Four years after the debut of Deck Nine’s prequel spin-off, and almost two years after Dontnod’s last outing, theLife is Strangefranchise has returned withLife is Strange: True Colors, Deck Nine’s first original entry in the series. For fans, this is a major entry, as it is not only the series' debut on next-generation consoles and Nintendo Switch, but it isthe first title to release all five chapters at once, as opposed to staggered episode releases with previous entries.
The only downside to this format is that fans are very likely to finishTrue Colorsfaster than any other entry given its binge-worthy nature. This, coupled with the game only clocking in at around 10 hours overall, means that fans are very quickly going to want to fill the void Deck Nine’s spectacular slice-of-life mystery leaves them with. Thankfully, a surprising savior might be found in one of this year’s quietest releases,The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Capcom’s latest collection of previously Japan-onlyAce Attorneygames have ended up becoming one of the year’s biggest sleeper hits, that has surprising appeal for fans of Square Enix’sLife is Strangeseries.
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How The Great Ace Attorney Surpasses Life Is Strange’s Writing
The first reasonLife is Strangefans should look intoThe Great Ace Attorneyseries is that, unlikeLife is Strangewhere the length of each title maxes out atLife is Strange 2’s 15 hours of content,The Great Ace Attorney Chroniclescloses after a whopping 80 hours of non-stop storytelling. This is mainly because the game is a collection of two games. However, not a second of this time is wasted given both games feature one overarching narrative: Starting with the first game’s beginning case, and ending with the second game’s final case, means it’s a non-stop 80 hour adventure that rarely seems like narrative filler.
While potentially intimidating, it’s worth mentioning that much like theLife is Strangegames, eachGreat Ace Attorneygame is broken into five chapters, ranging from two to ten hours long. Of course this would all be meaningless if the world and characters ofThe Great Ace Attorneyweren’t so full of personality and endearing. The game follows bumbling Japanese lawyerRyunosuke Naruhodo and his judicical assistant, Susato Mikotoba, as they study law in England over the course of a year. The duo team up with the great detective known as Herlock Sholmes and his assistant, a 10 year old scientist called Iris Wilson.
Both games feature a very small cast of constantly reoccuring characters that are all immediatly lovable, even including the cold rival prosecutor Barok van Zieks, known as “The Reaper” to the townsfolk of London, who Ryunosuke faces in court. WhileLife is Strangefans are undoubtedly used to emotional and often dark storytelling in their games,The Great Ace Attorney Chroniclesfocuses on a more lighthearted tone. However this only makes the game’s more serious and sometimes very emotional moments of storytelling hit much harder, since it’s hard not to adore its cast of eccentric characters.
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Deep, Complex Investigations
Another reasonLife is Strangefans will loveThe Great Ace Attorney Chroniclesis due to the games' deep investigation mechanics. Ryunosuke and Susato travel to many points of interest, interviewing suspects, and investigating pieces of evidence related to a specific case, before cross-examining witnesses in court in the game’s trials.
These moments are the bread and butter of theAce Attorneyseries, focusing on the player’s ability to detect the contradictions in witness testimonies, and present the appropriate evidence to turn the case in their favor. While each of these sections is somewhat linear and requires a specific pattern to succeed, the game relies heavily on the player’s own wit to solve these cases andempathy for its characters in order to succeed, something it shares in common with games likeLife is Strange: True Colors.
Better yet,The Great Ace Attorney Chroniclesisthe perfect entry point for newcomers of the series, as it is a self-contained story with no connection to the mainPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorneygames at all. The games also offer a conclusive ending that implies that this was only intended to be a short spin-off of theAce Attorneyseries and that the story told throughout both titles is done and dusted, much like almost every entry in theLife is Strangeseries so far.
The Great Ace Attorney Chroniclesis available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4.
