Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

There are games that come along once awhile that are not particularly popular but excite a small crowd very much. Sometimes these games are called mediocre by most, other times the marketing behind a game is simply not enough and only a select few hear about the game. The latter is what happened to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. This game is destined to become a cult classic with its great one-liners and awesome cast of characters.

Taking the role of Phoenix 'Nick' Wright, a rookie attorney, you will be the defense lawyer in 5 high profile murder cases. You will mostly experience the game in a first person view; from time to time it will shift to Phoenix (mostly in court room setting) in a second person view. It is with the first person view that a lot of the game's intensity and humor shines through. It was surprising when the game finished recalling just how much drama they managed to pack into a game that beforehand seemed to promise mostly humor. Especially in later cases when it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out the contradictions in a witness' testimony. It is the game's namesake, Phoenix Wright, which really makes the game go from good to great. Often times a game's story can be bogged down by a character that isn't appealing. This was never in danger of happening to this game. Phoenix, put simply, has a style about him that is both charming and endearing. From his cringe when the prosecutor shoots down a theory to his confident smirk when he knows that he is right on the money. It is important that the character that represents you, especially in a story driven game such as this, is to your liking and actually represents what you are thinking a lot of times. Phoenix pulls this off wonderfully and it added a lot to the game. One of the best things they did with Phoenix's character was have him voice his thoughts every now and then which are usually worthy a chuckle, seeing the ridiculous people (who similarly make ridiculous comments) Phoenix hangs around with compared to his ‘mild mannered' self.

The game has two primary settings. One is out of court, where you will gather evidence, meet with the defendant, and sometimes talk to future witnesses in a trial trying to piece together their situation and what possible testimony they would have to offer at the trial. Sometimes it is a helpful way to think ahead so you don't have to take too much time when the actual trial is at hand and you are asked to cross examine the witness. You will, for the most part, be totally clueless about the murder that happened. So the first session where you are out of court will be pre-trial, where you get a grasp for the situation. This part of the game play tended to be rather hit or miss. While at times some comments made from the cast brought a smile to my face, the work itself was often times tedious. In many situations it appeared that there were no more options to explore and it was frustrating that the game did not progress, giving no hint of what to attempt to do. Sometimes it was as simple as going back to the main office to regroup for the day. Other times it was a very minor detail, a piece of evidence that had yet to be found that needed to be found. It could be a real pain every now and then, but nonetheless this part of the game isn't too bad, just a bit lacking at times. Like the courtroom, you can present evidence here for people to look at. However, if you present something that isn't related to the person, they will just give you a funny look with a snide comment.

The other setting for this game is the courtroom, where all characters and game functions shine their brightest. It should be said, to start off with, that court proceedings are not realistic to what one would find in actuality. The defense, that being Phoenix, cannot call any witnesses. The only option for Phoenix is to cross examine the Prosecution's witnesses. What you must do is find contradictions in the witness' testimony, as mentioned earlier. Unlike a real court of law, however, there is no such thing as perjury in this game. The judge will always allow the witness to “correct” their testimony unless you have them firmly trapped in a web of lies that they cannot spin their way out of. While for some realists this will be nothing but annoying, this can also be a very satisfying process over time. As you break through each wall of lies, you will inevitably get closer to the truth. By doing this, you can sometimes predict how the witness will react and be a step ahead of them, then enters the Phoenix ‘smirk of victory' as their testimony falls apart. The other glaring contradiction between real life and this game is the fact that not only do you have to represent your defendant in proving his innocence, but you must also prove who committed the murder before the case can be won. While that may seem like a bad thing, once you get in the heat of a case, you will want to find out the truth. Plus, some of the murderers are real bastards.

To help you in the courtroom, you have two basic commands. You can either press a witness for more information or present a piece of evidence that shows a contradiction with the witness' testimony. Pressing by itself won't win a case, however it will often make the witness give up information that contradicts either what they have said on the stand or previous facts that have been established (How a person died, time of death, etc). What pressing usually will do is clarify a witness' statement. More times than not someone has been vague or left out a detail that seemed to be important. By pressing what you essentially will do is narrowing the gaps between facts. If a person is lying not all of the filling is a truth, and thus contradictions shall arise.

The second of the commands is to present evidence. Presenting and looking at evidence can be done by going into the ‘Court Record', and every time you find a piece of evidence it will be stored there. From autopsy reports to murder weapons, it is all there. By choosing a piece of evidence to present you raise an objection. However, not being wise with your objections will lose you the case very quickly. You have five lives, or ‘!'s to use in each day of the courtroom (max number of days being three). When you present evidence that does not prove there is a contradiction in the witness' testimony the judge will take a ‘!' from you and reprimand you for doing a poor job with the evidence. When you run out of ‘!'s, the case is lost. Needless to say when you present proper evidence things tend to turn in your favor quickly. Sometimes a little bit too much guesswork is involved and it can be a bit hit or miss with those precious objections. The good far outweighs the bad though, and this is easily the game's strong point.

Besides the two normal commands, every now and then you will be prompted by a prosecutor to give a theory on what you believe happened at a certain time and point. Answer incorrectly and the answers vary as much as the judge asking you again to the case being over, with your client getting a guilty verdict.

A part of the courtroom drama is the minor voice acting the game employs. While the script itself is all scrolling text, a few preset lines are vocalized. Phoenix, as well as the Prosecutor, both yell out “Objection!” when they need to say something. Either it is Phoenix presenting evidence or being prompted, or the Prosecutor rambling on about all sorts of reasons why the witness shouldn't answer that question. Then there is the one that you will be hearing every time you press a witness, “Hold it!” These two grow on you over time because they add a refreshing mixture of both drama and humor to any court proceeding. Humorous when Phoenix is asking some off the wall question that has nothing to do with the trial, drama when he accuses someone of murder.

Speaking of sound, the music for the game does its job well. There won't be any tracks that win awards, but there won't be any that make you scream in annoyance either (unless the game is trying to be intentionally annoying, which occurs once or twice during the game.) The best placement of sound is when it was decided that sound would be absent during objections that are sustained. It adds a lot to the tense atmosphere when suddenly the music stops and Phoenix has his finger pointing at the witness in an accusing manner. There are a few catchy tunes, and that is good enough to not distract from the great characters and game play this game presents.

The graphics for the game are sharp and clear as well as being presented nicely. I never once had trouble figuring out what an object was supposed to be due to blurriness or any other graphical error. The character designs, from Phoenix himself all the way to the judge that rules on the cases, are well defined and are a pleasure to look at (unless their intention is to be gross). The world is a bright and colorful one, if not fleshed out. Each character has unique and humorous facial expressions. From the aforementioned ‘Phoenix victory smirk' to Edgeworth's (A prosecutor whom you face off against several times during the game) shocked and stunned look. The game's graphics are flawless as far as the eye can see, which adds a lot to the game's atmosphere which most of its charm builds off of.

The story for the game is multi-layered and presents itself in many wicked turns and shocking twists. While details will remain vague to prevent any type of ruining of the plot, let it be said that the background for the characters as well as the characters unique style put on an absolutely charming show. From bantering with an old friend, to staring down a cold blooded murderer, Phoenix and the rest of this game's cast put together a great performance. There will be characters that you learn to love and others which you will hate with a passion for what they have done. If you are a fan of offbeat humor, it will have left you with a smile on your face from ear to ear, as well as disappointed that there wasn't a bit more left to unravel.

On that note, a downside to the game is that it has little to no replay value. Aside from being able to replay your favorite case at your leisure, once you know all the turns to take inside the courtroom it becomes a cakewalk. Nevertheless, this game should last you anywhere from 20 to 30 hours, so it is certainly no short adventure like some might have feared.

If you wish to buy this game, you will find no objection here.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/06, Updated 02/28/06