While they are technically prequel games, they take place so far in the past (late Victorian times, probably at the turn of the 20th century) and improve upon so much that they honestly just feel like a soft reboot to the Ace Attorney franchise.
Dual Destinies (AA5), despite liking certain aspects, never really grabbed my attention the same way these did. I always just found myself wishing for more with it by comparison, especially in the story department. Great Ace Attorney really knocked it out of the ballpark on that and all fronts.
Also, just Herlock Sholmes being the insane man he is (with that amazing spoonerism of a localized name). My friends have a running joke that he’s the center of a massive poly lmao
Definitely give them a shot if you haven’t already, and think you might be up for it. “The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles” is both the listing of the two games combined on Steam
The overarching story spans both games, so I’d say the first one. Both are combined in the Steam release.