This Is Beautiful: Ace Attorney

So another video game that I've been playing is Ace Attorney. I grew up with the original trilogy of games for the Nintendo DS and it's still one of (if not the) best video game series I have ever played in my opinion. But since then the creators have made a couple more games for the 3DS which I never bought and therefore never played. To my delight though, the creators adapted the games for iOS, so I've been able to play them on an iPad.

Before I get into the new games, I'll just talk about this series in general. So Ace Attorney is a game where you play as a lawyer and are tasked with proving your client innocent. Typically game play alternates between investigating the scene and battling it out in court. All of the characters are incredibly colorful, as though they were straight out of an anime, and that leads to a quirky cast that you really can't help but fall in love with. I really can't recommend any of the games from the original series to the new ones.

Getting back into these games has been wonderful. I forgot how much I liked these puzzle games where you look over evidence and piece together what you think happened. And how much I missed the characters. You truly do form a bond with the protagonist, Phoenix Wright, as you defend clients with him. So in general, getting this window back into my childhood has been incredible.

And then there's the game itself. I finished "Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies" already and that game is easily just as good as any of the original ones. With the improved graphics, the characters really come to life but never lose that original color and variety. And what I really liked about this game was the strong link it had to the originals. The series had a single game in between the original trilogy and the 3DS newer ones that didn't do as well (in my opinion) because it broke too much with the originals. Dual Destinies reaffirms its link and builds off of it in a really nice way, creating an ideal balance of familiar faces and new stories.

The game isn't that expensive, I want to say it's $1 for the first case, $15 for four more cases, and $3 for a bonus case. If you're looking for an entertaining story with interactive aspects only a video game can provide, I really can't recommend it enough. I just started "Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice" so we'll see how that game goes as well!