Franchise as a whole
Mainline entries:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | Justice for All | Trials and Tribulations | Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney | Dual Destinies | Spirit of Justice
Spin-offs:
Ace Attorney Investigations | Gyakuten Kenji 2 | Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | The Great Ace Attorney
Other media:
The 2012 film | The anime
- Adorkable: Sebastian. Despite his ego, when he's not taken seriously (which is most of the time) or he's making a fool of himself, it becomes a rather endearing trait.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Sirhan Dogen serious about threatening to have Patricia Roland's family killed? Or was he just being pragmatic and lying about it so he could blackmail her, given his established distaste for needless killing? In this case, it may be better to consider the source of this information. It was Roland who claimed that Dogen was threatening her family. Dogen does not mention her family at all when he comes clean, and instead the impetus for blackmail stems in Roland's involvement in SS-5 and their attempt to silence Dogen at the scene of the crime.
- Arc Fatigue: This is a long game. Not only is the first case in the game very extensive by the franchises standards, but subsequent cases go for hours, with extremely complex mysteries that require at times multiple testimonies just to even come close to cracking. Special note goes to "The Inherited Turnabout" which by some estimates is longer than the final case of the first game, and it's only Case 3! Case 5, "The Grand Turnabout", is even longer, making it unsurprising that one of the rare negative points made against the game is its sluggish pacing.
- Base-Breaking Character:
- Justine Courtney. Many people love her for her unique design and her takedown of Blaise in the 4th case, as well as doting behavior for her son and, to a lesser extent, trying to help Sebastian. Many others hate her because she enables Sebastian's poor decision making, acts obstructive at every turn and is generally a huge bitch towards Edgeworth. Even her fans hate her behaviour at the beginning of the 4th case, when she dismisses herself as a suspect without providing any detailed reason she couldn't be the culprit, then uses evidence she is fully aware is fabricated to pin Jill's murder on Kay.
- Blaise Debeste. While some appreciate the sheer audacity of his unabashedly vile personality and the depth of his villainy, others find his almost cartoonishly evil nature impossible to take seriously, harming the mood of the cases to feature him, as well as his very passive approach to arguing with Edgeworth, mostly relying on others to argue for him and repeatedly revealing self-incriminating information he has no reason to.
- Dane Gustavia is either an interesting culprit due to his memorable gimmick and stoic yet cunning personality or a overly cruel Hate Sink who lacks the emotional impact or personality that the other killers have.
- Di-Jun Huang or rather his body double can feel like this, due to his role as a Hidden Villain only coming out long after his death, meaning that there's far less impact or satisfaction when all his horrible deeds are revealed. Those who like him enjoy his Cowardly Lion personality and funny moments, and feel that his death was necessary to avoid another Quercus Alba situation.
- Best Boss Ever: The bosses are seen as much stronger here than in Edgeworth's first outing.
- Sirhan Dogen is both a terrific Red Herring and fearsome opponent. Cunning and unhelpful, he's more interested in playing mind games with Edgeworth, who he slowly grows to see as a Worthy Opponent during their battle. He's unpredictable and unnerving, creating a tense and different battle much earlier than you'd expect such a complex confrontation to happen at.
- Manfred Von Karma is a brief but difficult obstacle. His testimony is unusually short but difficult to break through due to being so succinct. It really shows that despite being obscenely corrupt, he is still a highly competent prosecutor.
- Dane Gustavia is a controversial character, but his final fight is quite enjoyable. With time on his side, he's able to sidestep most evidence by using the fact that eighteen years have passed since the incident, meaning the evidence is mostly circumstantial. Even more unique, he confesses to his crime while using the statute of limitations to his advantage, only being bested due to a misunderstanding about how the statute works. He's far more savvy than he seems and it's an intense battle of wits that requires a familiarity with the gameplay to succeed.
- While difficult, Blaise Debeste's confrontations are highly regarded. They're far more personal and emotional than logical, taking Edgeworth out of his comfort zone and pitting him against someone who uses psychological abuse as a debate tactic. It requires much more strategy to overcome and is a welcome change of pace, showing how even a rather inept criminal can become formidable if handed too much power. His testimonies are more straightforward and also well liked due to Debeste's inability to show any humanity, making it intensely satisfying when he's defeated.
- Simon Keyes is up there with Dahlia Hawthorne when it comes to memorable final bosses. His mindset is chaotic rather than analytical, providing a perfect foil to Edgeworth's strategies. His expressions are demented and unpredictable and his testimonies are unique due to being so full of Insane Troll Logic that the goal is to find the most plausible events that link him to his crimes. Taking the Monster Clown down is climatic and rewarding, being challenging yet fair as well as shaking up the formula.
- Best Level Ever:
- Case 3. Not only for the interesting case itself, but also for the opportunity of playing as Gregory Edgeworth. It's probably the longest case in the game too, switching back and forth across time between Gregory and Miles, while still managing to avoid dragging on. Many consider it to be the best case 3 in the series, if not a contender for the best period.
- Case 5, "The Grand Turnabout". The case requires the solving of many crimes: three murders (President Huang, his double, and Jill Crane's lover), four kidnappings (Kay, John, Sebastian, and the SS-5 Incident), the actions of two serial killers (de Killer and Dogen), the disappearance of two children (Gustavia and Dover's sons) and the resolution of a 12-year-long case that was never solved and that put the Lang clan to shame. All being manipulated by none other than Simon Keyes, the defendant from case 2. The case is, to this day, the one in the franchise with the highest amount of people and evidence involved (27 people and 33 evidences, no clean ups). Grand indeed!
- Catharsis Factor:
- Taking down Dane Gustavia after 19 years of avoiding consequences his crimes. He willingly confesses knowing he couldn't be convicted due to the Statute of Limitations expiring four years ago, or so he thought, as Edgeworth manages to prove that Gustavia can still be tried for his crimes. After abandoning his son, murdering someone and leaving someone to take the heat, finally Jeff Master is free and the true villain can be locked up.
- After all the shit he puts Edgeworth and his son, Sebastian through, taking down Blaise Debeste will be satisfying for any Ace Attorney fan given how much conflict he caused in the original trilogy.
- It gets better when Sebastian, who Blaise always considered an idiot, helps to take him down. He bids his father farewell and thanks before Blaise is reduced to a mess screaming his son's name. It gets better when Patricia Roland, Blaise's accomplice, gives him an earful, thus incriminating both of them.
- Character Rerailment: Unlike the previous game where it is completely glossed over, Larry is back to his Laurice Deauxnim persona, and his artwork turns out to be useful once more, again unlike the previous game where he barely contributes to anything.
- Complete Monster: See here.
- Crosses the Line Twice: Blaise Debeste causing his son to have a mental breakdown just for him to leave the room? Horrific. Blaise Debeste brushing it off and continuing like nothing happened? Hilarious.
- Difficulty Spike: The final villain of Case 3 is much harder to crack than anything beforehand. Later, Case 5's Big Bad jacks the regular penalty for presenting wrong evidence up from 10% to 30%, and a whopping 50% for the final testimony.
- Draco in Leather Pants:
- Simon Keyes, the Big Bad, is very much a scheming little bastard. But since the game also goes out of its way to make him a Jerkass Woobie thanks to his horrifying backstory, there are many fans who downplay his actions or even think they are justifiable.
- Many fans seem to only acknowledge Knightley's Pet the Dog moments while glossing over his more unlikable qualities.
- Patricia Roland's positive traits (such as her affection for animals and bubby personality) are frequently used to ignore the fact that she psychologically tortured a child to insanity and used her "beloved" animals as hiding spots for undigestible items. It's also common for fans to use Sirhan Dogan's hatred of her as a motivation, despite the hatred being due to his affinity for the child she tortured.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Sebastian Debeste is one of the most well-liked characters by people who've played the game, who cite his development as being one of the best in the series. It's not uncommon to see people wanting him to be promoted to the main prosecutor of a future game.
- For someone who appears in only one case, Horace Knightley is popular with the fans. Mostly because of his relationship with the Big Bad.
- Gregory Edgeworth gets half a chapter dedicated to him and it instantly demonstrates why he was so beloved by everyone around him. He's a calm, friendly, and rational lawyer who has great interactions with Raymond Shields, the contestants at Masters' party and Manfred Von Karma. He's a formidable protagonist without being too flawless, as he was sadly too naïve for his own good, making his death all the more tragic.
- Katherine Hall is also a popular character due to her graceful personality and design and having some cute Ship Tease moments with Raymond Shields in the flashback. She's also a positive example of a Tragic Villain, with her motivation for wanting to kill Dane Gustavia being nuanced and in character.
- Even Better Sequel: Gyakuten Kenji 2 aimed to be bigger and more dramatic than the original, evident by the "final case" feel that the first case of the game was shooting for (and achieved). Common points of praise are the excellent cast, the great soundtrack, the improved visuals, and having every single case be complicated, challenging, and highly rewarding.
- Evil Is Cool: Simon Keyes is highly regarded among the fandom for the great twist behind the character, their intricate backstory, and their simple, yet intimidating makeover followed by what is perhaps one of the best villain themes in the series. The fact they technically achieve everything they set off to do does not hurt either.
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- Courtney's concern in the second case that Edgeworth might go down a shady "ends justify the means" path feels a lot more understandable after playing Dual Destinies and seeing how entrenched said mentality has become at Themis Legal Academy, not to mention dealing with the third case's culprit, Professor Means. And then in that game's finale, Aura decides that catching Dr Cykes's real killer justifies holding an entire facility hostage, and directly threatening Phoenix's daughter.
- People cutting off Sebastian mid-sentence, clearing their throats to make him stop talking, having his testimonies called stupid by Gumshoe and Larry of all people, and Franziska whipping Sebastian for being stupid gets much less humorous after the end of case 4 where his own father berates him in front of everyone else that everything he brags on about was actually thanks to Blaise's influence and nepotism, and that he's too stupid to be his son for not even realizing it and a shame to his dad. Even after that, just a mere few minutes later he's kidnapped and wakes up in his own garage, leading him to think that his dad's men kidnapped him on purpose.
Sebastian: You don't understand, Mr. Edgeworth! I lost everything I had this morning!- At a few points in the fifth case, Simon Keyes hopes that he won't get arrested again like he was in the second case. He's exposed as the mastermind behind all of the game's events and sent to prison in the end.
- Simon Keyes being part of Big Berry Circus is much harsher when it's revealed he's a sociopath who instigated several murders and commited one himself. Considering all the drama that happened back in "Turnabout Big Top", you can't help but feel it's rather harsh for the circus to have hosted another killer and one who didn't regret at all what he did, unlike Acro.
- The reveal in the final case that the president had been killed long ago and the one we met was an impostor gets kind of echoed in Dual Destinies, whose final case reveals that Bobby Fulbright had been dead for a year and the one we met was a spy impersonating him.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Throughout the game, there is a mastermind in a hooded red raincoat committing crimes, with the ultimate reveal being that the culprit is a clown that Edgeworth met earlier in the game. It's almost reminiscent of a certain Batman villain.
- Actually, a Sad Clown who got abused ever since childhood without any help from authority who finally snaps and plans to kill anyone who wronged him for revenge? Now where have we heard that before?
- In the final case, the victim is made to look like they were killed by a Kaiju. And then in Dual Destinies, a victim is made to look like they were killed by a Youkai.
- The final boss of this game imitates Edgeworth's Objection! shout. And then the final boss of Dual Destinies imitates Phoenix's Objection! shout.
- Many Let's Players, and players in general, couldn't resist choosing the "you're a failure" option at the start of the Logic Chess round with Sebastian Debeste just to see what would happen.note Then comes Spirit of Justice, where during the second case's revisualization segment, one of the options when Apollo asks himself what Bonny's mistake was is "Her life choices". Guess what players proceeded to do.note
- The mere fact that Sebastian's utterly ridiculous first Argument accidentally got him closer to the truth than anyone else until three cases later. Sure, Simon didn't kill Knightley, but he had him killed, and the chessboard did have something to do with it.
- Love to Hate: The biggest example in the game is Blaise Debeste. He's the corrupt head of the P.I.C, and the mastermind behind the assassination of the president. He's an obnoxious, abusive, creepy, immature, narcissistic monster who abuses people (including his own son) for shits and giggles. Despite the fact he's a contender for the biggest Hate Sink in the franchise, he's such an entertaining villain, that you'll be aching for his comeuppance.
- Magnificent Bastard: Sirhan Dogen is the aformentioned blind assassin responsible for killing the former president of Zheng Fa, along with the primary supplier of the prison, having blackmailed the Warden Patricia Roland, into giving him and other prisoners anything they wanted by threatening her life. Standing up to De Killer to save his adopted son, outtwiting Edgeworth, and letting himself be arrested so he could get revenge on his enemies, Dogen and Keyes execute a masterful revenge plot to get every single one of their enemies convicted. When Keyes falls under suspicion for the murder, Dogen has his attack dog take the victim's body into the prison and removes the chisel to decrease suspicion on Keyes. When confronted later on about being the mastermind, Dogen gracefully accepts defeat and reveals that the mastermind is his "acolyte" whose life he saved as a child. Affable, deceptive, and cunning, Dogen got his desire of having a new cellmate in Keyes.
- Memetic Mutation: The fourth case's shot of Edgeworth returning Kay's notebook, which restores her memories has received a viral fan edit
where he's instead handing out a clown diploma, following up on the famous "You are not a clown. You are the entire circus" meme. - Memetic Molester: Ray Shields refers himself as "Uncle Ray" and has a penchant for offering hugs and candy to everyone (even the guys).
- Most Wonderful Sound: When "The Great Truth Burglar " plays in case 4, due to showing that Kay is back to her normal self!
- Narm:
- Justine's "panicked" animation is supposed to be dramatic but it looks... more sensual?
- In early releases of the fan translation, as Edgeworth is pondering whether to become a defense attorney at the end of Case 3, he thinks, "The path I choose is...", immediately followed by, "End of patch. Save your game at the end of the episode when it is asked," in the same text box, as if that was the answer Edgeworth came up with.
- The fact that every single case which occurs in the series' present days can in someway be traced back to a dessert-making competition. Also related to that event, Manfred von Karma being introduced by walking off a candy castle.
- Justine's "panicked"
- Narm Charm:
- Blaise Debeste's Psychopathic Manchild traits are so explicit and unbelievably vile that it borders on Refuge in Audacity on how nobody has linked him to his many crimes. In a way, it makes him even more terrifying, as it shows just how dangerous someone with no morality or self control can be in a position of power.
- The fake president of Zheng Fa being crushed by a balloon is a pretty silly way for someone like him to die, yet it's a fitting Cruel and Unusual Death for such a vile human being.
- Obvious Judas: Blaise being evil doesn't come as much of a surprise, considering their appearance and the fact their attempt at being Faux Affably Evil only makes them come off as downright creepy. And the fact the only other suspect in the case is Kay Faraday. Of course, the real twist is just how evil they turn out to be, and the game's actual Big Bad is much more well hidden.
- One-Scene Wonder: In the second game's flashback case, Manfred von Karma is even someone who can be cross-examined, leading to a brief but incredibly tense confrontation.
- Player Punch: The second game has several. First, in Case 3, having to confront von Karma over evidence forgery as Gregory can count as one to players who know what it will lead to, similarly to being forced to present forged evidence as Phoenix in AJ. Case 4 begins with what looks like an attempted murder of Kay, her showing up heavily injured with amnesia... and then being accused of murder. And finally, in Case 5, finding out the real killer is Simon Keyes, someone who not only had Edgeworth's complete trust before, but who Kay considered a genuine friend. The moments before the big reveal are especially heartbreaking, with both Kay and Regina practically begging Edgeworth to prove it isn't true, and even Edgeworth himself being reluctant to believe it.
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
- A possibly intentional example. Sebastian Debeste is made to be as obnoxious and unhelpful as possible, making it all the more satisfying when he Took a Level in Badass and personally presented the evidence that put his dad behind bars. While he's not regarded highly in second and third chapters, it's generally agreed that he redeems himself and then some by the game's end.
- Justine Courtney being revealed as a great mother/mother figure to Sebastian Debeste and John Marsh does a lot to redeem her in many people's eyes, though whether it changes fan's opinions on her is still hotly contested.
- Regina Berry is better received this time around, still being a Nice Girl yet more cautious and responsible. It probably helps that instead of creepy scenes of much older men hitting on her, she has cute and endearing interactions with characters who have similar personalities.
- Ron the Death Eater: Justine Courtney is sometimes portrayed as a Manipulative Bitch who obstructs Edgeworth at every turn, downplaying her maternal nature towards Sebastian Debeste and John Marsh as well as her Heel–Face Turn after Edgeworth defeats Blaise Debeste.
- The Scrappy: Delicia Scones is not too popular due to her ugly design, habit of complicating things, and generally feeling unnecessary. She drags the beloved third case down a little bit when she's on screen by setting up scenarios far less interesting than the main story. Worse, she's a Karma Houdini who gets away with her deception with little more than a stern talking to.
- Sequel Displacement: Within the Investigations duology, this game is decidedly much more popular than its predecessor in spite of the No Export for You at play, due to being an Even Better Sequel with what is considered one of the best final cases in the series, as well as introducing several fan favorite characters.
- Ships That Pass in the Night: Sebastian x Kay is a surprisingly popular pairing, owing to their similar ages and role as understudies for Edgeworth. That said, they have limited interactions, with the biggest one being Sebastian accusing her of murder.
- Squick: In case 3 of the second game, the lyre of the Gemini sherbet statue was coated with a mix of salt from a salt rock lamp and the killer's blood. It was then eaten by two unknowing people.
- That One Level:
- The Logic Chess battle against Sebastian, the longest and most complex in the game. Justified and lampshaded as at that moment, Sebastian has become a blubbering mess drenched in his own desperation and self-loathing, with Miles constantly mentioning that Sebastian is in his emotional and psychological limit. Kay and Miles admit they need to take it easy on the Logic Chess (something Miles has never done before) in order to not break the boy completely. Three out of the five questionings in the match are actually related to bringing Sebastian back from his Heroic BSoD rather than attempting to get information.
- Blaise's in the previous chapter is almost as bad: it's long and requires several actions you never needed to do before (such as going back on previous lines of questioning only to find options that weren't there before) and has to be ended by selecting the one option that penalized you every other time you tried it. Fittingly both battles are the only two in the game to use the "Allegro" version of the Logic Chess theme, and are family members.
- Lotta's during the fourth case isn't too hard or obtuse, but the clock runs down at a far faster rate than in any other Logic Chess battle in the game due to her impatient nature, meaning that any mistake ends up being much more damaging.
- The fourth case in general is very difficult to make sense off until halfway through. Most of the initial evidence is either too abstract to interpret (i.e. Kay's first chunk of recovered memories) or outright lie to the player (i.e. the autopsy report, which is otherwise reliable 100% time). It doesn't help that the partner for most the case (Amnesiac Kay) is not very helpful for obvious reasons. Also, many plot threads are deliberately kept vague for the subsequent case, so you never really get a full grasp of everything, which can surprisingly lead to plenty of mistaken assumptions.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Early on in the second case, it is revealed that Raymond Shields would have been Horace Knightley's defense attorney in his trial had the latter not been murdered. It might have been nice to see Ray go up against his old boss's son in court given the tension between the two over Edgeworth's "Demon Prosecutor" past.
- Underused Game Mechanic: Fingerprinting is back! And it's used exactly once.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Justine is supposed to come off as merciless to lawbreakers and stuck in a very compromising situation involving Blaise coercing her and her nephew/adoptive son being kidnapped. However, before the reveal that she was working to take down Blaise she spent two cases hindering Edgeworth's investigation, used forged evidence to try and convict an innocent girl for a crime she knew Blaise was responsible for, and was generally just being a giant bitch.
