Turnabout Visuals
For example, one noteworthy aspect of the game's artistic style is how it balances conflicting notions of realism and optimistic idealism. Much how the guilty and the innocent battle each other in the court room, dark and light tones are juxtaposed throughout the game. Darkness and despair are countered by moments of triumph, felicity, and over-the-top comedy, which are aided by the game's energetic manga-inspired art style, and tightly written, witty dialogue. This careful mix of serious drama and innocent comedy reflects the bright outlook of Phoenix and his friends. It helps the reader realize that, while the law has crumbled, there is a chance that it may rebuild itself.
Colors in particular are also used to convey moral judgments upon characters and their actions. The colors in the game are notable for their vibrancy. Lights and darks are both present in the extremes, clashing and very rarely forming grays. Sometimes, colors are used to create direct character foils, such as using shades of blue and red in clothing to contrast the compassionate and honest Phoenix against remorseless and unethical figures. As a whole, the use of color here would seem to suggest a view of morality which is very black and white, where good and evil are clearly defined.
However, while good and evil may be simple in the eyes of the hero, truth is not so clear cut, and as a lawyer one of Phoenix's main conflicts is to reconcile his faith in his clients with the need to prove their innocence with tangible proof. Phoenix has to protect clients under charges of serious crimes, and the evidence is stacked against them in most cases. The need for Phoenix to believe in his clients' innocence, and the question of whether or not he should believe in them, is a key aspect of his struggle.
In this case, selection of detail in the visuals of the story, as well as color, play an essential role in resolving this question. For instance, the color schemes of morally ambiguous characters such as Edgeworth and the judge show how they act as counterpoints to the idealistic Phoenix. Furthermore, the beginning of each chapter in the game features a short animation showing the crime which the protagonist then investigates. This is one of the few moments where the player is able to access knowledge of the case that the hero cannot, but only sometimes does this clarify the truth of the case. Compare and contrast the openings of two chapters, and notice how the color schemes differ. Both cases involve a figure who is framed and then becomes the defendant. In the first case, the truth is made clear to the player, allowing him or her to place greater trust in the victimized defendant. In the second, where Edgeworth himself is the one being framed, key details are removed, obscuring the truth of the situation. When Edgeworth's backstory is shown later in flashback, it is also fittingly shown in gray, once again signaling the uncertainty of the truth in the incident, and how the conflicting facts of the story helped shape the morally ambiguous man Edgeworth is.
All over, the game uses visuals to shape the characters and the conflicts that the hero faces in his quest for the truth.
