Capcom Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

One of the only good games on DS

Posted Jun 7, 2006 - In all reality this game is much like 95% of the Japanese PC game market (u can probably guess that what is). It's relatively simple much like a more advanced version of choose your own adventure. Game is basically broken down into two parts. Evidence and information gathering and the actual trial. During the first part you'll just go around and talk to people, examine evidence and locations and do all that good ol detective work. During the court case you will be forced to cross examine testimonies from witnesses which simply involves reading over them and pressing every single phrase in the testimonies. You can act extra crazy and make people look at you strange in public and shout "Hold it" into the microphone at every statement...... but yeah not really recommended. Otherwise this game is just good silly fun. This game takes a decent amount of time to complete but really has no replay value at all.

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Nice game

Posted Aug 15, 2006 - This game is really fun if you liked the choose your own path books. It involves problem solving, finding clues, and making your case to solve the crime! Very fun.

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Hold It!

Posted Feb 19, 2008 - Anyone who owns a DS probably knows about this game. Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney is the first out of the Ace Attorney series—unless I’m wrong, but the fourth game certainly can’t be called Phoenix Wright. In Japan, this series is known as Gyakuten Saiban, which means something akin to turnabout court if I remember correctly. The first three were originally released on the Gameboy Advance and are ports. The only stuff I know regarding its history was gleaned off wiki and other fan sites, so don’t take my word for it. Knowing me, my memory has probably gone hazy. >>> Quick Synopsis of Sorts: Phoenix Wright is a new defense attorney ready (?) to take on cases and to protect his clients. Uncover evidence, press witnesses, and spot contradictions to get the “Not Guilty” verdict in the courtroom. But it won’t be easy as witnesses often forget tiny details or change their testimonies. And if you make an accusation without the proper evidence, the judge won’t hesitate to penalize you. Then there’s prosecutor Miles Edgeworth who just doesn’t make it easy for you… >>> Story: This is where Phoenix Wright shines. Its writers must’ve been really careful to make sure that everything is connected. I’m particularly impressed with the “history” involved in the cases in the main story. This is a game where you must take note of every detail if you want that “Not Guilty” verdict. Case one is a short introduction to the system, pretty much a tutorial. The main story is connected to a case many years back called DL-6 or whatever it’s called, which is mentioned in cases two and three, then explained in the fourth. The fifth is much longer than any of the first four (I’m almost tempted to say it’s the length of two cases combined, but I think I just had a harder time with it) and is exclusive to the DS port. I can’t really say too much without giving it away. >>>Sub-category, characters: You know, I don’t think you can really hate anyone in this story, even the criminals. Why? Because everyone’s hilarious. XD von Karma’s pretty annoying though since he interrupts every time I tell people to “Hold it!” Yeah, I don’t have much to say here. >>> Graphics: People may say the graphics are outdated, but I find them charming. Backgrounds are nice and detailed since well, we’re at crime scenes and have to notice things. Same with evidence. I like the animations and such too. Each character has his or her own unique animations (well, not sure about finger pointing) that set them apart from the rest. Kyoani’s Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu points it out in their Phoenix Wright parody (take a look at Haruhi and Koizumi’s movements). >>> Music: I must be extremely biased since I like the music and wasn’t irritated by it at all. Typewriting, word by word, desk slamming, realization…it’s all very cute. The “predictability” makes me kind of excited. Dan dan dan dan dan dan daaaa dana naaaa~ >>> Gameplay: It’s not necessary to use the touchpad at times. It’s possible to just use the A button, along with the D-pad and L + R buttons. (Y can be used so you can scream into the mic, but it’s not that awesome in terms of responsiveness.) Anyway, it can be tedious at times when you’re looking for evidence and don’t know where the heck to find it. Then there’s when you’re sure one piece of evidence will work, but you can’t use it at that moment. Finding contradictions can be painful at times. It’s linear, but sometimes you’re just confused. It’s pretty rewarding when Phoenix (i.e. you) rip apart testimonies though. :) >>> Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney doesn’t take much advantage of its touchpad much until the fifth case, which happens to be exclusive to the DS, as I mentioned before. You get to spray luminol to find traces of blood, view pieces of evidence from different angles (as well as zoom), and dust for fingerprints. :D (Yeah, we’re more like detectives than attorneys.) >>> So yeah, there isn’t much replay value since you know the secrets behind the cases and that means there’s no incentive to play again. Plus, there’s a lot of reading to do. Unless you’re a hardcore fan, you probably won’t be replaying the game any time soon. I probably will, if only to be wowed by how hints were dropped without my knowing. Oh, and to clear up things since I’m sure I don’t understand the cases as well as I thought I did while I was playing for the first time. If I’m bored, I could always purposely put the wrong answers just to see people’s responses, but I digress. >>> Overall: I look forward to purchasing Justice for All whenever I can afford it sometime soon. The Ace Attorney series will probably be my Final Fantasy for the DS. Okay, I exaggerate though since I only own VII and VIII, but hey, I played IX, X, and X-2. Anyway, I think this game is a good addition to any player’s collection. You might want to sell it after, but it’s pretty good. It made me consider becoming a lawyer, but I doubt that’s enough of an incentive to go to/get into law school. ;;

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