Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All

""The miracle never happen.""

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2 Justice For All (hereafter referred to as "Justice For All" and "JFA") is a port/remake of Gyakuten Saiban 2 (a Japan-only GBA game) for the Nintendo DS, and is a sequel to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. It is the second of five Ace Attorney games on the Nintendo DS.

I'm just going to say it: Justice For All was disappointing. It just didn't live up to the original game. Justice For All is pretty much the same as the first Ace Attorney in terms of gameplay and indeed graphics, but in terms of story and music, it falls flat on its face (except for the fourth and final case). It was just a poor follow-up, as is usually the case for sequels (a lot are never as good as the original thing, though there are notable exceptions). Let's just go through each of bit of this game. The story is bland, there's an entirely pointless case, and the music is poor. The game does end on a high note with a great final case, at least.

Graphics are the exact same as the last game's graphics. I wish there was something to say here, but there isn't. Everything is the same as the last game. And unlike the previous game, there is no bonus case that makes use of the DS' power and grants you some 3D models or something. There's nothing wrong with the game's graphics as is, they're still pretty nice for the DS, which just proves they were a lot better looking compared to most GBA games. Sprites are still well done, animations are still very nice and provide each character with a distinct personality, overall it's the same as the last game in this department.

The music is just poor. It's especially disappointing considering the rather impressive score of the previous game. The music overall is calmer, which itself is no bad thing, but at the same time it just lacks that spark from the previous game that added to the atmosphere of the game. It's the weakest of the series in terms of music, especially considering the following two games. I really don't know where they went wrong in this one, it feels like they were going through the motions. The court music was still nice, though.

And now, the gameplay and such. I know that both this game and the previous one originally had four cases on the GBA, which is fair enough, but when the port/remake of the first gets an entire extra case tacked onto it that introduces various features of gameplay and shows off some nice 3D modelling it makes this game seem a bit weak in comparison. The actual gameplay itself (Investigation > Court > Investigation > Court) is still intact and does indeed retain its quality. You still get the mix of point 'n' click adventure game and visual novel with well written dialogue, but there are some errors here and there. The most well known error makes up the title of this review. Revealing the part of the game it shows up in is possibly a spoiler (it's near the end of the game) so I won't say exactly where it is. But it ruined the rather tragic air of that segment.

Another problem I had with the game was that it had one case that was entirely pointless. The third case of the game could be removed and replaced with something else and nothing would be lost. In fact, the game would probably be better overall. The third case is the one I had the biggest amount of grief with. There's one part in it where if you press any statement other than the one you need to, the game will be over immediately and you'll get kicked back to the last save point. A lot. I ended picking all of the options except the right one at first, which aggravated me further. It was just cruel, to be honest. I can't fathom why you'd put something like that in there. Case 3 is also home to a slew of unlikable characters. Even the usually funny script can't make any of these gits likable, and the one you'll probably hate the most is the clown, Moe. He's the one that leads to the aforementioned instant-game-over bit, and that just makes him all the more unlikable. I, more or less, liked every character in the first game. They were all well written, they all had distinct personalities and backstories. In this one, pretty much everyone from the third case has no real backstory, and they never show up again in any other game.

A lot of people I know will say that Case 4 makes up for the problems of JFA. I will admit, Case 4 was truly epic and indeed very awesome, but it didn't make up for all the problems in the game. Compared to the final case of the next game, Case 4 pales a little. Still good though.

There is one new feature to the game; the Psyche Locks. An addition to the game that continues into later games, Psyche Locks are essentially puzzles to liven up the Investigation phases. In the second case of the game Phoenix gets a new item that lets him see the Psyche Locks and actively break them. To break them, you first have to find them. When talking about certain things with people, the game will throw up a bunch of Psyche Locks to impede your advance. To progress, you have to present the item and then Phoenix will start questioning the person about what they're hiding. You have to present items and evidence in order to break these locks, and each time you do so you destroy a Psyche Lock. The amount of Psyche Locks vary from 1 to 5, and they were indeed a welcome addition to the game because they gave you something else to do. However, just like in court, you have a health bar here. If it empties, you get a Game Over.

I can't really recommend Justice For All. I will recommend it if you're getting all the games, because to understand some later references and things in later games (one character returns, and Psyche Locks return too) you'll obviously need to play this to recognise those. It's the low point of the franchise, so don't be expecting much from it. Get it if you must, but really, you're better off with any of the other Ace Attorney games.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/09

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