Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All

"Truly Justice"

Sometimes it can be hard to get out of a scrape, other times it is not. Apparently, it must be hard for the idiots that abound in none other than Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All. Probably sporting the most awkward cast of hilarious characters that I have seen in some time, PW does something truly special while retaining a very simple game play structure. Japan has released some truly notable titles, and it was a great gesture on their part to bring over probably one of the most enjoyable text based adventures to hit the DS in a long time.

We all love to go to court, right? I'm doubting that, but it is a favorite past time for the justice loving Phoenix Wright. In this installment, Phoenix finds himself with a case of amnesia. They did it for a reason though, and that was to cater to a newer player. That is partially one of the reasons why I like this game as much as I do; it caters to a newer audience that hasn't necessarily played the game before. Needless to say, Phoenix finds himself in quite a scrape quickly enough, and it's up to him to gain back his knowledge if he wants to let justice prevail. Overall, the story wound up contradicting itself often, but it all pulled together with some great writing for an excellent final product.

Not mincing words, this game does include some truly out of place characters. Phoenix, the main protagonist that you will be playing as, is one of them. Instead of going through the expected route of him being some amazing attorney, they didn't. Phoenix turns out to be just another person who has a way with words and a strong sense of justice. Through doing that they managed to bring him down to a level that the player can relate to, which ultimately made the game a tad bit more believable. That's the funny thing about this game though, you can't really believe what's going on. Half the time the evidence does not even add up, and the other half of the time the character that you are currently interrogating is written in a way that they appear to be witty and humorous. Although funny, it just really chops this game up to a level that can get annoying. Funnily enough, I don't think they could have done it any other way. If they had chosen to follow a monotonous style of story telling, the game would not have had the ability to carry the charm that it's known for.

Like many other games in this genre, PW follows the tried and true method of text based game play. About 95% of it was based off of text, with the rest simple tapping and whatnot to uncover bits of evidence. In a sense, this does lead to shallow game play. Most of the time it was as if the game was just leading me around from place to place, with it being as if I were a backseat driver. Yet, that same problem can actually turn into one of the games best features. The whole reason of text-based games is to allow the player to make choices, no? If anything at all, they probably could have allowed me actually to play more, but it still fit nicely enough.

While most of the previous game takes place in the courtroom, with little work to done on the scene, Justice for All follows a much different path. By employing the new Psych-Lock system, PW takes text to an all-new level. By posing the correct flow of questions to the elated bad guy, you can uncover secrets that make the overall case much easier. Of course, you could just go ahead and do it, but then you are often fighting an up hill battle that just will not do you any good. That being said, the actual courtroom sequences are as good as ever, sporting a very fine flow of questioning that can often lead in several different directions depending on how well you go about your choosing. Nevertheless, the actual questioning is where the game truly shines. I'll be honest, you could go to a monkey house and probably get a more sane environment. One of my favorite lines in the entire game is the following: “In conclusion, the doctor likes big bananas!” Through that, you can really see just how far out the actual process is.

Still, I probably wouldn't have it any other way. There's just something about that whole zaniness that makes the game that much better. Probably the worst problem that the game faces is in that fact though. More often than not, the questioning that you are taking doesn't match the overall evidence. That makes you distinctly not choose it, which leads to a game over. On the other side, if you actually follow something that you would think would work, it won't. I guess it does stem from that completely zany point; it just made the game frustrating in a way. Other than that, it played perfectly throughout, albeit a few typos here and there.

Much like the previous game, anime character designs were implemented to an astounding effect. These drawings were both colorful and enjoyable, if not completely complimenting the overall feeling of the game. Phoenix himself looks perfect for the part, as do many of the other characters. Because of that, you really can see just where this game came from. Japanese games are often deeply rooted in an anime style, but not just any style. They are quality, often times some of the best in the world. It really is a shame that we don't get more of these games on a continual basis, because they are good. Probably the only bad part of the graphics stems from the point of rough edges. The crime scenes themselves aren't always illustrated to their fullest extent, which really hurts it in a way. It's like you are putting a beautiful picture in a shack. Really, it isn't as bad as that, it just doesn't fit in with the rest of what is presented to the player as a whole. If they could have figured out a way to at least diminish this feeling to an extent, then it would have been passable. Thankfully, the rest of the game is spot on in everything that it does, which ultimately made it a much more enjoyable experience.

If anything at all, they definitely could have worked on some of the tunes that were being played in this game. It's not like they truly did anything wrong, they just followed a very strict stereo-type that anyone who hasn't played it before could have expected. I'm not saying that it is bad, it just was something that truly didn't do it for me. For instance, have you ever heard the detective song that is often being played in today's society? If so, then you probably have a good idea of what to expect. Not that it's necessarily bad, it just isn't good either. Normally, it would be easy to let this one nagging point go, but when you have a game that just does so many other things perfectly, it kind of hurts to see it used like this.

With that said though, the actual courtroom cases had such a great air to them. Funny tunes, monotonous styles-everything just fits into the moment in which they were being played. Having such a great time with them would be an understatement, especially since I actually took the time to listen to them due to the fact of this game not pressuring you into making choices. Since there is a good lapse of time between choices, you should take a moment to listen, as it would probably do you no harm whatsoever to take a moment to listen. Other than that, there were some other typical points from the last game that were bought back into this one, allowing fans to actually catch a glimpse from the previous game.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All is a perfect game. I'm just repeating that it definitely is something else that you should experience if you are into text based games. Not that this is for everyone, as it can get very boring at an extremely fast rate; but if you do have the patience for it, you definitely will have one of the greatest experiences that you will probably ever have for the DS.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/07