Gyakuten Kenji review
Okay so I still need to make an actual post about North and such but for now, I wrote this review of Gyakuten Kenji up for CR and I thought I might as well post it here too. These are just my personal impressions of the game.
Okay, here goes my review!
First, the easy stuff: the graphics and music in the game are excellent. The sprites are bigger, bolder, and more detailed than ever, and some of the new character designs are really fantastic. Sometimes it's really obvious that they had more than one person doing them, as the styles between characters can vary, but everyone looks great. The soundtrack has a different feel to it than the other games, but it's totally appropriate and some of the character themes really stand out (like Rou's and Kay's).
More than that, the style of sprites they chose (setting them up on the right and left of the screen rather than dead center) works a lot better in many ways, if only because now you get to see Edgeworth "interacting" with people as he questions them. That's one thing Phoenix and Apollo could benefit from: during investigations they always feel a little absent because you never get to see them until the trial. The new style really makes you feel like Edgeworth is engaged and adds drama and humor.
It's also adorable that the tiny sprites do all the same movements their larger counterparts do. Edgeworth's tiny arm tapping especially is one of my favorites.
Next, gameplay! The new gameplay is interesting because it is at the same time very similar and very different. The cross examination is pretty much exactly the same, and the fact that it shows up often and is sprinkled throughout the game gives it a spontaneous and exciting feel. Because all the case take place in a very short amount of time, gameplay is fast paced and very smooth, rather than being broken up into chunks between investigation and court.
Another great thing is that because the map only allows you to travel to certain places at a time, there's no more wandering from area to area, presenting everything to everyone trying to find the one thing you missed to progress the game. Unlike earlier games if you get stuck it's usually because you have a contradiction to solve and not because you're simply lost.
But for every improvement there's also a detriment. Because there's no definition between investigation and court, playing through each case for the first time it's very hard to tell exactly how far in you are, how much is left, and how much progress you've made. One good thing about the investigation/court separation in traditional AA games is that once you get to that final court day you know you're close to the end and that alone brings a great deal of tension. With AAI you're never quite sure when that final moment is going to arrive, and the dramatic effect is kind of loosened because of it.
The other problem is that because the movement system doesn't let you wander around aimlessly, it also makes the game feel constricted. There's no chance of you getting lost when you're trapped inside a room or a crime scene that's only 1 and a half screen panels wide. In AA cases (especially like AJ case 2) it felt like you had a little freedom in how you tackled the case, at least at first, but in AAI you're definitely herded down a very linear path. This isn't a bad thing because AA has always been mostly linear, but sometimes it does feel like you're controlling a little Edgeworth doll inside a diarama rather than moving him around the AA world.
Next, possibly the most important aspect: the story! Going into the game a lot of people wondered if this was going to be just a fanservice fest, and in a lot of ways, that's exactly what it is. There are a lot of returning characters, in large roles and small, and they're all very in character. The new designs for them are great and it's always good to see some old favorites. However, at the same time having so many cameos means less time for the new characters to show their stuff. This is especially apparent in case 3 (but I won't spoil that here). I like the old characters but some of them seemed like they were there only for the sake of being there, rather than because they had a real contribution to make to the plot.
As for the new characters, they're kind of a mixed bag. Some of them are really fantastic - one in particular I would call one of the best characters the series has ever seen - and others are very forgettable. The story stretches across all 5 cases, which is great because the scope is huge, intricate and interesting, but at the same time there's so much mystery played up in the first few cases that even when you beat them they don't feel complete. This makes it hard to sympathize or appreciate the killers in those first few cases when you only get to see half their motivations.
This would be forgiveable if the last case was truly epic, tying up every loose end and explaining every mystery, and it is and does...but at the same time, it doesn't quite come together as tightly as it needed to. What you end with is a great story with some great characters, but it's just not as satisfying as some of the final cases in past games. If they had taken a little more time with case 5 to cut back on the fanservice and fine tune some of the pacing, it would have been amazing.
So in short, the story is really well done, but not quite perfect. The old characters are well done and in character but are sometimes around too much, and the new characters are interesting but underutilized. If the same team were to work on a sequel I'm sure they could find a better balance and make it awesome.
Now the question everyone's been asking me: how does it measure up in your game rankings? To be honest if it weren't for the final case being something of a let down I might be saying it's the best AA game yet. But none of the cases knocked 2-4 out of my top spot, and for that reason I can't say GK is better than JFA, my #1 AA game. But overall the quality of the game is very high in all areas, and as long as people can get over the fact that there isn't a "court phase" I don't think anyone will be truly disappointed with it.
And that's my review!
Okay, here goes my review!
First, the easy stuff: the graphics and music in the game are excellent. The sprites are bigger, bolder, and more detailed than ever, and some of the new character designs are really fantastic. Sometimes it's really obvious that they had more than one person doing them, as the styles between characters can vary, but everyone looks great. The soundtrack has a different feel to it than the other games, but it's totally appropriate and some of the character themes really stand out (like Rou's and Kay's).
More than that, the style of sprites they chose (setting them up on the right and left of the screen rather than dead center) works a lot better in many ways, if only because now you get to see Edgeworth "interacting" with people as he questions them. That's one thing Phoenix and Apollo could benefit from: during investigations they always feel a little absent because you never get to see them until the trial. The new style really makes you feel like Edgeworth is engaged and adds drama and humor.
It's also adorable that the tiny sprites do all the same movements their larger counterparts do. Edgeworth's tiny arm tapping especially is one of my favorites.
Next, gameplay! The new gameplay is interesting because it is at the same time very similar and very different. The cross examination is pretty much exactly the same, and the fact that it shows up often and is sprinkled throughout the game gives it a spontaneous and exciting feel. Because all the case take place in a very short amount of time, gameplay is fast paced and very smooth, rather than being broken up into chunks between investigation and court.
Another great thing is that because the map only allows you to travel to certain places at a time, there's no more wandering from area to area, presenting everything to everyone trying to find the one thing you missed to progress the game. Unlike earlier games if you get stuck it's usually because you have a contradiction to solve and not because you're simply lost.
But for every improvement there's also a detriment. Because there's no definition between investigation and court, playing through each case for the first time it's very hard to tell exactly how far in you are, how much is left, and how much progress you've made. One good thing about the investigation/court separation in traditional AA games is that once you get to that final court day you know you're close to the end and that alone brings a great deal of tension. With AAI you're never quite sure when that final moment is going to arrive, and the dramatic effect is kind of loosened because of it.
The other problem is that because the movement system doesn't let you wander around aimlessly, it also makes the game feel constricted. There's no chance of you getting lost when you're trapped inside a room or a crime scene that's only 1 and a half screen panels wide. In AA cases (especially like AJ case 2) it felt like you had a little freedom in how you tackled the case, at least at first, but in AAI you're definitely herded down a very linear path. This isn't a bad thing because AA has always been mostly linear, but sometimes it does feel like you're controlling a little Edgeworth doll inside a diarama rather than moving him around the AA world.
Next, possibly the most important aspect: the story! Going into the game a lot of people wondered if this was going to be just a fanservice fest, and in a lot of ways, that's exactly what it is. There are a lot of returning characters, in large roles and small, and they're all very in character. The new designs for them are great and it's always good to see some old favorites. However, at the same time having so many cameos means less time for the new characters to show their stuff. This is especially apparent in case 3 (but I won't spoil that here). I like the old characters but some of them seemed like they were there only for the sake of being there, rather than because they had a real contribution to make to the plot.
As for the new characters, they're kind of a mixed bag. Some of them are really fantastic - one in particular I would call one of the best characters the series has ever seen - and others are very forgettable. The story stretches across all 5 cases, which is great because the scope is huge, intricate and interesting, but at the same time there's so much mystery played up in the first few cases that even when you beat them they don't feel complete. This makes it hard to sympathize or appreciate the killers in those first few cases when you only get to see half their motivations.
This would be forgiveable if the last case was truly epic, tying up every loose end and explaining every mystery, and it is and does...but at the same time, it doesn't quite come together as tightly as it needed to. What you end with is a great story with some great characters, but it's just not as satisfying as some of the final cases in past games. If they had taken a little more time with case 5 to cut back on the fanservice and fine tune some of the pacing, it would have been amazing.
So in short, the story is really well done, but not quite perfect. The old characters are well done and in character but are sometimes around too much, and the new characters are interesting but underutilized. If the same team were to work on a sequel I'm sure they could find a better balance and make it awesome.
Now the question everyone's been asking me: how does it measure up in your game rankings? To be honest if it weren't for the final case being something of a let down I might be saying it's the best AA game yet. But none of the cases knocked 2-4 out of my top spot, and for that reason I can't say GK is better than JFA, my #1 AA game. But overall the quality of the game is very high in all areas, and as long as people can get over the fact that there isn't a "court phase" I don't think anyone will be truly disappointed with it.
And that's my review!