Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

"Forget any REAL court laws, the only thing that matters is that this game kicks ass."

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney for the Nintendo DS is a classic, which any owner of a DS should at least try out once in their life. No, there aren't any boring laws like in real courts, in Phoenix Wright, there are over the top scenes, intense action, and yes, there is a reference to "This is SPARTA!!!" in this game. So put on that lawyer's badge, get your evidence, and I'll show you why this game is revered 'awesome' by it's fans.

GAMEPLAY
Phoenix Wright is a pretty simple game, once you get used to it. From a non-fan perspective, it can even be pretty repetitive. But, Phoenix Wright well makes up for it. You take the role of the game's main character, Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney, and defend your clients from ending up in jail, or, dying.

In normal court laws, the basic rule is "innocent until proven guilty". In Phoenix Wright, it's "guilty until proven innocent". That's where you come in. Your clients are innocent, but there's so much pointing to the fact that they're guilty, it's your job to prove them innocent, by any means possible.

But, that's not all. There are 2 types of gameplay in Phoenix Wright. Text adventure, and point an click. One half of Phoenix Wright is played in the courtroom, the 'text adventure', and the other is simply investigating crime scenes, from a CEO's office to a caretaker's shack, all locations play a part in the story.

Courtroom

In the courtroom, you listen to a witness' testimony, and try to find anything peculiar about it. For example, if one character says they didn't murder a person, yet their own testimony contradicts that claim, you can do a couple of things. You can "press" the witness can squeeze out more information, possibly adding back-up to further further contradictions. Or, you can yell "OBJECTION" into the microphone, and blow the whole case out into the open. Be careful though, sometimes if your objection is proved faulty, you'll be penalized. And let me tell you, just yelling "OB-****ING-JECTION into the mic and blowing the case out into the open is very satisfying.

Be careful, though! Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with the witness' testimony at first. You'll have to press the witness to find out what's wrong with the testimony. Read words carefully... sometimes, you may miss what's wrong with just one word, and sometimes, that's all it takes to win a case. So, you must be weary and keep close attention to everything a witness, or a certain detective says.

And when you do object, almost always, do you have to present evidence to back up your claim. Evidence is everything in this game, so before you object to anything, look through your evidence once or twice. Look at even things like clocks, anything... so long as it's a good point. If it's all just a puff of smoke, then you'll get penalized, which is not good.

Investigation

In order to win a case, you must have evidence. This is crucial, and another side to Phoenix Wright. You must investigate murder scenes, office rooms... anything that is related to your current case in any way. You talk to witnesses and people related to the case. Talking to people gives you clues and evidence to the current case. But, it's not always so easy. Sometimes, people keep their secrets. That's where you can present evidence to get them to start talking. Try the craziest things you can think about sometimes. It may help you.

You can also examine objects in the game for clues. Like a bookshelf, a poster... many things. This all can be operated with the stylus, or the D-Pad.

In all of the court cases, they're all murder mysteries in a way. Some are recent, some are from many years ago. But the only thing you should be confident is that your clients are innocent, believe in that 100%!

STORY

Phoenix Wright has 5 fantastic, over the top, crazy cases, all spear headed by one dark, ominous secret that the guilty one is keeping. There are 5 cases, but I won't reveal any of them, since they are just so packed with spoilers and plot twists, you wouldn't get it anyways.

Basically for every case, someone is murdered, someone is blamed, everything is not what it seems. Yeah, that's all I can go into without spoiling anything. But, the stories will immerse you with great characters, hilarious antics, and intense moments. You'll never want to stop once you're at least near the end of a case. Your eyes will be wide open with suspense and excitement due to the moments in game. It's worth it, and through the game, you'll day "Holy ****" at least once.

You'll laugh, you'll cry at some moments, the story is definitely a strong point with all Phoenix Wright games. Even if you aren't that impressed with Case 1, let me tell you, the just get better and better. Case 4&5 are... man. Just play the game, I can't tell you anything, I want to!!!

SOUND AND MUSIC

The music fits Phoenix Wright, at all moments. The start of a case, when you find a contradiction, it helps immerse you in the world of Phoenix Wright, and makes the game all the more exciting and great. You can search on YouTube for orchestrated versions of some of the songs in this game, even for the sequels. My favourites are the start of the case, and Turnabout Sisters, but other people like different themes. If you don't like them, fine, just turn down the volume.

The sound effects are nothing really special, except for the OBJECTION and HOLD IT and TAKE THAT sound effects. It makes it satisfying to just shout those and reveal a lie in this game. Once I did it for the first time, I never used that Y button again. It just makes it better. Other than that, sound effects aren't that special.

GBA TO DS CHANGES

Yes, back in 2001, CAPCOM released this game for the GBA. They re-released it for the DS, with new features. Here are all of them that I recall.

An all new 5th case
Slightly redone soundtrack
Touch screen controls
Microphone capabilities
Graphics, somewhat.
And obviously, dual screens

If this game looks a bit weird, it's because the graphics are basically a direct port, so there are times where the colours and backrounds may look awkward compared to a Phoenix Wright game built from the ground up, like Apollo Justice, but it's not that noticeable anyways.

And if the music is a bit... 16-bit-ish, keep in mind that the music wasn't redone totally, and was originally for the GBA, so cut the game some slack in that area. The music is fine if you look past that.

LENGTH

The game is pretty long, the 4th case took me at least 5 hours, and the 5th case is even longer! This game will last you about 20 hours, great for a text adventure on the DS platform. You'll lose track of time and time will fly by when you're playing this game.

And if you're short on time yourself, there is a quick-save option. Simply press start to save your game.

RENT, OR BUY

Buy this game. Right now. In fact, I should call a court order because you're not playing this game. You'd better get Phoenix Wright to defend you, I've got Miles Edgeworth prosecuting... Haha....

Overall, I would give this game a 96%. It's damn near perfect, only beaten by the third Phoenix Wright game, Trials and Tribulations. If you like this game, you might as well buy the next 4 games, possibly the spinoff title "Miles Edgeworth Perfect Prosecutor". Buy it, and realize why this is CAPCOM's 10th most selling franchise ever.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/08/08, Updated 07/09/08

Game Release: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (US, 10/12/05)