The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

Ace Attorney
Gyakuten Saiban PC	2005
Gyakuten Saiban 2 PC	2006
Gyakuten Saiban 3 PC	2006
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy	2019
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles	2021
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy	2024
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection	2024

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a singleplayer visual novel adventure developed and published by Capcom. It is part of the Ace Attorney series, taking place in the Meiji and Victorian eras.^[1]

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
GamersGate

Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		Requires the Steam client to be running.^[2]

All versions require Steam DRM.

Essential improvements

TGAA HQ Audio Restoration Patch

A patch that restores the higher audio quality present on the original 3DS release and subsequent soundtrack releases.

DGS Hack Fix

A fix for a number of issues in the PC port.

Animation frame rate can be set to an arbitrary rate.

Cursor movement speed no longer depends on the frame rate.

Resolution can be set as reported by the GPU or display.

CPU usage on some threads is no longer unnecessarily high.

Reports the process as high-DPI-aware so it does not get scaled by Windows.

Attempts fixing the crash experienced when interacting with the Jury.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\*.ini^{[Note 1]}
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\1158850\remote\gear_sys.dat
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1158850/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\1158850\remote\gear_game*.dat
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1158850/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		5.00 MiB available

Video

Display settings

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		^[3]
Ultra-widescreen		Aspect ratios wider than 16:9 are pillarboxed to a 16:9 aspect ratio by default.^[4]
4K Ultra HD		^[5]
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Used in place of exclusive fullscreen. Resolution option acts like rendering resolution here, enabling supersampling.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Toggleable on/off, SSAA also available as resolution option in borderless mode.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Gameplay is capped at 30 FPS; FMVs are at 24 and 30 FPS.^[6] Use DGS Hack Fix as a workaround.
120+ FPS		Use DGS Hack Fix.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Input

Keyboard rebinding

Gameplay settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Initial launch of the game displays a system prompt, which requires the use of a mouse or a keyboard to dismiss.^[7]^[8] Cursor appears in the middle of the screen when prompt is displayed.
Controller remapping		Edit config.ini.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		Xbox 360 controllers are officially supported on Windows 8.1. Xbox One controllers are officially supported on Windows 10.^[9]
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger support		^[10]

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers		Through DirectInput support.

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)		Default bindings done for Xbox controller layout.
Additional button prompts		Utilizes Xbox prompts for all controllers. Use Playstation 4 Input Mod for DualShock 4 button prompts.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback		XInput only, toggleable on or off. Still enabled even if keyboard and mouse are used for gameplay.
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Steam Virtual Gamepad (Legacy mode/Hook input)
Steam Input prompt modes
Steam Deck button prompts
Steam Controller (1st gen) button prompts
Motion sensors support
Official controller preset(s)
Cursor detection

Prompt that appears when the game is launched for the first time

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Options for Music, Sound Effects, and Voices can be toggled on or off.
Surround sound		Plays up to 3.0.^[11]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Voice language settings (English version)

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Japanese				Japanese text/interface only available in Asia. Can be restored to the worldwide version by using this mod.

Issues fixed

Resolution limited to 640x480

Use DGS Hack Fix.

Modify the executable to unlock all resolutions^[12]
Open `TGAAC.exe` with a hex editor (e.g. HxD). Go to hex offset (`Ctrl`+`G`) 5D6A6. Replace 74 with EB and save. Run the game, go to Options, PC Config, and select a display mode.

Blurry graphics on high-DPI displays

Disable DPI scaling^[13]
Right-click on `TGAAC.exe`. Select Properties. Go to Compatibility, Change high DPI settings. Tick Override high DPI scaling behavior and click OK.

Use DGS Hack Fix.

Crashes when disconnecting or switching an audio device

The game has issues switching audio devices and, as a result, when the currently in-use audio device is no longer available to the game, it may crash.

This may also happen when sleeping and resuming the computer when using Bluetooth audio devices, as it will take a moment to re-connect to them after resuming and so the audio device will appear to be unavailable to the game, causing a crash.

Create a virtual audio cable and re-route its audio to the default audio device^{[citation needed]}

Install VB-Audio
Open the Windows 10 Sound settings
Ensure the default audio device is the headphones (or the speakers, or whichever audio device should be used for sound output at the moment)
Scroll down to App Volume Device Preferences (at the bottom of the Sound settings)
Make the Virtual Audio Cable the preferred output device for Great Ace Attorney
Back to the Windows 10 Sound settings
Temporarily select the virtual cable as the input device (as if it were a microphone)
Select Device Properties
Select Additional Device Properties
Select the Listen tab
Enable Listen to this device, and in the drop-down menu, choose to listen via the Default Playback Device

The usual microphone can now be selected as the Windows 10 input device again

If the audio device changes (if the headset is disconnected, for instance), the virtual cable input device may change its "Listen" device and start outputting audio elsewhere, like the speakers. It is possible to fix this without restarting the game by opening the virtual cable input device properties again, manually selecting to listen via any preferred output device (which will switch the listening device) and then setting it back again to Default Playback Device.

Menus get stuck scrolling

This issue is caused by mouse scrolling inputs (via the scrollwheel or via touchpad/touchscreen scrolling swipes).

Block mouse input via Special K^{[citation needed]}
Enable Special K in the game either via a Global Injection or a Local Installation of Special K Open the Special K in-game menu (`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`← Backspace` by default) Go to the Input Management section, Enable/Disable Devices, enable the Disable Mouse Input to Game option.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11.4	^[14]

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

No middleware information; you can edit this page to add it.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-6300U	Intel Core i5-6500
System memory (RAM)	4 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	7 GB
Video card (GPU)	Intel HD Graphics 520 DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 960

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Notes

↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1158850/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (1158850) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Objection! A lawyer examines the truth of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - last accessed on 2021-08-02
↑ Verified by User:Jwillikers on 2025-09-11
Confirmed that TGAAC.exe requires Steam to be running when launched directly through the game folder, regardless of whether a steam_appid.txt file or the steam_api64.dll library was present in <path-to-game>.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-07-27
Tested on an multi-monitor setup.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-07-27
Tested by playing the game at 2560x1080 resolution.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-07-27
Tested by playing the game at 3840x2160 resolution.
↑ Verified by User:Fds29 on 2021-07-27
FMV cutscenes are pre-rendered at 24 FPS; miscellaneous videos are pre-rendered at 29.97~30 FPS. The game itself operates at 60 FPS during video playback. Verified by using FFmpeg to examine the video files, and Special K to observe the frame rate graph during video playback.
↑ Verified by User:Marioysikax on 2021-08-05
Talking about initial launcher used once, not gameplay.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-08-05
Tested by booting up and playing the game with a DualShock 4 controller. Menus and gameplay was all assessable using said controller, with no need for mouse or keyboard at all.
↑ The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Steam - last accessed on 2021-05-13
"Xbox 360 (Windows®8.1) and Xbox One (Windows®10) controllers supported."
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-08-06
Tested by playing the game with an Xbox Wireless Controller.
↑ Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-08-05
Tested in 7.1 using Orban Loudness Meter in conjunction with Razer Surround.
↑ Steam Users' Forums - Restricted resolution options - last accessed on 2021-07-29
↑ Steam Users' Forums - Resolution slightly off? - last accessed on 2021-07-29
↑ Verified by User:Fds29 on 2021-07-27
Verified with Special K

[gamedir-3] When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-4] 2.0 ^2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1158850/.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (1158850) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[3] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[4] Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1158850/.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (1158850) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Objection! A lawyer examines the truth of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - last accessed on 2021-08-02

[2] Verified by User:Jwillikers on 2025-09-11
Confirmed that TGAAC.exe requires Steam to be running when launched directly through the game folder, regardless of whether a steam_appid.txt file or the steam_api64.dll library was present in <path-to-game>.

[5] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-07-27
Tested on an multi-monitor setup.

[6] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-07-27
Tested by playing the game at 2560x1080 resolution.

[7] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-07-27
Tested by playing the game at 3840x2160 resolution.

[8] Verified by User:Fds29 on 2021-07-27
FMV cutscenes are pre-rendered at 24 FPS; miscellaneous videos are pre-rendered at 29.97~30 FPS. The game itself operates at 60 FPS during video playback. Verified by using FFmpeg to examine the video files, and Special K to observe the frame rate graph during video playback.

[9] Verified by User:Marioysikax on 2021-08-05
Talking about initial launcher used once, not gameplay.

[10] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-08-05
Tested by booting up and playing the game with a DualShock 4 controller. Menus and gameplay was all assessable using said controller, with no need for mouse or keyboard at all.

[11] The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Steam - last accessed on 2021-05-13
"Xbox 360 (Windows®8.1) and Xbox One (Windows®10) controllers supported."

[12] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-08-06
Tested by playing the game with an Xbox Wireless Controller.

[13] Verified by User:MasterBlaster on 2021-08-05
Tested in 7.1 using Orban Loudness Meter in conjunction with Razer Surround.

[14] Steam Users' Forums - Restricted resolution options - last accessed on 2021-07-29

[15] Steam Users' Forums - Resolution slightly off? - last accessed on 2021-07-29

[16] Verified by User:Fds29 on 2021-07-27
Verified with Special K

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

Developers

	Capcom
Engines
	MT Framework
Release dates
Windows	July 27, 2021
Reception
Metacritic	83
OpenCritic	85
IGDB	86
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Relaxed
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Menu-based, Point and select
Genres	Adventure, Visual novel
Art styles	Anime, Cel-shaded
Themes	Detective/mystery, Japan, Victorian
Series	Ace Attorney