Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2020
Master Magistrate
Developer IRODORI
The samurai detective visual novel! Solve crimes and pass judgment on vigilantes, officials, inventors, and brigands to protect a city of eternal cherry blossoms. From the Steam store page
57 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Sep 18, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
95
LovedLoved
54 positive · 3 negative
95% range 86–98%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 54 | 3 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
197 of 217 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
57 of 57 · most liked firstBefore starting Master Magistrate, I found the premise already very interesting as you’re trying to unfold the mysteries as a Shinsengumi, which were a special police force. Overall, the whole game takes place in the late shogunate period so sword wielding isn’t rare during the playthrough. While the player mostly investigates and solves different cases here, I still happen to find different aspects of this visual novel I appreciate. You see, besides finding the culprit, this game introduces a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Master Magistrate surprised me a lot. In a very positive way. When I purchased this visual novel I imagined how it was going to be having already played similar games. But it was very well written and when the whole plot came together it blew my mind. Didn't expect what happened. The story is very good and entertaining, the art is beautiful and both the music and character voices complement the game. The main story is divided in 4 cases/chapters. There is also a bonus chapter and it's called…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Ecchi Version of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney! (｡ ･ ∀ ･) ﾉ" + Point : The unique game system "Trial" makes this ADV VN even more interesting. Intro Master Magistrate (Ouka Sabaki / 桜花裁き). This is an adventure type visual novel made by Irodori and published by ShiraVN & HOBIBOX. The original version was released in 2017 as an adult version in Japan, and the PS Vita edition (2018) was released without adult contents. According to publisher comments, adult content for this global PC Steam…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Although this game is still in the early access at the time I wrote this review, keep in mind that I have finished the Japanese version. This means that I've already completed the whole game and know exactly what to expect when the final chapter gets released. + A great storytelling combined with excellent characters, each with their own quirks and humor. + Excellent character development that is actually believable and relatable. + Your deductions during the trial is rewarded by an excellent…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full video review: https://youtu.be/RiWheabCL60 Written version below! What if you took Ace Attorney and threw it into a historical setting? Well, you'd end up with Dai Gyakuten Saiban, or in English, The Great Ace Attorney. But what if I wanted that in English and on PC? Well, Master Magistrate is probably the closest you're going to get. Gameplay: You play as a town's newly appointed magistrate, with your task being to oversee law and order within it. The majority of the game may be visual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are plenty of Reviews that have gone into detail about what you can expect from this VN.. Just to summarise on that, If you like Crime, Mystery Solving VNs similar to Kara no Shoujo, Ace attorney, you will definitely like this. It also has Decent amount of H content for those that are looking for it. All in all this one comes highly recommended especially for Mystery/Crime fans . VN is almost 8 GB in size due to high amount of CGs in it... and is overall well presented because…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a very soft "yes" for me. Really, the biggest factor in me recommending this game instead of not recommending it comes down to the fact that I got it for only $20. Master Magistrate (MM) is a Shogun-era version of the Ace Attorney franchise. You have murder cases. Do investigation. Collect evidence. Confront them in the courtroom. Figure out the inconsistency in their testimonies. And finally convict the murderer. If you ever play any of the courtroom-style games, you will be very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Didn't expect myself to be hooked by this VN at first. Ended up finishing all 4 main story chapters in one day. The free character routes patch is a nice addition as well. Glad I was wrong.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a surprisingly excellent find! A really great blend of Visual Novel storytelling, with Phoenix Wright-esque mystery investigation. The writing is what grabbed me however, with a truly engaging story with fun and interesting characters. While one or two of the court cases do suffer from the standard 'I know what i'm trying to say, I just need to click the right item to say it' issue, the inclusion of a quicksave feature does mitigate any frustration. If you have even a passing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's clearly inspired by Ace Attorney and has plenty of good ideas, but it's not quite as well localized or polished. The translation is a bit hard to follow sometimes when it's trying to lead you to logical conclusions, especially in the final trial. Also, there are lots of characters, and some Japanese names/titles are easy to confuse. (Example: Yamanami and Yamanobe, Shino and Saito, Ouka and Ooka, Okita and Okitama) There's an 18+ patch on the internet which adds some lewd content, but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just couldn't get into the game at all. It's a watered down Ace Attorney with way less flare and they tacked on a dating sim with a free 18+ patch. There are far better VN games on steam.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is like Ace attorney but with 18+ stuffs if you want (here for the patch http://www.irodori-soft.com/steampatch.html). The game really have interesting character development that impressed me. When I first started playing I did not expect to get this much interested in the stories of the characters and to the overall plot. The music is also great and catchy, it grabs the mood very well. And the art is great, like in the fighting sequences it feels really japanese since the pictures…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ace Attorney with 2D Anime Waifus ✔️✔️
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Based on the Ace Attorney formula, but better and a little more mature. The main cast of characters are all likeable in their own way (particularly in light of Chapter 3). The trials in this game are stimulating and the plot-lines of each Chapter are compelling. Chapter 2 is the weakest of the 3 available chapters so far, but even so it is still quite good. The Art and Music are both more than serviceable. No real issues with the translation. Well worth the money.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Première partie en Français, second part in English. 1) Un Ace Attorney version adulte? Avec des personnages charismatiques? Je dis oui! Très bon roman visuel dans le Japon médiéval. L'essayer c'est l'adopter! Ce VN, au même titre que Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen (la version originale) ou encore Baldr Sky, est un eroge, certes, mais qui n'a clairement pas besoin de son côté "hentai" pour être très bon. 19/20 2) A grown-up Ace Attorney? With charismatic characters? I say yes! Very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This starts off okay, as a detective story where you go around gathering evidence of a murder and have to figure out whodunnit among 3 suspects. It's nothing riveting, but it's not bad. However, after the first case is over the MC's dad (who's like a big deal) gets murdered and no one cares, and the writing just goes right off a cliff. Forget exciting mysteries, the story just does a bunch of intensely boring slice-of-life (and I love slice-of-life) full of all the anime tropes, and I threw in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Took me about 12 hours to actually finish the game, so if you read quickly/don't let all the voices play out, expect to fall short of the 20 hour claim on the store page. Still, as an Ace Attorney fan, this scratches the courtroom drama itch rather nicely. The evidence gathering was never really difficult in terms of what you needed to search for/talk about next, and though some courtroom points were a bit obtuse as to what you needed to present, a big help was the game not even giving you the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was inspired I hope they make a second
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Generally, the main plot was quite good, the mystery was decent at best but each main characters had their own chapter and plenty of development and none of them was left behind and surprisingly the sub-heroines were those having best routes. The gameplay mechanics was simple and beginner-friendly.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lot better than I expected for the main plot, it's pretty good mystery and cool. Pretty different from Ace Attorney though, that game feels very western appealling and this one is very much more anime-like down from the story tropes used. It's less focused on the story and more to the characters compared to Ace Attorney so do take that in mind. The black-white part for fight scenes especially is super cool and all the sketch like parts, really feels like reading a manga. Toyama who was just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Master Magistrate happily surprised me when it finally came out of Early Access. I would describe it as Ace Attorney set in 1800s Japan with more focus on being a visual novel. This doesnt mean the gameplay element is bad but I did feel like the first 2 cases were a bit lackluster. However the other 2 cases are pretty good both in terms of the puzzle element as the plot element. What I really like is the choice to use black and white for action CGs even if this was due to budget. Imo this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →http://www.irodori-soft.com/steampatch.html for the magic patch May come back for a proper review after I finished it, but so far not bad. It's like a slightly watered-down ace attorney game with a more japanese twist. make me all the more sad that we'll probably never get an english The Great Ace Attorney Couple of complaint I got, however. 1 There appeared to be no autosave feature, which usually wouldn't be much of a problem if not for. 2 Albeit rare, yet still there game crashing error.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Follow our curator for similar games https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35180752-3-point-play/ High quality Shinsengumi vn + fully voiced + great art = Detective style vn with investigation scenes. Over 20+ hours of content. EA has the first 3 chapters. *price will increase on finished release. Colorful characters help drive the story well and the professional voice acting is also pleasant. The investigation and trial scenes make this vn more interactive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, an underrated that that not enough people know about.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's similar to Ace Attorney, the plot surprisingly good with twist in the end. Romance option in the epilogue is also a plus. Yamanami route is the best. 8.5/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FOR THOSE WHO SEEK SOME JUSTICE AND UNCOVERING MYSTERY BEHIND THE MAIN CHARACTER'S PAST AND SOME DESSERT :* Master Magistrate is a game that blends strategy, deep storytelling, and immersive world-building. If you enjoy games that make you think while offering a compelling plot, this one’s for you. Strong Storyline The game puts you in the role of a magistrate, dealing with political intrigue and moral dilemmas. Every decision you make affects the characters and the world around you. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game sort of acts like a more visual-novel style version of something like phoenix wright so I'll be making a direct comparison to it. The short is that it does the visual novel storytelling significantly better but the investigation and deduction parts are done worse. I can't tell if its a translation error or what, but there are many segments during the court cases where you're being asked something vague or seemingly unrelated to the evidence / testimony. It results in a lot of confusion…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Master Magistrate is known as Ouka Sabaki in Japan. I haven't played ANY Ace Attorney games (yet), but it is extremely obvious where the inspiration came from and that is clearly a positive. The younger females look pretty good, except in the semi-side view and their eyes look really peculiar. Rimu is the loyal tomboy sweetheart, Shino is the serious and stoic reverse-trap, Sakura is the serious and stubborn tsundere.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More games like this please. cant get enough of courtroom VNs
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a pleasant surprise. I came here expecting a typical vn set in a traditional era, ended up getting ace attorney-esque ♥♥♥♥. Holy, definitely recommended to people that loves mystery VN and the fact that everything just pieces up so beautifully in the end is a work of art. Not that the art style isn't already one by itself.. Damn speaking about the art, It's friggin GORGEOUSSSS, I loved it. The sakura blossoms everywhere and the busy traditional streets really showed us the edo of our…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Master Magistrate is a decently good game, heavily modeled after Ace Attorney in many ways. Set in an alternate version of historic Japan, you investigate and judge cases as the magistrate. Unlike Ace Attorney, there are more of the usual Visual Novel tropes and fan service, as well as a slower pace with more slice of life scenes early on. I would even go so far as to call the game slow in the early hours. It does eventually ramp up and the final case in particular is full of nonstop twists,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When Yamanami says "Ara" my pp instantly becomes hard, like magic. Seriously, it's a great VN for a relaxing Sunday, story and characters are really compelling and the bits of magistrate work are fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To tell you the truth, it's really a torment for me to evaluate something — especially white a review of it. I don't think it is a nice thing for me. So, I'm trying to better myself, and there is a review of this visual novel. At first, the reason I bought this visual novel is not scenario (I haven't touched this visual novel before that), not character art and CG design (Some CG art are special, it's my piece of cake), not BGM (Prefer OST Disc 2, Track 15, Seifuumeigetsu), but this visual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Master Magistrate blends detective fiction, historical drama, courtroom reasoning, and visual novel storytelling into an adventure that places considerably more emphasis on responsibility than simply catching criminals. Developed by IRODORI and published by Shiravune, the game follows Shimei Ooka after he becomes the new Magistrate of Nakamachi. Despite holding an important position, Shimei begins his career with plenty to prove, particularly while living under the reputation established by his…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Master Magistrate is a good visual novel that feels a bit weird to me. It feels almost like three different visual novels. There's the somewhat serious adventure style investigating and trial sections, 2/5 heroine routes are dramatic, and 3/5 heroine routes are full of light slice of life stories. All the characters present here are pretty entertaining. There's nothing too outside the norm here, all fitting fairly well into some standard stereotypes, but they're done well. Music is pretty…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically Ace Attorney set in the shogun era, with similar gameplay and some similarities to the story. The story is surprisingly well-written and the characters are likeable. The court trials are just okay. Overall, I recommend this game if you liked the story in Ace Attorney. Maybe pass if you're only interested in the court trials. There's an optional R18+ patch available outside of Steam for additional character-focused routes after the main game. I did not play it, so no comment there. As…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Deeper than I thought it would be from the way it started. Good VN, slow intro but when it gets rolling its great. Free patch for the NSFW stuff (not necessary). Impressed
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can’t compare to Ace Attorney.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's essentially "Ace Attorney" set in the pre-Modernization era of Japan, with a fun cast of characters and nicely done trial sections. Excellent music and great VA, highly recommended!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Art is great. Story is good. Voice acting is superb. BGM is decent. Rimu is best girl. Grabbing this on sale is a steal. Rimu is best girl.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Comparable in structure and quality as the Ace Attorney series! Now to be fair, the logic occasionally makes weird leaps and the investigations are a bit more simple than AA, but overall it's a great detective adventure/VN game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ace attorney but with waifus. Think mechanically ace attorney is better, but this game is still great. I still need to finish the the after story routes. Only finished one which was actually really game that came from an unexpected character.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They really need to fix the screenshot being all black when SS'd when you use the patch. Sigh. I can't even upload the images for all the lovely girls inside this game... >_< Sakura's growth is commendable but my Koume-sama is mostly adorable. In terms of loveliness, either Yamanami or dear childhood friend, whatever floats the boat. Yeah, after applying the PATCH from somewhere, there's not much to see throughout the story than the censored baths. Steam banning the sexual content aren't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →actually a pretty good aa-like if you ignore the fanservice parts.. i love Megumi Saotome
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Damn plot twist
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tbh didn't expect this game to be this great First thing to do before playing is download the patch, and there you have it phoenix wright with good amount of fanservice. of course you need to finish the game first to see H scene ;)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Everyone will tell you that this game is very similar to Ace Attorney, and it it! But that's it! It's just similar, it doesn't flow in the same way, it doesn't entertain you in the same way, it doesn't "play" in the same exact way. MM is more of a visual novel with mystery, dating sim, and slice-of-life mix than AA, and although this could turn it into a great advantage... it doesn't! It's recommendable, it's an okay game, but the story and "interjections" have a lot of inconsistencies! You'll…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story is really good, I did not expect it to be that good but it is and plot that I was really getting invested on what is going on. Each character are great, all distinctive including the main character to even have a deep part to the story. Their design is good and voice actors doing a great job on their personality. The plot is the major focus on the murder mystery and the main character. The romance is in the game but mostly more of a extra plot after story when the main story is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →- So fun to play, rating 91/100
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ace-Attorney But in Japan's Bakumatsu Era. Actually pretty fun in the common route. The character routes for me personally, could have been done better. But only for the experience from common route, a solid 7.5
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →interesting gameplay and a nice story
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall, this is Phoenix Wright in the Shogunate period. Unlike PW, however, it has romance and good waifus.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent point and click mystery VN with top-tier voice acting and an intruiging story. Only things I could really fault it for, is just how convenient the "Oh, we've all gotta go do something, you two are gonna have some alone time now!" is and the rather hurried feel of the romance in Ayaka's route, but everything else is a thumbs up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically ace attorney in old-timey Japan! I greatly enjoyed this game. The only downsides were that the puzzles/witness questioning were less intuitive to me than the ace attorney games, and I could have done without all of the fan service. Overall though I would highly recommend to fans of ace attorney.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is basically the Great Ace Attorney with post game hentai.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Read the full review at https://j-addicts.de/master-magistrate/, with much better formatting, screenshots and whatnot. I'll do my best to summarize its contents. Master Magistrate is the murder mystery detective visual novel set in the late years of Japan’s Edo Period. Developed by the indie studio Irodori and released in the year of 2017, it quickly attained popularity and became a hit amongst Japanese fans. They praised the great direction sense, well-crafted scenario, immersive atmosphere,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is kind of a placeholder review since I haven't gotten very far into it (and might not until the full game is released). But at the very least, if you were worried about the localization quality after what Hobibox did to Your Diary+, they did a much better job this time (probably thanks to ShiraVN) But from I can tell, if you liked Ace Attorney, check this out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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