They're finally coming to the West! Both of them! This collection includes The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve. If you don't remember, these are the Ace Attorney games set in the late 19th century Victorian / Meiji eras. They were previously Japan only, until now.

Awesome! It's not quite AA7, but I'll happily take it. What's the word on these games? Good twists and characters? Between this and Famicom Detective Club, 2021 is turning into the year of the visual novel.

Very tempted by the big ol' bundle, but only if it's physical.

They're fantastic, from what I've heard. And led by Shu Takumi, unlike the later Phoenix games.

Can't wait! Between this and Nintendo's Famicom Detective Club games, this year is pretty good for bringing us long-unlocalized Japanese adventure games.

Finally.

@Guillaume I was just thinking, after seeing the Famicom Detective Club trailers earlier today, that Capcom should partner up with whoever's developing those games for a new Ace Attorney. The FDC remakes look absurdly polished compared to any other visual novel I've seen.

So happy! Will definitely make sure I I have this day one.

Between this and those Famicom Detective Club remakes, 2021 is shaping up to be the year of Japanese visual novels making a comeback.

Between this and Famicom Detective Club, there are many visual novels coming to Switch this year!

Still have a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea of this franchise being on consoles. So weird. Talk about shoe-horning a game concept onto hardware that isn’t exactly conducive to the gameplay or the proverbial “vibe” of the series.

But yeah, between this and the Famicom Detective Club games, there are many of these visual novel titles coming to Switch this year!

Has anyone mentioned that between this and Famicom Detective Club this is basically the year for visual novels on the Switch?

Guys, I just realized something…

@GameDadGrant It's interesting to hear you say that. The original games were on GBA and then adapted to the DS. I could see someone say the games are different on a TV because that's not what they're used to, but "shoehorning" seems a little extreme. Switch and laptops/tablets still provide the option for portable play too (and larger screen options, which is amazing).

Now, if we were talking about Hotel Dusk or Ghost Trick, I'd be more inclined to agree with you due to those games' controls, and in the case of HD, its "book mode" style gameplay.

@PogueSquadron

Eh, it’s just the vibe I’m getting from it. It’s just in my head. I’m sure they play fine on non-handheld systems. It just feels “off” to me for some reason. I don’t know if anyone can relate, but have you ever played a “Nintendo” game, on a platform that isn’t Nintendo? Like, Mega Man II on a Playstation 3, or Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox, or something like that?

The games play fine, but it’s...weird. To me, anyway. I dunno. That’s kinda how I feel about these small, very single-player, “cozy” games being on a home console and displayed on a TV or monitor. Kinda feels...not right. But that’s probably just me. *shrugs*

I know some people treat these kind of games like an actual handheld "book", but at least you still have that option. Should definitely look sharper than it's original release on 3DS too, so that's something to look forward to.

Case one is in the books! It's a four-hour monster of a tutorial trial, gotta be the longest one ever?

And while my memory of past AA cases is very fuzzy after all these years, I feel like this was the least fun opener of the bunch. I'm not terribly endeared to anyone in the cast yet, the murder mystery was sort of ho-hum, and there's a lot of repetition in the dialogue (which is characteristic of the other 3DS games as well, to be fair). The multi-witness testimony shows promise, and I did like the animations for Kyurio Korekuta (it's weird seeing character name puns in Japanese now...). Also, the Auto-text mode is nice for just letting scenes play out while I eat a snack or something.

So, on the one hand, I wish I'd paced myself better instead of cramming it into one evening. And on the other hand, I'm glad I put it behind me and can presumably go hang out with Famous Detective Herlock Sholmes from now on.

Our copy is supposed to come TOMORROW, so we're picking up a copy at Gamestop, and then returning the one that gets here tomorrow. Every time we try to pre-order, it always winds up being an awful experience. And these games don't seem rare enough that we'd have trouble getting a copy in the store.

I dunno guys, I just finished Case 2, and I'm still not feeling this one yet. I think it's mainly the cast, who all seem really flat so far (aside from Herlock Sholmes, who is pretty fun). I've even turned on the text-skip mode to more quickly get through the dialog, which just isn't as punchy with this more subdued cast.

GAA1 CASE 2 SPOILERS
I can't believe there was no trial! What is this, Ace Attorney Investigations? The little Deduction Dance is the most stylish gimmick in the series, to be sure, but it's so straightforward. It just can't hold up an entire case.

And man, the conclusion was so unfulfilling. The runaway got scared and pushed him and he fell awkwardly and broke his spine on the bedpost? Seriously? It's such a letdown that I almost expect we'll be revisiting the events in a later case and finding the REAL killer, who snuck in after she KO'd him and finished the job before Bif Stroganov came in and doctored the scene. Maybe the Inspector is actually some kind of secret police assassin? I dunno, I'm grasping at straws because that case was a bummer.

I dunno, I liked the first case well enough! And the best cases are usually the end ones where every theme the game was building on comes to a climax, so I'm happy where we're at.

Was it really 4 hours long?! It didn't feel THAT long...

@Zero There's no in-game timer for me to check, but I played the case almost nonstop for a bit over four hours, with only a few short breaks to get a drink and reheat dinner (which I ate while playing, thanks Auto-Text). I did check out the evidence a lot, and pressed every statement and all that to see all the dialog. The first case does shines a little brighter in the wake of the second, which I thought was actually weaker than the first, sadly.

All that said, case three is a massive improvement through its first two parts! Maybe my favorite part of this series is the fun bit players and their punchy animations and dialog. And case 3 has more of that than perhaps any other in the series, for one main reason (extremely minor gameplay spoiler): three simultaneous witnesses and SIX unique jurors! And they all chime in regularly and interact with one another to a level never really seen before!

So yeah, this game went from zero to sixty in nothing flat. Here's hoping that keeps up for the rest of the adventure.

We're really enjoying it so far. I like how it's a bit of return to basics, because we're not really fans of Phoenix' rag tag Scrappy Doo friends and family. I like Athena, but I feel like the later games drag immensely whenever Trucy and Apollo are involved. The cast here so far is pretty tame after the first case....which admittedly was pretty long. However, I do like some of the ideas they're using in this game. I feel like they're really making great use of the time period and its technology (or lack thereof) to make us really think. It really makes you not want to take our modern technology for granted, because there are moments of the game that would've easily have been solved rather quickly in a modern setting.

Enjoying the second case so far as well, but yes, be prepared for a wordy game. I'm curious as to how this compares with the fan translation.