Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a 2007 visual novel adventure game where players assume the role of rookie defense attorney Apollo Justice. Investigate crime scenes, collect evidence, and cross-examine witnesses in dramatic courtroom battles to uncover the truth behind four elaborate cases. Introduces the revolutionary 'Perceive' system to detect witness nervous tells.
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Story
Apollo and his mentor Kristoph Gavin are called to represent ex-attorney Phoenix Wright, charged with murdering his opponent Shadi Smith during a game of poker. Phoenix names Kristoph as a witness to the incident, and with the help of falsified evidence provided by his daughter Trucy, exposes him as the real murderer. Impressed by Apollo's performance, he invites him to work for him through Trucy's talent agency. Angry over Wright's use of falsified evidence, Apollo punches him.
A few months later, Apollo reluctantly accepts, and is assigned to investigate three separate incidents: a hit and run involving Phoenix, the theft of a noodle vendor's cart, and the disappearance of Trucy's favorite pair of panties. At the same time, the Kitaki crime family hires him to defend the boss' son, Wocky Kitaki, in a murder trial concerning the death of his doctor Pal Meraktis. By connecting the incidents to evidence recovered with the help of Detective Ema Skye , Apollo proves that Wocky's fiancée and Meraktis' old employee, Alita Tiala, committed the crime to prevent Meraktis revealing that he and Alita hid a medical condition from Wocky. Later, prosecutor Klavier Gavin , Kristoph's brother, invites Apollo and Trucy to attend a concert for his band, the Gavinners.
During a guest performance by singer Lamiroir, her manager Romein LeTouse is killed in her dressing room. When Machi Tobaye, Lamiroir's pianist, is accused of LeTouse's murder, Apollo investigates and discovers that Gavin's bandmate Detective Daryan Crescend conspired with Tobaye to smuggle contraband into the country, and that LeTouse, an undercover Interpol agent, was murdered because he was onto the smuggling plot. Apollo's case against Daryan nearly falls apart due to a lack of decisive evidence, but Apollo is able to get Daryan convicted by convincing Tobaye to testify against him; Tobaye and Daryan are subsequently arrested. Apollo is later selected to serve as the defense in an experimental jury-style trial system organized by Phoenix, called the " Jurist System".
His client, artist Vera Misham, is accused of poisoning her father Drew, a professional forger. Apollo proves that Vera is actually the forger, but she succumbs to poison while testifying; the jurists are then instructed by Phoenix, who is the chair of the Jurist Simulated Court Committee, to play a "game" using the "MASON System", which simulates Phoenix's personal investigations. Seven years earlier, while representing magician Zak Gramarye in court, Phoenix was tricked into using false evidence created by Vera, costing him both his reputation and job. Zak subsequently disappeared, leaving his daughter Trucy in Phoenix's custody.
Over the years, Phoenix uses his experience and connections to uncover the truth: Trucy and Apollo are half-siblings gifted with a unique power of perception inherited through their mother, Thalassa Gramarye. Furthermore, Zak was forced to abandon Trucy in order to honor the wishes of her grandfather, who passed the legal rights to his magic to her side of the family. It also transpires that Zak was Shadi Smith, who had come to give the rights to Magnifi's magic to Trucy before being killed by Kristoph. Kristoph is summoned to testify under suspicion of poisoning Vera, revealing that he was Zak's original attorney before being fired, and had requested the creation of the false evidence from the Mishams in order to win the high-profile case and become famous.
Apollo accuses Kristoph of setting up Phoenix with the false evidence after being fired to get revenge on him and Zak, and of attempting to kill everyone related to the case out of fear of being found out. Following the final arguments, the player takes control of Lamiroir, who is one of the jurists for the case, and must decide whether or not Vera is guilty. If "Not Guilty" is chosen, then Vera is found not guilty by unanimous vote and recovers from her poisoning. With his name cleared, Phoenix considers applying for readmission to the bar and assures Lamiroir, who is Thalassa in disguise, that he will watch over Apollo and Trucy.
If "Guilty" is chosen, it triggers a bad ending in which a hung jury forces the court to delay the verdict, only for Vera to die from her poisoning that night, leaving the case unresolved.
Gameplay Systems
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. 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. The trial portions consist of listening to and cross-examining witness testimonies.
The player is given the option to either Press or Present evidence in response to statements made by witnesses. The player can either select their choice or yell into the microphone. By choosing Press, the player questions the witness's statement, which sometimes causes the witness to change their testimony. When finding inconsistencies in the testimony, the player may choose Present in order to show a piece of evidence that they think contradicts the testimony.
The player has a health bar , representing the judge's patience. If the player presents incorrect pieces of evidence or choose incorrect answers to questions in court, health is lost. If the health bar reaches zero, the player loses the game and their client is declared guilty. A new system, known as the "Perceive System," can be used to look for motions or actions made by witnesses that show nervousness, similar to a tell in poker .
The game also includes a "Crime Recreation Mode" that models evidence or the crime scene in a 3-D rendition and allow the player to explore the recreation to look for clues. Additionally, the game often recreates the crime in cutscene sequences, allowing the player to observe the action and find contradictions.
Media Reviews
About Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a classic video game released for the Nintendo DS on January 1, 2007. Developed by Capcom and published by Capcom, this title has become a beloved entry in the retro gaming library.
This wiki entry provides comprehensive information about Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, including release details, gameplay information, and story synopsis. Whether you're looking to revisit a childhood favorite or discover classic games for the first time, Emulator Games Wiki has you covered.
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