Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy

I went into this collection already familiar with Phoenix Wright's original trilogy, so the question for me was simple: does the second batch hold up, and does Capcom's PC port do it justice? The short answer is yes on both counts, with a few honest asterisks attached. The three games here are Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice. Each one alternates between point-and-click investigation segments, where you comb crime scenes, interview witnesses, and build your court record, and trial segments where you cross-examine those same witnesses, press their statements, and present evidence to expose contradictions. The formula is unchanged from the original trilogy, but each game stacks a fresh mechanic on top. Apollo himself wears a bracelet that lets him perceive involuntary nervous tics in witnesses, playing out in a slow-motion magnifying-glass minigame that genuinely rewards attention. Dual Destinies introduces Athena Cykes and her Mood Matrix, a psychology-based tool that reads emotional fluctuations in testimony. Spirit of Justice leans into mysticism with Khura'in's Divination Seance mechanic. The variety keeps things from going stale across what amounts to well over 60 hours of content across all 16 episodes. Character quality is where the series earns its reputation, and this trilogy delivers. Prosecutors like Klavier Gavin, guitarist of the in-universe rock band the Gavinners and genuinely decent guy by prosecutor standards, give the courtroom battles personality beyond pure obstruction. Apollo's own arc, from nervous greenhorn in the first game to a lawyer who eventually goes toe-to-toe with Phoenix himself in Spirit of Justice, is one of the more satisfying slow-burn protagonists arcs in the genre. The writing keeps a firm grip on absurdist humor without losing the dramatic weight when cases turn dark. The rough edges are real, though. The jump from the 2D sprite art of Apollo Justice to the 3D character models of Dual Destinies is jarring, the models competently mimic the expressiveness of the sprites but never fully replace them. The PC build is capped at 30fps and some textures remain low-resolution, which feels like a missed opportunity for a 2024 release. Investigation phases across all three games can feel repetitive; clicking through rooms looking for the one interactable pixel that advances the story is the series' oldest weakness, and nothing here fixes it. Dual Destinies also takes some criticism for heavy handholding in its puzzle design compared to the other two entries. On the upside, Capcom added a Story Mode that auto-advances events for players who just want the narrative, plus an Orchestra Hall music gallery, Art Library, Animation Studio, and extra character costumes, the kind of extras that make a compilation feel curated rather than lazy. For newcomers: you can start here, but the story has roots in the Phoenix Wright trilogy and several payoff moments hit harder with that context. For returning fans, this is simply the best and most accessible way these three games have ever been presented on PC.

Alex · Scout Team

Catch-all

Be the first to comment on Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy.