My 2024 Game of the Year pick may not be the biggest seller of the year, or one with technical pizzazz or eye-bleeding graphics, but it’s the one and only game that lived with me throughout nearly the past twelve months. I started the new Ace Attorney compilation, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, at release last January; I’m still playing this this January, as I’m headlong into its final game, Spirit of Justice. I don’t play many new games in any given year, so to stick with not only a new game (the whole “but it’s not really new, it’s just a new collection of old games!” argument aside) but also a new game for nearly a whole year is new territory for me.

2024 was a stressful year, both outside of my own circle, and especially within it. I began the year with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy joining me on my daily train rides to and from work. As they are short trips, I didn’t think they’d be the best for gaming, but this compilation with the wonderful addition of being able to save my progress at any point, proved me wrong. I followed young attorney Apollo Justice on his ride to fame, just as he saw me battle through dreadful mornings and tired afternoons. I watched as Phoenix Wright’s past and present collide in strange ways for Apollo, just as he witness me battle with endless projects and harsh deadlines. I reveled in the burgeoning comradeship between Apollo and the fresh-faced go-getter, Athena Cykes. Together they took on the world and came out on the other side still swinging for the fences. Their courage helped me face my own challenges and emerge from them (mostly) unscathed.

I didn’t know it when I started, but Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy was just the thing I needed in 2024. Even playing through just small bits of each case at a time helped me feel grounded and inspired daily. The Ace Attorney’s way with oddball humor and puns also worked its magic; laughter is the best medicine, it’s true. But the Ace Attorney world isn’t one that’s always filled with rainbows and sunshine. Sure, the cases tend to turn out for the better, as far as Wright and his crew go, but they aren’t without moments that range from touching to terrifying. Sometimes a given case’s emotional transitions ebbed smoothly like gentle ocean waves; other times they came crashing in with tsunami-like force. Such is the way of the world, too; days range from peaceful to anything but, and they can change in the blink of an eye. Ace Attorney is good for aiding in perspective, because it’s easy to see things askew and much harder to willingly see the truth. Without ever-present and unshakable faith in their clients, what would the Ace Attorney gang be but just another bunch of unfeeling lawyers. Their passion and drive for the truth is admirable, and it’s another daily lesson that worked wonders for my own psyche throughout the year.

I’ll have more to say about the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy when I complete its last game, but for my feelings on its game so far, click here and here. Being a relative newcomer to the Ace Attorney games, having completed the first trilogy just a few years ago, I missed the type of gameplay and story these titles offer. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that. Of course there’s something to be said for big, flashy games with lots of action, or massive RPGs with equally massive lore, or games that keep you on the edge of your seat in anticipation. These games, the one that win all the awards and make headlines have their place. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy had its place by my side last year; it was my stalwart companion through thick and thin. Once it’s complete, I’m sure I’ll be sad to see it go, but I’ll also be extremely happy knowing that I stuck it out to the rewarding end. I’d hope the folks at the Wright Anything Agency would be proud.

Lede image captured by author during Nintendo Switch gameplay of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (© Nintendo).