3.5/5 ★ – johnschwartz's review of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Spirit of Justice.

Nintendo 3DS The downside of the 3DS and Wii U eShop’s imminent shut down is, well, it’s shutting down. The upside? Capcom game sales! I picked up Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice back in March of 2022 and I only JUST NOW FINALLY finished all of Spirit of Justice, including it’s DLC which I bought recently (sadly wasn’t on sale). If you can, I’d definitely recommend picking up these two specifically as they’ll soon be erased from Nintendo storefronts. They are on the AppStore too, I just don’t know if those ports are any good. Anyways, it was fun! Despite being the 6th in the series I never felt lost as I caught on to the characters and their dynamics pretty quick. The game definitely makes sure to let you know who everybody is and will tell you if who you’re seeing is a returning character from past games which was much appreciated. For those who don’t know, the game is a visual novel with light investigative segments and a boatload of court room battles that involve using evidence to find inconsistencies in witness testimonies. It’s very light on gameplay and is mostly a lot of reading. Luckily the writing is quite charming and fun but it doesn’t exactly pack a hard dramatic punch. I didn’t find any of it to be particularly gripping until the final episode “The Turnabout Revolution” which was pretty great. Here are quick thoughts on each episode: The Foreign Turnabout - Not the most interesting case but the culture clashes and character introductions are fun to see unfold - 3.5/5 The Magical Turnabout - Not sure I agree with switching locations and characters from episode to episode but it was still enjoyable enough. I think this might be my least favorite of the base game episodes - 3/5 The Rite of Turnabout - This took me the longest to complete. Like four months I think. Not by the game’s fault but of my own. My game sessions lasted around 15 minutes each so you can’t expect to accomplish a lot in that short of time. The in-game Khura’in culture blossomed in this episode and actually became quite interesting. There was…one part near the end of the trial that I thought was kinda uncomfortable but otherwise this was a fun one - 4/5 The Turnabout Storyteller - This felt like the most tacked on episode which doesn’t surprise considering it’s the shortest one. But strangely enough I found it to have the zaniest and most memorable characters in the whole game. So at least there’s that! 3.5/5 The Turnabout Revolution - Now this is what I’m talking about! Is actually the longest episode but for good reason. The stakes were high and juicy and I couldn’t put it down! Great episode to end the base game with - 4.5/5 The Turnabout Time Traveler - The first of 3 DLC episodes and the only one to be a full on episode. Had a fun time with it but I thought it went on a bit too long, which I guess is fine considering I technically payed more for this than the full game. The characters were fun and the mystery unraveled in some ways that I wasn’t expecting. Def worth picking up - 3.5/5 Phoenix Wright: Asinine Attorney - the 2nd DLC that is almost entirety reading except for one key part. It’s basically an hour-ish “What-if” scenario that was mildly amusing. The ending was kind of hilarious and made the whole thing worth it. It was only $1 and it came with a free theme so that was nice - 3/5 Apollo Justice: Asinine Attorney - the last piece of DLC, the same deal as above. Thank god it was only a dollar because it kind of sucked. The actual reason for the trial was funny for a bit until it just kept going and doing the same thing over and over again - 2/5 And there ya go. Already booted up Dual Destinies and finished the first episode. Can’t wait to check out the rest of the series!