Getting into the Ace Attorney series

[Doctrine Dark]

Hello. I've always been a fan of visual novels, but I never took the time to get into the AA series. My exposure with Phoenix Wright came from his introduction in Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3. I enjoyed the way PW was implemented there. What I can say is I've never heard one bad thing about this series at all. Even people that were never into these types of games were captivated by it.

So with that, would the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy be a solid introduction to the series?

 

[@TheFriendlyBro]

To keep it short, yeah.

Start with the trilogy.

 

[The Last Lombax]

Yes, play them in this order:
- Ace Attorney
- Justice for All
- Trials and Tribulations

 

[Saturday]

Hells to the yes.

 

[darkside]

I mean I'm not sure how else you'd get into it? The base 3 games hold up better than the stuff after, with the exception of Investigations which is pretty neat. And the later games in the series expect you to have played the trilogy.

 

[LordGorchnik]

No need to prolong the thread as the first two posts nail it. I believe you can get the collection on iOS as well.

 

[McNum]

It's also half-off on Steam right now.

A great time to get your Attorney's badge. And show it to everyone.

 

[Unknownlight]

Ace Attorney hypothetically can be played out of order, but you really shouldn't.

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
2. Justice for All
3. Trials and Tribulations
4. Apollo Justice
5. Dual Destinies
6. Spirit of Justice

The first three are in Ace Attorney Trilogy.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Do not play this series out of order, ever.

The only ones you can are: Ace Attorney Investigations (playing 1 before 2, naturally) after playing the mainline trilogy and Phoenix Wright vs. Professor Layton never.

 

[Lant_War]

Play the trilogy in order and then find a way to play the Investigations games.

 

[jon bones]

Start with the trilogy. It's incredible.

 

[purseowner]

Ace Attorney 3 is a masterpiece. Play them all in order.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

yes. you should start with the trilogy, and play the games in order.

 

[Earthstrike]

The first games in the trilogy are actually the best IMO. Seems to be the same for most people in the thread as well.

 

[Siman shinsafe]

Play every game in the order they were released.

 

[Efejota]

You will find some people (me included) arguing that the DS/Wii versions of the games are better due to the character artworks being designed with pixelart conversions and a 4:3 screen in mind, as well as having more language options avaliable. In any case, the first trilogy is THE place to start, and the HD version is avaliable in many platforms now.

After that, you can play the second trilogy or the spin off duologies in whichever order you like, as long as you always play each of the entries in order. (I hope that made sense).

Edit: If you end up enjoying Phoenix Wright make sure to check out Ghost Trick on the DS or iOs. It's by the same creator. Just make sure to avoid looking up too much of the plot on wikias. Same for Phoenix, since many characters and plots are recurring between games.

 

[V_ac]

You should start with the trilogy, yeah. Near every game after it assumes you've played them anyway.

Aside from that, 4-6 should be played in order but you can fit in the Investigations games, the Great Ace Attorney games, and the Layton crossover whenever you want.

 

[Entryhazard]

The first games in the trilogy are actually the best IMO. Seems to be the same for most people in the thread as well.

Click to shrink...

I rather think JFA is the worst game in the series, the first 3 cases are so bad that not even the good fourth can save the game as a whole. And the music really sucks, worst tracks ever
the trilogy arc is really really good but is carried hard by the first game and especially T&T

 

[The Boat]

Didn't a new compilation leak from Capcom? One with the trilogy and the 3DS Great Ace Attorney games?

 

[Asbsand]

The first game is the best game in the franchise, but it also strangely gets better from there.

I know I just contradicted myself but whenever I look back on all the games the first one has more of a special aura to me, mainly because it summarizes and captures the essence of the setting and storytelling of the franchise and it's not even a very long game (yes, I say the first game, 5th bonus DS only case notwithstanding in my book.)

Really, any game is written so it reintroduces everything to new players, but for the sake of getting the right emotional responses from the plot developments, you should just play them chronologically. Give the spinoffs and later games a spin if you like, but word of warning... If you hold narrative under scrutiny you might start to find that the quality more or less begins to go downhill starting with AA4, and never quite reaching the trilogy's level again. That's only the writing though, because presentation, music and graphics is in constant evolution.

 

[Jintor]

Start from the beginning

 

[Kain]

Release order

 

[hwarang]

Try not to binge them though. You're gonna get burned out as not every case is good.

 

[Doctrine Dark]

Thanks a lot for the help, guys. I'm ready to embrace the lawyer life now.

 

[Waxwing]

Just a shout-out that if you like the trilogy, the rest of the games are very much worth playing. I personally think 6- Spirit of Justice is the 2nd best game (after 3- Trials and Tribulations). Absolutely some of the best writing/plotting in the series, and I think a lot of folks slept on it after the disappointment of 5.

 

[Leo]

So with that, would the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy be a solid introduction to the series?

Click to shrink...

It is the only way, actually. All games tie into one another so you have to start from the beginning. The Trilogy is a great port, it has better sound and is in HD (some people prefer the pixel look from the originals, but i think I think the artwork looks great and is very faithful), so you can't go wrong with it. If you're into physical games, you can import it from Japan, it's fully localized.

 

[Hours Left]

Play them all in order. Don't skip games. It's worth it.

 

[Why would you do that?]

I played the trilogy recently, when it came out on Switch. It's every bit as great as everyone said it was, and I can highly recommend it. I've yet to play any later games in the series, though (mostly just because it's hard to go back to the 3DS sometimes, after the Switch).

But really, it's a series that above all else, has a lotta heart.

 

[Mexen]

Visited the eShop. DD is 9 bucks. AJ 11. I can only afford one. I have played the original trilogy which I also bought during a sale. Help me decide?

Sorry OP, no thread hijack intended.

 

[Apopheniac]

Visited the eShop. DD is 9 bucks. AJ 11. I can only afford one. I have played the original trilogy which I also bought during a sale. Help me decide?

Sorry OP, no thread hijack intended.

Click to shrink...

Play Apollo Justice before Dual Destinies. Apollo Justice is AA4, Dual Destinies is AA5.

The next one after is Spirit of Justice, which is AA6.

 

[Mexen]

Play Apollo Justice before Dual Destinies. Apollo Justice is AA4, Dual Destinies is AA5.

The next one after is Spirit of Justice, which is AA6.

Click to shrink...

Thank you! I'll bookmark this post.

 

[RAWRferal]

Bruh, you're in for a real treat. As others have said, the original trilogy is a great starting point!

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Play them all in release order.

also find a way to play Investigations 2 when you eventually get to that point, it might be the best game in the entire series, the only other game worthy of that title is AA3.

 

[Enduin]

Yup AA is the best. You have 6 mainline games that are all related and continuation from one to the next, 2 spin-off series with two games each, plus one cross over game. And they're all worth playing.

Mainline:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
PW: AA - Justice for All
PW: AA - Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
PW: AA - Dual Destinies
PW: AA - Spirit of Justice

Spin-offs:
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (Never released outside of JP but there is a full fan translation)
The Great Ace Attorney: The Adventure (Never released outside of JP but there is a full fan translation and now leaks show official releases coming next year)
TGAA: The Resolve (Same as above, though the full fan translation is not out yet)

Crossover:
Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Probably best play order would be 1-3, then the two Investigation games, then 4-6 and then the two TGAA games.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

As others have said, start with the original trilogy (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney --> Justice for All --> Trials and Tribulations) and play them in order. You're in for a wonderful ride.