Quick Review - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Game Name:    Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Developer:    Capcom

Platform:     Nintendo DS

Genre: Adventure, Visual Novel

Release Date: October 11, 2001

Preamble

I’ll admit, I missed this when it came out back in 2001, and for some reason, despite hearing and reading great things, I let the entire series go by the wayside. But, with the recent adventure game kick that I’ve been on and the influx of travel arrangements that I have this month, a good friend of mine recommended that I give this game a go. After considering how much I would love being as cool as Ben Stone, even for a few hours, I quickly dusted off my DS to embark on my journey through the courtroom as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney!

Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty)
Executive Assistance to the District Attorney
Law & Order - 1990-1994

Description

Play as Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney learning the ropes of criminal investigation and cutthroat courtroom trials. The game is presented in an interactive-novel/point-and-click adventure game style. A sizable part of the game consists of investigations where you navigate around various locations, finding evidence and speaking with witnesses, building your case to bring to the courtroom. The rest of the game takes place in the courtroom itself, where you listen to witness testimonies and then proceed to cross-examine them, presenting evidence to contradict their claims when you can.

The Good

• The courtroom! Why aren’t there more games that take place in the courtroom?! I’ve always been a fan of Law & Order, Grisham novels, and most courtroom movies, so this setting was music to my ears.
• Characters. You come across a wide range of characters throughout the cases you solve, all of which have their own absurd personality quirk and equally ridiculous character sprite animation. The blatant over-the-topness of the characters ends up being pretty hilarious in most cases.
  
  
  

  

  
  
• Adrenaline! When you present that key piece of evidence and make the dramatic Objection! to seal up the case, the music kicks in and it is downright intense! The game does a great job at building up the case and making you really feel that tipping point of solving the mystery.
  
  
  

  

  
  
• There’s really a lot of game here. After the initial intro to the courtroom case, the mysteries you investigate and consequent trials are quite lengthy. With the initial four cases (since then they’ve added an additional case as well), there’s easily 15+ hours of gameplay.

The Bad

• Minimal gameplay. The game is very much an interactive novel. It is very puzzly in that you have to find evidence and use some basic deductive skills to present them in court, but it stays pretty basic throughout the game.
• Ambiguity. It wasn’t as noticeable as in L.A. Noire, but some of the pieces of evidence you end up using to prove certain points are a bit of a stretch. It’s not supposed to be realistic, I know that, but even in the context of the game, there are some questionable leaps of logic.

The Verdict

I’m really nitpicking with the bad notes I have about this game. The game is great, and if you enjoy feeling like a detective, and better yet, a lawyer, you will get a kick out of this game. I’d recommend this to anyone with a DS!