Finished Trials of Innocence (Chinese Ace Attorney clone)

My expectations were low after the shitty first case, but Case 2 was a huge improvement that got me to keep playing, 3 was also good, and 4-5 are excellent cases that blow the preceding ones out of the water. Something that the game does well compared to AA is that all 5 cases are very organically connected to the overarching plot, in a similar way to AAI2. It's not a masterpiece of writing, but there were multiple moments that deeply shocked me and recontextualized the whole game up until that point.

The localization is pretty iffy at times with some obvious ESL mistakes, instances of repeating lines, occasionally forgetting to translate Chinese, but it's not something that will ruin the experience.

Both main defense attorneys are likeable and distinct, with the older one feeling a lot more experienced (compared to Phoenix kind of regressing after Apollo Justice). The supporting cast, defendants, and killers are all pretty interesting too and moral grayness is a pretty heavily recurring theme.

On the technical side, the game isn't an obvious budget job, there's a pretty standard amount of witness/breakdown/desk thump/etc animations and CGs, and the music is excellent

Can't recommend strongly enough to play it if you're an Ace Attorney fan, don't be fooled by the lackluster first case