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Wow, I had such a productive day today but even though I finished so much stuff, I am still behind on my work. Sigh. Anyway, I am going to review the Phoenix Wright games briefly today for the Nintendo DS. For those of you who don’t know about it, it is based on court cases and is fully driven by a great story.
With that said, the story of Phoenix Wright is about a defense lawyer who has to defend his clients from being convicted of (usually murder) crime. Although it seems simple, the game has many great twists and turns and many of the characters have amazing personalities. I have to admit, I got attached to the main cast quite fast that I don’t feel comfortable playing the new games without them. Since this is an adventure game, it is the story that holds everything together or the game will fall apart.
Gameplay wise, it is nothing revolutionary. It is basically a point and click game that many of you may be familiar with in your childhood games. There’s also the microphone and a few stylus features but this game can be mostly played without many buttons. You have two different settings in the game: one is being the court and the other is roaming around designated spots in towns and collecting evidence. The court portion puts you into a heated battle with many interesting prosecutors and allows you to piece together (quite brilliantly) the scene of the crime. But as for the roaming portion, you have the choice to inspect every little detail in the environment and talk to people for more information. Both of these sections require a quite of bit of logic and when you do figure it out, you’ll feel a sense of achievement. As for me, I like to use guides when I get stuck =). Haha.
As for the presentation, the sound is pleasant and the sound effects really help emphasize certain things that the developers want you to notice such as a suspicious line or whatnot. Graphically, the game is mostly 2-dimensional covered with anime characters and drawings. These graphics works well on the DS because to me, 3-D graphics looks cheesy besides being on classic games like Mario 64.
With that said, the only problem that I have with the game is the game over screen, where you have to go through the same sequence again in order to proceed correctly this time. That is why it is important to save often and use a guide if you’re truly stuck. The pacing of the game may be a bit slow at the beginning for all the series but I promise you that it gets better. So far, there is 3 games for Phoenix Wright on the DS with the 4th focusing on a new character in the same universe. I won’t spoil anything but the 4th one is either a love or hate kinda thing.
All in all, the Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright series is a great addition to anyone who loves interesting stories. Some are very heartfelt while others are hilarious. If you have a DS and need a great game to try on (and you are not a hardcore action gamer), then I recommend you to pick up this game.
Rating: 9/10
J.Z.
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