Editor's Note: I wrote this review a long time ago. I think it needs
some polish. I still agree with everything I said, however the review
itself isn't that well written. I still think I bring out some good
points though, so the review can still be helpful to those seeking
advise.
While lots of people would think that a game based on the court of the
law would be very boring, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a game that
is anything but boring. The game could appeal to a group people because
it is an adventure game, a genre that some would say has been “dead”
for a while now. It is also the first time any game in the series has
made its way here to United States. While this may be a remake of the
first game for Game Boy Advance, chances are, you have not played that
game and this would make a nice introduction to the series, and it is
also just a nice change of pace altogether. In this game you play as a
Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney, who is just barely getting his
career started, which becomes quite evident at the very beginning of
the game. He does not appear to know too much of the trade and he seems
to have rookie slapped all over him, even in the last case of the game.
The entire story of the game is just fantastic thanks to its great cast
of funny and engaging characters, the great plot of each of the cases,
and all of the many hysterical moments the game will give you. The only
time where you will not find yourself smiling while playing the game is
when you are stuck with one of the game’s very challenging puzzles.
The gameplay of Phoenix Wright should not be simply overshadowed by the
game’s superb storyline; the game is still entertaining when you are
not reading text. The very first case is a simple tutorial to how the
game works, so not too much could be expected from it. The game
basically holds your hand the entire case, which makes it very easy. Do
not let that be an initial impression, though; the game proves to get
much harder in the next 4 cases, maybe even a little too hard. Before a
case you do your investigation; here, you look for clues in each area,
and talk with everybody that might know something that could help. You
can expect to present lots of evidence to people to get them to tell
you information. After a day of investigation, you go to trial with all
of the information you have gathered. In court, the prosecutor will
call upon a witness. The witness will then give their testimony of the
case. Afterwards, you have to cross-examine their testimony, and try to
point out a contradiction in the case. This proves more challenging
than it sounds; not everything is just going to wave at you and say it
is a contradiction. This continues for 3 in-game days until the truth
behind each case is finally revealed. The game over system in the game
is quite unique. If you present wrong evidence to form a contradiction,
or pick a wrong answer when the judge asks you a question you receive a
penalty; when you get 5 penalties you lose the case and your client is
found guilty. This is what makes the game as hard as it is.
The game does not look too much different from what it looked like on
the Game Boy Advance, but that still can't stop you from noticing how
great the game looks. The game looks much brighter, crisper, and
clearer than it did on the Game Boy hardware. The game's excellent
manga style will just leave you in awe, and you can not help but notice
how colorful the game is. If there are any complaints, it should only
be that the characters could have a few more animations, but even that
is forgivable. As for the game's sound, there is not a whole lot to
hate. There are a lot of catchy tunes here to like. You can even have
the option to say "Objection!" into the microphone. The microphone is
not very picky, so if you want to act like Mr. T and being a lawyer at
the same time, you can feel free to do so.
If you do not include the first case, the cases are very long. However,
this might not become self-evident, as you will feel you blew through
all of them so quickly. This is not so much of the game’s fault, as the
game is not really that short, but you always feel like they could have
added in another case. All five cases in the game should roughly last
you about a week. Unfortunately, the game does not offer too much
replayibility, but it is nice to look back at the story every once and
a while.
If you are looking for something new you really can not go wrong with
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The story alone is enough to warrant a
purchase, but it also has very nice and challenging adventure aspects
to it that make it much more than a great story. The game will just
quite simply leave you with a smile just thinking about. It also stands
as one of the best games for the DS, and just quite simply can not be
ignored.
