Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations

"One of the greatest DS games... HOLD IT!...no, one of the greatest games ever made."

Enter the world that we live in, ten to twenty years in the future. Life contains little more than evil men and women everywhere committing intricate murders and pinning them on someone that is innocent. The human race is on the brink of extinction. There is but one glimmering hope remaining: you. You take the role of Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, and you are the one who brings down justice and peace to the world! Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations is the third game of the excellent Ace Attorney series. I must warn you now: if you haven't played the first two Phoenix Wright games beforehand, you probably don't want to play this one right off the bat. Simply put, the games go hand-in-hand with the plot. As a result, you wouldn't appreciate many events in the game as much without the backing of the first two PW games.

Phoenix Wright is an Anime-style text adventure game. It contains five episodes (generally a murder case in each one). You play as not only Phoenix Wright, but you also take control of his mentor, Mia Fay, in two of the cases. In each case, a murder (or perhaps another serious crime) is committed, and it's your job as a lawyer to defend your client (who always happens to be framed) and to find the real culprit behind the vicious killing. Much of the time is spent in court (which is arguably the better portion of the game). Here you must cross-examine witnesses, squeeze extra information out of those witnesses, present evidence, and deal with a mean prosecutor that doesn't let things go your way so easily. The rest of the game involves you, in first person perspective, to go and investigate the crime scenes. (That's breaking the rules a bit, as that should be a detective's duty, but we might as well make things more fun, right?) At these times you are able to find vital pieces of evidence, meet important people, and discover whatever secrets they might be hiding.

Graphics - 9.5/10
You may not think it, but when it comes to a game like Phoenix Wright, graphics are actually quite vital. I'm not saying we need incredibly detailed backgrounds and flawless, fluid movements, but it must be pleasing and catching enough to easily become attached to the story and cast. The game delivers with flying colors. The backgrounds look good enough, but the real beauty is with the characters. The artists did a marvelous job on everyone's design, drawing their large sprites in a purely animated style. You feel like you're actually in an Anime world, rather than in a game with flawed video game graphics. The various expressions are a little limited (it's not a PS3 game here), but they are wonderfully done and gives each character a clear, vivid personality. One of my favorite parts is the characters' exaggerated reactions when you expose their lies in court. I'll admit that the visuals haven't changed one bit since the first Phoenix Wright, but I don't think that matters. The graphics truly bring a charm to the game.

Sound - 9.5/10
The sound effects are nicely done, and do add a lot to the game's experience, whether it's when you pound your hands on your desk, or if the witness creates a "slicing" (pwned) sound when they get cornered in court. There are voice actors for a few characters, but there are only a few clips for very important phrases (such as "Objection!"). The voices are done well enough, though they're not particularly impressive (Phoenix's voice -is- full of energy, which is a good thing). The music is incredibly well-done. Perhaps it doesn't have the greatest soundtrack ever, but Noriyuki Iwadare (composing of the Lunar and Grandia series) has done a marvelous job in creating pieces that perfectly suit the game. The music has great melodies, percussion and flow. The music in court is done especially well, constantly putting you on the edge of your seat. (Truth to be told, there is not one court theme in the series that I don't like)

Control - 8/10
There's not a lot of actual control in the game besides going through menus. You can actually play the entire game using nothing but the stylus, and it works marvelously that way (you can also use the buttons and control pad). The text is somewhat slow, but if you go through a person's statement again, you can fast forward through them, so it's not so bad. One thing that is somewhat annoying is when you travel from place to place during your investigations -- there are only so many locations that can fit on your menu screen. Sometimes you might want to go to the detention center, but you have to visit various other places just to find a spot on the menu to allow you to go there.

Story/Gameplay - 10/10
With a text adventure title, the story basically IS the gameplay, so if the story is delivered poorly, this game would be nothing. Thankfully, the developers did a great job with the not only the basic storyline, but with the development, connections, and the cast of characters. Phoenix Wright and Mia Fey not only return, but also your old friend and aide, Maya Fey. The Judge, Gumshoe, and Pearl, among many others, appear yet again. You have a new main rival (prosecutor) in this game known as Godot, and he obviously won't make your goings easy. The game is quite serious a lot of the time; after all, people are getting killed. Still, it would be lying to say that near the core of the entertainment in the game is the humor. This game has lots of pop culture references, and has flat-out insane or ironic characters (though they generally don't go overboard).

Once again, there are two main portions of the game: investigating and being a lawyer in court. They both go hand-in-hand. While you investigate the crime scenes, you are in first person mode. You also can search among the environments to find necessary evidence (which can be used later in court). You also need talk to people (you only run into a few key people each case, so no worrying about going from person-to-person tediously), selecting among various statements to obtain all the information you need. The lovable Dick Gumshoe, the homicide detective, will be of primary help throughout the game. You may also present evidence you've gathered to those people to see if they know anything else. The characters you meet, however, are not always willing to say everything they know. To solve that, you present Maya's Megatama, a special glowing device that allows you to see people's secrets in the form of "locks", and you can "unlock" them as you present evidence to expose their secret. You also are able to move from location to location, and you're always able to head over to the detention center to talk with your defendant as needed. The investigating is fun and decisive and always helps you feel like you're moving forward, but it can get a little frustrating. Sometimes you may get stuck due to failing to talk to a certain person or finding a piece of evidence without your knowing. However, this isn't nearly as much of a problem as in the earlier PW games.

Just about everyone agrees that court trials are the better part of the game. With all your evidence and knowledge at hand, and with the help (or burden) of the prosecution and the witnesses, you are now on the brink of discovering the truth. The main part of the gameplay is naturally cross-examining the witnesses. They generally have 5-7 phrases, of which you can "press" (ask for more detail), or you can "present" (point out a contradiction). If you present the wrong evidence or present in the wrong statement, the judge takes away a portion of your "life" (usually about 1/5). Sometimes it can be quite tricky to figure out the contradiction. Run out of life and the Judge basically deems you as incompetent and he declares his verdict as your client being guilty. Once you have pointed out a contradiction, a bunch of suspense and debate goes on between you and prosecutor Godot, and then the witness revises the testimony. There may be times when you are given a list of statements and you have to choose the correct one (announce the real truth) to continue in the trial. Sometimes you may have multiple witnesses in one day, and sometimes you may prove the real murderer guilty in one day. More often you will leave court once or twice with mysteries left to solve (and you start investigating). Once you discover the truth and prove the real killer's identity, it brings a heckuva a lot of satisfaction.

Replay Value - 8/10
HOLD IT! Huh? How could a 100% linear game have high replay value? Because the game is so good, that's what! The story was written so amazingly well (though there are a few typos), and the characters have such clear and interesting personalities that you'll want to play through this again, just like you would want to read a great book through again. Perhaps there may be parts of the plot that you didn't quite understand, and playing through a second time would clear those misunderstandings. This is definitely not a game you would beat ten times in a row, but how many games do you even replay more than once?

Overall - 10/10
If you liked the first two Phoenix Wright games, you will like this one! OBJECTION! No, you will LOVE this one! This one has to be my favorite game in the series so far! The presentation, music, and character development all come together so wonderfully; you won't forget these murder cases anytime soon. If you've played the first two PW games... what are you waiting for? If you haven't played the first two PW games and are partial to storyline-heavy games, I highly suggest playing all three of the PW games in order. This game wraps up the Phoenix Wright trilogy so wonderfully, it'll give you goosebumps.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/07

Game Release: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations (US, 10/23/07)