"Rocking Prosecutors and Chords of Steel"

Phoenix has put his index finger to rest, and now someone else is shoving theirs in people's faces; that man is Apollo Justice, Attorney at Law, with a ridiculous haircut and Chords of Steel.

While the name and image of Apollo Justice is so ludicrous as to be purposefully comical, he's a great video game character, as I'm sure you'll soon find out when you play the game.

Story: 10/10

Our story begins as Apollo has to defend the legendary - but now retired - defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, who is now on trial for murder. With that, the past of Wright and Apollo is explored, and various other circumstances happen all at once, culminating in the ultimate end. However, the game won't answer all your questions for what it's worth, so I'm expecting to see a sequel.

All your classic characters are here to support Apollo. Phoenix himself is a major character, and his daughter Trucy takes the place of Maya and Pearl from the Wright trilogy. Ema Skye from way back when takes Gumshoe's place (awwwwwwwww!), and the new prosecutor in this round is a man known as Klavier Gavin; he has the demeanor of a German rock star who acts like a rock star all the time, going so far as to play his music during court. Wow.

In any case, the overall story and the case stories are all very excellent. In one case, you even have to protect a mob boss's son from being accused of murder, all while tracking down stolen noodle stands and crazed drivers. It's fun.

The understory as a whole is a very fun thing to explore. When you reach the final case, so many questions will be raised that your head will almost explode from overload.

Gameplay: 8/10

Just like the previous games, your missions are split into Investigation and Trials.

While Investigating, you'll talk with various other people and explore crime scenes. Sometimes, you'll have to show evidence to people to see their reaction, or explore specific areas to continue along; sometimes, brand new evidence will be revealed, or you'll zoom in to get a closer look at the scene. It's all done very well, and since there's no way to continue without getting everything you can, you don't need to worry about missing something before court.

Sometimes, you'll need to examine the evidence itself; this is expanded upon from the original Phoenix Wright's fifth case. The 3-D rendering of evidence, fingerprint, and luminol tests remain intact, but new tests are introduced, such as shoe-print molding. It's kinda cool being all scientific.

During Trials, you'll cross-examine witness testimonies and present evidence to contradict said testimony. Sometimes they'll give a whole new testimony; sometimes new statements will be added; sometimes you'll just get new evidence. If you screw up along the way, you'll lose some health. When you run out, your client is declared Guilty on the spot; this stretches the imagination a bit, even when it's obvious the client is innocent.

During Cross-Examination, you'll sometimes have to Press some statements to squeeze more out of the client. Sometimes, however, you'll just be up the creek without a paddle; that's when the Percieve system comes into play.

Percieving replaces the Psyche-Locks from previous entries, and is used during trials only. When Percieving, you zoom in on the witness and hear everything extra slowly. Use this time to scan the witness to see if anything is going on, if they have a nervous twitch or habit. Once you spot it in the right place, you Percieve and unlock new testimony or evidence.

Investigation can get boring at times, but during a Trial, it's always a blast.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics are vastly improved from the old Phoenix Wright trilogy. The courtroom now looks more like a courtroom and is no longer neon yellow; all the characters have much more detail as well (with the exception of the Judge, who is still the same). The "zoom in with speed lines" sequences also look much better than they used to. In short, the game looks brilliant.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is wonderful. While some of the voices I could do without, most are very well done. The game sounds good.

The music, however, is beautiful. While the classic tension theme that survived all three Phoenix Wright games makes a comeback, and there's a little classic Objection theme action early on, all the other tracks are really nice, especially the new Cornered theme.

Difficulty: 8/10

The game falters a little bit here; when it's not really easy, it's extremely hard. You'll get lost, and after you're done getting lost, you'll usually breeze by at an amazing pace. The game will also tell you where to Percieve in a testimony while Pressing a statement, so you needn't worry about getting lost in a Trial too much.

Overall: 8/10
Buy/Borrow/Barf: Borrow

While normally an 8/10 constitutes a purchase, this game is very verbose and textbooky; for those of you who like actiony games with little talking and more action, this game is not for you. It's very slow paced and geared toward the thinking gamer, so if you're a Halo junkie, this may not quite be your style. I reccommend renting it first.

However, for all you casual and thinking gamers out there, this is a must-buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/08

Game Release: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (US, 02/19/08)