The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a two-game collection from Capcom that includes two titles in the Ace Attorney series. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve were released for the 3DS in Japan in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Now, they're fully translated and being brought over to the West for the first time.
Fans of the long-running Ace Attorney series should expect all of the wacky courtroom and investigation antics that the franchise is known for. Players will solve five cases in each game by investigating different locations, speaking to people involved in the case to gather information, and participate in high-stakes courtroom drama to find a culprit. Some of the major differences in these two games, however, are the main character and setting. Instead of playing as the iconic Phoenix Wright from the original trilogy or Apollo Justice (another defense attorney that came into the series later), Ace Attorney fans will step into the shoes of Ryunosuke Naruhodo, an ancestor of Phoenix Wright.
Players might be worried about stepping into the shoes of a new protagonist, but they shouldn't. One of the best parts of this duology is the main cast of characters, and that's including Naruhodo and his judicial assistant Susato Mikotoba. He's a very inexperienced lawyer, and the first case in the first game even begins with Naruhodo being the prime suspect of a murder case.
He, along with his partner, certainly turn the charm meter all the way up. He's very loveable and geeky, and the two of them have such great chemistry through the several cases that the player goes through. Whenever Naruhodo gets down in the dumps about not knowing how to proceed during cross-examination in court, Susato will always be there to reassure him and back him up with some guidance. It's very similar to the relationship of Pheonix and his partner Maya Fey in the original Ace Attorney trilogy. Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy the chemistry between the two, as well as some of the other characters they'll encounter.
And just like the previous games, the courtroom gameplay is back, but it's been changed a little bit. Seeing that the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles setting is in the early 1900s in both Japan and England, technology has not advanced quite yet, and the courts have different rules. Instead of relying on high-tech forensic tools to match fingerprints to a suspect or look into a blood sample, lawyers in this time have to use deduction to figure out who did it, which can have consequences for later cases.
A majority of the time, players will be in London's courtroom, and it's certainly different from an American or Japanese one, as there is a jury. Not only will players have to cross-examine witnesses to find contradictions with evidence, but they will also have to make sure that the jury is on the defendant's side. They will be cross-examined at times, and players will need to listen closely to gather new evidence.
Adding the jury may seem like a game-changer due to having way more participants on the courtroom floor, but it doesn't add much to the overall Ace Attorney courtroom experience. Speaking to the jury and listening to what they have to say can sometimes feel like it's only prolonging the high-stakes arguments from the prosecutor and Naruhodo. It takes away from the main point of the ongoing discussions and feels like extra padding to make these sections longer than they should be. It's a neat idea, but, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be executed that well in this first attempt.
Besides the jury, however, much of the gameplay in the courtroom remains the same as previous entries. Players will use the evidence gathered during investigations to use in court once a contradiction has been found. If a player gets something wrong, they'll lose one of their five "lives." However, it's not worth worrying about getting something wrong since The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is definitely one of the easier games in the franchise.
Players will still feel that sense of satisfaction for knowing all of the solutions during a case, but the game does hold the players' hands a bit. It's not a bad thing by any means, but it does make the player do less work, and that could be an issue for hardcore fans. It's also worth noting that these games don't have many ties to the other games in the series, so anyone can jump in and feel comfortable with the narrative presented to them, even if the cases aren't as memorable as others.
Although The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles has dozens of hours of content spread across two games and 10 cases (as well as some bonus mini side cases), many of the game's cases are lacking. They don't feel as dire or blood-pumping as previous cases from the original trilogy. New players will surely find enjoyment in the variety of the cases themselves and the satisfaction that comes with it, but veterans might be disappointed in how some play out.
All in all, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a wonderful entry point for players fresh to the franchise. The main cast of characters is charming and bursting with personality, even without voice acting; there are so many entertaining cases to go through, and the courtroom dramatics will keep players mostly intrigued and on their toes. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles isn't the best pair of Ace Attorney games out there, but they will still provide players with an enjoyable experience that will last for many, many hours.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles launches for PC, PS4, and Switch on July 27, 2021. Game Rant was provided a review code for the PS4 version.