Skip to main content

After half my life, Ace Attorney's re-release brought me full circle

¡°Edgeworth red.¡±

Many, many people have stories about how video games have impacted them. It's rarer for a series to be a continuous, changing influence on half of your life. And yet somehow Ace Attorney, a comedy game about lawyers, became bizarrely foundational to my teenage years - and then jarringly alien in my 20s. So when the original trilogy was remastered earlier this year, it felt like so much more than the chance to revisit a classic. It seemed an invitation to reflect on an influence lasting more than a decade, kicked off by a video game, that ended up nowhere near where I expected it to.

The first time I ever saw Ace Attorney being played, I was 12. The first game was already five years old, having made the transition from the Game Boy Advance to the Nintendo DS by the time I glimpsed it over a friend's shoulder. She was playing one of the tense courtroom battles and, for reasons long lost to time, I was immediately hooked by the concept.

The investigative sequences were less interesting to me, but this was a blessing in disguise. My friend soon got fed up of calling me over when she was back to arguing her case in front of a judge, and I wasn't understanding the story properly from those fragments anyway, so I picked up my own copy and tore through it, falling in love with the characters and story.

As invested as I was from the start, I could hardly imagine the impact these games would have on me. One of my dearest friends to this day is someone that I became close to after overhearing them mention the game at school. Both of our closets are full of clothes that might be called "wine" or "maroon" but which we exclusively refer to as "Edgeworth red" after the recurring prosecutor we both adore and his distinctively dyed suit.

But the biggest influence is how much I wanted to be a lawyer. In this, it wasn't Phoenix but his mentor Mia Fey that drove me. Compassionate, dedicated, and hyper-competent to the point of getting her own murderer to confess in court (it's a long story), she was everything that I wanted to be.

This wasn't a passing fad used to shrug off the endless adults asking "what will you do when you grow up?" When I was 14, I started sitting in the gallery in my town's courtroom. It wasn't the shouting and drama of Ace Attorney, but I was still fascinated, taking notes in a hot pink flip pad about the cases, the arguments, and most of all the people.

When I was 16 I started studying the law at school, went to do work experience at the court, attended seminars for wannabe lawyers, and shadowed a barrister who happened to be a family friend. There's a picture of me somewhere in the impossibly old-fashioned gown and wig of an English barrister - much less tasteful than the small golden badges of Ace Attorney's lawyers. When I was 18, I went to study history at university, expecting to transfer into the law with a one-year course when I was finished.

Then I became severely depressed.

I don't remember exactly how and when I stopped wanting to become a lawyer, but I do remember it being central enough to my sense of self that when I realised, I felt entirely adrift.

Still, Ace Attorney provided something. I played the fifth game in the main series, Dual Destinies, in a summer where I did little but stay in bed with video games. I couldn't find it in myself to like it very much, but it did have one thing going for it, and her name was Athena Cykes. The series has always had various young women play peppy sidekick to the leading lawyer, but Athena took sunshine optimism to a new level, and I loved her for it.

I'm not here to say that a video game character lifted me out of my depression - I have medication and therapy to thank for that. But all I needed from Ace Attorney at that time was for it to be a pleasant distraction, and Athena provided it.

2016's release, Spirit of Justice, was a different story. Though I'd wrestled my brain chemistry into a more positive place, graduated, and begun the very fledgling stages of this career, I still felt unmoored. A ten-year ambition isn't so easily forgotten, especially when confronting the complexities of post-graduate life for the first time. I was in completely the wrong place, mentally, to be picking up the latest game in the series that had kicked it all off, and though I played the whole thing, it was impossible to see it as anything but a mirror of my own history. I could barely tell you what happens in the game, only that I felt utterly at odds with something that should have been so familiar. It was like coming home to find out your roommate suddenly only speaks French, or, rather, realising they're still speaking English but you've forgotten how to.

Even three years later, picking up the remastered Ace Attorney trilogy, I was holding onto a similar idea. Surely this mirror, taking me back to the very beginnings of this journey, would hold the answers to that dissonance I felt. I would be able to find something profound about myself in the replaying, like an archaeological dig through my own life that would turn up a treasure that would make sense of the whole thing.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work that way. Replaying a video game can't tie off all the loose ends on something so complicated. Or, maybe, not doing so was the only way that it could.

Starting over, I could quickly tell that I had been wrong to expect so much. I've talked for a thousand words to this point about my relationship to the series and I've still only touched on the very surface, so every case held memories and complicated feelings that I could only address by admitting that they weren't going to get a neat and tidy resolution just because I'd come back to the start.

But realising that meant that I got to enjoy them for what they are. And, everything else I feel about them aside, they're just good games. There are some bits that raise eyebrows now that I'm older and more aware, like how repulsed characters are by the effeminate gay man Jean Armstrong, or how one particularly weak case hinges on three separate men in their 20s and 30s being in love with a 16-year-old girl. But equally, there are things I appreciate now that I couldn't properly understand before, like how the game's legal system intentionally reflects the truly broken nature of the law both in Japan and worldwide.

Ultimately, I find myself going back to Athena Cykes. Sometimes the best thing to do is shelve the deep personal significance and let a video game just be a video game. That doesn't mean it's not important. A game can simultaneously be a huge part of your childhood, an inspiring if sometimes faltering look at injustice, and a fun story full of ridiculous characters and even sillier puns. None of those things need to get in the way of any of the others.

With that in mind, I'm going to keep playing the rest of the games in the series, making my winding way back to Spirit of Justice to give it the chance that I couldn't before, weighed down with so many expectations.

After all, I'll never be Mia Fey, but I'm also not planning to stop wearing Edgeworth red anytime soon.

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com