TheAce Attorneyseries debuted on the Game Boy Advance in Japan on June 26, 2025, before finally reaching international audiences as a DS game in 2005. Since then, the visual novel series has risen in popularity and spawned multiple sequels, spin-offs, and an unexpected crossover.
Originally developed for handheld devices, the Ace Attorney games are available everywhere, including home consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. If you want to get into the Ace Attorney series but don’t knowhow many games you’ll need to play to catch up, we will cover all the essentials here… unless you have any objections.
There Are Six Main Ace Attorney Games
There are currentlysix main Ace Attorney gamesthat follow Phoenix Wright and his friends as they work together to protect innocent people and the judicial system. It’s recommended that you play the games in the order in which they were released to understand the chronological events of the series and the character arcs as they unfold in front of you.
Each game often has two different sections that interweave elements from visual novels and adventure games. Half of your time as an attorney will be spent investigating crime scenes and interrogating witnesses, while the other half will be spent in court as you provide evidence to back up your claims.
You’ll spend most of your time in the shoes of Phoenix Wright, though occasionally - and especially in the fourth game in the series - you’ll play as someone else and see events through a different perspective. You’ll watch the main character go from bumbling rookie to Ace Attorney throughout these six games, and it’s certainly a ride worth taking.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials And Tribulations
June 17, 2025
There Are Five Ace Attorney Spin-Offs
If you’ve finished the main series and still have a taste for justice, five other games take place in the same universe as Ace Attorney, though the events from these games havelittle to no impact on the main narrative. There are two spin-offs with two entries each under their banner and a crossover title with the Professor Layton series.
The first spin-off is the Ace Attorney Investigations series and follows Miles Edgeworth as he acts out his duties as a prosecutor. The gameplay is very different from the main series and focuses more on adventure game elements like finding items and using them correctly to advance the story. It should be noted that the second game - Ace Attorney Investigations 2 -has never been launched outside of Japan.
The second spin-off is a duology of games known as The Great Ace Attorney. These prequels take place during the early 1900s, which means you won’t be able to rely on modern technology to get to the bottom of a case. It deals with heavier themes than the other Ace Attorney games, but the narrative told across both titles is excellent and worth investigating.
Being a lawyer isn’t easy, so Phoenix Wright decides to partner up with the star of the Professor Layton series for an excellent crossover that combines the best of both worlds. This game isstill exclusive to the 3DS, and physical copies are expensive and difficult to find.
June 14, 2025 (North America)
There Are Three Remasters And Compilations
While you could go back to purchase the original copies of these games, most of them are incredibly rare and can cost you quite a bit to collect them all. Fortunately, Capcom has re-released or remade many of the Ace Attorney games, and you can often purchase multiple titles in a single package.
There are currently three remasters and compilations are easily found on most platforms. You canexperience all six of the main games through two separate collections, and the Great Ace Attorney dualogy was ported to most consoles in 2021.
There Are 11 Ace Attorney Games In Total
Not including the compilations, there are11 unique games in the Ace Attorney series. Each one stands on its own with compelling mysteries,memorable characters, and unexpected twists. Each entry can take youanywhere between 20 and 30 hours to complete, so you can easily spend hundreds of hours getting lost in the magnificent world of Ace Attorney.
