Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations

"Longer than a sleepless night, funny and addicting as hell...that's Phoenix's last game"

When Phoenix Wright first started, he was just a rookie lawyer in a Japanese GBA game that was released just after the turn of the century. Now, he has become an internet phenomenon and his games are loved all over the gaming community. (well, at least by pretty much everyone who plays them) As far as his own story goes, he has grown in proportion to his popularity; he started off as a rookie defense attorney who no one had much faith in, and he has become a hardcore Ace who will take any crime and prove his client's innocence, no matter how bad things look. Trials and Tribulations (TT) is where his story ends, however, and it shows how far Phoenix and all his friends have come from the beginning of the series.

STORY

Obviously, the story is the major aspect of the game and I don't want to give too much of it away. First of all, I'm assuming that if you're playing this, then you've probably played the previous two entries in this series. If you haven't, I would strongly recommend it. TT explains just about everything you need to understand it and playing the first two is not a requirement, but trust me, you'll be glad you did for a number of reasons.

Anyway, the story starts off the way the last two games in the series have: someone innocent is accused of murder, and you have to take the role of a defense attorney to prove their innocence. But this time, you don't start off as Phoenix; instead, you play as Mia in a flashback sequence that takes place about three or four years before Phoenix became an attorney. Yes, in two of the game's five cases, you play as Phoenix's mentor, Mia Fey, during her early trials. As the story goes on, you'll learn how those two cases come back to haunt Phoenix and remind him of a part in his life he would probably like to forget.

But I won't get into the story any more than that. As stated above, there are five cases, and each case can function as its own separate story. Three of the five cases have a direct connection to each other, and all of them (with the exception of the fourth one) are longer and more complex than the previous one. The first two cases are strong (as far as first and second cases go), but the third and fourth ones seemed a little weak and unexciting (as far as third and fourth cases are concerned). These four cases are topped with a fifth case that wraps up all the loose ends from the previous games and acts as a testament as to why the Phoenix Wright games are so awesome.

As always, the cast of characters certainly helps to make the experience enjoyable. Characters from the first two games return, as well as a new and very..."interesting" (cough Armstrong cough) ones. One of the most notable new characters is Godot, your next courtroom adversary. Godot is a mask-wearing coffee addict who has a past completely shrouded in mystery, but he seems to know Phoenix from somewhere and even holds a heavy grudge against him, and Phoenix soon even titles him as the most dangerous guy he's ever faced. (Yes, after dealing with corrupted business men, mafia members, taser-wielding or whip cracking prosecutors and kidnappers, Phoenix's deadliest enemy is a coffee freak)

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay here is split into two modes: investigating, and court sequences. When you're investigating, you take control (most of the time) of Phoenix as you visit the crime scene, the detention center, and other various locations as you try to pick up evidence and put your case together. In addition to collecting evidence, you'll also be talking to witnesses as you try to find out what they saw. But sometimes, a witness will want to keep something secret from you and a psyche-lock will pop up. When this happens, you have to dig through your evidence and figure out what they're trying to hide and why. However, you don't always know if you have enough evidence to completely break the lock, but very seldom will you be able to break it when you first see it. (and the game will usually tell you when you have enough evidence, anyway)

After searching around and obtaining all the evidence you need, you head off to court to face off against the prosection, the witnesses, and the clueless as ever judge. Once a witness takes the stand he or she will briefly testify about why they think your client is the killer. From here, you can do two things: you can either press the witness, which will make Phoenix stop the witness in their tracks and ask them a question that goes deeper into what they just stated, or you can present evidence which flat out contradicts something that was said in their testimony. For the majority of the court sequences, this is what you'll have to do to progress the court proceedings. The witness will then be allowed to testify again, and you'll have to repeat the process until you've obliterated the witness's theory or story.

Does that sound familar? It should, because that's exactly the way Justice for All, the previous entry in the series, was played. (which isn't too much more than how the first game was designed) You get it? TT is basically JFA with new cases, but this time, nothing new has been added. It's the exact same gameplay. This can be a good thing and a bad thing in many ways. After all, it was this exact formula that made the first two games such a treat.

Unfortunately, nothing has been done to fix the flaws of the past two games. Being a point-and-click adventure game, you'll probably find yourself stuck at several parts. There will most likely be times during an investigation sequence when you have to travel to all the places over and over just to look for one clue you overlooked, or you'll have to show a certain piece of evidence to someone. This gets annoying pretty quickly.

Also, TT seemed much easier than the previous entries at times, mostly because the game gave you overly obvious hints about what to do to progress an investigation or point out flaws in a testimony.

Thankfully, these problems are easy to forget (or ignore) when you've got writing and gameplay as enticing and humorous as it is in TT. Like previous entries, TT is brilliantly and masterfully translated with numerous funny moments, lines, and pop culture references thrown in amongst all the chatter.

GRAPHICS

Clearly, you're not going to play an Ace Attorney game if amazing graphics are a must. Still, the game looks fairly pretty. Even though TT was originally released on the GBA and the graphics haven't been touched up all that much, it's still very pretty and colorful. The environments are well detailed, and all the character sprites and animations look very well rendered. The cartoonish look fit the game perfectly, as TT obviously isn't a game that is meant to be taken seriously or realistically.

SOUND

The game's sound is another high point. The same weird sound effects return, but the real great stuff comes from the game's music. Many new tunes appear in this game, most notably entirely new courtroom music, ranging from the theme played when court is starting and ending (the best court room theme yet), new cross-examining music, new Cornered music, new courtroom lobby music, new victory music, and new uncovering the truth music. (or Godot's theme, "The Fragrance of Dark Coffee") There are also a few new investigation and reminiscence themes, which all sound very good and usually fit the mood of the game and scene very well. Some old tunes are recycled, such as the best investigation theme from JFA, the courtroom lobby music from JFA, and the tune I consider to be the best in the series is played (and slighly remixed) when you're presenting the final piece of evidence of the game.

In general, the music is pretty good, especially the new tunes. Unfortunately, some of the tunes don't seem too cleaned up, which made it very easy to remember that they were originally programmed for a GBA game. Thankfully, they still sound great, so it's easy to get over that.

LENGTH

TT lives up to its predecessors and delivers an experience that's long for a handheld game. Your first playthrough will probably take you around 10 to 15 hours to complete, so you're going to be getting your money's worth for this one. There's not really much else to say other than that the game delivers if you want a good handheld experience.

REPLAYABILITY

Okay, here's what kills the game the most: its lack of replay value. Despite the fact it's easy to get over the spots where you get stuck and the character animations being limited, the one problem that's almost impossible to ignore is the fact that TT is, like the previous entries, only really good for one playthrough. Yes, you could always go back and play a case again for missed jokes or hints about what would happen, but by that point you already know the final turnout for the case and how to get to it. There's nothing you can unlock after beating all five cases and there's nothing extra added.

PROS

+ Great story (nice way to wrap up the series)
+ Colorful and funny characters
+ Great music
+ Nice graphics
+ Very good length
+ Hilarious at times

CONS

- Lack of replay value
- Some music and graphics don't feel polished or updated
- Linear beyond words
- Easy to get stuck at parts
- Game sometimes gives too obvious hints (makes overall experience easy)

CLOSING NOTES

By now, you've probably already learned whether or not these games are your type. If you like fast paced games with explosions, graphics and a lot of freedom, then this definitely is not the game for you. However, if you like games that involve a LOT of reading and you want a great, enticing story while you play, then you'll want to get TT. And, of course, if you've played previous entries in the series and enjoyed them, you'll love this one too. (Heck, if that's the case, why am I even wasting my time writing this? You already have it)

TT may not completely surpass the original entry in the series, but it comes pretty darn close. The cases are well written and are tied together very well at the end. The main characters are well developed and easy to get attached to, and it was a real treat getting to see characters from older games reappear. (Save the defendant in Case 3) The new and returning music is still great, and the graphics are colorful, despite the fact they're a little outdated.

In fact, it was pretty sad to see the game come to its end, not just because the ending credits music and the ending itself were bittersweet, but this is where Phoenix's story comes to its end. I haven't played Apollo Justice yet, but I can safely say it has some big shoes to fill.

The three games of Pheonix's story arc delivered some of the most memorable moments in all of my years of gaming, from the twist at the end of the fourth case of the first game, to the intense final trial of "Rise From the Ashes", to the shocking moment after doing the five-part Psychelock at the end of JFA, to the decision that had to be made right before the final peices of evidence arrived in "Farewell, my Turnabout", all the way up to the final revelation of who the killer is in this game's final case. After all these moments, I just have one thing to say about this part of the Ace Attorney series ending...

OBJECTION!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/08

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