Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

"OBJECTION! Not owning this game is... objectionable..."

It started a couple of months ago. I was told about Phoenix Wright time to time starting last year. It was a popular game series in Japan that was originally on the Game Boy Advance, but was converted to the Nintendo DS in the new English version that took advantage of a few things the Game Boy Advance didn't have. Eventually, I had become somewhat interested into looking further into this seemingly revolutionary series from the get-go, and when I read descriptions of the game, I wanted to get the game even more.

So I found several new copies of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on eBay. The vast majority of the copies were brand new and the same price. I did a little more reading on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and it seemed like a really good idea to me. I felt very encouraged to get the game. I ordered it, and a few weeks later, it arrived in the mail. I will never forget how excited I was when it arrived in the mail. I played through the game and picked everything up quickly.

And let me tell you, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney blew me away. The game is just brilliant. This is the second best game I've played on the Nintendo DS, with the first being Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All, the sequel to this game! This is the best series I've played on the Nintendo DS, and yes, I have played Mario Kart (which pales in comparison to this game).

The Phoenix Wright games are known for being heavily-story driven. To avoid giving away spoilers, I'll summarize the first few minutes of the first case. You begin the game as Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney waiting at the Courtroom Lobby for a trial to begin. Phoenix is working on a murder case, which also happens to be his first case off the bat. Phoenix has to defend his friend Larry Butz, who he's known since grade school and has been wrongfully accused of murder. The introduction scene to the first case make it painfully obvious not only Larry isn't guilty, but who the real culprit is, and it's clear as day who it is. Phoenix enters the courtroom with his mentor Mia Fey, who taught him everything he knows about being a defense attorney, and she holds your hand through some tutorials, such as an introduction to the Court Record, how to cross-examine your witness, and other bare basics.

After the first case, you will begin your first investigations. Investigations are the parts of the game between trials where you move from place to place talking to people, examining places and scenery for clues or leads, presenting some of your evidence to other people to see what they know about that evidence, moving place to place, and gathering evidence to use as ammunition in court. It's important to gather all the information you can, because you'll definitely need this.

But after investigations, you can go to court, where the real fun begins. The judge will begin by seeing if the prosecution and defense (that's you) are ready, then the prosecution will give an opening statement and call a witness to the stand to testify. The witnesses usually either lie or have misconceptions of what happened, and after the testimony is given, the judge will give you permission to start cross-examining the witness. You will be given five objections (in the form of five exclamation mark icons on the upper-right top screen), and when you find anything in the testimony that contradicts your evidence, you press the "R" button or press the "Present" button on the touch screen to enter your Court Record, then you select evidence and either touch "Present" on the screen or hold the "Y" button and say "Objection!" into the Nintendo DS microphone (my absolute favorite thing to do in the game). If you play your cards right, you'll rub the evidence into the witness's face and proceed further into the game. If you present the wrong evidence, Phoenix will make a fool out of himself and the judge will penalize him by taking away one of your exclamation mark icons. If you can't see anything contradictory, then you can press the evidence on a statement by pressing the "L" button or holding the "Y" button and saying "Hold it!" into the Nintendo DS microphone. Pressing can clear vague parts of the testimony up, cause the testimony to be revised to reveal something contradictory, and more. If you lose all your exclamation marks, then the judge's patience will be gone, and he'll fail to see any reason why the case should proceed any further, and your client will be found "Guilty," which is the game's way of saying "Game Over." You'll know you've done well if everything starts falling into place and the truth becomes obvious, and that's usually when you can see the judge rule your client "Not Guilty" with a sense of a job well-done.

A huge highlight of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and the Phoenix Wright series in general, is the number of remarkable characters. All the characters have their own personalities, and it's very hard to forget who's who. The judge is known for being easily manipulated and giving the right verdict, Maya's known for being Phoenix's naive and sometimes perky "assistant" and being able to eat a ton without gaining any weight at all, Edgeworth is known for being a ruthless prosecutor who occasionally goes to extremes to prove the defendant guilty, and several other characters in the game are known for one thing or another and appear in other cases. In fact, several characters from this game appear in the sequel as well.

The music provides a very important atmosphere, especially in the courtroom. Let's say the prosecution proves something that damages your case; the music becomes dramatic and gloomy. But if you prove something big in the case and you're edging closer and closer to the truth, the music changes to a dramatic, fast theme. In other words, the music changes at the right time to the right feeling in the atmosphere.

The graphics are those of the Game Boy Advance, with some exceptions in the fifth case, which is a Nintendo DS exclusive case (and takes good advantage of the Nintendo DS and its capabilities). The Game Boy Advance graphics get the job done. Everything looks good. The characters show up well and the backgrounds are well-designed. Expressions are well-designed, and play a huge factor in the courtroom. When you're on the right track and you catch your witness lying, the personality of the witness might take a 180 degree twist and reveal a completely different and furious person. In Case 5, however, the 3D animation and functions (examining things in 3D) are brilliantly designed. The way everything falls together literally screams genius.

The only thing this game lacks is replay value. Unless you want to play a case again because you beat it but didn't fully understand it, this game could be boring after you finish it. But sometimes, this game can have that charm that brings you back to play it for no reason whatsoever. I like to play the cases again occasionally, even though I know what will happen.

You may ask if the game is worth a buy or rent. Unless you're on a vacation, have no life, have a walk through right in front of you (which ruins the fun), or have a lot of free time on your hands, you're not going to finish this game in less than a rental time period. It's kind of hard to find in stores (at least for me it is), so I found it on eBay. I don't regret a thing since buying it. This game is definitely worth picking up and owning. Once you finish this game, you can sit and wait for the second and third games to be released, because, like me, you will be left wanting more.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/06, Updated 01/02/07