Have you played… Aviary Attorney?

I love a courtroom visual novel and after dealing with the wonderful nonsense of the Ace Attorney and Danganronpa series, I barely batted an eyelid at Aviary Attorney’s schtick of playing as a bird-brained lawyer (who is literally a bird). At first glance, it seems kinda gimmicky, but this short visual novel has a special flair for melodrama that can turn a boring, stuffy courtroom into a theater of drama and spectacle (plus some lavish visuals to boot).

The setting is 1840s France, a time when Paris is on the brink of revolution against the (literal) fat cats. You play as the dapper defense attorney Jayjay Falcon who alongside his witty lackey Sparrowson take on four seemingly unrelated cases. Traveling around Paris, you collect evidence and interview witnesses then present your findings in the courtroom and bring justice to your client.

The vibe is high drama meets light-hearted comedy. Alongside birds in waistcoats, kittens in corsets, and lions in top hats is a cast of eccentric characters with equally eccentric personalities. Jayjay himself is a loveable but up-start lawyer with questionable lawyering expertise, the king of France is an emperor penguin called Louis-Philippe who loves courtroom drama (relatable) and the prosecutor is a pretentious cockrel named Séverin Cocorico whose flamboyance would make even Miles Edgeworth sweat.

If you love the Ace Attorney games then you’ll feel right at home with Aviary Attorney, which feels like the courtroom juggernaut’s cheekier younger brother. It’s also a lot shorter, coming in at the 5-hour mark making it the perfect game to play one evening or over a weekend. I rest my case.