A couple of years ago, the "walking simulator" genre was under fire by many fans in the gaming sphere who complained that there weren't enough game elements in the medium itself, such as in The Beginner's Guide, Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch. While this hubbub has died down since, I can't help but think that similar games were never ridiculed with such ardor, like the Telltale titles (which got their share of flack but were improved upon with titles like Life is Strange and Until Dawn) and visual novels, such as Clannad and Super Dangan-Ronpa.

The Ace Attorney Trilogy remaster for the PlayStation 4 is one of the most well-loved of the genre, and it has likewise avoided this condemnation, despite its lack of gameplay. This is probably due to the expert crafting of the game, and its tone is generally more accepted by video game culture. The base game is wonderful, benefitting from great writing and intuitive gameplay, and this PlayStation 4 remaster features enhanced graphics and music, bringing an already wonderful title back to life in a powerful way.

For the uninitiated, virtual novel games center around interactions with other people, with you usually trying to gain information about the situation by using objects in your inventory, pursuing different dialogue options, or both. This style inherently breeds interest and mystery, which Ace Attorney dives into headfirst. You play as Phoenix Wright, the titular ace attorney, as he investigates/litigates (you play both detective and lawyer) the myriad of weird and complicated cases put before him. The cases involve murder, police mascots, silver samurai, and his best friend/archrival Edgeworth (a smug and ruthless prosecuting attorney).

The narrative consists of character arcs, so as you progress through each case, you see the balance of personality and development, with Phoenix transitioning from slightly helpless to helpful while likewise maintaining his goofy, hardheaded demeanor. Miles lightens up as time progresses but continues to be cold and stoic at points. These characters, along with many others, have a conviction to their actions and personalities that makes them caricatures but also human, so they're incredibly emotional, funny and relatable. The air of mystery surrounding most of the characters means we get to learn more about them as the game progresses. The anime look and feel allows it to be a little zany at times but reins itself back in when it needs to. Melodrama sinks deep into the roots of the entire experience, which feels wild and weird but appropriate. While the game can drag at certain points in the narrative, especially during longer cases, the story and overall feel are incredibly engaging.

Due to the format of the game, the gameplay mechanics in Ace Attorney are relatively simple and generally well executed. The format of each trial is similar: You begin by learning about the crime and meeting up with the defendant to hear their side of the story. From there, you move from area to area, speaking to others involved with the case (witnesses, officers, etc.) and exploring the areas you're visiting, gathering clues along the way to progress the story. Once you've gathered everything, you cross-examine witnesses in court, pointing out contradictions using the evidence you have at your disposal. Unlike baseball, it's five strikes and you're out. This cycle repeats a few times for each case, you (hopefully) get your client acquitted, and start the next case.

The logical leaps between the evidence and contradicting testimony can sometimes seem quite large, but the game does a good job of pointing out why it makes sense, and it gives you enough context to solve each murder. The best parallel is a point-and-click adventure game from the '90s, but instead of solely clicking, you make most of the choices in dialogue boxes, jump from screen to screen, talk to characters in one area, and then move on to explore the next area. This works out pretty well, especially when adapting it to the PS4, which is generally better with button clicks than mousing around the screen. The game is pretty slow, and there aren't any options to change the cursor speed. Overall, Ace Attorney makes the genre gripping, palatable and vivacious, even though it can often feel tiresome given the sheer amount of dialogue to parse through.

When it comes to remasters, the first question on my mind — and many other minds, I'm sure — is how the graphics shape up. I'm quite happy to say that the Ace Attorney graphics stand up pretty well, especially for a game that made its debut on the Game Boy Advance almost 20 years ago. While the graphics weren't initially a tour de force, with each character having perhaps 20 different animation frames for speaking and the overall art looking like it could've been made in Microsoft Paint, this version polishes up all of that to look its best. While the game saw a steep improvement between GBA and Nintendo DS in the mid-aughts, and likewise to iOS after that, the PS4 version shows even bigger improvements with color, lines and shading. The text is smoother and easier to read, small tarnishes on pieces of evidence can be noticed with careful observation, clues in the background become more apparent, etc.

While some of the depictions of women in this game are problematic — Mia Fey is the worst example by far — their roles as characters are not diminished to indulge the player base. However, this doesn't excuse their choices of portrayal. With that being said, the overall stylistic choices for the PS4 are wonderful and add a lot of detail to a game that relies on them. One may believe that a game such as this, with limited graphics, may not need an update, this remaster shows just how much you can add with an appropriate attention to detail.

On the music, I'll keep it brief. Ace Attorney has some dang fine, if not repetitive, music. The biggest difference/improvement between this newer version and the previous ones is that the music isn't coming from a portable device. The speakers in the DS and iOS devices aren't bad, but the highs and lows in the EQ can be lost, along with some dynamics and instrumentation. This game fixes that, with blaring trumpets and more highly defined drums, among other improvements. However, the game likewise keeps its original charm by maintaining the music notes to specific rhythmic increments and keeping the chiptune instruments. The balance of keeping the music the same for nostalgia and changing it for the updates is done incredibly well here; it's a good example for others who are looking to bring older games back to life.

Overall, Ace Attorney Trilogy wholeheartedly proves its worth as a remaster. The story still stands up today and balances goofiness and sincerity in a fun and enchanting way. The gameplay is slow but wins over its audience. The graphics are heavily improved from its myriad predecessors, and the music is brought to life in just the right way. Sure, there are some slight slip-ups here and there, but this game is a gem that's worth playing from the pantheon of games, especially those in the visual novel genre. At this time, the defense rests.

Score: 8.5/10