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The Ace Attorney seriesis a unique amalgamation of cartoonish anime sensibilities and the strict, regimented world of law. One second, you’re defending your lifelong childhood friend from a bogus murder charge that’s given him PTSD, and then the next you’re cross-examining a parrot on the stand. There’s nothing quite like it, and it’s done well to survive over two decades since its conception at Capcom.
There are a metric tonne of titles in the series; 11, to be precise, and each instalment has ventured further and further into expanded soap opera territory. Are they all connected? The simple answer is ‘yes, they are, explicitly so’ – but if you’d like to understand the why and how, do read on!
This article containsspoilers for numerous major plot beats in the (very story-heavy) Ace Attorney universe. Given that these are glorified visual novels, if you intend to play themwe invite you to avert your eyes from our breakdown!
The Original Trilogy
How Are The Main Characters Introduced?
The Ace Attorney series can, broadly,be divided into four ‘eras’.The first of these, the original trilogy, is where it all started, and the one with which casual observers are most familiar.Kicking off with the inaugural Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on GBA and DS, we’re introduced to greenhorn lawyer Phoenix Wright, whose snazzy blue suit and unparalleled ability to bluff cover up the fact that, half the time, he’s clueless.
We follow Phoenix as hecontends with the murder of his mentor, Mia Fey, and takes her sister Maya under his wing. Maya would go on to become his lifelong confidant and partner, and the two solve an array of cases, staring downthe dastardly prosecutor Miles Edgeworthin the process.
Phoenix and Edgeworth grew up together as childhood friends,only for Miles to become more and more estranged from Phoenix under Von Karma’s influence. Wright openly admits he entered the law profession, at least in part, to be in with a chance ofgetting back in touch with his old chum.
In the end, things wrap up when Phoenixsolves DL-6, an old case concerning the murder of Edgeworth’s father, Gregory – for which Miles' adoptive father, Manfred Von Karma, is implicated.
How Do The Original Trilogy Games Connect?
Two sequels followed.The first, Justice For All, is divisive to say the least,as three out of its four cases can charitably be described as ‘mediocre.’ There’s a run-in with an irritating troupe of circus performers, a tutorial chapter in which the prosecution attempts to argue a man whose neck was snapped was capable of writing, and… Ini Miney. Good God, Ini Miney.
It isn’t all bad, however.We meet Pearl Fey, Maya’s cousin, whose adorable innocence is soon taken advantage of as part of her mother Morgan’s convoluted scheme to install her bloodline to power in the Fey village.There’s also Farewell, My Turnabout, the final case, which renders the whole game worthwhile with its gripping kidnapping narrative.
The OG trilogycloses out with Trials and Tribulations, which is nothing short of a storytelling masterwork. We delve deeper into Mia’s past, and uncover her struggles againstevil serial killer Dahlia Hawthorne; who then resurfaces in the modern day to mess with Phoenix and the surviving Feys. She really feels like an all-encroaching villain, which makes it very satisfying to nail her with all her duplicity on the stand.
After the events of the original trilogy,Maya departs to head to Khura’in, home of a spirit channelling technique she’d been working to perfect. We don’t see her again in the series' chronology until Spirit of Justice, an in-universe decade later.
The Apollo Justice Trilogy
How Are The Two Trilogies Bridged?
There’s nowa seven-year timeskip between the first two trilogies, prefaced by Phoenix tragically losing his badge.
After being picked todefend nationally-famous magician Zak Gramarye in a high-profile trial, Wright falls into a trap laid by theconniving and jealous Kristoph Gavin(who’d been passed up for the opportunity) which sees himpresent forged evidence.He’s stripped of his credentials and disgraced on the world stage, forcing him to shift careers and become a musician – especially sincehe now has an adoptive daughter, Trucy, to provide for.
Seven years later,rookie attorney Apollo Justice- whose principal character trait is that he’s very,veryloud - is just setting off on his legal career when Phoenix decides he’s the prime candidate to help him take down Kristoph. Under Phoenix’s tutelage, and with Trucy’s assistance, he matures into a force to be reckoned with,and the two legendary lawyers are able to exploit a loophole in the jury system to put Kristoph behind bars.
Behind the scenes, Edgeworth, who’s now become the Chief Prosecutor after his Investigations duology (more on that in a moment),pulls some strings to get Phoenix his badge back. Apollo signs on at the Wright Law Offices properly, raising its attorney count to two.
How Are The Apollo Justice Games Connected?
Apollo’s trilogy (which, in fairness, is just as much Phoenix’s story)continues with Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice. In Dual Destinies, the Wright Law Agency gains a third member, Athena Cykes; a psychology major with unusually sensitive hearing that allows her to tune into the latent emotions behind a person’s testimony.
Phoenix, Apollo, and Athena form a formidable trio – which is just as well,because the legal system is entering ‘the dark age of the law.‘Phoenix’s disbarment and various other scandals have shaken public faith in the law, resulting ina series of bombings in courtrooms across the nation. To make matters worse,Apollo’s childhood friend Clay Terran is murdered, and a crucial piece of evidence is incinerated in one such bombing.
It soon becomes apparent thatan international spy, The Phantom, has been orchestrating much of the chaos, and is unmasked as respected detective Bobby Fulbright.He’s silenced by an assassin, but he says just enough to exonerate Athena, whom many (including Apollo) were beginning to suspect.
How Does The Apollo Justice Trilogy End?
Spirit of Justice sees the trio journey to Khura’in to visit Maya, only to find it locked in political chaos. The reigning monarch, Amara, has vanished, and in her place the heartless Ga’ran and her warmongering husband have assumed power. They’ve also signed an edictbanning all defence attorneys, so Phoenix and co. are on shaky ground from the beginning.
The core gimmick of Spirit of Justice isthe ‘Divination Seances’, arranged by priestess Rayfa. These allow for the viewing ofa victim’s final moments from their POV, which is used as the justification for outlawing attorneys.
However, as Phoenix highlights, thesecan be easily manipulated by people out of sight of the victim, and aren’t infallible insights.
Apollo is eventuallyable to demonstrate Ga’ran is a false monarch,as she’s unable to call upon the spirit of the Holy Mother and thus has no channelling ability. Amara resurfaces and reclaims the throne; whileApollo discovers he has familial connections to many of the major figures in Khura’in, and decides to stay and found his own law office there.
Edgeworth’s Investigations
What Is The Investigations Duology?
Such was Miles Edgeworth’s popularity among fans that Capcomafforded him a couple of spinoff titles on the DS. Subtitled ‘Miles Edgeworth Investigations’, these ditch the usual visual novel style fora third-person detective angle. You’ll maneuver Miles around a variety of environments, picking up evidence and chatting to suspects. It’s an intriguing spin on the Ace Attorney formula,but it only managed two installments – one of which didn’t even make it to the West.
Miles’ solo adventures take placeshortly before Phoenix loses his badge. In the first Investigations title, Edgeworthmeets Kay Faraday, daughter of Byrne Faraday, a deceased attorney with whom Edgeworth was connected. She claimsshe’s the ‘Yatagarasu’(a moniker which Capcom did not evenattemptto translate), a thief of sorts who “steals nothing but the truth.”
Acting as the Maya to Edgeworth’s Phoenix, she’s capable of reconstructing crime scenes digitally with her ‘Little Thief’ handheld device. Together, the pairunravel a deeper conspiracy surrounding Byrne’s death and the true nature of the Yatagarasu.
What Happens In Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2?
The sequel, Investigations 2,never made it out of Japan after the first game saw only muted sales in Anglophonic territories. Here, Edgeworth and Kay tackle fresh cases – but unlike Investigations 1, which only established its connective tissue in the final couple of chapters, no line of dialogue or seemingly incidental character goes wasted.
Every case is interconnected, taking insuch varied concepts as political assassination and rigged cookery contests, and building towards a genuinely shocking reveal of the mastermind. If you’re able to,givethe fan translationa go. It’s a stellar Ace Attorney experience, and an example of watertight plotting and writing.
Not long after the Investigations duology, another Ace Attorney spinoff hit shelves,this time a crossover with Professor Layton on the 3DS. Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright transports the gang toLabyrinthia, a mystical town that’s supposedly a realm of witchcraft and wizards, but which in truth harbours a dark secret.
Combiningthe puzzle-solving of Level-5’s top-hatted gentleman with Phoenix’s courtroom anticsis a match made in heaven, and it’s well worth picking up.
The Great Ace Attorney
What Is The Great Ace Attorney Duology?
Themost recent additionto the Ace Attorney pantheon ironicallypropels the timeline farther back than it’s ever been. The Great Ace Attorney isa prequel set in the Japanese Meiji Era, in which you play asPhoenix’s ancestor Ryonosuke ‘Ryu’ Naruhodo, and his assistant, Susato ‘Susie’ Mikotoba.
Given that these gamesexplicitly confirm Phoenix has Asian heritage(something the localised versions had been trying to avoid acknowledging), most fans assumed The Great Ace Attorney would remain Japan-exclusive. However, to the astonishment of all,an English release hit Western shores in 2021, compiling both games in one.
What Happens In The Great Ace Attorney?
Thefirst chapter of Ryu’s story, ‘Adventures’, sees him being sent to England in a time of great geopolitical unrest.His friend, Kazuma Asogi, was meant to be deployed there as part of a lawyer exchange programme to ease tensions between Britain and Japan; butwhen Asogi turns up dead on the boat, Ryu and Susie take over his mantle. They must deal with all manner of prejudice, anda vampiric prosecutor named Barok Van Zieks, as they work to blow the lid off a governmental conspiracy.
The sequel, ‘Resolve’, continues this London saga. The conspiracy deepens, as the existence ofa serial killer named ‘The Professor’ is discovered; and it seems his true identity has ramifications for Asogi, Zieks, and basically every notable secondary character.Asogi reappears to boot, having apparently survived his murder attempt, but he’s amnesic.
Running around in the background of all these events isHerlock Sholmes, a legally distinct version of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, and his young protégé Iris. Iris herself proves to havemore ties to The Professor’s legacy than anyone expected, and proves instrumental in bringing down the kingpin of the entire operation.
