Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban 4) is the fourth game in the Ace Attorney series. It was developed and published by Capcom in 2007 for the Nintendo DS. Like other games in the franchise, it received a mobile port in 2016; a remake was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017, implementing innovations from its sequel, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies.

Plot
Shortly after the events of the third game, Phoenix Wright is disbarred from practicing law due to an incident in which he allegedly presented fake evidence. Over the next seven years, he kept investigating and adopted a girl named Trucy. After he is wrongfully accused of the murder of a drifter named Shadi Smith, he hires Apollo Justice, a rookie attorney who works at the office of his friend Kristoph Gavin, to get him an aquittal. Phoenix is gotten off the hook and hires Apollo as a lawyer, founding the Wright Anything Agency. With the help of Trucy, Apollo proceeds to work on several cases, while investigating the circumstances that led to Phoenix being disbarred, as well as the mysterious Troupe Gramarye, a group of magicians who appear to be connected to Trucy.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) A whole new cast of characters is introduced, like the titular character, Apollo Justice, Phoenix's adoptive daughter Trucy, and Kristoph Gavin.
 * 2) Very good story, with all the plot threads introduced over the game coming together in the final case.
 * 3) A new mechanic, the Perceive ability, is introduced. This allows Apollo to scan witnesses with his bracelet and pick up imperceptible movements that they make in a moment of tension, allowing him to prove that they're lying.
 * 4) The graphics are improved from the previous games (which were developed for the Game Boy Advance and later ported to the Nintendo DS), with character sprites being much more detailed and backgrounds showing more life. The mobile release also further improved the graphics, giving the games an anime style.
 * 5) The game reintroduces elements and characters from the bonus episode of the first game, Rise from the Ashes, like the ability to examine evidence in detail and the forensic tools minigames. Several characters also return, like Ema Skye and Mike Meekins.
 * 6) The final episode is regarded as one of the best in the series, with its atmosphere of mystery and discovery. You also get to play as Phoenix Wright between the first and second day trials, discovering more about the events that kickstarted the plot of the game in the first place.
 * 7) The music is vastly improved from the previous games, which used an 8-bit soundtrack due to hardware limitations on their original release.
 * 8) Kristoph Gavin is one of the best villains in the franchise, with his smug and level-headed personality and his machinations.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The game removed many innovations from the older games, like the ability to present people profiles in court, as well as having only four cases instead of five, like in the previous game.
 * 2) The third case was a huge missed opportunity to explain more about Trucy's family and Lamiroir's connection to Troupe Gramarye, something that not even Spirit of Justice does enough of.