I shall be marking different aspects of this recently released game on a scale of 1-10. At the end, I will add up the marks and work out a percentage.
The game is on the Nintendo DS and was released in the UK on the 31st of March. I don’t know the release dates for other countries.
Everyone is a sleuth at heart. Whether it’s reading one of Agatha Christie’s books and shouting at it “IT WAS THE GARDENER, FOOL!” or playing Clue and saying that it was (name) in the (room) with the (weapon). Or maybe you’re actually a detective or are good at finding lost items.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is of an unknown genre, there has never been a game released like this in the UK. You (Phoenix) must stop your clients going to jail as a novice defense attorney. You must prove each of your clients’ innocence and expose the true criminal. You get to explore crime scenes for clues and evidence like a detective.
Graphics: 8/10
You wouldn’t think it would matter
in a game like this. After all, you are just in the courthouse, right?
WRONG! In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney you can investigate the crime scenes
for clues and evidence. It is therefore important to have good graphics
so you can see the hidden evidence clearly. They’re nothing to sneeze at
as well, but I feel the backgrounds could be better and more interesting.
Sound: 9/10
Beautiful. The music is very poignant
(suited to the scene) and it is fantastic. Someone needs to make an album
of this stuff Wright NOW!!! The credits’ music is particularly wonderful
and the SFX is lifelike, but there could be a lot more actual dialogue.
Characters: 10/10
Each character has a vivid personality.
Some you’ll adore and some you won’t, but none are flat or unnoticeable.
To list all the characters would take several hours so you’ll have to buy
the game to find them all out! Here’s a quick list of the ones that make
regular appearances throughout the various cases:
Phoenix Wright
Mia Fey
Maya Fey
Judge
Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth
Detective Dick Gumshoe
Defendants list:
Case 1: Larry Butz
Case 2: Maya Fey/Phoenix Wright (No
joke, you get put on trial!)
Case 3: Will Powers
Case 4: Miles Edgeworth
Case 5: Lana Skye
Victims’ list:
Case 1: Cindy Stone
Case 2: Mia Fey
Case 3: Jack Hammer
Case 4: Robert Hammond
Case 5: Bruce Goodman
Story: 8/10
Great stuff and always shocking, but
each case begins with the same thing: (Defendant’s name) is accused of
the murder of (Victim’s name). Phoenix Taking on the case to prove their
innocence is essentially what it boils down to. However, there’s always
a shock to the system with the arrival of new characters, witnesses, and
suspects. Each case has a unique story to it though:
Case 1: As our episode begins, we find a man who has murdered a woman with a blunt object. As he stands over her, he vows to pin this crime on someone… someone like him. He pins it on Larry Butz, Phoenix’s best friend. Bad move. He ain’t getting away with that, right? Right.
Case 2: Mia Fey, Phoenix’s boss, calls her little sister Maya to keep some evidence for her. She tells her to pick it up around 9PM. They agree to go out for burgers. Fast forward to 8:57PM. Before Maya arrives, a man comes to Mia’s office and tries to take the evidence. When Mia won’t cooperate, he murders her and takes the evidence. Maya arrives minutes later. Phoenix then arrives. As the first one on the scene and thanks to a note written in Mia’s blood, Maya gets the blame.
Case 3: Will Powers, lead actor of popular children’s show “The Steel Samurai”, is accused of murdering the villain of the show, Jack Hammer, who plays the “Evil Magistrate”. Maya is a massive fan of the show (goodness knows why…) and therefore forces Phoenix to help him out.
Case 4: It's Christmas Eve. Two men are standing on a boat in the middle of Gourd Lake. They know each other from 15 years ago. One of them says it's the perfect opportunity for revenge. A gun is fired, and then one of the men falls into the lake. The man still standing in the boat is Miles Edgeworth, holding a gun in his hand. Miles is then arrested a little while later, charged with murder.
Case 5: This is, without a doubt, the coolest opening. Lana Skye, District Chief Prosecutor, is accused of murdering Detective Bruce Goodman. She confesses. Why? Her little sister, Ema Skye, comes to Mia Fey for help, but she’s dead so Phoenix takes the case. Shocking evidence is soon revealed which suggests that Bruce Goodman was also murdered at the same time in the Police Evidence Room, 30 minutes across town. But… surely that’s impossible, right? He can’t have been killed in two places at the same time… can he? The answers lie two years in the past, and Phoenix must uncover evidence that proves Lana’s innocence and prove who she’s covering for… which is about 80 times easier said than done…
Gameplay: 9/10
Truly unique stuff. The only other
game that is remotely like this is “Sprung: The Dating Game” (also a text-based
game), but it was diabolical. Cross-examination is where you get to shine.
You prove that your client is innocent by exposing the lies or contradictions
in the witness’ testimony. For example, the witness says that they heard
a television that said the time. BUT you have a report that says there
was a blackout at the time of the murder. Hit the button on the top right
corner of the bottom screen, select Blackout Report, hold Y and shout “Objection!”
into the microphone (You can press the Present button if you’re on public
transport). Be warned, you only get five chances and if you use them all,
you have to start from the start of the chapter. This is annoying when
you’ve slogged through 15 minutes of dialogue and testimonies. The investigation
however is different as you use the stylus to guide the cursor around the
screen examining things that could be evidence. There’s so much gameplay
that you’ll need to read the manual to find out about all of it. My only
complaint is that it can be annoying getting the cursor where you want
it.
Length and Replayability: 5/10
This is the game’s only real letdown.
There are only five cases (each getting gradually longer) but there is
a good eight hours of crime busting fun. You really won’t replay much,
except to correct any mistakes you had in a case. Don’t get me wrong, it’s
a great game, but a longer sequel with more replayability would be great.
Case 5: 10/10
Not really a topic, I know, but this
case needs to be an individual topic because it’s so awesome! That’s not
to say the other four cases aren’t good but it does mean that the final
case, Rise From the Ashes, has great and unique features. That’s because
it was created especially for the DS (the others are adapted from a GBA
game that never made it outside Japan). You can really examine evidence
by using the touch screen to zoom in and rotate it. You can spread fingerprint
dust and blow it off with the microphone. It’s like an interactive Patricia
Cornwell or Agatha Christie novel, but with lawyers and the actual courtroom
and humor! Also, the lovely Ema Skye helps you out during it.
Overall Score: 59/70 = 84.28571% = 84%
Ultimately, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
is a diamond in the rough, not perfect but nonetheless a good game. The
five stories will have you hooked but it can feel linear and redoing things
gets tedious. However, I recommend it.
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