"Objection! Writing a tagline is hard!"

Back when the original "Phoenix Wright" was released outside Japan, it turned out being a unique and amazing case of success. This title, which is mainly a port of "Gyakuten Saiban 2" without any important additions, continues to follow the adventures of Phoenix Wright, attorney, and Maya Fey, his companion and a spirit medium, as they come across 4 new cases. While they are mostly confronted with new facts and people, some old characters also make their appearance in this game, in smaller roles than before.

The first case, which you could think to be a tutorial one, is this time bigger and puts the player trying to figure out the truth behind a case where a woman is accused of murder. While the case is quite simple, it is made harder by having the player controlling Phoenix while he is in an amnesia condition, and therefore slightly deprived of his amazing skills. The other three cases featured in the game are also quite interesting, with Phoenix, Maya and Pearl (a younger spirit medium, who is Maya's "sister") being put into several trouble and some of the best moments the series has seen up to this point.

Unfortunately, linear as it is, this product has hardly any replay value, and that turns out being this game's main flaw. People could try to state that one of the cases features a secret, yet smaller, ending, but that may not be a reason enough to make the player stick to the game (or, most likely, the stated case) once again. After first completing a case, you'll know everything that's behind it, making any replay attempts not as interesting or enjoyable as the first time you played.

The gaming interface is exactly the same one as in the previous game: you control the main characters in two main areas, which are the field and court. In the first one, you have to move between several locations, meet people and try to get together evidence that may help you defend your client. Then, on the court sequences, you have to hear people testify, try to point contradictions in their phrases and use the evidence that you previously acquired. Fortunately, it is not possible to miss any kind of evidence available in the game, or your mission would be slightly harder.

Once again, all the action is seen in the top screen of the console, with the lower one being used to control all the action, either in the field (where you need to move around, select evidence to show to people, and that kind of thing) or in front of the judge, where you mostly have to decrypt people's testimonies and read everything they say. As before, you can use your own voice to scream 3 sentences, the usual "Objection", "Hold it" and "Take That", which is the only thing added to this version of the game.

However, this game (along with its original version) introduces a new element to the series, called "Psyche-Locks". This is a feature which sometimes (as in "outside of court") allows you to check if a person is lying or not. In case they are, you gain access to a particular item during your adventure that allows you to break those virtual locks and, by providing clues that may support your ideas, unlock the truth hidden in that person's lips. Such addition may seem nice and it surely adds some more difficulty to the game, but may upset those who liked a more realistic adventure.

Now, when it comes to graphics, the product presents nothing new. While the evidences and the characters are well drawn, alongside with some static manga-like images you see during the game, their quality seems to have nothing to envy to the original game, in the sense that they look quite similar.

The sound, slightly changed from the first chapter of the series, is probably worse than before, since some of the new themes don't seem very fitting to the opportunities where they can be heard. Fear not, the most important themes are back and can be heard as before, but some of the new ones are rather uninteresting.

So, who should get this game? Well, since the Japanese version of the game even has the option for English text (with some small typos, which don't ruin the gameplay in any way), this is a perfect game for not only the fans of the previous title but also for all those players who want a good, yet short, game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/06