The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles collects two releases previously exclusive to Japan in the Ace Attorney franchise: The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and its follow up The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve. Developed and published by Capcom, this collection arrives on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC. While both games show clear signs that they were developed for and originally released on Nintendo 3DS, they're nevertheless an enjoyable, engrossing deep dive into series lore that rarely misses a beat once players have become invested in a case.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles follows protagonist Ryunosuke Naruhodo, the ancestor of series hero Phoenix Wright, as he seeks to become a great lawyer and learn how to further the pursuit of justice at the turn of the 19th century. The collection opens with a case in which Naruhodo is the prime suspect, serving as both an intriguing initial premise and a suitable tutorial. What unravels by the end of that first courtroom session is a surprisingly complex and moving narrative that tries to interrogate issues of legal power, cultural biases, class systems, and more.
Surprisingly, in spite of its often light-hearted nature, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is memorable for its emotional resonance more than its comedic timing. Both elements are present in spades, but the way the game plays with empathy and an idealization of the justice system is remarkably compelling. That's especially important given that, as another entry into the Capcom-style "Great Courtroom Battle" genre, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is heavy on dialog and scene-setting. It never outstays its welcome in this regard, and characters are as well-realized and charming as those familiar with the franchise's greater body of work would expect.
While there are no clear issues with The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, there are some elements of the title that certainly show their age in 2021. The courtroom proceedings tend to revolve around gameplay that involves the cross-examination of witnesses and the deduction of clues from available evidence. This is just as fun as it has been in past series entries, and because it's so deeply tied to the tone of any given story in the collection, it's also in excellent form in Chronicles. However, there's also a distinct sense of having been through this same song and dance before. Nothing about The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles feels innovative for the franchise or the unique genre it finds itself situated in.
This charitably described "vintage" feeling is most noticeable in investigation sections, when the player must explore areas and gather testimonies from potential witnesses. While the character models are crisp and vibrant when they're a focus, the environment itself can feel pretty generic, with graphics that betray the fact both titles in this collection were ported to mobile devices in Japan years prior to arriving in the west. Luckily, environment exploration is much more about finding clues and interviewing characters, the latter of which involves the distinct visuals that come with their designs, so it's less noticeable than it might have been otherwise.
Where The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is good, however, it is truly great; not only is its story excellent and its characters enjoyable to engage with, its musical score is perhaps the best the series has ever had. Given the series' visual novel-adjacent approach to presenting its events, the ambience that the music and cast add to each scene makes for an enticing timesink. The puzzle-based gameplay, which does see a few small but enjoyable additions in jurors and the Joint Reasoning system, is excellent. The twists and turns of each race to the truth never feel unfair to arrive at, and the presence of Herlock Sholmes adds an interesting wrinkle to investigations that help make the two-game collection feel distinct from other Ace Attorney titles.
Very little about The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles really pushes the series forward, which is understandable for games that originally released in 2015 and 2017 respectively. While a new Ace Attorney game that takes better advantage of modern hardware capabilities would be welcome, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is an exemplary collection that has a lot to offer fans of courtroom dramas, slice of life anime, historical documentaries, and puzzle games. If that bizarre collection of potential influences isn't enough to entice prospective detectives, perhaps it is sufficient to say that The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is, first and most importantly, a collection of stories that never wastes a player's time - and could, in fact, dramatically improve how they're spending it should they give it a chance.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles releases on July 27, 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with a Nintendo Switch code for the purpose of this review.