Apollo Justice – Ace Attorney

Apollo Justice – Ace Attorney is a visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the fourth title in the Ace Attorney series, and was released for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in Japan in 2007 and in the West in 2008, for iOS and Android in 2016, and for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. It was also released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One in 2024, as part of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy compilation. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney takes place seven years after the events of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations. 

Like previous Ace Attorney games, it consists of several cases, or “Turnabouts”. In each, the protagonist, Apollo Justice, must prove the innocence of a client accused of murder using evidence and testimony. Once the opening level is concluded, he is hired to work in the offices of former series protagonist Phoenix Wright, who has since been disbarred from practicing law and has become a piano player and professional gambler to support his adopted daughter Trucy Wright, a young magician who becomes Apollo’s trusted assistant and fellow investigator.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is, like the rest of the Ace Attorney series, a cross between the adventure game and visual novel genres. The player’s goal is to defend their clients in four cases, and prove their innocence. The gameplay is separated into two types of situations: Investigations and trials. During the investigation phase of each case, the player explores the game world by either using the stylus or the D-pad to select the actions they wish to engage in: Examine, Move, Talk, or Present.

The player converses with non-player characters by selecting dialogue and can move around the game world by selecting the locations they wish to travel to. Information gained during Investigation Mode can be used during the Trial phase of the game and items picked up can be used as evidence. The player cannot progress without completing certain actions.[5] Ema Skye, a character from the DS remake of the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, often provides the player with opportunities to use DS features such as the microphone to perform actions such as dusting for fingerprints.