Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a fantastic remaster with an interesting story and hilarious characters.
The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is, in many ways, a fresh chance at stardom for its titular character. For all the Ace Attorney has endured with audiences for over two decades, Phoenix Wright and its initial cast remain the face of the franchise, taking the limelight from any newcomers wishing to usurp the beloved star.
Following the critical and commercial success of the original trilogy of legal drama-esque visual novels headlined by the beloved icon, Shu Takumi and his team took the bold decision to set the character aside for a fourth mainline entry in the series in 2007, centering the action on all-new plucky upstart Apollo Justice.
Pushing aside your beloved headliner for someone new runs the risk of alienating a fanbase, and it’s difficult to determine whether this decision was a successful one. While this new entry was certainly a critical and commercial success upon release, many clamored for the return of Phoenix Wright and co. beyond the supporting roles they’re given here, by the time the fifth entry was finally released six years later, Wright was back on the cover and in the driving seat for proceedings in future titles. Apollo was now being overshadowed in what was supposed to be his own trilogy.
Phoenix Wright remained the franchise star, and Apollo was overlooked. It didn’t help that, until now, it was far more difficult to play these games compared to the seemingly endless releases offered to the original trilogy in the following years. By comparison, the Apollo Justice trilogy received just a single port to mobile devices in the mid-2010s, with the games otherwise stuck on the now-obsolete DS and 3DS.
However, good things come to those who wait, and the long-awaited remaster of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy provides a platform for these characters and stories to be reintroduced to audiences and judged on their own merits. Importantly, without the pressure of following up a beloved trilogy for a fervent fanbase. And with a remaster like this, Mr Justice should have no problem making new friends with modern audiences!Same old attorney
On the surface, not much has changed with this new release. The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy brings all three entries in the trilogy together in a single collection, remastered with all-new visuals to cater to modern HD and 4K displays. To accommodate for the loss of the second screen from Nintendo’s former handhelds, gameplay when examining evidence or interrogating witnesses has been adjusted to work with just a single screen.
