Guide to Play the Ace Attorney Series in Order – What to play first? 

It has been a while since the Ace Attorney series was released overseas and globalized the previously Japan-exclusive Ace Attorney series. Interestingly, this franchise consists of a main series with a couple of trilogies and a spin-off series encompassing five games. All in all, this visual novel adventure game published by Capcom contains eleven games. 

Although the Ace Attorney series is pretty definite, the change in characters and storyline accompanying the transition in the timeline can be quite overwhelming to track. 

Such a dilemma brings to light a fundamental question about the Ace Attorney series – in what order should you play it?  

Several games from the franchise give rise to very linear gameplay. However, the franchise does a decent job of prioritizing suspense and gameplay over a story that simply moves from one point to another. For example, a few games constitute chapters that take place before the previous ones.  

Even if you’re an Ace Attorney veteran gamer, maintaining a record of when specific events occur can be extremely confusing. Hence, a few of you could play the Ace Attorney series in the most conventional manner – chronologically or release order-wise.  

Here’s more about how you can play the Ace Attorney series in order. 

1. The Chronological Order to Play the Ace Attorney Series 

As mentioned above, each game in the Ace Attorney series will present you with difficulties while keeping track of the story, but playing the games in chronological order simplifies it to a huge extent. Below is the chronological order to play the Ace Attorney series. 

1. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures 

2. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve 

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney  

4. Phoenix Wright: Justice for All 

5. Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations 

6. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 

7. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (also known as Gyakuten Kenji 2) 

8. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (non-canon) 

9. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney 

10. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies 

11. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice 

2. The Release Order to Play the Ace Attorney Series 

If you don’t mind disregarding the overall plot of the series and wish to enjoy the Ace Attorney series as it comes, playing it in the release order will do the job for you. The release order to play the Ace Attorney series is the following. 

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001)  

2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All (2002)  

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations (2004) 

4. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (2007) 

5. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (2009) 

6. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (2011) 

7. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2012) 

8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies (2013) 

9. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (2015) 

10. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice (2016) 

11. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (2017) 

3. Which Ace Attorney game should you play first? 

According to gamers who’ve mastered the Ace Attorney series, the best place to start is the first trilogy of the main series, the Phoenix Wright trilogy. Specifically, you should begin with the first game of this trilogy, which rolled out in 2001, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. 

This choice doesn’t only make sense because it’s the first game in the series but also because it’s the best part of the whole Ace Attorney franchise, consensually. Although Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney comes somewhat later chronologically, the previous two games take place almost a hundred years ago, so it shouldn’t be an issue.  

4. Do you need to play the Ace Attorney series in order? 

Although playing the Ace Attorney series in order is not mandatory, it’s wise to do so. Players should try to play the trilogies in their released order, at least. You can consider this practice a thumb rule since players who played the series in a random order complained of missing the storyline and coming across new characters.  

Since the Ace Attorney series is highly story-driven, the games possess a certain extent of continuity. As a result, playing the franchise in a random order could end up in you surfing the net to connect various dots and learn about fresh characters. 

For context purposes, the first trilogy consists of the following Ace Attorney games. 

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney  

2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All  

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations  

5. Can you start with the Ace Attorney trilogy? 

Whether or not you should start the Ace Attorney series with the Ace Attorney trilogy depends on the trilogy in question. If you’re looking to begin with the Phoenix Wright trilogy, feel free due to the reasons discussed above. However, it might not be the best idea if you’re talking about the second trilogy. 

The second trilogy of the Ace Attorney series isn’t exactly a proper trilogy. It’s simply considered a trilogy since its games were released in succession. So, starting the Ace Attorney with its second trilogy will be equivalent to exposing yourself to three different stories of the Ace Attorney storyline.  

Subsequently, players will again face the obstacle of filling in gaps in the narrative, a problem that can be avoided in the first place.  

For context purposes, the second trilogy consists of the following Ace Attorney games. 

1. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney  

2. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth  

3. Ace Attorney Investigations 2  

6. Will there be a 7th Ace Attorney game? 

According to numerous high-profile Capcom leaks, it seems like the seventh Ace Attorney game is under development.  

Initially, Capcom planned on releasing the seventh game in the mainline Ace Attorney series in 2021. Unfortunately, a customized ransomware attack on Capcom Studios resulted in data loss, which inevitably delayed the production of the seventh installment.  

With any luck, Ace Attorney fans can see a new installment in the franchise this year itself.  

7. About Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Developed by Capcom, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a visual novel game that revolves around the life of Phoenix, an attorney. The game will require you to save your innocent clients from being persecuted.

Using sheer focus and intelligence, you will have to gather evidence and punish those who break the chains of law.