My faded enthusiasm towards the modern state of gaming is attributable mainly to the fact that my poison of choice tends to be an absorbing point-and-click adventure game, which happens to be the most overlooked genre in this day and age. And so, upon the release of Hotel Dusk, I craved ownership of a DS Lite, and the day eventually came that I saved up enough nickels and dimes and traded in enough games to finally get one. Unfortunately, despite seeming to be tailor made specifically to my preferences, I traded Hotel Dusk in after only about five hours of play, after realizing that I was actually forcing myself to play it as a series of homework assignments. This analogy is helped by the fact that at the end of the game's chapters, you are actually given a pop quiz on what you've learned about the story so far. But the biggest crime that the game committed was the same thing that prevented me from playing Final Fantasy VII for longer than 4 hours; I found that the game was trying very hard to exclude me from being involved in doing its own thing. I have many different things I can do with my time, and when I do manage to devote any of it towards a game, I would really like to *play* it.
So, Hotel Dusk was returned to the Used Game section from whence it came, and the credit it offered me was exactly enough to pick up a used copy of Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. For those of you who are unaware, this is the third game in the Ace Attorney series; a series of point-and-click adventure games which I hadn't yet experienced.
The biggest difference in the experiences provided by Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright can best be described as follows: upon playing Hotel Dusk, I had to summon up all the perseverance that I possessed in order to continue playing it, whereas the second I turned on Phoenix Wright, the hours I put into it melted away due to my complete inability to bring myself to turn it off.
Although Trials and Tribulations places you in the shoes of three different playable characters at different points in time, the story focuses around Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney who can crack any case, no matter how impossible it may initially seem. There are five different episodic "cases," though they each fit into one larger story arc involving Phoenix's mentor, the ample-chested Mia Fey, a mysterious prosecutor known only as Godot, and a young woman whose cute and innocent exterior conceals a sinister soul. Through each episode, the player will investigate crime scenes, interact with a multitude of colourful characters, and gather evidence and information which you will need in court to expose the contradictions in witness testimonies.
The puzzles in the game vary in difficulty, ranging from obvious all the way to obscure, hitting everything in between, which can lead to a great deal of frustration at times when you're a step ahead of where the game wants you to logically be. I found myself quite often trying to present a piece of evidence that I felt was sufficiently contradictory, only to discover that the game disagreed and felt that another item would have been more appropriate. The aggravation caused by this mechanic is mostly countered by the sheer satisfaction of finally solving the puzzle and being rewarded by witty dialogue and excellent dramatic timing.
That's pretty much the game, and there really isn't much more that can be said without giving away plot points and spoilers, but the game certainly has an "it" factor that elevates it above mere words, and a vague description certainly cannot do this game justice.
So, Hotel Dusk was returned to the Used Game section from whence it came, and the credit it offered me was exactly enough to pick up a used copy of Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. For those of you who are unaware, this is the third game in the Ace Attorney series; a series of point-and-click adventure games which I hadn't yet experienced.
The biggest difference in the experiences provided by Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright can best be described as follows: upon playing Hotel Dusk, I had to summon up all the perseverance that I possessed in order to continue playing it, whereas the second I turned on Phoenix Wright, the hours I put into it melted away due to my complete inability to bring myself to turn it off.
Although Trials and Tribulations places you in the shoes of three different playable characters at different points in time, the story focuses around Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney who can crack any case, no matter how impossible it may initially seem. There are five different episodic "cases," though they each fit into one larger story arc involving Phoenix's mentor, the ample-chested Mia Fey, a mysterious prosecutor known only as Godot, and a young woman whose cute and innocent exterior conceals a sinister soul. Through each episode, the player will investigate crime scenes, interact with a multitude of colourful characters, and gather evidence and information which you will need in court to expose the contradictions in witness testimonies.
The puzzles in the game vary in difficulty, ranging from obvious all the way to obscure, hitting everything in between, which can lead to a great deal of frustration at times when you're a step ahead of where the game wants you to logically be. I found myself quite often trying to present a piece of evidence that I felt was sufficiently contradictory, only to discover that the game disagreed and felt that another item would have been more appropriate. The aggravation caused by this mechanic is mostly countered by the sheer satisfaction of finally solving the puzzle and being rewarded by witty dialogue and excellent dramatic timing.
That's pretty much the game, and there really isn't much more that can be said without giving away plot points and spoilers, but the game certainly has an "it" factor that elevates it above mere words, and a vague description certainly cannot do this game justice.