Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - Thoughts

[contains minor spoilers—no case specifics, just general themes]

Something is rotten in the ancient state of Khurai'in—and if that statement doesn't spark an interest you, then Spirit of Justice likely won't either. The sixth mainline title in the Ace Attorney series sees a radical shift in setting, dropping Phoenix Wright & co. into a fanatical nation on the cusp of a revolution. It's a bold change to make, but arguably a necessary one, as the class and caste of old was growing stale. Note that this doesn't radicalize the structure of Ace Attorney in any way—everything you know and love is still here—but it brings to the table more unpredictability and intrigue, two key components to any good mystery story. I don't think Spirit of Justice gets to lay claim to being the best in the series, but it does its best to compete with the better titles, and in some ways, even transcends them.

Dual Destinies—the previous entry—tried to shake up the formula with the threat of corruption undergirding the judicial process, but it was a laughable dilemma that bore no weight on the story. Spirit of Justice counters this feeble punch with a hard right hook called the DC Act: a Khurainese law that ensures defense lawyers receive the same punishment as their clients should they fail. From the moment the game starts it keeps the pressure high for Phoenix Wright, who has to put his literal neck on the line to defend the innocent bystanders caught up in vile machinations greater than them. At times it can feel a little ridiculous how stacked the odds are (especially in the last case, where the governing body itself seeks your demise), but the stakes help to propel the story forward, frequently reminding you that the nation of Khurai'in is irredeemably broken.

Along with the vibrant new setting, Spirit of Justice also introduces the player to Insights: half-minute recollections (ie videos) of a victim's last moments, peppered with stray details from their five senses. It works similar to Athena's Mood Matrix in the previous game, where you're looking for a contradiction between the prosecution's argument and how the magical retelling unfolds. For a fictitious example, if the suspect is presumed to be a man, then spotting the word "perfume" in the victim's Insight could be the saving grace your case desperately needs. Although Insights were not used often, I found them to be an excellent addition that both enhanced and evolved the player's understanding of a case; they're perhaps the best mechanic the Ace Attorney series has ever produced (sorry jury system, but Insights allow for some clever twists!)

Speaking of twists, Spirit of Justice comes packing a decent number of them, even if (as is typical with the series) you may have to suspend your logic for a second. Nearly every case has a one or two twists that will be hard to see coming, with the third and fifth in particular having some especially brilliant, memorable, and dark outcomes. Sadly, the fifth case spins its wheels for a bit too long after its greatest rug pull, as its remaining mysteries make little sense or outright fail to convince the player ("that" character's reveal is one of the most nonsensical things I've seen in a series known for its serendipitous buffoonery). Thankfully, nothing here dips as low as the Phantom arc in Dual Destinies; from start to finish, I was constantly wondering, hypothesizing, and awaiting the many mysteries Spirit of Justice laid out for me.

And of course, no Ace Attorney game would be complete without a gaggle of curious characters and quirky music to accompany them. While the witness lineup doesn't quite hit the highs of the original trilogy, there are a decent number of memorable faces like Rayfa, Datz, Uendo, Soren, and my man Dhurke (arguably the best character in the whole game). Sahdmadhi as a prosecutor is... alright overal: he fulfills the "insufferable heel" trope pretty well without ever feeling cartoonishly evil or petty. I think his biggest problem is that he takes a backseat during his own character arc, allowing a larger character looming over him to take his stead (but hey, it fits in a way). The music is a bit less catchy this time around and more surprisingly moody, albeit still equal parts fantastic; the cream of the crop being the cross examination theme for being simultaneously unsettling and sinister.

Sadly, as with all the non-Shu Takumi titles, Spirit of Justice doesn't know how to handle its characters in a meaningful way. Trucy gets an emotional moment in the second case and then is promptly forgotten about for the rest of the game, the third case features some vile betrayals that no one shows any kind of guilt over, and Apollo gets yet another "never mentioned before but it's super important" backstory. But the worst for me was Maya: ignoring the fact that she's still a 17-year-old mentally with all the same old animations, she does very little in the main game besides being relegated to a damsel in distress. It's only in the DLC case that she gets to shine as an assistant once again, and even there her colorful commentary isn't nearly as bright as it once was. After being gone for so long, Maya's presence here is frankly a disgrace.

Likewise, I think the way Spirit of Justice ties up its tyrannical government plotline is deeply unfulfilling. The tumult of revolution can be felt in the background early on, but the game never takes it seriously as a potential outcome, treating it as beholden to—rather than in charge of—Khurai'in's destiny. Instead, it's our heroic cast of foreigners and their elaborate deductions that carve a path towards tyranny's end, with the final "aha!" being so farfetched that it could only work on a die-hard constitutionalist. For a narrative that was surprisingly grim and tragic up to this point, Spirit of Justice handles regime change with unwarranted, blinding optimism.

Now obviously I'm viewing this 2016 game through a more cynical 2025 lens (gee, it's that easy to topple an authoritarian government built on brainless zeal, huh?) but it's hard to restrain myself when Capcom deliberately chose this bold of a setting. And look—I get that this is the series where multiple villains have confessed to their crime when cornered with facts and logic; expecting a Pentiment-style portrayal of the common man's plight was never going to happen. But I refuse to believe Spirit of Justice couldn't have resolved its central conflict in a more thematically cohesive and valiant manner—I mean come on, Dhurke and Datz are right there! They could have done something more meaningful!

For fans of Ace Attorney, Spirit of Justice won't be a revolution; it plays its story straight and safely, doing little with most of its characters and even less with the established cast. But for someone looking for some lengthy cases with plenty of evidence to pore over, Spirit of Justice is a wedding-size buffet of intrigue, surprises, and subterfuge. The game takes over 50 hours to finish (DLC included) and is bound to stump you at least a handful of times, which I greatly appreciated after the relaxed ride of Dual Destinies. Even though I hope for the eventual Ace Attorney 7 to shake-up to the now-stable formula, Spirit of Justice has proven that for however long Capcom wants to crank out games of this quality, I will continue playing with glee, gripes notwithstanding.

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Images obtained from: Ace-Attorney.com