Summary
Capcom’sAce Attorney, the source of frustration for many and the centerpiece of a massive online meme community, has infused the gaming world with legal drama content. Considering how central legal dramas, movies, and TV shows are to the entertainment world, it’s strange that there are only a handful of games that fully immerse players in a law and order backdrop. Sure, the gaming universe has plenty of gamesrevolving around detective workand investigations — the fun part — but that simply isn’t immersive enough when it comes to seeing justice take its course. The real action happens in the courtroom.
While legal plotlines and law and order settings with lawyers as protagonists may not be everyone’s cup of tea — attributing to its slightly more research-based work rather than a more hands-on approach — they can still be a blast if implemented correctly. What’s not to like about being the person who defends the law all while questioning one’s own morality?
Judgmentis a Yakuza spin-off released in 2019, featuring a relatively subtle ‘lawyer-protagonist’ plotline, making it perfect for those not fully into the lawyer trope. Since it is a part of theYakuzaseries, it’snaturally an action-adventurethat almost completely focuses on the combat aspect of things. A lot of its fighting style has been taken fromYakuza 0, and although the game has no noticeable timeline convergences withYakuza, it is set in the same fictional district of Kamurocho in Tokyo.
Judgmentrevolves around a former attorney-of-law turned private investigator, Takayuki Yagami. Takayuki’s last case as an attorney dry-rotted as badly as it could, and left him guilt-ridden, eventually leading him to retire and start his life as a private investigator. In his current job, he is asked to investigate a violent case involving a series of Yakuza murders with the victims’ eyes removed. Takayuki is convinced that this incident is not unrelated to his previous legal case, driving him to ensure no loose ends are left this time around.
6Aviary Attorney
Jayjay Falcon — A Bird Attorney
Aviary Attorney, as its name implies, is a bizarre adventure game inspired byAce Attorney, that completely overrides human characters and uses anthropomorphic birds. It’s an action game thatfeatures a black-and-white art styleand visual-novel-esque gameplay, focusing entirely on (obviously) fictional bird lawyers in 19th-century revolutionary France.
The game follows a falcon defense lawyer, Jayjay Falcon, and his sparrow apprentice, Sparrowson, as they navigate their morally questionable legal careers. The duo takes on multiple odd clients with ambiguous histories, investigating their cases to build strong arguments for court. Gameplay involves traveling to different locations, gathering clues, interviewing witnesses, and striving for favorable verdicts during trials.
5Devil’s Attorney
Max McMann — Not The Most Honorable Attorney On The List
DespiteAviary Attorney’s backdrop and odd choice of characters, it’s still a fairly serious game that requires a considerable amount of deliberation from its players.Devil’s Attorney, on the other hand, is a mobile game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, as evidenced by its art, gameplay, and story.
Devil’s Attorneyis a turn-based strategy game with RPG elements that revolves around a corrupt attorney with questionable morals. Max McMann, the protagonist, is a defender of justice who really doesn’t care about it in any shape or form. His only objective in life is to make as much money as he can, even if it means getting the wrong people a favorable verdict. It’s set in the 1980s and ispacked with funny banter and witty dialoguereflective of that time.
We. The Revolutionis a turn-based strategy/ political sim game that introduces variety to the lawyering trope by focusing on the main man, the Judge. What makes this game particularly more stake-intense is its backdrop. Set amidst the peak of the French Revolution and political unrest, this game places the player in the middle of critical events that must be dealt with without making enemies of the state or its people.
We. The Revolutiontakes its plotline and gameplay to a more weighty note instead of a humorous one and quite literally challenges a person with personal moral dilemmas. It’s a complex game with an equally complex plotline and is perfect for those who enjoy challenging themselves withquick decisions and momentous consequences. Players get to run their own courtroom and actually pass crucial verdicts. The game also features mature themes and must be approached with caution.
Tears of Themisis a free-to-play visual adventure game developed and released by miHoyo in 2020. In terms of premise, the game plays out like every other lawyer game on this list. Players have to go to certain locations, find evidence, investigate different witnesses, and build a case around everything they gather from their excursions. The ultimate objective is to present the gathered evidence in court in order to get a positive verdict for defendants.
Despite the very predictable premise,Tears of Themisis evidently different from other courtroom games in the sense of its unique lore and backdrop, and the addition of a romance subplot. The story centers on a female defense lawyer who becomes entangled in a mysterious case involving a fictional drug called NXX. As she works through various cases, she gets closer to unraveling the larger NXX drug mystery at hand and in turn encounters four potential male leads,introducing a romantic element to the narrative.
2Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane
Tyrion Cuthbert — Mixing Magic and Law
Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcaneis a visual novel that will likely remind players ofAce Attorneydue to its heavy influence. However, what makesAttorney of the Arcanedifferent — and arguably even better — is the very comprehensive worldbuilding, followed by a gameplay that’s slightly more realistic thanAce Attorney.
Despite having a magical/ fantasy setting, certain realism-centered aspects ofAttorney of the Arcanemake it a much more immersive experience than players might think. The game is set in a completely different realm with completely different rules, giving it an odd aura and an entirely unique atmosphere. The main character, Tyrion Cuthbert, is a defense lawyer who has to protect and defend his clients for allegedly committing crimes related to magic — using magic itself as a tool.
TheAce Attorneytrilogy, most notably the first installment, is among the most iconic and beloved games ever made. Even though it was released in 2001, it continues to be as popular (if not more so) as it was when it first came out. It’s a visual novel that does not restrict itself to that format and essentially incorporates a tone of genres to make it as revolutionary as games go. The game’s intensity, stemming from its highly meticulous and intricately devised plot, is something that even modern games struggle to replicate. It is the quintessential lawyer game that truly brought the courtroom drama to gaming.
The story revolves around a rookie lawyer, Phoenix Wright, who sets out to defend his friend from being falsely acquitted for a crime he didn’t commit. As the game progresses, Phoenix takes on four additional cases, where he must investigate, interview witnesses, cross-examine, and persuade the judge to deliver a favorable verdict for his clients.
