Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney marks a new era for the loved Ace Attorney series. Remember the touch screen controls used in the last case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, well be prepared for four more cases in which those controls are incorporated along with a mind blowing plot for each of the cases that has given popularity to the franchise. AJ:AA takes place just 8 years after the events of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations and this time with a new protagonist, Apollo Justice who too has a weird hairstyle representing two horns.

The Ace Attorney series is well known from it’s brilliant story-telling and the amazing plot still remains in AJ:AA. For the die-hard fans there’s still plenty of cameo’s from characters from the old series. Like always, in the first case you go up against Winston Payne and have to get ex Attorney, Phoenix Wright off the hook for murder. During the game you unravel the story of why Phoenix Wright gave up the attorney life to become an undefeated poker player. Thus it is easy to become enshrined within the plot.

Yet again the cases are broken into two sections: investigation and trials, the only exception being the first case. During the investigation sections, you must gather information on the case, speaking to witnesses and gathering evidence that is found by examining the crime scene. After investigating, you then begin the trial, presented in front of the usual rambling judge. This time you go up against a new prosecutor named Klavier Gavin who is also a part time “rock God” who enjoys ripping up solos on his air-guitar during the trials. In order to get your client off the hook, you’ll need to object to lying witnesses, face vicious prosecutors and deal with the idiotic judge. The speech recognition also works well allowing you to shout “Objection!”, “Hold It!”, “Take That!” and a new phrase, “Gotcha!” into the DS’s microphone.

As I mentioned already, touch screen elements are included in all four cases. You can now rotate evidence around to search for clues. Ema Skye also makes an appearance although this time she is a detective who will help you dust for fingerprints, spray for poison traces, use X-ray machines to look through paper and fill casts of foot prints in the ground. They all work well with the flow of the game and never once do they feel tacky and they greatly improve the experience of the game.

The Magatama which Phoenix used to break Psyche-Locks has been scrapped in favour of a bracelet which allows Apollo to detect if a witness is lying on the stand. The bracelet slows down time and allows Apollo to search a witness for twitches also known as nervous habits. It’s vastly superior and more fun than the Psyche-Locks and if you mess up the first time you can easily start again without the punishment of a penalty. Another new feature are the crime re-enactment sequences, although a little brief, transforms forensic diagrams into 3D animated sequences. Sometimes during the re-enactments you will also get to interact with the scene, whether it’s rotating a chair or pushing a cupboard to the side it all adds to the enjoyment factor of the game.

Unfortunately AJ:AA feels just like the Phoenix Wright series except with just new characters. Similar to Phoenix’s assistant Maya Fey, Apollo is accompanied by fifteen year old magician Trucy Wright who provides comic relief and one-liners to the plot. Some one-liners from previous games are aso revived (ladder or stepladder), and some characters return and take roles from the previous game. Ema Skye takes Detective Dick Gumshoe’s place as the detective but unfortunately Ema lacks the antics that Gumshoe had in the Phoenix Wright series.Compared to the Phoenix Wright trilogy, AJ:AA’s visuals are vastly improved and have a nice shine to them. The music has also too improved, each character now has there own theme-tune of sorts that plays in the back-ground while you talk to them

Final Verdict
Whether your a fan of the series or a newcomer, Apollo Justice:Ace Attorney is a brilliant new chapter in the series even though it’s a completely new cast. The DS controls work perfectly in the game although the forensic video’s aren’t used enough throughout the game. The plot is as addictive as ever and if you’ve yet to discover the series, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a great place to start.