Strengths:Endearing characters, surprising twists and turns per case, animation, character design
Weaknesses:Lack of replay value, more somber music, lack of DS features
Posted Sep 10, 2007 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney took the world by storm with its unique premise, clever plot, likable characters, colorful palette, and nerve-wracking (I mean this in a good way) music. Because of this, players had really high expectations of its sequel. Unfortunately, Justice for All doesn't really bring anything new to the table besides a couple of characters and the option of using Profiles as evidence. But really, what can we expect? Yeah, I'm not a very picky reviewer. Besides, AA's fifth case was added on when ported to the Nintendo Ds, which would (mis)lead us to believe that its sequel would have similar features.
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It takes a little while to warm up to this game if you've played the first game. I say "if" because it seems to be hard for some players to get a hold of the first game, so they are sometimes introduced to the second beforehand. The first case is introductory, and any knowledge of the previous game is not required. It'll be confusing for some players in some parts of the game when meeting cameo characters (well, a little more than cameo) from the first game.
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The gameplay is still pretty much the same, so the same compliments and complaints people had with the first are probably in the present. What's new is the Psyche Lock feature and the Health Bar. Basically, you can see chains and locks around a person when they lie. If you can present them evidence, then their psyche locks will shatter. Then they'll reveal their secret. I don't really care for it, but it's not a bad feature. It makes sense to force info out of people from evidence and the like. The catch is that when you mess up, your health bar goes down. This health bar also replaces the penalty exclamation marks in the court room, so you should make sure not to hurt yourself when breaking psyche locks, or it's game over.
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JFA seems a more difficult and shorter than its predecessor. To be honest, I couldn't really follow the characters' line of thinking that well. I actually had to check the FAQ a couple of (shameful) times because of how frustrated I felt. In the first game, I was too prideful to check an FAQ and figured it all out on my own. I may be wrong about its difficulty though because I paid less attention when playing this game since I was renting it at the time. It may be an script-issue, but who knows? (According to another review, the writing staff is different. I should probably compare the credits sometime later.) Either way, the cases are still pretty good regardless. The fourth case is particularly gripping and presents a scenario the player is unused to for a Phoenix Wright game. :)
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About the music: It's not bad, but I liked the tunes from the first game more. It's not very energetic this time around. It's actually kind of depressing, which fits the mood of a real-life courtroom. Not that it's bad since the subject matter isn't anything to laugh about, but it worked just fine in AA. I can't exactly complain about the music though since reusing everything from the first game would be pretty bad. ;; But then again, you can't do much when its a game series that actually uses the same locations and characters.
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Overall, I'd recommend this game to anyone willing to play a reading game. There's a lot of text and requires some brain power, so if you adore shooters and hate adventure games like Hotel Dusk, this game isn't for you. I suggest renting it if you're just curious since there is ZERO replay value. No extras. Nada. When you finish the game, you finish the game. So basically, buy it if you want to support the translation for future Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban/Whatever releases.
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Rated 
Great lawyer series of all
Comment about this review
A lackluster sequel, but still enjoyable
