Released: October 12, 2005
Summary[]
Released in 2005. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney brings in a brand new genre where you are a defense lawyer trying to prove your defendants innocent, but also expose the *real* perpetrator and get him/her to confess his deeds.
Episodes[]
Note: The Game's story is broken up to 5 different episodes with different scenarios.
Episode 1: The First Turnabout[]
Young, brand new rookie Defense Attorney named Phoenix Wright will appear in court, and his first trial is to defend his old school mate Larry Butz in a case involving the murder of Larry's Girlfriend: Cindy Stone. Can Phoenix defend his old friend and win his first case?
Episode 2: Turnabout Sisters[]
Sometime after Phoenix's first case, his mentor Mia Fey has been murdered and now Mia's sister: Maya has been accused of her sister's murder. Phoenix decides to defend her in court, but it won't be easy because his opponent will be Miles Edgeworth: "The Demon Prosecutor".
Episode 3: Turnabout Samurai[]
A popular children's Television Show: "Steel Samurai" is a hit on Television. Maya loves it, but Phoenix not so much. But he'll get involved when he discovers that there was a murder at the Production Studios which does the filming of the show called Global Studios. The Accused: the show's star: Will Powers. Phoenix decides to defend him involving the murder of Powers' co-star: Jack Hammer (who plays the Steel Samurai's arch-nemesis: The Evil Magistrate).
Episode 4: Turnabout Goodbyes[]
It's nearly midnight on Christmas Eve, and there has been a murder at Gourd Lake. The Accused is surprisingly Miles Edgeworth: the same Prosecutor who just got done losing 2 cases in a row to Phoenix Wright. Nevertheless, Phoenix decides to defend his rival against his rival's mentor: Manfred von Karma a prosecutor who's never been known to lose in court.
Nintendo DS Exclusive Episode: Rise from The Ashes[]
It's been almost a month since Phoenix defended Miles Edgeworth in court, and Maya decides to head to the mountains to continue her training. There has been a murder at the Prosecutor's office's Parking Lot. One of the office's Prosecutors: Lana Skye is accused of murdering her fellow Prosecutor Burce Goodman. Despite Lana's reluctance Phoenix decides to defend her, and helping him on the case is Lana's sister Ema. But as the trial goes on, it will be discovered that there is much more to the case than once thought.
Gameplay[]
There are 2 styles of gameplay, one is where you need to go around places, talking to witnesses and finding crucial information regarding to pieces of evidence (some strange and unusual) to try to defend your client and prove their innocence.
The other is in the Courtroom where you must press the witnesses in some parts on their testimony as wel as present evidence on certain parts of the witness' testimony. Doing it at the wrong time however will result in a penalty (as there is a penalty counter in the game), getting too many penalties will result in a Guilty verdict (or more simpler, a Game Over, forcing you to start the episode all over again).
Reception[]
This game became a huge hit in Japan when it was released in 2001. But it didn't see a foreign release until around 4 years later, and even then it became a hit to gamers oversees.