"No major improvement, but still as fun."

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justices for All is the sequel to the popular text-based court drama, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The first game prides itself in the great storyline, humorous dialogue and memorable characters. The second in the series is more of the same, and then some. The second in the series takes all of the element in the first and adds to it. So how does it fair? Read on and find out.

***** Plot *****

It has been quite some time since the end of the first game, you are still Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney. When the game starts, you have taken on a case where a female police officer has been accused of killing her fellow police officer.

Just like in the first game, the first case is a tutorial on the court system. It starts and ends in one court session. From the second case onwards, you will need to investigate crime scenes, witnesses, etc. in order to put the case together.

Each case is independent of one another, and the cast of the first Phoenix Wright game makes a reappearance in the second. The prosecutor has changed, but is still as annoying as ever. Actually, it's extremely annoying. I'll leave it to you to find out who it is.

The cheeky comments and the overreacting expressions of the characters remain. It's hilarious to see Phoenix's expression when a witness or the prosecutor belt out a smartass comment aimed directly at him.

The judge is as useless as ever. You really have to wonder where Capcom found him in the first place. He will definitely make you work hard to earn your keep. In the end, though, he will come to his senses and deliver the right verdict.

The prosecutor is more annoying than the previous one. You will get objected over and over again. In addition, there is no more finger pointing. It's now getting physical. You'll get whipped. Try to press the witness? Whipped! Try to uncover an 'irrelevant' evidence? Whipped! Try to say something? Whipped! Not even the judge was spared. Sometimes you just wish you could throw the judge at the prosecutor. If it was real life, the prosecutor would have been thrown out of court and charged with assault.

The plot flows well. Because each case is independent, all you would be trying to do is to solve each case as it comes. The overall picture might be that one of the evidence in a case is related to another, but it doesn't get in the way of solving the current case.

The flow of the case is a little less linear than before. In the previous game, when someone appears at a certain place, you can almost be sure that something valuable will surface. With the introduction of 'Psyche-lock' in this game, you might need to backtrack. But that's all in the name of justice.

***** Gameplay *****

Like the previous game, a case is divided into investigation and court session. During investigation, you need to run around like an idiot collecting evidence, and finding valuable information that will prove your client innocent, and at the same time, find out the real culprit.

This will involve you going to different places, talk to different people, and presenting evidence to people who might have some information on it.

In this instalment, you can now present not only evidence, but also profile of people who is somehow related to the current case. This adds complexity to the process, and more ways to get yourself killed.

Also new to this game is psyche-lock. During the second case, you will be presented with a magical stone, a magatama, that will reveal secrets of people. The more secrets they have, the more locks there will be. It's your job to unlock these psyche-locks and get them to spill their beans.

During the psyche-lock mode, the person you're talking to will try everything to hide their secrets. So you will need to present them with evidence, or profile to convince them otherwise.

You will get a green 'health bar' (like the exclamation marks in the first game). If you present the wrong thing, you will be penalised. However, you won't 'die' if you run out of health. You will simply just have to start again.

Sometimes, you might not have the evidence needed, so you will have to collect more information from other places or people before you can come back to unlock the psyche-locks. It does require some backtracking, but it's not too bad.

In court, everything proceeds just like how it used to be. The prosecutor will present a witness who will then give a testimony that supposedly links your client to the crime. You, of course, will prove otherwise.

After the witness' testimony, it's your chance to cross-exam. During such phase, you can press for more information, or you can present an evidence / profile to point out a contradiction in the testimony.

The exclamation marks in the first game are now replaced by a green 'health bar'. Depending on the importance of the question, you could get a slap on the wrist or get your client convicted. For example, you could lose half the bar if you find the wrong murderer, or just a tiny bit if you present the wrong evidence. It adds to the variety, but doesn't add real value to the game.

It's basically a tug of war between you and the prosecutor. You will try to discover the truth and the prosecutor will try to hide it, or at least, make it more difficult.

You can play the entire game without the stylus, or if you like, use the stylus all the way, it's really a personal style. You can still shout out your objection via the mic if you so desired, just like the first game.

***** Graphics *****

No real improvement over the last game. As a matter of fact, I don't see ANY improvement. But like the first game, this is a GBA port. The anime style and the simple animation still work well. However, I was a little disappointed that the characters still have the same number of expressions. I was hoping they would have funnier ones to keep the game fresh.

As a standalone, the bright coloured background and the detailed characters is a great selling point of this game. It will appeal to younger players.

***** Sound *****

The game consists of two sound, one is the BGM, and two is the sound effect (or lack thereof). Being on a handheld, the BGM is not something that will blow you away. Just don't expect surround 5.1 Dolby Digital. But it suits the game nicely. Plus its tune is catchy, and easy on the ear.

There isn't much in the sound effect department except for the typewriter sound of the text as it scrolls across the screen. The 'du-du' sound can get a bit annoying after a while, and there is no option to turn it off. So you will just have to put up with it.

Other sounds include simple voice acting (if you can call that). "Objection!" is a very familiar one, along with "Hold It!" and "Take That!".

***** Replay Value *****

Due to the nature of this game, there is not much replay value after you have solved the cases. However, like the previous game, the Japanese version is bi-lingual. It contains the Japanese as well as the English game. So if you so inclined, and able, you might like to play the Japanese version.

The Japanese version differs in the language of the game (obviously!), and also the name of people, places. Even the graphics changes.

***** Overall *****

To say that this is a sequel is only half the truth. It feels more like an expansion pack in many respects. Granted, there are new elements that add variety to the game, but none of them affects the game in any great length. Lack of the innovative use of the DS like that seen in the last case of the first game might put some players off.

Don't get me wrong. The game is still very fun to play. The characters remain true to the first game. The graphics and sound are on par. You don't have to play the first game in order to enjoy this one. But knowing the back story will help you get the most out of this game.

While you might not feel sympathetic towards lawyers in general, you can't help but feel sorry for Phoenix, especially when he is at the end of the whip. Seriously, someone ought to take the whip away and arrest the prosecutor.

Good:

* Great cases
* Interesting characters
* Funny dialogue

Bad:

* Sound effect (or lack thereof)
* Some annoying characters
* Lack of DS exclusive cases

Score (out of 10)

Plot: 8
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 8
Sound: 6
Replay: 3

Overall: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/07