couldn’t help but constantly chuckle at what was going on. As to the other folks I’ve so far met – the two Gavin brothers (Kristoph the attorney, and Klavier the rock star), noodle stand proprietor Mr. Eldoon (haha, get it?), the community-oriented gangsters of the Kitaki family, the budding scientist and familiar face Ema Skye, and others, have been standouts. Each brims with so much personality that I can almost hear them speak every time they “speak.” That’s the great thing about the game – the writing is mostly quite good, but even when it isn’t, the characters still sell the situations perfectly.

My journey into Apollo Justice’s world has only just begun, and I can’t wait to see where things take him. Will he ever find out why Phoenix Wright is playing poker and pretending to play the piano instead of practicing law?  Will Trucy reveal the secret of her magic undergarment? Will Klavier Gavin ever stop called Apollo “Herr Forehead”?? (It’s the spiky hair, you see.) I’m certainly eager to find out all that, and more. So stay tuned!

All images, including lede, were captured by author during Nintendo Switch gameplay of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (© Nintendo).