Birds have a long history in gaming, dating back to the mascot wars of the 90s. Games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot all brought birds to the forefront of gaming entertainment with their colorful bird protagonists, hinting at a bright future for avian kind. But as console generations came and went, the medium's focus shifted, and birds were all but lost in the gaming spectrum. Thankfully, all is not lost, and thanks to sleeper hits like Hatoful Boyfriend and Penguins Arena and the popular Tropes vs. Birds video series by Tweeta Parakeetian, birds are back, and better than ever - which brings us to the latest in bird entertainment, Aviary Attorney.

Avian Attorney is, as it says in the title, a game about birds practicing in the school of law - unlike its bird of a feather, Hatoful Boyfriend (which held its surprise so close to its plumage that even today most people still think it's a joke game about dating birds), this time it's just you, the birds, and the mysteries within. While it's not necessarily an original idea, predated by famous bird lawyer series Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law more than a decade ago, it provides a fresh perspective through its unique presentation, in both its art style and music.

In terms of gameplay, Aviary Attorney will probably come as second nature to anyone familiar with the similarly named Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series (which, despite its misleading title, is not about mystical birds). It's a visual novel with mystery elements, in which you travel between various locations gathering evidence leading up to a court trial. Unlike Phoenix Wright, however, travelling between most locations takes a day of your time, and you only have a certain amount of time before each court session begins, making you think more about where you need to go. There are four cases, with minor choices throughout the cases that lend to replayability (and frequently leave you wondering whether or not you've made a mistake), and the fourth case has 3 varients which are vary significantly both in story and length, and altogether the game lasted me around 7 hours. There are occasional bugs here and there, but the developer seems to be working hard to iron out the problems and in the time I've been playing it there have already been two small patches for it. If you're a fan of mystery games, particularly of the Ace Attorney variety, this is a pretty easy purchase overall. It has enough original elements to keep veterans of the genre on their talons, while providing more of the mysteries that they love.

Edit -

So the game has been fixed with the witheld content. Yet, I find myself unwilling to revert my score as it is.


For one, the game is just too short for an interactive story game.

The idea of cases failing because of your inability to find the correct evidence comes across as pretty arbitrary. If you click everything you come across with no thought, the idea loses its execution, yet at the same time, in the biggest chapter, simply not having the luck of accessing the right areas first, with little information to go on, failing the case just comes off as a whimsical failure more than anything.

The art is nice, but the characters are rather simple, lifted from a historic artist's work with little adjustment.

As a whole, the game lacks scope to be considered as a worthy play when you have played far better games of its ilk.

Amazing art style, imaginative characters design, hilarious lines and fitting soundtrack. It's a must for Ace Attorney fans.

What differentiates Aviary Attorney from Ace Attorney most is the setting of three completely different endings.

Never too much for another Ace Attorney or AA-like game.

I bought this on a whim because I liked the art and thought it would be silly. It is, but its also a very good detective/lawyer adventure. Just finished the first case which had some unexpected turns in it. Very surprised and I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery with a bit of humor mixed in.

"What thoughts do you have in this bird feathered brain of yours"?

Ever wanted to be a lawyer in pre-revolution paris of 1840? Ever wanted to be a bird too? Maybe both at the same time? Well, Aviary Attorney gives you the chance.

In nicely drawn backgrounds Sketchy Logic let´s the animal kingdom have free reign in the courtyard, when the player takes over the role of JayJay Falcon, Attorney at his majestys court.
Beginning harmlessly enough, with day to day murderers, JayJays way brings him on the brink of revolution and on death´s door himself. All the while only relaying on his falcon beak sharp mind and the wit of his trusty sidekick Sparrowson.

While the gameplay itself is basically a visual novel, including finding and combining clues, using them at court and interrogation, it also offers some different paths, where you´re decisions or even lack of finding every clue will count.
The cases are fun to play through and the story is engaging enough, to even try to get some different endings.
Undeniable the best part of the game though is the humor, which the dialogues are full of.

The setting is, as written earlier visually and musically very nicely done. The backgrounds show some of Paris most famous sites and are well drawn, as well as the character art. While there is no real speech, each character has it´s own way of sound, while speaking, a small, fun detail, which enhances the atmosphere even further, when the wolf and lion sound much "stronger" than the little rabbit.

Conclusio:
I had much fun with Aviary Attorney and if you´re interested in the setting, bird jokes, Attorney and/or VN games etc. this game is surely worth a try. Can´t say much bad about it honestly.

Point Scale: 8/10