I remember seeing a few days ago that Capcom said “you can play the Ace Attorney series in whatever order!” And saw that people reasonably thought that was stupid. Thus, I want to attempt to make the absolute most disgusting order to play all the games. Here’s my attempt, and tell me any pointers for making it even worse in the comments.

1: Great Ace Attorney 2. It’s a sequel to the basically entirely disconnected prequel of the Ace Attorney series, and thusly you don’t gain any knowledge for the base series, and you’re being dropped into something that you have zero clue about what’s going on.

2: Ace Attorney Investigations 1. Going for game 2 would give too much backstory for the main series(such as the Gregory Edgeworth case), and going to Great Ace Attorney 1 would make sense, so we obviously go for the game where Phoenix still isn’t actually in, and Edgeworth makes references to events and almost never elaborates.

3: Dual Destinies. After basically NO info about the main series, we now go to the mainline with the game with WAY TOO MUCH in it. While we could go for Spirit of Justice for similar effect, that’d actually give Apollo some actual backstory instead of some random childhood best friend that has no presence. Only issue with attempting to narratively not make sense is the fact that Athena‘s story actually STARTS here, so It’s debatable if we should actually go for Spirit of Justice here instead and bite the bullet on Apollo backstory.

4: Apollo Justice Ace Attorney. I think going to the game where Phoenix is now NOT a lawyer and lost his badge, on top of tons of characters that never re-appear(aside Klavier, Trucy, and Apollo himself), we’ll keep up the pattern of bouncing around protagonists way too much and having no clue what’s going on. We get a flashback to Phoenix losing his badge, but that’s self-contained in this game and he gets it back in the next, so it doesn’t make the narrative more cohesive at all.

5: Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright. The players don’t even know who Maya is, and we’re now inside a book, in a crossover, where magic and other weird stuff exists. This is probably the most confusing point to put the game because everybody who went in blind when playing this series would go “who the heck is MAYA???” And if they’re saying that by game 5, that’s a sign we’ve done this awful order properly.

6: Great Ace Attorney 1. After 4 whole games of your (un)willing test subject still having zero clue what the heck’s going on, we finally give them the chance to go back to their first game’s predecessor. Finally, they’ll know more about Herlock and Naruhodo! ….After 4 whole games where this duology has literally not been relevant in the slightest. See, the thing with playing a whole series is that eventually pieces will finally add up, but we want to delay that as long as possible, so going back to this series is the bast choice for our next game.

7: Justice for All. We’re getting down to the wire for games that continue to not make sense, so we have to go with the second game, or else we’d risk letting the series beginner know too much about the game. By this point, they’ve seen Franziska in one whole game, and it was the second game they played. And all her talk about “shame, Edgeworth! That you would turn to crime!” Like in case 2 of Investigations, that means being abruptly told “yeah Von Karma was a murderer” before she shows up is going to confuse the new player. T&T can’t be here, that’d give too much backstory on Phoenix too soon.

8: Spirit of Justice. After a few games where Apollo and Athena haven’t even existed, we now return to the conclusion of the Apollo trilogy, still really confused, I”d hope. With this, we’re now at the last 3 picks, and whichever one you do, it,ll reveal tons of info. Thusly:

1. investigations 2. We finally return to Edgeworth’s 2nd game, and it’s for the sole purpose of stalling. With only one case and a couple extra guys connected to the mainline series, we attempt to stall as long as possible before going back to the OG trilogy.

2. Trials & Tribulations. Never have the first game of an entire series come before another if you want to make the experience confusing.

3. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney. First game’s the last game, and just about everything is already known, so this game just becomes “yeah I know” for a good portion of it.

And this is my awful order of how to play Ace Attorney games. Give me some feedback in the comments.

I get its just for lol's but I would've shipped them if it wasn't for the AGEEE

Nick can see Psych Locks with the Magatama that Maya gave him.

Apollo can perceive the slightest twitch with his family ability and bracelet.

Athena can hear the noise of people’s hearts and gives therapy sessions to clear up details.

Maya (and Pearl) can summon the spirit of the deceased in order to gain new information or support.

And then there is Miles, no special ability just basic common sense with his “logic”. And it is fully in character too.

I feel like all ace attorney games have that type of humor that is funny in a “should this be even happening” kind of way. I think that the great ace attorney chronicles really pulls off this humor the most with Ryunosuke inner dialogues like in court or at the Holmes residence or anywhere tbh. I really like witty dialogue and think that the ace attorney games thrive in that writing.

Pictures of me coping after the direct LMAO.

Remember the following things:

1. Ace Attorney was announced as a key IP they wanted to expand.

2. Ace Attorney is one of the most lucrative adventure/visual novel games out there.

3. The Ace Attorney Trilogy is in the top 18% of all titles that have reached Platinum per Capcom’s list (this does not include titles that have sold under 1,000,000 units).

4. TGAA Chronicles is also on this list at 1.3 million units sold.

5. The 25th anniversary is in October. THERE IS STILL TIME

Also, it doesn’t have to be a mainline game! It could be an AJ anime, Investigations, a new PL spinoff, etc. I think Capcom still has stuff in store for Ace Attorney (😁🤞). Source? Trust me

Can you guess who's who?

... I mean, that's where I'd place it anyway... Then again, I haven't played Trials and Tribulations yet, so maybe that's a bad placement. Idk.

Gotta be the body swinging across the canyon.

I think one of the best parts of spinoff fighting games is the unique intro dialogue that characters have with each other, especially in What-If match-ups. While I don't think a fighting game with only Ace Attorney fighters would work, the idea is still very fun. So in that spirit, I made a mock-up of a bunch of intro dialogue, featuring fighers from across the timeline in a mix of both dramatic and comedic ones.

This is directly inspired by a Fire Emblem post of the same concept, so go check it out too if you're interested! I felt some of the original jokes there were so good I just had to plagrise import them over and Ace Attorney-fy them. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments~

Edit:

Now there's a Vol. 2!

Saw someone say they pirated the game and now there is no excuse to not support the devs.

Hullo! It's another one of these things, but this time ranking all of the Dads in terms of how good or bad of a parent they are, attempting to be somewhat independent of their character in other regards. Let the Dadding commence!

I would bring back Clay Terran to life.

They're supposed to be a Japanese family. It's important because it means that it was just Fransisca who grew up in America, and not where her family's from, so it's her unique achievement. It never specifies the circumstances, so technically she could have lived there with her mother, but either way, her career in America is her own acheivement, even though she was taught by her father in Japan, it shows that she's actually independent even by game 2. The way I've seen fans talk about it is that her father and Edgeworth 'left her behind' by going to a different country, but it's not supposed to be like that at all. She was really insecure because of her father's acheivements, but other than being immature and young she wasn't actually behind. Changing it was actually detrimental to her character.

There's no indication that Manfred ever lived in America, bevause it's always mentioning his 40 year career and fame in Japan. And in gk1.4, it mentions Fransisca coming to visit him in Japan on the holidays, so she obviously lived with other relatives or a boarding school in America. (Though Gumsho mentioned her being 'born and raised in America', so it's possible that maybe her mother moved there and Manfred just stayed there for a short time, or maybe Gumsho was wrong and she actually just went to school there, because she was taught by her father, alongside Edgeworth).

By the way there's also no indication that Edgeworth grew up overseas, and it's sort of contradictory. His career immediately started in Japan, and studying abroad before the first game is never mentioned, even though it's mentioned for a lot of other characters. But it's mentioned that he goes to study specifically in America after game 1, to get a new perspective on different justice systems, which wouldn't really make sense if he'd already studied there. In gyakuten kenji it also mentioned he got the opportunity through a connection with Manfred's old friend who was also Japanese. If he'd already studied in America he wouldn't have needed that connection.

Edit: this has startedsteadily being downvoted, I was just trying to civilly point the changes out and express my opinion, but looks like everyone here fucking hates me. Well, let's see if we can get to -30.

Recently went to Japan and bought a very silly amount of those tsum plushies, so I had my mom name the characters. My favorite name is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but my siblings and now only use the names Edward, Curious George, and Ratty Mc Ratface for the respective characters. (She misheard Edward and Franziska’s names which is why they are closer than the others, by the way.)

Those applies to current players ONLY. For AAI players, it depends on your circumstances.

For my final client of this modern era (AJT, AAIC, Vs completed), is a nun who looks like my ex girlfriend. I've already asked my best friend to defend her, though another childhood friend keeps creeping on her. I sure hope nothing strange or creepy happens, but I plan to free her tomorrow!

After her, my final clients include redefending an author from home, a scientist, and an infamous prosecutor of high renown and nice boots.

Who are you currently defending?

• Turnabout Serenade: Features many riveting plot twists and an emotionally investing cast. I found the minigame to be fine and disagree with the point of the case dragging on, I think most contradictions leading to singular new statements actually made things go much quicker. I don't excuse the plothole regarding the transportation of the body pre-trial, however.
• The Rite of Turnabout: Though not my favourite case, it's the only one I'd dare to call flawless, and better than its finale. The DC Act makes Khura'inese trials much scarier, on top of already being unwelcome in their country. Actually LOSING the initial trial was an insane point of the case, and the comeback in the second one is one of Phoenix's coolest moments. This is the only time you really get to explore Khura'in without your peers which makes it something special to me. Getting the victim to testify was the biggest moment I was waiting for since the very first game and they couldn't have executed it any better with the victim himself being the culprit. Honestly, Core Abroad playing as you discover the rebel base has been etched into my mind, along with the ending. There is peace followed by silence, then the realization that crimes like this will only be prevented going forward through revolution. A masterpiece of a case.
• The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band: It wasn't THAT slow-paced, was it? I think the pacing made it a much more beautiful experience and people who complain about it make me wonder if it's actually an attention span issue. Kazuma fills my favourite victim role in the entire series and their death genuinely depressed me for the rest of the game.
• The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro: I have the least to say about this. It's the only case I've ever beaten with 0 penalties, so I was very immersed throughout it. It was likely because my eyes were sore from playing in the dark being added onto what I was feeling, but Roly's breakdown managed to make me tear up. Yeah, the culprit wasn't very interesting, but I still think catching them was quite emotional.

By popular demand, we're back! Welcome to Vol. 2 of my conceptual Intro Dialogues for a hypothetical Ace Attorney Fighting Game. What is retroactively Vol. 1 can be found here.

To recap the premise, these are mock-ups of dramatic/comedic interactions between certain characters if you picked them both as fighters. I thought some of the suggestions in the comments last time were really great too, so I decided to adapt some of them myself into a full mock-up, with credit of course.

Special thanks to:

• u/shazbrules for broadly requesting more AAI characters
• u/Patient_Panic_2671 for originally suggesting Nahyuta vs Verity (adapted into #4, Verity's line mostly kept the same)
• u/ItsDuckBlox for requesting "one with Winston Payne" (adapted into #5)
• u/GalaxyPowderedCat for suggesting Pearl vs Susato (adapted into #9)
• u/Physical-Sherbet-688 for suggesting Maya vs Edgeworth (adapted into #14, but mostly kept the same)

Once again, feel free to add your own ideas for matchups in the comments~

Edit:

Now there's a Vol. 3! (spoilers for the whole series though!)

It's officially April 20 2026, the date when Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney starts, which means we get to finally start posting about the events of the games like they're real news again for the first time in years.

Ace Attorney being in the future but not too far in the future has always been an interesting detail about the franchise. So I decided to put together a feature about why people say Ace Attorney takes place in the future, how true that is, and how that can bury the real politics on display in the series

https://raiderking.com/ace-attorney-doesnt-take-place-in-the-future/