A new year, a new spiky-haired lawyer.

Having completed Capcom's newest legal adventure, I offer a few impressions for you to nibble on with your evening brandy.

It has been seven years since the events in Trials and Tribulations transpired.  Phoenix Wright has been disgraced and disbarred (for reasons that you know I can't reveal here), and he now makes a living as a fifth-rate John Tesh in a Russian dive.   Enter the titular Apollo Justice, an oh-so-pure defense attorney who's about to be touched for the very first time.  So how is it?

Well, the gameplay is practically unchanged.  There are some investigation elements that take advantage of the console's touch screen and 3D capabilities, and some nifty FMV sequences have been thrown in.  Otherwise, it's standard Ace Attorney fare:  tap through menus, follow dialogue tree, progress to next section, repeat as desired.

While the art direction is very much in line with past entries, modest visual improvements have been made, particularly in the backgrounds.  For example, the courtroom is essentially the same as it always has been, just a little more colorful and detailed.  It's not a night-and-day difference, and it's far from groundbreaking, but it's a noticeable step up.  As far as the music goes, expect a pleasant combination of classic tracks and some new, up-tempo, guitar-heavy numbers.  It all fits quite well, especially considering that your new prosecutor nemesis moonlights as a rock star.  (Yes, you read that correctly.)

But let's get to the meat and potatoes:  How is the story?  Series veterans know that the last game raised the bar several notches, leaving some very big shoes to fill.  I am happy to report that Apollo Justice satisfies on almost every level.  As is to be expected, the mundane soon snowballs and coagulates into something very substantial, and what was a minor detail early on can easily become the object of a critical turning point in a later case.  All the while, demons from the past slowly and periodically surface, putting a revealing twist on an already compelling story.  Prepare to be entertained.

The only notable negative mark here is in the character development.  Granted, we find ourselves transitioning from the well-established cadre of the original trilogy, and some latitude is in order.  Most of the new cast is interesting, the humor and over-the-top feel is still very much present, and some fan-favorite cameos are guaranteed to delight the faithful.

Be that as it may, there seems to be a slight drop-off in overall charisma.  Prosecutor Klavier Gavin, in particular, is quite one-dimensional.  He never comes across as a menacing, fearful adversary.  Compared to prior holders of the position (most especially Godot), Gavin just doesn't have a presence.  I was never intimidated by him, and I hope the role is ramped up in the next installment.

Overall Impression:  Despite the inherent awkwardness that is part and parcel of being acquainted with a new crowd, and the occasional wet blanket, Apollo Justice continues the series' storytelling tradition quite wonderfully.