Four years after the debut of Deck Nine's prequel spin-off, and almost two years after Dontnod's last outing, the Life is Strange franchise has returned with Life is Strange: True Colors, Deck Nine's first original entry in the series. For fans, this is a major entry, as it is not only the series' debut on next-generation consoles and Nintendo Switch, but it is the first title to release all five chapters at once, as opposed to staggered episode releases with previous entries.
The only downside to this format is that fans are very likely to finish True Colors faster than any other entry given its binge-worthy nature. This, coupled with the game only clocking in at around 10 hours overall, means that fans are very quickly going to want to fill the void Deck Nine's spectacular slice-of-life mystery leaves them with. Thankfully, a surprising savior might be found in one of this year's quietest releases, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Capcom's latest collection of previously Japan-only Ace Attorney games have ended up becoming one of the year's biggest sleeper hits, that has surprising appeal for fans of Square Enix's Life is Strange series.
How The Great Ace Attorney Surpasses Life Is Strange's Writing
The first reason Life is Strange fans should look into The Great Ace Attorney series is that, unlike Life is Strange where the length of each title maxes out at Life is Strange 2's 15 hours of content, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles closes after a whopping 80 hours of non-stop storytelling. This is mainly because the game is a collection of two games. However, not a second of this time is wasted given both games feature one overarching narrative: Starting with the first game's beginning case, and ending with the second game's final case, means it's a non-stop 80 hour adventure that rarely seems like narrative filler.
While potentially intimidating, it's worth mentioning that much like the Life is Strange games, each Great Ace Attorney game is broken into five chapters, ranging from two to ten hours long. Of course this would all be meaningless if the world and characters of The Great Ace Attorney weren't so full of personality and endearing. The game follows bumbling Japanese lawyer Ryunosuke Naruhodo and his judicical assistant, Susato Mikotoba, as they study law in England over the course of a year. The duo team up with the great detective known as Herlock Sholmes and his assistant, a 10 year old scientist called Iris Wilson.
Both games feature a very small cast of constantly reoccuring characters that are all immediatly lovable, even including the cold rival prosecutor Barok van Zieks, known as "The Reaper" to the townsfolk of London, who Ryunosuke faces in court. While Life is Strange fans are undoubtedly used to emotional and often dark storytelling in their games, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles focuses on a more lighthearted tone. However this only makes the game's more serious and sometimes very emotional moments of storytelling hit much harder, since it's hard not to adore its cast of eccentric characters.
Deep, Complex Investigations
Another reason Life is Strange fans will love The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is due to the games' deep investigation mechanics. Ryunosuke and Susato travel to many points of interest, interviewing suspects, and investigating pieces of evidence related to a specific case, before cross-examining witnesses in court in the game's trials.
These moments are the bread and butter of the Ace Attorney series, focusing on the player's ability to detect the contradictions in witness testimonies, and present the appropriate evidence to turn the case in their favor. While each of these sections is somewhat linear and requires a specific pattern to succeed, the game relies heavily on the player's own wit to solve these cases and empathy for its characters in order to succeed, something it shares in common with games like Life is Strange: True Colors.
Better yet, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is the perfect entry point for newcomers of the series, as it is a self-contained story with no connection to the main Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games at all. The games also offer a conclusive ending that implies that this was only intended to be a short spin-off of the Ace Attorney series and that the story told throughout both titles is done and dusted, much like almost every entry in the Life is Strange series so far.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4.