When people think of video games, they usually think of games with a ton of action, such as first-person shooters, adventure games, or platformers. But an often overlooked genre is the visual novel. Visual novels are games that utilize text-intensive storytelling and usually static, unmoving visuals to immerse the player. While a fairly expansive genre, visual novels don’t seem to get much attention here in the West, probably because reading isn’t what most people expect or want to do when booting up a video game. However, there are some visual novels that are just so good that people who find the idea of playing them to be boring would be engaged. “Ace Attorney” is one of these hidden gems.

“Ace Attorney” is an incredible franchise of games that combine mystery, storytelling, and puzzle-solving in a really fun way. While there have been a plethora of “Ace Attorney” games, including six main series games and five spin-offs, I will be focusing on the original trilogy on the Nintendo DS. In the trilogy, you play as Phoenix Wright, a young lawyer who takes on a bunch of different cases, having to use his wits to find evidence and defend his clients in court. It’s sort of like reading a series of mystery books, but you get to be part of the story, solving the clues as you go and cornering the criminal.

Each “Ace Attorney” game follows a similar pattern, switching between investigations and courtroom phases. In the investigation phases, you will be visiting a variety of different locations, where you can find pivotal evidence for your case and clear up details with witnesses. While the investigations can get a bit tedious at times, since you can miss something small and won’t be able to progress through the story, the satisfaction of finding that one perfect piece of evidence is worth it. While the investigation portions are important to the story, the best parts of the games are the courtroom phases. In the courtroom, you are given testimonies that you must analyze and squeeze information out of to try to find a contradiction, which you have to back-up with the evidence you have collected while investigating. These contradictions can be incredibly hard to find at times, because throughout the case you are facing a fierce prosecutor who will often find ways to undermine your evidence. The cross examinations usually require out of the box thinking too. While some of the contradictions are cut and dry, others will require you to present seemingly random evidence at first, which makes the cases way more interesting.

One of the best parts of the “Ace Attorney” games is the soundtracks. Every game has a unique soundtrack consisting of songs for every part of the game, each invoking a different emotional response from the player. Energetic and bouncy music plays as you run around searching for clues. Tense and unnerving music plays when something unexpected occurs. Soothing, thought-provoking songs play during cross-examination, and faster versions play during more important testimonies. And rewarding, exciting music plays as you finally pin the real perpetrator for their crimes. The soundtrack gives the game a lot of well-appreciated ambiance.

Overall, the “Ace Attorney Trilogy” is an amazing game that’s definitely worth playing if you like stories, puzzles, or just having a good time. While the large amounts of dialogue may put some players off, just like it had to me, there is a plethora of excitement to be had.