[small]So, here I am again. Me, Fraught, reviewing something. After my last review, I felt like maybe I should do this more often. I even got some positive comments (out of the few, scarce amount of them that I got) that encouraged me, and since I enjoyed writing the last review I did, on Brutal Legend, I decided to give this another go.
So, without further ado, here is my look back at the one series on the DS that I can, with an unlikely big amount of assurance, say is my most favorite series on the console - the Phoenix Wright trilogy.[/small]
So, without further ado, here is my look back at the one series on the DS that I can, with an unlikely big amount of assurance, say is my most favorite series on the console - the Phoenix Wright trilogy.[/small]
[HEADING=2]The Phoenix Wright series[/HEADING]
Why am I talking about this? Well, because this happened with the series many times, while I was playing it. Why? The three games, the original one, the second one, Justice for All, and the third one, Trials and Tribulations, all of them have very limited replayability. 'Is the price justified?', you may think. I'd say yes, but just go on eBay, or Amazon, and search those games.
The price is crisp, and thus the games may not be available to some, and that is a real shame. These games are interesting, funny, they're full of obvious and more obscure references, memorable characters, and the cases are hard to predict. Also, they're lengthy. They're lengthy, and almost all of the game you spend reading text, and presenting evidence that usually has a description you'll almost surely read.
[img_inline height=400 caption="If by 'rookie', you mean 'a retard'.
And if by 'killing', you mean 'losing to'."]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/8494/384968-winston_payne_oa_large.gif[/img_inline]
Every one of the games starts off with a case similar to the last game's first case. You start in the court waiting room, you go in there, and you don't leave until the crook is exposed. It may take some time to get to grips with the game, presenting evidence, checking them for any visual contradictions, and I found myself the first time I played this game, a long time ago, that I failed. Maybe it was because, like people use to say, 'shit happens'. The game isn't really that hard to grasp. I just didn't notice my penalty bar, a bar that decreases every time you make an error, and when it reaches its end, you will die. Or, actually, your defendant will die. Or, more like, enjoy a life-time of undeserved prison...uhh, you know. Sometimes, soaps are just slippery. [small]Ahem. Moving on...[/small]
All of these cases have the exact same template, rules, guidelines. They even have, believe it or not, the same prosecutor. A guy who calls himself the 'rookie killer'.
These games, despite their overall memorability and charm, are as same-y as games can go. I mean, scroll up a bit. See those game covers? The first one, yeah, is just a few characters put together into a courtroom, which is good, I guess. The second one looks a bit more classy, and the third one is basically identical, only changing the characters. That's pretty much how the games are. 'Well, I can't wait to play the sequel', you might say. 'I wonder what they have improved', you might also say.
No, don't. There is nothing new, except for the penalty bar, which changes from five exclamation marks to a bar, between the first and second games. Everything else is basically the exact same, with the difference that all of them have different cases, different characters, and that's about it. The sound effects, the graphics, the inventory you use, everything is basically the same.
Even though you may think this is a bad point, you're actually right. But at the same time, it's not a major complain. If you get the chance, try playing the game. You'll be too wrapped up in all the evidence and the case (like a real lawyer, wink) that you absolutely won't notice it.
Speaking of evidence, the games remind of the Agatha Christie nov-well, crime novels, all of them. I have no idea if what they revealed at the end of the series, in the last game, was just later tacked on, and thought out, or it was planned ahead. Needless to say, things are revealed that span throughout the whole series, and they are great.
Although the game has humour, and tries to be humorous, it isn't just that. The game has plenty of touching scenes, and while the overall happy colors and characters of the game decrease the emotional factor a bit, it is still there, and the longer the scene, the more you get immersed and start to feel for the characters.
[img_inline height=400 caption="URRRGH! ARGH! Almost, almost! There we go."]http://www.myds.com.au/img/game/large/Phoenix-Wright--Ace-Attorney-Trials-and-Tribulatio-8.jpg[/img_inline]
When I started reviewing the game, I knew that this game didn't have many of these so-called 'facets'. It's not a traditional action or role-playing game. All you do is read text, click on boxes that take you to different places, and think logically, after which you present evidence. There's not much more to the games, so I was sitting here, scratching my head.
'What do I talk about next?', I thought.
'Well, hmm, the characters?'. The characters are one of the game's high points, showcasing the ridiculousity of the imagination of the games' developers. This probably won't spoil more than a quick peek at what Google gives you up under its 'Image Search'. The characters range from a burly and muscly French cook, who dresses and acts like a girl, and thinks he is one, to a weakling who thinks he is a master thief, to an old man who keeps mistaking certain people for his children, and wants them to take over his restaurant, which is actually just a boat-renting hut. Needless to say, the cast of the games is colourful (both visually and personality-wise), and the game keeps surprising with how interesting characters it can come up with.
The cases are interesting as well. I can't comment on how accurately they reflect upon real courtroom proceedings, since I have no idea of how courtroom proceedings are really done. Though the cases are always the exact same, the one being accused is not the real murderer, also known as your defendant, and someone, who'd you'd probably least expect is the real killer. The games' so-called M.O. concerning all the cases becomes apparent very, very soon. That makes the game maybe more same-y, and less varying, but it doesn't matter. Once you start out, you may start guessing, but when you finally get to the end of the case, and think back, you may ask yourself a hearty 'what?!'. The cases often are long, and have a far longer backstory to it than may seem at first. The real murderers are often unpredictable at first, and the cases are all greatly-written.
Talking of greatly-written, the localization is brilliant. The most important thing with a game where all you do is read text is, of course, the text itself. The series' localization team, led by one Alexander O. Smith, is one of the best Japan-English localizations I've ever known. The original Japanese version made great many references to Japanese pop culture, and the English version does of English-speaking countries' pop culture, even as far as changing the name of the characters.
Bottom Line: Heavily text-filled games where your only 'fights' are verbose ones, in a courtroom. Memorable, humorous, and full of personality.
[img_inline height=250]http://static2.videogamer.com/videogamer/images/pub/large/phoenix_wright.jpg[/img_inline]
Pros:
- Great characters
- Hard-to-predict cases with long, elaborate plans behind them
- One of the best localizations ever
- Lengthy
Cons:
- Very same-y (minimum improvements, same sound effects throughout the series etc)
- It ends
Brutal Legend [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.170411]
