Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a visual novel adventure game where the player takes the role of Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney, and attempts to defend their clients in five cases. These cases are played in a specific order. After finishing them, the player can re-play them in any order. Each case begins with an opening cinematic cutscene often depicting a murder; shortly thereafter, the player is given the job of defending the prime suspect in the case. The gameplay is divided into two sections, investigations and courtroom trials.

During investigations, which usually take place before or between trial sessions, the player gathers information and evidence by talking to characters such as their client, witnesses, and the police. The player can move a cursor to examine various things in the environment. By using a menu the player can move to different locations, examine evidence, and present evidence to other characters. By showing certain pieces of evidence to some witnesses, the player can access new information.

In 2016, Phoenix Wright, a newly hired defense attorney at Fey & Co. Law Offices, agrees to represent his childhood friend Larry Butz who has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend Cindy Stone. With the help of his boss and mentor, Mia Fey, Phoenix proves that Frank Sahwit, the prosecution's eyewitness, is the real murderer.

Mia is killed in her office shortly thereafter, and her younger sister Maya, a spirit medium in training, is arrested on suspicion of Mia's murder after Detective Dick Gumshoe finds her name written on a note in Mia's blood. Phoenix takes her case, facing off against Miles Edgeworth, a skilled prosecutor Phoenix knows from childhood and who has yet to lose a case in his career. Phoenix manages to identify Redd White, a professional blackmailer, as the real killer, but finds himself charged with the murder after White pulls strings at the Prosecutor's Office. Representing himself, Phoenix works with Maya, who uses her spirit medium powers to channel Mia's spirit and Mia subsequently gets White to admit his guilt.

A seven-person team developed Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney over the course of ten months. It was directed by Shu Takumi and produced by Atsushi Inaba, with music by Masakazu Sugimori. Kumiko Suekane designed the characters, with art by Tatsuro Iwamoto. In 2000, after Takumi had finished his work on Dino Crisis 2, his boss, Shinji Mikami, gave him six months to create any type of game he wanted.

Takumi had originally joined Capcom wanting to make mystery and adventure games and felt this was a big chance to make his mark as a creator. calling witnesses out in their lies and evidence."

Most versions of the game have received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregator Metacritic, with aggregate scores ranging from the high 70s to the low 80s out of 100; an exception is the Wii version, which holds an aggregate score of 67/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Famitsu praised the idea of making a game based around trials. They felt this was innovative, and found it exhilarating and fun to uncover witnesses' lies. Michael Cole of Nintendo World Report said the game's design and interface would make it a good choice for non-gamers as well. Craig Harris of IGN felt the main issues with the game were its linearity, and how the puzzles are simple because the player can stop witness testimony at any time.

After the release of the game, sequels, spin-offs, and a crossover have been made. The second and third games in the series, Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations, were released in 2002 and 2004. The fourth game, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, which features the new protagonist Apollo Justice, was released in 2007. The fifth game, Dual Destinies, was released in 2013, and a sixth game, Spirit of Justice, was released in 2016.

Two spin-off games starring Miles Edgeworth, Ace Attorney Investigations and Investigations 2, were released in 2009 and 2011, and two featuring Phoenix's ancestor Ryunosuke Naruhodo, The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, were released in 2015 and 2017. A crossover with the Professor Layton series, titled Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, was released in 2012.