Review - Phoenix Wright (1-3)
The Phoenix Wright series consists of three games for the Nintendo DS: Ace Attorney, Justice for All, and Trials and Tribulations. The latter has yet to be released in English, but the Japanese version features an English language option. I have the English version of the first game and Japanese versions of the second and third. I just finished the third game yesterday. I'm going to mention my feelings on all the games, but really I want to enthuse about the last game. :D
Overview
The three games each begin with a short, simple case to help you get your head around the mechanics of the game. In the first game, that's Phoenix's first case. In the second game, he has a touch of amnesia, yet must defend his client anyway. And in the third game, you play as Mia Fey, Phoenix's mentor, in her own first case. You play, for the most part, as Phoenix Wright, a defence attorney. In each game there is a prosecutor who opposes Phoenix, and each time they seem to have a personal vendetta against him. The supporting characters usually have joke names like "Wendy Oldbag", "Jack Hammer" and "Will Powers".
The first game has five cases: four from the original GBA game, and one extra. The extra has special features to do with fingerprints and a new method of examining items. Neither of those features have been incorporated into any of the other games, and the case itself doesn't quite seem to fit in with the timeline of the 'verse. The second game is shorter, involving four cases, while the third game goes back to the five case format, though two of the cases are quite short.
Each case, apart from the starter cases, tend to have two or more sections: at least one section spent exploring to find more evidence to use in court, and one section spent actually in court. Evidence is stored in the Court Record, though the prosecution has an annoying habit of concealing evidence until it can be used to blow your case apart. In court, witnesses testify and Phoenix has to press in the right places to get more information, or present evidence revealing contradictions in the testimony, uncovering the truth about the case.
Another feature of the games involves the Fey family and spirit channelling. In Phoenix's darkest moments, Maya can summon the spirit of her sister, who was Phoenix's mentor in life, to take over (and alter the appearance of) her body, to give advice.
Often, the case has to be nearly lost before it can be won, hence the word that crops up in all the case titles: "turnabout".
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Obviously, I liked this game, or I wouldn't have played the two sequels! The main prosecutor is Miles Edgeworth, although you also face off against Winston Payne and Manfred von Karma. Throughout the cases, Edgeworth develops, and starts to feel remorse about the way he prosecutes.
The first case is simple enough, but even so I think I found myself puzzled once or twice. By the time I was onto the fifth game, I didn't know how I could possibly do it without a walkthrough! My favourite case in this game is probably case four, in which Edgeworth himself is accused of murder, and Phoenix decides to defend him in court.
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
The main prosecutor for this game is Franziska von Karma, although she only actually prosecutes in the second and third cases. Obsessed with her perfect win record, she doesn't care about finding the truth -- only about defeating Phoenix Wright, in revenge for something that happened in the first game. For most of the game, Edgeworth is missing, presumed dead, but he returns in the nick of time to take over the final case. His growth has continued, independently of Phoenix, and they learn to work together and trust each other to reach the real truth.
This game adds a new character to Phoenix's team: Pearl Fey. She's only a little girl, but she's Maya's cousin and has great spiritual power -- so she also proves able to channel Mia Fey to help Phoenix when necessary. Two other new features of this game are the ability to present profiles as well as evidence, and "psyche-locks", which tell Phoenix when someone is lying to him, allowing him to press further and find the real truth.
Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
This game is the last involving Phoenix Wright's career as an attorney, and it's probably my favourite of the three. The main prosecutor in this game is Godot, a mysterious gentleman who wears a visor over his face and guzzles coffee constantly. However, in this game there is also a main antagonist other than the prosecutor. I'm going to try and be vague about details, here, because I know most people won't have played the game yet and because I think the game will certainly be most challenging and interesting if you don't know too much beforehand.
In my opinion, the five cases of this game tie together much more than the previous games, which were mostly tied together by the prosecutor's development as a person and by Phoenix, Maya and, later, Pearl. You play as Phoenix himself, as usual, but also as Mia Fey and Miles Edgeworth. In the final case, details from all the previous cases and from parts of the previous games all come together. Tiny details mentioned in the third case are brought up to support theories presented by the defence in the final case. That made the third game feel much more cohesive to me, and also more interesting.
The pop culture references are also brilliant: Mia references that Kellis song, the Judge claims he's no spoony bard, Edgeworth wonders if someone's going to tell him Maya's blood contains midi-chlorians -- and those are just examples, of course. I really enjoyed seeing those references (especially the FFIV one).
At the end of the final case? I sniffled. A lot. I bawled a bit, too.
Replay Value
Nothing about the games changes when you replay, so for many people there's no replay value at all (comparable to some people's problems with rereading a book). Personally, when I replayed the first game I still found it challenging and interesting, although I obviously knew the plot and whodunnit ahead of time. I still enjoyed my replay, but then, I've read The Dark is Rising at least five times this year. Make of that what you will.
Overview
The three games each begin with a short, simple case to help you get your head around the mechanics of the game. In the first game, that's Phoenix's first case. In the second game, he has a touch of amnesia, yet must defend his client anyway. And in the third game, you play as Mia Fey, Phoenix's mentor, in her own first case. You play, for the most part, as Phoenix Wright, a defence attorney. In each game there is a prosecutor who opposes Phoenix, and each time they seem to have a personal vendetta against him. The supporting characters usually have joke names like "Wendy Oldbag", "Jack Hammer" and "Will Powers".
The first game has five cases: four from the original GBA game, and one extra. The extra has special features to do with fingerprints and a new method of examining items. Neither of those features have been incorporated into any of the other games, and the case itself doesn't quite seem to fit in with the timeline of the 'verse. The second game is shorter, involving four cases, while the third game goes back to the five case format, though two of the cases are quite short.
Each case, apart from the starter cases, tend to have two or more sections: at least one section spent exploring to find more evidence to use in court, and one section spent actually in court. Evidence is stored in the Court Record, though the prosecution has an annoying habit of concealing evidence until it can be used to blow your case apart. In court, witnesses testify and Phoenix has to press in the right places to get more information, or present evidence revealing contradictions in the testimony, uncovering the truth about the case.
Another feature of the games involves the Fey family and spirit channelling. In Phoenix's darkest moments, Maya can summon the spirit of her sister, who was Phoenix's mentor in life, to take over (and alter the appearance of) her body, to give advice.
Often, the case has to be nearly lost before it can be won, hence the word that crops up in all the case titles: "turnabout".
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Obviously, I liked this game, or I wouldn't have played the two sequels! The main prosecutor is Miles Edgeworth, although you also face off against Winston Payne and Manfred von Karma. Throughout the cases, Edgeworth develops, and starts to feel remorse about the way he prosecutes.
The first case is simple enough, but even so I think I found myself puzzled once or twice. By the time I was onto the fifth game, I didn't know how I could possibly do it without a walkthrough! My favourite case in this game is probably case four, in which Edgeworth himself is accused of murder, and Phoenix decides to defend him in court.
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
The main prosecutor for this game is Franziska von Karma, although she only actually prosecutes in the second and third cases. Obsessed with her perfect win record, she doesn't care about finding the truth -- only about defeating Phoenix Wright, in revenge for something that happened in the first game. For most of the game, Edgeworth is missing, presumed dead, but he returns in the nick of time to take over the final case. His growth has continued, independently of Phoenix, and they learn to work together and trust each other to reach the real truth.
This game adds a new character to Phoenix's team: Pearl Fey. She's only a little girl, but she's Maya's cousin and has great spiritual power -- so she also proves able to channel Mia Fey to help Phoenix when necessary. Two other new features of this game are the ability to present profiles as well as evidence, and "psyche-locks", which tell Phoenix when someone is lying to him, allowing him to press further and find the real truth.
Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
This game is the last involving Phoenix Wright's career as an attorney, and it's probably my favourite of the three. The main prosecutor in this game is Godot, a mysterious gentleman who wears a visor over his face and guzzles coffee constantly. However, in this game there is also a main antagonist other than the prosecutor. I'm going to try and be vague about details, here, because I know most people won't have played the game yet and because I think the game will certainly be most challenging and interesting if you don't know too much beforehand.
In my opinion, the five cases of this game tie together much more than the previous games, which were mostly tied together by the prosecutor's development as a person and by Phoenix, Maya and, later, Pearl. You play as Phoenix himself, as usual, but also as Mia Fey and Miles Edgeworth. In the final case, details from all the previous cases and from parts of the previous games all come together. Tiny details mentioned in the third case are brought up to support theories presented by the defence in the final case. That made the third game feel much more cohesive to me, and also more interesting.
The pop culture references are also brilliant: Mia references that Kellis song, the Judge claims he's no spoony bard, Edgeworth wonders if someone's going to tell him Maya's blood contains midi-chlorians -- and those are just examples, of course. I really enjoyed seeing those references (especially the FFIV one).
At the end of the final case? I sniffled. A lot. I bawled a bit, too.
Replay Value
Nothing about the games changes when you replay, so for many people there's no replay value at all (comparable to some people's problems with rereading a book). Personally, when I replayed the first game I still found it challenging and interesting, although I obviously knew the plot and whodunnit ahead of time. I still enjoyed my replay, but then, I've read The Dark is Rising at least five times this year. Make of that what you will.