Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

***Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney***, is a 2007 visual novel game, and is on the list of games that will eventually be played on ***Butt Spectrum Club***. Apollo Justice; Ace Attorney is part of the ***Ace Attorney Series*** and is the fourth entry in the series, following up ***Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials & Tribulations*** and was followed by ***Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth***.

## Game Information

Apollo Justice; Ace Attorney is a 2007 visual novel game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS, iOS, Android, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is, like the rest of the *Ace Attorney* series, a cross between the adventure game and visual novel genres. The player's goal is to defend their clients in four cases, and prove their innocence. The gameplay is separated into two types of situations: Investigations and trials.

During the investigation phase of each case, the player explores the game world by either using the stylus or the D-pad to select the actions they wish to engage in: Examine, Move, Talk, or Present. The player converses with non-player characters by selecting dialogue and can move around the game world by selecting the locations they wish to travel to. Information gained during Investigation Mode can be used during the Trial phase of the game and items picked up can be used as evidence. The player cannot progress without completing certain actions. Ema Skye, a character from the DS remake of the original *Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney* game, often provides the player with opportunities to use DS features such as the microphone to perform actions such as dusting for fingerprints.

The trial portions consist of listening to and cross-examining witness testimonies. The player is given the option to either Press or Present evidence in response to statements made by witnesses. The player can either select their choice or yell into the microphone. By choosing Press, the player questions the witness's statement, which sometimes causes the witness to change their testimony. When finding inconsistencies in the testimony, the player may choose Present in order to show a piece of evidence that they think contradicts the testimony. The player has a health bar, representing the judge's patience. If the player presents incorrect pieces of evidence or choose incorrect answers to questions in court, health is lost. If the health bar reaches zero, the player loses the game and their client is declared guilty. A new system, known as the "Perceive System," can be used to look for motions or actions made by witnesses that show nervousness, similar to a tell in poker. The game also includes a "Crime Recreation Mode" that models evidence or the crime scene in a 3-D rendition and allow the player to explore the recreation to look for clues. Additionally, the game often recreates the crime in cutscene sequences, allowing the player to observe the action and find contradictions.

## Plot

Apollo and his mentor Kristoph Gavin, an old friend of Phoenix's, are called to represent him against charges of murdering one of his customers in a rigged game of poker. In the middle of his testimony, Phoenix inadvertently names Kristoph as a witness, and with the help of a falsified piece of evidence provided by Trucy, exposes him as the real murderer. Impressed by Apollo's performance, he invites him to start his own practice out of Trucy's talent agency.

A few weeks after accepting the offer, Apollo is assigned to investigate three separate incidents: a hit and run involving Phoenix, the theft of a noodle vendor's cart, and the disappearance of Trucy's favorite pair of panties. At the same time, the Kitaki crime family hires him to defend one of their own, Wocky Kitaki, in a murder trial concerning the death of Dr. Pal Meraktis. By connecting the incidents to evidence recovered with the help of Detective Ema Skye, Apollo discredits the case against Wocky by proving that his fiancée, Alita Tiala, was the only one who could have committed the crime.

As a token of respect, prosecutor Klavier Gavin, Kristoph's brother and Apollo's rival, invites him and Trucy to attend a concert for his band, the Gavinners. During a guest performance by the diva Lamiroir, her manager Romein LeTouse is shot and killed in her dressing room. When Machi Tobaye, Lamiroir's pianist, is accused for the killing, Apollo, through an extensive investigation, discovers that Machi and one of the Gavinners, Detective Daryan Crescend, conspired to smuggle contraband into the country, and that Letouse, in reality an undercover Interpol agent, was murdered to cover it up. The case nearly falls apart due to a lack of decisive evidence, but Apollo is able to squeeze a confession out of Daryan by threatening to have Machi testify.

In the final case, Apollo is selected to serve as the defense in an experimental jury-style trial system organized by Phoenix, called the "Jurist System". His client, professional forger Vera Misham, is accused of poisoning her father Drew. After Vera succumbs to poison while testifying, the jurists are instructed by Phoenix, who is the chair of the Jurist Simulated Court Committee, to play a "game" using the "MASON System", which simulates Phoenix's personal investigations. Seven years earlier, while representing magician Zak Gramarye in court, Phoenix was tricked into using false evidence created by Vera, costing him his reputation and job. Zak subsequently disappeared, leaving his daughter Trucy in Phoenix's custody. Over the years, Phoenix uses his experience and connections to gradually uncover the truth: Trucy and Apollo are half-siblings gifted with a unique power of perception by their mother, Thalassa Gramarye. Furthermore, Zak was forced to abandon Trucy, his daughter, in order to honor the wishes of her grandfather, who passed the legal rights to his magic to her side of the family. It also transpires that Zak was Shadi Smith, the victim in the first case, who had come to give the rights to Magnifi's magic to Trucy before being killed by Kristoph when the latter recognized him.

The whole matter takes a surprise turn when Kristoph is summoned to testify and it transpires that he was Zak's original attorney before being fired after losing a game of cards with the defendant. In truth, he was the one who had requested the creation of the false evidence from the Mishams in order to win the high-profile case and become famous. Apollo accuses Kristoph of setting up Phoenix with the false evidence out of both revenge and jealousy before attempting to kill everyone related to the case out of fear of being found out. Following the final arguments, the player takes control of Lamiroir, who is one of the jurists for the case, and must decide whether or not Vera is guilty. If "Guilty" is chosen, it triggers an alternate ending in which a hung jury forces the court with no choice but to delay the verdict. Vera's condition worsens and she dies soon after, resulting in the case receiving no conclusion and an uncertain future for the Wright Anything Agency. If "Not Guilty" is chosen, then Vera is declared innocent by unanimous vote and ultimately recovers from the poison. With his name cleared, Phoenix considers applying for readmission to the bar and assures Lamiroir, who is really Thalassa in disguise, that he will watch over Apollo and Trucy.