"Hold it!! This game is far from great!"

NOTE: This review is meant for those who have played the first game. Those who haven't played the first game can ignore some of the major problems of the game and easily ignore the minor blemishes that this game holds.

Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney was a great game released last year that surprisingly did well and gained a fan base. It was based entirely on a Japanese GBA game, but was able to do well because the script was well-written. The game allowed players to tackle on logical (yet far-fetched) murder mysteries as the defense attorney/detective Pheonix Wright and his lovable sidekicks. With its interesting plots, well-paced cases, funny dialogue, and charming characters, the game turned out to be a huge success despite its linear nature and lack of replay value. PW: Ace Attorney also included a new DS-based final chapter that was fairly clever and intriguing as well. In short, Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney was able to captivate players because everything about the game mixed extremely well.

Pheonix Wright: Justice For All is also based on a GBA game, but, unlike the previous game, features no DS-exclusive chapters or clever uses for the second screen. Here's the breakdown for this mediocre follow-up to Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney:

STORY/CHARACTERS: 6/10
Some games try to come up with clever introductions that make sure that newcomers feel welcome and veterans feel like they aren't wasting their time. This game does the first but neglects the latter. You start off as Pheonix Wright and almost immediately get a pathetic reason as to why you're NOT an ace attorney and why you need a long and drawn-out explanation of what you're supposed to do to win your first case. After the first trial, the trials become more difficult and require much more thought; however, the game refuses to allow the player to really feel close to the characters because it's almost like you have to warm up to them AGAIN. Characters that you'll remember from the first game will almost always feel like different people and will not act like Pheonix had a long relationship with them, taking away from the overall feel that the first game gave to players. There's a big spoiler for some of the plot that makes the game ALMOST worth it, but it still isn't enough to play the game all the way through for.

GRAPHICS: 5/10
Graphics aren't everything and don't really matter too much to me; however, the game basically uses so much from the first game that it's hard not to notice the fact that there's too much of the same thing here. You'll get the same still frames from the first Pheonix Wright on reoccurring characters and few improvements of the graphics overall. Nothing special, nothing bad.

MUSIC/SOUND/VOICES: 3/10
The music is composed entirely of Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney music or remakes of that music. You'll hear more remakes than the original's music, but most of the remakes of the music are just terrible. Nearly 100% of the sounds you'll here are completely taken off of the first Pheonix Wright game, with a few new voice actors involved in the "Hold it!" and "Objection!" yellings.

GAME PLAY: 2/10
What game play? This game is ridiculously linear. The only reason I give it higher than a 1 is because of the new feature that allows you to interrogate people who are obviously lying. This new feature is pretty bad in the end, as it is too flawed to be useful: you have to risk court mistake health to simply move the plot along. Worse yet, the feature will sometimes get the character to give you the truth and they somehow get to lie anyways. Why would you get a character to tell you the truth, only for that "truth" to be a complete lie in the end? One final complaint about this new feature: people believe you after you uncover the truth, despite the fact that they don't see you undo the psychic chains that bind the person you're interrogating from giving a true alibi.

CONTROLS/DS FEATURE USAGE: 3/10
Besides having standard and fairly user-friendly controls, this game hardly uses the DS's abilities whatsoever. The second screen is basically there to select questions or check out menu options and is otherwise entirely useless in this game. The touch screen can be used to select answers or look at objects, but isn't necessary at all because everything can be done with the D-pad and buttons. The only thing you'll probably use the touch pad for is for the times you need to object or ask for more information in cross-examinations of witnesses. You can also use the microphone on the DS to yell whatever command Pheonix is giving ("Hold It!" or "Objection"), but you need to hold on the "Y" button in order to do so. Holding the "Y" button to speak into the microphone makes doing so almost entirely pointless, and yelling out the command that's already spoken on the game itself beforehand makes you look like a complete idiot in areas populated by anyone besides yourself. Other than the microphone and touch pad capabilities, there's nothing special about the controls.

RENT OR BUY?
Rent to get that nostalgic feeling of Pheonix Wright back if you need to, but other than that just keep the old game and wait for the DS-exclusive Pheonix Wright game that has recently been announced. Unless you're in love with the first one and don't mind ridiculous plots that are even more far-fetched than the first game's, avoid buying this game for keepsake purposes.

CONCLUSION:
Overall, the game simply rehashes many characters from the first game without really making any of them particularly likable, doesn't implement the second screen well, and any new music is extremely bland. Borrow this from a friend or something, but avoid buying.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/07