You're doing it WRONG.
Whenever I read things like these: Instead of granting agency, Phoenix Wright will tease, coax, and praise you into doing what it likes, but it will never let you guide. Thing is, successful lawyering should make you feel intelligent, not like you're along for a ride.(source)
I go, And that is how it shows you know nothing about what "lawyering" is like, and that this game isn't educating you, either.
It is very hard for me to remain detached whenever people talk about Phoenix Wright as if it is the greatest game ever. If you realise it teaches you very little about the legal profession, that's fine. But so many people don't seem to realise that. It's very hard for me to be enthusiastic about something that does it all wrong, and worse, people think it's doing it right.
My unspoken opinion on Phoenix Wright is, if I have to tell you what's wrong about it, you probably won't get it.
This, for example: Our hero, the titular Phoenix Wright is a young law school grad starting at Fey and Co. Law Offices. As soon as he gets in, he's thrown into a case by Mia Fey, his new boss. One small thing: your best friend is the defendant in a murder case. If you're wondering how he could work on a case like that, as it would be a conflict of interest, you're not alone. Capcom's legal drama has plenty of strange loopholes and fake legalities that make it unrealistic at best, but work for the purpose of drama. Layers will do forensic research, enter evidence into the court record at their whimsy, and juries don't exist+. Law students will go batty at the inaccuracies, the rest of us will wonder why the prosecutors look like they fell out of Castlevania.
+ Not a real problem here, juries don't exist in my jurisdiction. Now this is where this article gets it wrong, because there are no juries in Japan. Although there are plans to introduce a jury system by 2009.
I go, And that is how it shows you know nothing about what "lawyering" is like, and that this game isn't educating you, either.
It is very hard for me to remain detached whenever people talk about Phoenix Wright as if it is the greatest game ever. If you realise it teaches you very little about the legal profession, that's fine. But so many people don't seem to realise that. It's very hard for me to be enthusiastic about something that does it all wrong, and worse, people think it's doing it right.
My unspoken opinion on Phoenix Wright is, if I have to tell you what's wrong about it, you probably won't get it.
This, for example: Our hero, the titular Phoenix Wright is a young law school grad starting at Fey and Co. Law Offices. As soon as he gets in, he's thrown into a case by Mia Fey, his new boss. One small thing: your best friend is the defendant in a murder case. If you're wondering how he could work on a case like that, as it would be a conflict of interest, you're not alone. Capcom's legal drama has plenty of strange loopholes and fake legalities that make it unrealistic at best, but work for the purpose of drama. Layers will do forensic research, enter evidence into the court record at their whimsy, and juries don't exist+. Law students will go batty at the inaccuracies, the rest of us will wonder why the prosecutors look like they fell out of Castlevania.
+ Not a real problem here, juries don't exist in my jurisdiction. Now this is where this article gets it wrong, because there are no juries in Japan. Although there are plans to introduce a jury system by 2009.