Paper Perjury

pretty decent game, I feel like the cases bleed over into each other too much though

Paper Perjury is a surprisingly competent Ace Attorney clone that does a lot of things right (in that all of the mechanics are almost identical to the original Ace Attorney games) but has some really odd plot framing and writing that's a bit weak. The game uses what is quite possibly one of the strangest plot frames I've ever seen: you're playing as a secretary at a police station who finds a contradiction in a witness testimony and is almost immediately given a de facto promotion to homicide investigator. I get that the detective in the Ace Attorney games is an underqualified idiot, but it's a little odd that they didn't just make the character a homicide investigator from the get-go. If Ace Attorney is a rollercoaster, Paper Perjury is a merry-go-round. It doesn't reach the dramatic highs that Ace Attorney does (there's only one obvious villain and they don't quite meet the level of a Kenji Karuma or that one guy with diplomatic immunity so strong the game cannot end) but also doesn't quite plumb the depths that Ace Attorney has in that it doesn't expect you to interrogate a clown with limited ability to press statements. This game has a press button, but as far as I know i…

I did not encounter any bugs, so that is already a plus. This is another game that scratches that Ace Attorney itch. A well written story with interesting twists and turns, memorable characters, very punny names and great music. Paper Perjury does happen in an alternate world that appears to be similar to ours, but other than that the story is very grounded and realistic. A special shout out here to the track "Between the Lines ~ Presto" which easily stands on par with the "OBJECTION!" themes for Phoenix Wright and the first one for Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney: Investigations, as well as "Last Stand" from Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane

A reviewer's duty is to simultaneously assist the artist (any media is art, so are games) on the one hand by pointing aspects of their work that could improve (those that can only be fully noticed when the product massively available) and any potentials consumers by informing them before they spend their money what they will get with the purchase . Yet, above all, in this digital era, I believe a review must be sincere, with warmth, and thus should not be afraid to express subjectivities. With that out of the way, I want to start by telling that I first noticed this game in 2024-September, via Youtube algorithm to the trailer. I honestly didn't think much of the product . The comments already pointed out the similarities with Ace Attorney (from now on AA), with the breakdowns and the main gameplay mechanic of reading to find contradictions. But the design style was definitely different, with a 2D that's typical from a western production in the late 2010s and while the trailer did show breakdowns, they were compared to AA much more contained. And the key difference was the background song used in the trailer: "Reveal the Truth". It striked an unheard balance from me, on the one ha…

I'm 4 cases in and I really do like it. It's very clearly Ace Attorney inspired (which rocks cause I need so much more Ace Attorney), but it is quite short. Probably half my hours were from leaving the game open while I did other things. Still very worth it.

Justina Smith: Ace Clerk Investigations