Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All

"More of the same, which I loved, but it does have it's flaws."

I had always been interested in the original Phoenix Wright, and when I got it, I have to say I was impressed. I absolutely loved it, and as such, I immediately got the second game, "Justice for All". Justice for All is essentially the same game, but it has a few new features, but unfortunately, a few flaws. Whilst I can personally say I loved it, I have to realise the game DOES have flaws, and I must point them out.

First, let's take a look at the story. To start with, you won't need any knowledge of the original game to play this one. Most backstory on the character is explained, although I can guarantee you will enjoy it a little more if you can recognise the characters etc. Either way, like the original PW, over the games 4 cases (yes, only four cases this time but I'll talk about that later) there is backstory revealed in the characters. Whilst the cases don't link together or anything, throughout them you will learn more about the different main characters, about their past etc, making it story just that more interesting. Apart from that, all four cases are yet again, brilliantly designed. The twists and turns in the plots are really well done and aren't really ridiculous, and they even make sense. I (still) don't know how they come up with them, but they did really well on the cases in this game. I certainly have to say, the 4th and final case in Justice for All is possibly the best PW case so far (at time of writing I'm about half-way through Trials and Tribulations, the third PW game, so I haven't played them all yet). Anyway, each case has a really well made, thought out and enjoyable story, so the storyline for the game gets top marks.

For this review, I'll explain most of the gameplay features without too much detail, and fairly quickly, so I can get on with the additions and flaws the game has. The first case of the game starts with Phoenix Wright having Amnesia, and thus is unable to remember much about what to do in Court. The game is split into two different sections, the court scenes and investigations. During the court scenes, you must point out the contradictions in a witness testimony, or simply "press" them for more information. You can select a different statement, and then press it, or present evidence which shows a contradiction in their statement (ie, something they said must be a lie because it doesn't match up with what happened). The court-room scenes are probably the best part of the game, they can get really intense. However they can also be frustrating when you have no idea. If you present evidence and it's wrong, you get a penalty. Of course when your meter (more on that later too) runs out, you fail the trial and must restart. Trust me, it's easier to save during the trial rather than go through all that text again. The other part of the game sees you doing a bit of investigation. Here you can travel around different locations, talking to people, examining the places you visit for clues or evidence, and present items/evidence to people, as a way to gain more information. Fortunately this time the Investigation parts are a bit better, which leads me to the games additions.

I'll start with probably the most basic additions. Firstly, you are now given a "health" meter, rather than five strikes. Depending on the situation, a different amount of your meter will deplete. The more serious the matter, the more that depletes. In some cases this can help, but overall it doesn't really make much of a difference. You can now also present Profiles. These are basically the profiles of people, that you meet or learn about in some cases. Again, it's just a small addition but it adds a lot to the game. Probably the biggest addition to the game is the Magatama. During the second case, you recieve Maya's Magatama. This enables you to see when people are lying, and want to hide something. You can then present the Magatama, where their Psyche Locks are shown. Here, Phoenix will try to pry information about that particular topic (usually a particular topic they don't want to talk about is locked, so it usually leads to good information). To do this, Phoenix prompts you with help toward what you should present. You're basically presenting evidence to show whatever the topic concerns, did happen, if you get what I mean. The game gives you a good idea of what to present though (it will always tell you if you need to present a profile, or what kind of proof you need), so the Psyche Locks aren't too hard (the "health" meter comes into play here too, by the way). These spice up the investigation scenes, however there is a big fault. You never really know if you have all the evidence you need. Presenting one little item you overlooked to a person can lead to lots of other things, which of course may help with the Psyche Lock. You can stop trying to break the lock, and the majority of the time, you will need to most of the time. This is usually because you require more information to break the lock after it's revealed, if you get what I mean.

The game does have it's other flaws too. Some people may consider the fact the gameplay is pretty much identical bad, but personally I wouldn't have it any other way. The gameplay was great in PW and you can't really add much to it, and certainly not change it. There were a few additions, and that's much expected, but PW2 is essentially PW1 with new and different cases. Anyway, the game takes a bit of a step back, in the sense that there are only 4 cases in the game. The original GBA PW1 (released in Japan only back in 2001, this is the remake of the second game, again, released in Japan only on GBA) only had 4 cases, but the DS remake added an extra, 5th case. Whilst the 4 cases are certainly a little longer, it still doesn't quite last as long as PW1, mainly due to it's 5th case. Because there isn't an added case, no DS features are really ever used, like they were in Case 5. You can use the Mic to shout Objection, and use the touch-screen to navigate the menus, but that's it. The added features were good fun and whilst not much, made the game a little better, but unfortunately, they're not here. Another problem is the translation. From what I know, PW2 was translated in house, at Capcom. Although I admit I didn't notice them much, the game does have it's fair share of "Engrish" and grammatical errors, but it gets better toward the end. As a result, the writing isn't as good as the first game. The game is still funny, it's just not translated as well, which is a shame. Another thing about PW2 is it's difficulty. PW1 wasn't the hardest of games but it was challenging and required you to think (although the 5th case was mega hard compared to the rest of the game). However PW2 seems a little harder from the get-go. The first case has a solution (ie, one of the last things you present) that even I had to check a guide for because I couldn't figure it out (although it made sense, I don't know how you think of it). Fortunately I managed most of the game without an FAQ a few times, but on a few occasions there are difficult contradictions that need to be pointing out.

The graphics in this game are literally identical to the original game. I can't really fault them though, since they're GBA graphics, and they still look pretty good on DS. Yeah, it has pixels etc and it's not the best looking game, but the graphics are still solid enough, and considering they were probably some of the best the GBA had to offer, I'm not surprised they weren't improved. It's a text adventure game and they do the job fine. The music, once again, was fantastic. It was a little odd at first hearing new pieces in place of certain scenes (just generally, the music that plays for court-scenes or whenever you point out a contradiction etc), compared to the original game. At first I thought I didn't like them, but they grew on me and I really enjoyed it. However I was a little disappointed. A lot of themes seem to be recycled throughout the game. If I remember correctly, the original game had a different theme play for almost every character you met, but in PW2 old themes are just replayed. It's not too bad, but I was hoping for more.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice for All (to give it's full name) comes out worse than the original, but still a fantastic game. Personally I loved every second of it, and I couldn't really fault it for having the same old graphics and gameplay. Personally I was glad it was the same. Considering Capcom make the games, it's no surprise. We're gonna keep getting them with a few additions but basically the same gameplay (ie, Mega Man), and probably a few spin-offs (actually, at time of writing they're currently making a spin-off which sees you playing as a Prosecutor). If you loved the first game, get it without a doubt. If you're new to the series however, I suggest you get the first over this one, since it's much more easier to get into. Either way, this is a really enjoyable game, and I can't wait to play and finish the 3rd.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/08

Game Release: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All (EU, 03/16/07)