Ace Attorney - Gameplay

Gameplay

The games in the Ace Attorney series are primarily adventure games, though they require the player to collect evidence and to present it to the witnesses when they are in court. The game is presented primarily using animated two-dimensional manga-like sprites, with text dialog, sound effects, and minimal spoken clips to simulate speech. Each game is made up of four or five cases with the games and the cases have some interconnection, recurring minor characters or similar crime elements. The game can be saved and resumed from any point.

There are two phases to each case, Investigation and Courtroom sessions. Investigation includes the ability to visit several key locations in the case and talk to people involved with it while searching for evidence by examining the scene; the second and third game also introduced the "Psyche-Lock," (called Psycho-Locks by Edgeworth) a system through which the defending attorney can break mental barriers to learn the truth from uncooperative witnesses during investigation. Players can present both evidence and, in the second and third games, profiles of people involved with the case.

Courtroom sessions are generally made up of testimonies consisting of statements by witnesses. The player may cross-examine the witness to locate a contradiction by showing a piece of evidence that relates to what the witness has testified. The player may also "Press" the witness, asking the witness to clarify a statement. Sometimes pressing and presenting evidence will lead to additional statements added to the testimony. Presenting evidence successfully may also lead to new lines of testimony altogether and it is almost always the only way to proceed in the game. Occasionally the player will have to specifically prove their allegations, either through presentation of more evidence, or more careful examination of existing evidence. In the fourth game, the game introduces the Perceive system, which is active during some cross-examinations. During testimony, the player can activate the Perceive system to look closely at body language and actions that trigger when the witnesses state something untruthful (for example, their hands may twitch or they may swallow), and thus force the witnesses to respond truthfully.

As the defense, the goal of the player is usually to have a "Not Guilty" verdict handed down to their defendant. Most of the trials in the game last two days, with three as the maximum, between which the player can visit or revisit areas relevant to the trial to obtain more evidence or information. Throughout the trial process the player must determine through the information acquired the true perpetrator of the crime in order to absolve their client of any blame.

Presenting evidence is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger, as in the game's logo, and shouting "Objection!" (異議あり!, Igi ari!?), accompanied by a word bubble of the same word, both which have become iconic representation of the series. If the player presents the wrong evidence, attempts to present at the wrong time, or fails other parts of in-court questioning, they lose some measure of acceptance by the judge, and if the player is wrong too many times, the case will be declared over with a guilty verdict for the accused, and the player will have to restart from their last save point or the beginning of the court session.

Additionally, after most trials end, the player may be asked to present a piece of evidence that further explains part of the story. For example, Larry Butz is broken-hearted after he discovers his girlfriend, the victim, was cheating on him. Presenting a certain piece of evidence will make him feel better by understanding more about what she really thought of him.

In the DS remakes, the game utilizes the touchscreen in addition to the normal controls, and also the microphone, allowing the player to shout "Objection!", "Hold it!", "Take that!", "Gotcha!" or "Eureka!" at the appropriate times, though they can also select these options via more common entry methods. The remake of the first game for the DS included a brand new fifth case created specifically for the remake, with additional aspects of gameplay that fully used the DS special features; for example, one could dust for fingerprints by tapping the screen to apply fingerprinting powder, then blowing at the DS microphone gently to blow them away, or by using the 3D capabilities of the DS to render the collected evidence; key details concerning the evidence are often revealed this way. The fourth game of the series, which is the first game developed completely for the DS without a prior GBA release, also includes a number of these elements. In the WiiWare versions, players will be able to fling the Wii Remote forward like Phoenix's finger in order to shout "Objection!"

The two Investigations games, while split into cases, follow a less rigid structure as the events of each case occur prior to the official trial and generally right after the crime has been committed, though feature a similar two-phase approach of investigation and cross-examination. In one phase, the player controls the main character (Edgeworth) in moving around a single room to investigate clues or to talk to witnesses. During this time, Edgeworth may recognize some key facts forming the basis of the games' Logic system. When the player believes two facts are connected, they can "join" these facts to create a new line of reasoning; connecting the wrong pieces will impact Edgeworth's concentration, with too many missed guesses causing the game to be over. Subsequently, Edgeworth will then engage with characters through cross-examination, which otherwise is similar to the courtroom version.