- This page is about the game mechanic used in the Ace Attorney games to keep track of evidence. For the fansite, see Court Records. For the equivalent game mechanic in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Gyakuten Kenji 2, see organizer.
- The gameplay articles on this wiki describe game controls in universal terms. This means that some of the controls may not be relevant to the medium through which you are playing the Ace Attorney games. Mentions of the touchscreen refer to the touchscreen functionality on the Nintendo DS and the iOS. "X", "Y", "L", "R", "Select" and "Start" refer to buttons on the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. The "+" and "-" buttons refer to the small buttons in the middle of the Wii Remote.
The court record is a central gameplay element in the core Ace Attorney series. The protagonist stores all evidence and character profiles in the court record for him to use in a trial or for other purposes. In the main series, the court record is accessible at nearly every user prompt in each game, either through a "Court Record" button or through a "Present" button. One notable exception is the jury verdict in Turnabout Succession. In Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the court record is not used outside of trials, although Hershel Layton's trunk is used in a similar fashion.
Functions[]
In the original Game Boy Advance trilogy, which was only released in Japan, the court record uses a scrolling system in which the player cycles through individual profiles and pieces of evidence with the d-pad. The game shows various details on the selected item, and some items can be examined more closely by pressing the A button. The R button serves to flip between the evidence and profiles.
The Nintendo DS and WiiWare games introduced an additional mode of browsing through the court record. By default, the player enters into an overview mode in which items are represented as icons. Eight items can fit in each page, and the player can press "left" or "right" on the d-pad or the touchscreen to navigate between pages. When an item is selected, the court record switches to the scrolling system from the Game Boy Advance games. In this detailed mode, the DS and WiiWare games make use of the touchscreen and remote-pointing functionality of the DS and Wii, respectively. "Court Record", "Check", and "Back" buttons are added to the screen to be "pressed", and the player can also "swipe" the court record to show an adjacent item. In the WiiWare games, the court record is accessed through the "-" button. In DS-specific episodes, every item can be checked, with most being in a 3D examination mode that is similar to "Examine", except the item can also be rotated by dragging one of two dials in the touchscreen. The dials can also be accessed by the d-pad by holding R/-.
In the Nintendo 3DS games, the two modes of browsing used in the DS and WiiWare games are combined into a single menu. The player highlights items on an overview menu, and details on a selected item are shown above the menu. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, to fit the detailed view into the screen while maintaining the use of the square evidence icons, five items appear in a row on each page. The player can also use the vertical buttons on the d-pad to move between pages. Moreover, during investigations, there is a "Notes" section that provides notes on what is going on in the case and what to do next. The player moves between evidence, profiles, and notes using the shoulder buttons or by pressing the tabs at the top of the touchscreen. In Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, evidence icons are smaller, so that up to eight items can still appear on a single page, but the vertical d-pad buttons are not used to switch pages.
"Court Record" button[]
The "Court Record" button, accessible outside of cross-examinations by pressing it (R/-), allows the player to view collected evidence and profiles. This does not allow the player to present evidence, but in Rise from the Ashes, the luminol spray and the fingerprint powder can be used by selecting the item and pressing, or via a button that appears on the top of the touchscreen (X/+).
"Present" button[]
- Main articles: Investigation and Trial
The "Present" button allows the player to present items in the court record to a character or the court. The player can select the item and then press the "Present" button on the top of the touchscreen (X/-) to present the evidence. On the DS, the player can hold "Y" and yell "Objection!"/"Take that!" into the microphone to achieve the same result. Similarly, on WiiWare, the player can thrust the Wii Remote in the direction of the motion sensor, as if pointing at the witness.
In most of the games, profiles can only be presented when being forced to. However, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations allow the player to present profiles at any time in the same way as evidence, during both Investigations and Trials. Moreover, in Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations the player can present Phoenix Wright's magatama to people with Psyche-Locks to initiate the lock-breaking process.
Notes[]
- The English font used for the titles of evidence and profiles has changed twice during the course of the DS Ace Attorney games. The font used in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was not used again until the organizer in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, with the intervening games using a different font.
- If a character uses two or more distinct identities with both identities being known before said characters are confirmed to be one and the same, each identity is given a separate profile.
See also[]
Evidence lists[]
- List of Evidence in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- List of Evidence in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
- List of Evidence in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
- List of Evidence in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
- List of Evidence in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
- List of Evidence in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
- List of Evidence in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
- List of Evidence in Gyakuten Kenji 2
- List of Evidence in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- List of Evidence in The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures
- List of Evidence in The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve
Profile lists[]
- List of Profiles in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- List of Profiles in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
- List of Profiles in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
- List of Profiles in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
- List of Profiles in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
- List of Profiles in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
- List of Profiles in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
- List of Profiles in Gyakuten Kenji 2
- List of Profiles in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- List of Profiles in The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures
- List of Profiles in The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve