Let me start by saying what I think this game does well:
1. A good story:
Does the story seem obvious and based highly on tropes from ace attorney games?
Maybe.
Is each characters personality highly based on ace attorney characters?
Yes.
But this game takes on Ace attorney and the story genuinely feels like another case from the game if you hone in really hard on the story. It just feels like one of those first cases where they serve as introductions, which this game does amazingly.
2. Interesting character designs
These characters don't look bland, they don't feel like something forgettable. Each character has a unique charm about them with some bold design choices. For instance, the judge has an unforgettable design, even if she does look a little like a cockroach. Also, Samuel himself has a kind of lion looking aspect to him which makes him memorable. Every character is noticeable in the way they look, and the design choices are bold yet easy to look at.
3. The idea of adding a logic idea at the end, based on the ace attorney investigation games.
Yes, this was actually a really good part of the game, but my huge problem with it is that it addresses the PAINFULLY obvious plot hole like a sort of revelation and moment of god-like intellect. If you were paying attention to the testimony directly before that, it would be apparent that what was gone over in the logic game is right in front of you. I will cast those opinions aside to say this idea was really fresh and revitalizing, and the background for this itself looked really good. The logical progression and breakdown is steadier than in some of the other actual ace attorney games.
Now, what this game does poorly.
1. Bad graphics
This is the statement most people would agree with. The art style is, in my opinion, drawn like someone under the age of 16. The proportions aren't right, most people don't have shadows, and the background sprites look like something out of Newgrounds. Peoples eyes will just not exist during some sprites? (especially that one where the prosecutor is laughing, and the confession of the culprit.) Some models look completely flat because they have no shadows on them (like the second frame when Samuel is falling.) Very poor flashback screens where it looks like a yellow screen and black ink blots on it. Also, one picture was literally drawn in a notebook and not fully colored in. Overall, the artist, which I'm assuming is the developer, needs to work on the art style.
2. Lack of tone throughout the game.
The characters in this game lack their certain power or expected trait that makes them that character, as most float above the constraints of a digestible personality, with character development being rapid and jarring, at times. The prosecutor suddenly crying like a baby after acting serious and smug for the whole game. The judge, who is supposed to be a fair and honest girl, just admits shes an idiot. Samuel being a really smart guy but apparently relying on poor sarcasm for most of his internal dialogue and conversation. The game keeps getting interrupted by unnecessary humor that doesn't have the charm of the ace attorney games. I will admit, some moments did land for me, but others just made the game hard to go through.
3. Voice acting.
The voice lines were recorded by a child in their room late at night. When you say objection, you don't state it softly, you either state it loudly or scream it. This is what they do in the Ace attorney games to build up drama and suspense and make the case seem more dramatic. A low level "objection" won't cut it for a sense of drama in a highly dramatic game.
4. The reason button.
This was the most frustrating thing for me: A reason button, where the answer in a puzzle game is handed to you on a silver platter. It's frustrating because you, as a puzzle game creator, have not expanded the minds of people who have played your game. You only have given them a crutch to rely on. This mechanism only works in the ace attorney investigations games where choices are not binary, but based on actually moving around a crime scene and investigating things. There's a reason the ace attorney games do not have a reason button.
And that's really it. Overall, for a free game; the story is interesting enough. Everything else needs refinement. I would get it, especially since it is free.
