Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy review: the guilty pleasure boxset

Let’s settle this

Image credit:Capcom

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom
• Release: January 25th 2024
• On: Windows
• From: Steam
• Price: £40/€50/$50
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i9-11900K, 16GB RAM, Nvidia RTX 3080, Windows 10 + Steam Deck

For a series that’s defined by its trials and elaborate murder cases, the greatest crime in Ace Attorney history is arguably one we never get to see or take part in. Okay, maybe crime is too strong a word. Miscarriage of justice is perhaps more appropriate, and specifically that of Apollo Justice, the cover star of this latest trilogy in Capcom’s beloved lawyer ’em up. Except poor old Apollo isn’t really what holds this collection of Ace Attorneys 4, 5 and 6 together at all. Sure, he features in all of them, but at the end of the day, it’s still the series’ original bluffer supreme Phoenix Wright who heads up most of the casework here, relegating his new protegee back to bench-warming duties almost as soon as Apollo’s debut game rolls its credits. What’s more, he quickly has to share that space with Athena Cykes, another new hotshot lawyer that enters the firm in Dual Destinies and continues the scrappy defence trifecta in Spirit Of Justice.

The result is a set of games that feel considerably wobblier than Capcom’s first and more robust Ace Attorney trilogy , and quite a bit more unfocused than the more recent Victorian-era spin-off, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles . But despite a slightly unsure start, there are still plenty of career highs to be found here for Wright, Cykes and Justice, and Spirit Of Justice in particular remains one of the series’ best entries to date. Those new to Ace Attorney should absolutely begin their journey elsewhere, but for series completionists, the Apollo Justice Trilogy is quite the welcome development.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

Spirit Of Justice may have the best pun work, but Apollo Justice isn’t far behind. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

In terms of what you’re getting here, there’s the trio of mainline games: Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies and Spirit Of Justice, which have all been spruced up to modern day resolutions and are navigable by episode and individual chapters right from the off, letting you dive into your favourite part of each case without needing to complete them all first. You’ve also got the latter two games’ respective special episodes, Turnabout Reclaimed, featuring an actual orca whale as the defendant, and Turnabout Time Traveler. Add in an ‘Orchestra Hall’ of both original, orchestral and trilogy exclusive music tracks, an animation studio where you can pose characters in a variety of settings sans text, an art library stuffed with character design sketches, in-game illustrations, backgrounds and cut-scene movies, and you’ve got quite a well-rounded and generous-feeling package here. Heck, it’s almost enough to make up for the fact that Apollo Justice (the game) only has a mere four-pack of cases compared to the usual five (or six if you count the special eps here).

In Apollo Justice’s defence, it may have fewer cases, but they are noticeably longer as a result, sometimes to its advantage and others to its detriment. For example, the third case involving a backstage murder at a pop concert suffers from some interminable repetition of a ballad whose lyrics seem to predict the events of the crime in question, and identifying tune discrepancies is made all the more laborious by having a sound mixing board as one of the key pieces of evidence. Then again, another case involving a noodle stand, an academic underwear thief and a mafia-style family of local business tycoons has all the room it needs to deliver twist upon twist to keep players on their toes, both as you go about collecting evidence during the investigation stage of each case, and when you’re finding contradictions in witness testimonies during the court battles.

You can see how taking shoe moulds (left) and fingerprint dustings (right) would have been perfect fits for Apollo Justice’s DS hardware, but ‘press R to whistle’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it… |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

These investigations and court trials are once again the bread and butter of what you’ll be doing in these Ace Attorney games, though some of its puzzles and visual flourishes feel rather diminished by the transition to PC from their former DS and 3DS homes. For example, some character reactions in Dual Destinies that previously lurched out toward the screen come across as rather flat in this new trilogy, and the forensic puzzles from Apollo Justice that were originally designed with the DS’ microphone and touchscreen in mind are now all reduced to mere mouse clicks or button presses. I was also a bit sad that each of these techniques only received a single outing in Apollo Justice, and it’s a shame they aren’t developed further or combined in more interesting ways as the game goes on. Still, at least they work and require minimal effort to execute, which is more than can be said for the handful of 3D-specific plot points in Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, where even crossing my eyes failed to replicate the intended affect.

The tricks that do get a good showing, though, are Apollo, Athena, and Phoenix Wright’s respective ‘powers’, which help them uncover hidden clues to further their lines of attack. Apollo has a special bracelet that lets him ‘perceive’ tiny twitches and nervous ticks when witnesses are testifying, whereas Athena’s preternatural hearing can detect when the feelings in someone’s voice don’t match their outward facial expression, with her Mood Matrix software probing these moods for cracks. And Phoenix Wright is back with his Psyche-Lock-breaking Magatama bead, which can force cagey suspects to spill their secrets by presenting them with the right crop of evidence.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

Unlike Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies and Spirit Of Justice retain their original 3D character models. The animation is a lot more characterful, although I’d argue Apollo Justice’s clean 2D artwork scales looks slightly more timeless. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

In Apollo Justice, the bracelet is used sparingly and to great effect, but when Dual Destinies throws multiple protagonists into the mix, the parade of alternating gimmicks can sometimes feel like there’s very little real lawyering going on - a feeling not helped by having some of the most farcical characters of the series making everything feel even more over the top than usual (lookin’ at you, Bobby Fullbright and Simon Blackquill). Spirit Of Justice almost brings this to breaking point when it throws divination seances onto the pile as well. Since this game takes place in the far away land of Khura’in, their court system brings a touch of the (even more) supernatural into play, with prosecutors able to dive back into the final moments of the deceased’s life and literally ‘see’ through their eyes. Sights, sounds and feelings are all highlighted in short clips, adding yet another new spin on finding the contradictions in a piece of ’testimony’.

Thankfully, Spirit Of Justice manages to avoid veering into gimmick overload by carefully pacing out who takes the lead in each of its cases, keeping them all relatively separate until much later on in the game. This structure allows each defence attorney to breathe and do their thing without it all feeling a bit naff and silly, because yep, even the seances somehow end up feeling less daft than Athena’s mood board. What’s more, the way it brings them and their respective investigations together for the finale - both in Spirit Of Justice on its own and plot points from the wider trilogy - is truly up there with what’s arguably still the peak of the series, which is the climax of the third game, Trials And Tribulations. That, and Spirit Of Justice’s truly exceptional pun work in its localisation, is why it remains one of my all-timer Ace Attorney games.

That’s not to say Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies are total duds, though. The journey you go on in the aforementioned noodle stand case in Apollo Justice is just great fun from start to finish, and even the opening poker game-gone-wrong has some clever tricks up its sleeve when it comes to who and howtheydunnit. Likewise, the trial set inside a legal academy for aspiring prosecutors, judges and defence attorneys in Dual Destinies is a wonderfully comic tour de force that really lets Capcom’s animation team strut their stuff. The space centre murder case towards the end of the game also uses the setting’s multiple floors and exhibition pieces to great effect, crafting a deviously plotted murder sequence that almost makes up for the absolute stinker of a second case in Dual Destinies, because, yep, the lows really are quite low in this run of games, with many of them making a case for some of the worst episodes in the series.

This dreariness can, of course, be mitigated more effectively here thanks to the ability to dip your toes in and out of cases at will in its case selection menu - though I’d argue that this only really serves returning Nintendo players who know which cases to revisit and which ones to steer clear of. Taken as a whole, this trilogy ends up feeling a lot more uneven than either the first trio of Ace Attorney games, or the pair of Chronicles. Perhaps this is because none of them bear the fingerprints of series creator Shu Takumi (who was off making Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and Layton Vs Wright back then). Or maybe the sheer passage of time between Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies coming out made the renewed emphasis on Phoenix Wright and gradual sidelining of old Apollo feel more of a necessity after being so long out of the spotlight.

The law is a cruel mistress in Khura’in, as defence lawyers are put to death alongside their clients if they get a Guilty verdict. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

We can speculate as long as we want, of course, but based on the evidence in front of us, I’d begin my closing statement by saying there’s still a good time to be had with the Apollo Justice Trilogy, and as the final piece in Capcom’s Ace Attorney line-up on PC, it’s great to see them finally freed from their former DS and 3DS confines (especially with those excellent special episodes in tact as well). As I said up the top there, this is not the trilogy that newcomers to the series should start with if they like the sound of its murder plots and visual novel -based legal sleuthing. The Phoenix Wright Trilogy or Great Ace Attorney Chronicles are much better entry points than this, with the first trilogy in particular being practically required reading for this one, given how much it leans on Phoenix Wright as a character and brings back old faces and former colleagues in Spirit Of Justice. It’s good to see Apollo get his time in the sun again, even if this trio of games don’t quite do him the justice he really deserves.

This review is based on a review build of the game provided by publishers Capcom.

Find out how we conduct our reviews by reading our review policy .

Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice Trilogy

PS4 , Xbox One , PC , Nintendo Switch

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Android , iOS , Nintendo 3DS , Nintendo DS

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Nintendo 3DS

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

Nintendo 3DS

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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