Taking place in Japan and England during the 19th century, both titles feature Phoenix Wright’s ancestor Ryunosuke Naruhodo as the protagonist. Teaming up with world-famous detective Herlock Sholmes, Ryunosuke must unravel an international conspiracy, both inside and outside of the courtroom. Each title is divided into five episodes with unique cases, twists and turns.

The compilation includes the DLC episodes of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and outfits from The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, Japanese and English voice options, and an auto-advance option for the story (for those who want to bypass any puzzles). You can also view the various artwork and trailers along with listening to music and developer commentary in the Gallery. For more details, check out our official review here.

YES! #TheGreatAceAttorney Chronicles has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide! Thank you to all of our passionate fans who have made this game a great success! pic.twitter.com/Er9STXhsnS

— Ace Attorney (@aceattorneygame) April 15, 2022

A Short Hike

Having arrived in Hawk Peak Provincial Park and unable to get cell reception, Claire must venture to its peak in A Short Hike. Yes, it’s a very simple premise but the world built around this simple goal, with all of its side activities and colorful characters, is incredibly wholesome. Players help locate lost items, go fishing, partake in races, and even fly. Even with its cute looks, there’s a fleeting feeling of Summer, of gallivanting about and learning new things while just having fun (and remembering what’s really important).

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles compiles The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, which released for the 3DS in 2015 and 2017 respectively, and never released in the West (until now, that is). The games are set in late 19th century England (and partly Japan), and fledgling lawyer Ryunosuke Naruhodo – an ancestor of original series protagonist Phoenix Wright – serves as the protagonist. Sherlock Holmes also plays a crucial role in both games, though here, he’s called Herlock Sholmes, because of copyright issues.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is available now on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Great use of its setting along with the usual dose of charm, humor, smart writing, and a great cast of characters help The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles deliver an incredibly strong package, one that ends up being well worth the very long wait.” You can read our full review through here.

Of the games that have never released in the West, two are The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, prequel spinoffs set in Victorian London (and partly in Meiji Period Japan) over a century before the events of the first game in the series. Fans have been clamouring for these games to be localized for years, especially given their fascinating premise, while many have even taken it upon themselves to do the work that Capcom wouldn’t with some pretty thorough (and really good) fan translations. Now, however, years after the original releases of both games, Capcom has brought the pair to Western audiences in a single package, calling it The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles– and happily enough, the duology has turned out to be well worth the wait.

"Years after the original releases of both games, Capcom has brought the pair to Western audiences in a single package, calling it The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles– and happily enough, the duology has turned out to be well worth the wait."

In the Great Ace Attorney games, you play as Ryunosuke Naruhodo in the late 19th century, a fledgling lawyer and an ancestor of Phoenix Wright himself, who travels from Japan to England to hone his skills in the field of law. That period setting is easily one of the biggest strengths of these games. Victorian London is brought to life excellently and serves as a charming and immersive setting, with vibrant art design, a great soundtrack, and lovingly crafted 3D models doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Most importantly though, both games constantly make smart use of the social, technological, and cultural characteristics of the era in consistently interesting ways in the story and the cases.

Things such as gas meters or the beats of Victorian era London cops or the lack of forensic technology are not only emphasized to add greater flavour to the games’ setting and time period, but also serve as crucial elements that entire cases and parts of the story often hinge around. As a result, the Great Ace Attorney games end up crafting an identity of their own that feels very distinct from other games in the series. Ace Attorney fans will, of course, find plenty of familiar stuff in here, from the general mechanics to the gleefully silly humour to the general over-the-top nature of the games, but in leveraging its period setting properly, the duology ends up striking the perfect balance between feeling fresh and familiar.

Unsurprisingly for an Ace Attorney game, the cast of characters here is also absolutely delightful. Creative art design and wonderfully detailed animations for each character, on top of smart writing that is brimming with that trademark Ace Attorney humour, help bring each of them to life in excellent ways, injecting them all with oodles of personality and helping them stand out in memory, no matter how major or minor a role they might play in the story. Ryunosuke Naruhodo is an excellent protagonist, his judicial assistant Susato Mikotoba is a loyal and capable companion, famous real-life Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki is an endearing mess of a person, while prosecutor Barok Van Zieks is a formidable (and appropriately over-the-top) rival for Ryunosuke.

"Unsurprisingly for an Ace Attorney game, the cast of characters here is absolutely delightful."

Best of all is Sherlock Holmes (referred to as Herlock Sholmes here so that Capcom could avoid copyright disputes), who is introduced early on in the first game, and proceeds to dominate every scene he’s in. Holmes (or Sholmes) is depicted quite interestingly here- he retains the cocky, confident, charismatic persona that you’d expect from the character, but quite often, he’s full of hot hair. Watching him make hilariously off-base deductions or bumbling about foolishly with little to no self-awareness (even as others around him continue to be awed by his brilliant deductive powers, which clearly aren’t all that brilliant) is easily one of the highlights of the experience.

One of the central new mechanics that the Great Ace Attorney duology introduces to the series’ formula, in fact, revolves around Sholmes. Every so often during investigations, he makes series of deductions based on his “keen” observations in typical Sherlock Holmes fashion- but many of his observations are misguided, and his deductions, as such, are inaccurate. It falls to you, in these scenarios, to make your own observations and make gentle corrections to Sholmes’ deductions in order to arrive at a more accurate conclusion. These sections aren’t the most challenging (a general lack of challenge is an issue with both games, in fact), but thanks to slick presentation and smart little narrative twists and revelations, they are consistently enjoyable and satisfying.

Beyond Sholmes’ deductions and Ryunosuke’s course corrections following those deductions, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles adds another interesting element to the series’ formula in the form of juries. We have seen juries in Ace Attorney games before (to some limited extent), but in the Great Ace Attorney games, they’re a much more fundamental part of cases, and directly influence the outcome of trials. Every so often, juries might make decisions that are not in your favour, following which it falls to you to change their minds during summation examinations so the trial can be allowed to continue.

"Some of the best cases in Ace Attorney history can be found in this duology, with The Great Ace Attorney 2 in particular delivering a constant stream of complex and engrossing mysteries."

Summation examinations function a lot like cross-examinations of witness testimonies, which means your primary task is to press each juror on their reasoning for their verdict. Your ultimate goal, however, is to pit the statement of a juror against that of another that it contradicts, in order to highlight inconsistencies and point out flaws in their reasonings. Mechanically, it’s a nice twist on the cross-examinations mechanic, and does just enough to set itself apart and allow it to have its own place in the experience rather than feeling like an unnecessary addition. Meanwhile, both games also do an excellent job of ensuring that enough new details and revelations come to light during these summation examinations so that trials don’t feel like they’ve stalled, which means there’s constant forward momentum. Above all else, they add a nice bit of variety to trials, which is good because some trials can be pretty long at times.

The quality of cases in both games is also excellent. There are ten episodes in total, five each in both games, and the cases vary from solid to downright spectacular. Both games are full of those “aha!” moments that Ace Attorney is so well known for, and slowly dismantling each mystery piece by piece and watching the puzzles gradually fall into place is immensely satisfying. While there are one or two cases in here that perhaps drag on a little too long or fail to grab interest during certain segments, the vast majority of cases in both games deserve a lot praise. Some of the best cases in Ace Attorney history can be found in this duology, with The Great Ace Attorney 2 in particular delivering a constant stream of complex and engrossing mysteries.

There is, of course, a larger narrative thread that runs through each episode, and though it takes a while to get going, it comes together excellently. Of the two games, the first one largely serves as setup for its sequel, establishing its world and characters and laying down the foundations for several crucial story arcs and plot points. As such, it feels slower paced, with its strong cast of characters doing the bulk of heavy lifting. The Great Ace Attorney 2, however, takes almost no time to get going, and right from the get go, it starts building momentum. Mysteries are solved, questions are asked and answered, stakes are raised, and some genuinely surprising revelations come to light. Collectively, both games tell an incredible story, and tell it very well. Some inconsistencies do pop up here and there, but they’re mostly pretty minor, and don’t really hurt the larger plot in any significant way.

"Collectively, both games tell an incredible story, and tell it very well."

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a delicious treat for Ace Attorney fans who’ve been waiting for these games to release in the West for years. Given its nature as prequel spinoff set over a century before the first game though, it’s also a great entry point for newcomers to the series. In total, I spent over 60 hours on the duology, and I had a wonderful time from beginning to end. It’s been a long wait, but The Great Ace Attorney is absolutely worth all those years of anticipation.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.

In a series of trailers, you can get an introduction to five different investigations you’ll be tasked with cracking: The Case of the Visiting Professor, The Case of the Stricken Steamship, The Case of the Deathly Omnibus, The Case of the Pedestrian Knifing, and The Case of the Pawnbrokery Burglary. Each trailer is short and gives just a brief introduction to the known events and evidence. It’s not a comprehensive list by any means, but will give you an idea of the tone and style to expect.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is set to release on July 27th for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. You see some gameplay footage, including how courtroom cases play out, through here.

According to Capcom, “Players will assume the role of an aspiring Japanese attorney named Ryunosuke Naruhodo, an ancestor of the courtroom legend himself, Phoenix Wright.” Ryunosuke will team up with his legal aid, Susato Mikatoba, as well as Sherlock Holmes-alike Herlock Sholmes to solve ten cases across Japan’s Meiji Period and Victorian Era London.

As before, the gameplay will involve both Investigations and Courtroom Battles. In Investigations, players will visit the scene of the crime to gather evidence and interview witnesses, and discover clues. New to the series will be the “Dance of Deduction” mechanic, in which players will correct Sholmes’ outlandish theories and discover what’s actually going on in an individual case.

In Courtroom Battles, players will make arguments, present evidence, and question witnesses in an attempt to obtain a “Not Guilty” verdict. The new “Summation Examination” mechanic will allow players to “point out the inconsistencies between jurors’ statements in order to move the case forward.”

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will release for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam on July 29th. You can watch a trailer for the game below:

The gameplay showcases how the player will offer corrections to different deductions made by Herlock, which can lead to advancing cases. As you point out contradictions in court, you’ll rally jurors over to your side. Visual novel fans will also be happy to hear that there’s an auto-advance option, letting you get on with the story without worrying about any busywork.

Along with all of the games in the series, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles includes English and Japanese audio tracks, additional outfits and the “From the Vaults” DLC available as a pre-order bonus. It’s out on July 27th for PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details and gameplay in the coming weeks.

What can we expect to see at the show? Monster Hunter Rise and Resident Evil Village are mentioned, so DLC announcements for both seem likely- though the latter definitely comes as a surprise, since Capcom has previously given no indication that it has post-launch content planned for the survival horror game. Will it be a story expansion or related to The Mercenaries- or perhaps related to the upcoming Resident Evil Re:Verse? We’ll find out soon enough.

Meanwhile, two upcoming games, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles are also confirmed to be making an appearance during the presentation, so at the very least, we’re likely going to see new trailers for both.

Beyond that, the hope is that we will see some new announcements as well, and sure enough, leaks do seem to suggest that. Resident Evil Outrage has been leaked relentlessly, and it has been alleged in the past that the game would be announced not long after Village’s launch. Meanwhile, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is also allegedly in development, and fans will surely be hoping for that to be announced as well.

We’ll be covering all of it, of course, so stay tuned for more details.

https://twitter.com/CapcomUSA_/status/1402249050532024321

The Ace Attorney franchise was an interesting one to look back on. Largely releasing on handhelds, the series helped to popularize the visual novel adventure game hybrid following Phoenix Wright as he solves a variety of cases and crosses paths with many colorful characters. However, there is something of a ‘lost’ subseries, The Great Ace Attorney. It encompasses two different games originally released on 3DS that were never localized outside Japan. Now, that is changing.

In a new message from Creator Shu Takumi, it was announced both titles would be coming westward for the first time in a collection. The two games in question are The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve. Instead of following the main cast, they are instead set in 19th century Japan and England, but have the same set up of investigating cases in a combination of adventure game and visual novel.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will release on PlayStation 4, Switch and PC on July 27th.