Case Review: The First Turnabout

Ace Attorney is a game series that is split up into multiple separate cases, which are often wildly different to each other. I thought it'd be interesting to review them separately, looking closely at each case and its good and not so good points. Where better to start than the beginning of the Ace Attorney series - The First Turnabout?

HOLD IT! This post contains spoilers for The First Turnabout from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Look away now if you haven't played it!

The First Turnabout may be a straightforward case but it's an important one, as it holds the position of the first case in the first Ace Attorney game. It's the case most Ace Attorney players will begin with (not myself, Turnabout Trump was my first case) and probably the one that gets them hooked on playing more of this unique series.

I said The First Turnabout was straightforward, but is it? Well, let's take a closer look at it. The case features the court debut of Phoenix Wright and the entirety of the case takes place in the courtroom (i.e. there are no investigation segments). Phoenix is defending his childhood friend, Larry Butz, who was arrested for the murder of Cindy Stone. We see Mia Fey, the judge and Winston Payne for the first time in this case, as well as Frank Sahwit. Interestingly, every character in this case (besides Cindy Stone, naturally) makes a reappearance later in other Ace Attorney games.

This case is generally seen as a tutorial; can you find the contradictions and use evidence to catch the criminal? The criminal being Frank Sahwit, of course, as the opening scene for the case shows us This makes it one of the few cases in the series in which the criminal is shown to the player, making it more of a puzzle as to how to get him to confess rather than trying to find out who committed the crime.

The crime itself was simple; Frank killed the victim with a statue of "The Thinker", that Larry had made. Frank tries to hide his crime by spinning a web of lies, such as seeing Larry leave the apartment at 1pm and finding the body (which is proven false by Phoenix as the victim was killed at 4pm). He goes on to say it was the TV that said it was 1pm which again was a lie, as Phoenix points out there was a blackout in the apartment block during that time.

You get the idea; Phoenix uses evidence to unravel Frank's lies, successfully proving Larry's innocence. Whilst The First Turnabout is a simple case, it does have some standout moments. The reveal that the statue of "The Thinker" was one of my favourite parts, highlighting just how clever Ace Attorney can be. Of course I am partial to some Payne every now and then, and Winston doesn't disappoint here. And don't even get me started on the infamous wig-throwing scene when Frank realises he can't escape.

After the case, Phoenix gets to have a nice chat with Mia and Larry. It feels like you've won; not only have you found the truth but you've cleared Larry of the false accusations. There aren't many moments of relief in the Ace Attorney series, but this is definitely one of them. Phoenix must have been pretty happy too, after winning his first case. There's no stopping him now!

All in all, The First Turnabout is the perfect case to begin the series with. It's short and works well as a tutorial whilst maintaining a few twists - but most of all, it's very Ace Attorney. It's got good characters and manages to introduce them very well, with a mix of humour and serious moments. The perfect vanilla Ace Attorney case.