Ace Attorney artbook tier list
Now that I own every single main AA artbook that I can find, I thought I’d rank them in a tier list and give extremely honest reviews on what they’re like in case you want to pick one up. Both average price and content are taken into consideration when ranking. Rankings within tiers are also done in a particular order.
SS: The ones that are relatively cheap(easy to find below $15USD) but still bangers in terms of content.
GS5 Official Visual Book: EXTREMELY detailed in terms of content. You get to see a lot of art for things outside of just characters, like promo art that never made it to being for the final game!
GS4 Guidebook: Don’t let the name deceive you, this is half concept art. It’s also very easy to find for a great price and gives you a lot of character concept art to go through.
S: Great content, but might be a bit more on the pricey side, especially if you’re impatient.
GS6 Official Visual Book: If this was only on content, this would be #1 overall. My actual golden standard for artbooks is this one. Insane detail on everything you could think of and beyond, as well as great insight within the commentary.
DGS1+2 Artbooks: Cheaper if you get them both, which keeps them in S. Not as detailed as the SoJ artbook but still gives a lot of character concept art to enjoy as well as art that never made it into the game or any promotional works. Also, they still have things such as images of the backdrops.
A: Still solid in terms of content, but on the pricey side.
AAI Official Investigation Guide: Have a lot of good concept art and detailed images of every sprite, including some sketches that never made it into full art. Also includes content outside of character art such as backgrounds. However, you’re looking at $100+ if you’re not patient. I wound up paying ~$50 for my copy but I got it through an auction.
B: Expensive and either lack in content or are niche.
Gyakuten Taizen: This isn’t really focused on concept art and is more to display a timeline of every Ace Attorney case. It’s neat in that regard, but note that it lacks DGS2 as it predates that game and you’ll be hard pressed to find one below $120. Mine was around $136.
The Art of Gyakuten Saiban Box Set: Extremely lacking in concept art, mostly just showing sprites. If you want AA4 concept art, get the guidebook. Also, I didn’t mention this for the other artbooks, but they all have paper jackets that can be removed and put back on so you can break the spine while reading and then cover it up. These books do not have these. You can’t fully spread anything out unless you want it to look ugly on a shelf. They’re also usually at least $60, but you can find the set for less if you look. I got mine for $30 because of minor cosmetic damage.