It's a solid addition to the Ace Attorney series, warts and all.
Apollo Justice takes place 7 years after the events that forced Phoenix Wright to give up his attorney badge. That's right, and the once legendary Phoenix Wright is nothing but a mediocre pianist who has a slight addiction to an ambiguously named beverage, grape juice. And since Phoenix isn't an ace attorney anymore, you take up the role of the new hotshot rookie, Apollo Justice. In terms of character, he's just like Phoenix in his defense days. He's sensible, logical, he lets loose with sly insults in the form of asides and he ultimately searches for the truth. Your new partner is now an aspiring magician, Trucy. In terms of character, she's just like Maya, who partnered with Phoenix in the past 3 games. Trucy's energetic, eager and can often be quite the airhead, just like Maya. However, she proves to be an invaluable partner during court. She'll point out last-minute contradictions that will save your hide from time to time, just like how Maya did for Phoenix.
This is a problem. Apollo Justice suffers from a weird identity crisis. It's not completely sure if it's a Phoenix Wright game or completely brand new one with a brand new principle cast of characters. Even though the localization team has done another amazing job with the translation, (it even has references to songs like "Knockin' on Heaven's Door) providing tons of genuine laughs and compelling dialogue, it feels like the new characters are just less interesting variations of the original cast from the Wright's trilogy. Ema Skye, who first appeared in the fifth case of the first Ace Attorney game, is the only character that proves to be agreat addition to the new cast, as she takes over the detective role that the often-clumsy Gumshoe once filled.
For better and for worse, what still makes Apollo Justice great is because of how it's centered on Phoenix Wright. It's ultimately Wright's story and it's ultimately about how he lost his badge and how he ultimately found the truth through 7 years of work. Apollo Justice starts off incredibly well, because of how Wright's plans are going in motion. The game then goes into an episodic format introducing colorful characters and intriguing mysteries that don't really affect the main story arc in any relevant fashion, just like how the Ace Attorney games before it. The stand-alone arcs are very good for the most part, because of the excellent writing and the charming characters. It then drives into a superb final case. It's easily the most original and innovative case that the Ace Attorney series has ever had. It does leave a couple plot holes, but it's just so refreshing and original and the characters introduced in the last case are so superbly well-defined and interesting that it's easy to forgive.
If there's one frustrating issue to be had with the overall story arc in general, it's that Apollo Justice doesn't even take a glance at past characters, like Maya and Edgeworth. This is going to be frustrating for Ace Attorney veterans, but this frustration can settle into acceptance overtime as long as you aren't expecting a surprise cameo or anything of that sort. Apollo Justice really tries to please both sides, the new comer and the fan that's followed the series since its inception, but it ultimately pushes towards the latter side and even then it disappoints to a certain level.
On the other hand, the gameplay shouldn't disappoint. It follows the structure that the series has religiously adhered to. Do some CSI detective work, go into trial and repeat both steps until you reach a verdict. The trial portions have always been the best aspect of the series, so it hasn't changed that much. The biggest addition is the new ability to perceive the witness on trial. During certain moments, you'll be able to tune your senses to such a degree that you'll able to and have to point out subtle quirks from a witness when they're lying. It's a neat concept and it's a really cool feature, but it rarely ever comes into play.
The detective section has received the biggest improvements. It implements the many features introduced in the fifth case of the first game. There's a lot of touch screen functionality included in Apollo Justice. Besides blowing on the mic to reveal fingerprints, you'll get the chance to shuffle through the many layers of a sheet of paper, revealing the contents of letters without having to open them. They're not very challenging in any sense, but they're involving and very fun.
On the graphical side of things, there are a lot of visual improvements. Many backgrounds, like the courtroom, have been completely redrawn. The new character sprites also sport a decidedly cleaner look, but the seemingly immortal judge hasn't been touched up at all. Whether that's a joke to his immortalness or if he was just a victim to laziness is up for debate, but it's funny nonetheless. The music still continues the tradition of Ace Attorney's sonic greatness. The new courtroom tunes are a delight for the ears and while the music outside of the courtroom is hit-and-miss, they're largely good. Not a lot of tracks have been reused, but when they are, they're used very well. The fourth case in particular is a prime example of smartly reused tunes. Ace Attorney veterans will be delighted, that's for sure.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney certainly has a lot of problems, but in the overall scheme of things, it's still a solid addition to the series. Stating that the localization is excellent is still a vast understatement, the characters introduced in the episodic cases are well-developed and memorable and the murder mysteries are compelling and engaging. A lot of story groundwork is laid out in the last case, so there's a lot of potential for Apollo's own story and for the new characters to grow and become unique identities. There's a lot to look forward to and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a promising starting point.