Though I called my time with the Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice Trilogy “done” a few months ago, the games have remained close at hand…or ear, as it were, thanks to their excellent soundtracks. A decent part of my daily routine at work calls for rote data entry, and it’s during these sessions that I’ve turned most to the compilation’s soundtracks. I’ve become especially enamored with the tracks from Spirit of Justice, particularly “The Basics of the Case” theme I’m highlighting here. The game’s extensive cache of varied tunes is infinitely repeatable, but something about “The Basics of the Case” just hits all the right notes.

The simple theme plays, as the name says, during cases; and it doesn’t really take center stage in those moments. But the music is there, urging players forward in their quests to solve whatever mystery is facing the main characters of the moment. There’s something about the theme’s flows that remind me of “thinking.” I’ve actually found myself wistfully falling into thought while listening to it (even though I should be paying attention to my spreadsheet!), because of the way it ambles on. There’s a gentleness to the theme, as if it’s luring its listeners in one direction or another, but without ever reaching a particular destination. That’s keen in the Ace Attorney games, because so often roads of questioning lead to unexpected places, if nowhere.

Adding further to the theme’s mysteriousness is its slow/fast pace. The song moseys along without question, and the quick staccato strings add intriguing exclamations to the journey. Again, going back to the idea of “thinking,” these quick bursts read like “Eureka!” moments marking and otherwise steady path. The song’s constant pace never wavers either, imbuing focus and determination. “The Basics of the Case” is among the Spirit of Justice’s more subtle tracks, but it speaks volumes, nonetheless. Paying extremely close attention the what’s happening on-screen might cause players to miss it (I know I did). Revisiting this theme, and the game’s soundtrack as a whole, as given me a new appreciation for how well enmeshed music is in Ace Attorney’s spectrum. Without this, the characters all just actors playing up a legal stage. With the music – the quiet tracks, the loud ones, and everything in between – they become sensational spectacles to witness. And you can’t have an Ace Attorney game without plenty of pomp and circumstance, right? Right!

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