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System: Nintendo DS
Reviewer: James Forward
The Ace Attorney series has never failed to impress me. From the word go (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) to the third, recently released in America as Trials and Tribulations, I was hooked on each and every case from the ‘First Turnabout’ to the ‘Last Turnabout’. With the shocking news that Phoenix was not to be the main protagonist in the latest sequel, I didn’t know what to expect; was the new character going to have the same humour and wit? Was it going to retain the same playstyle? And more importantly was it going to be even a good game or just a collector’s piece…
And I knew my answer as soon as I played the first part of the first case. It is as brilliant as the first three, and retains the same style of humour. The thing which stood out the most was the re-done graphics and sprites for this game. The style is wonderful - the characters look, comparatively speaking, way more detailed.
The music sounds better than the first three too. Ok, maybe the other three had better jingles, but the quality overall has been raised a bar. I felt so nostalgic as I first heard, during the first trial; Hobo-Phoenix shout out “Objection!” and the original “Objection 2001? music but in much better quality. For those who didn’t know, Phoenix is back but not as the main protagonist for any of you die-hard fangirls/boys
Of course, in the Cross Examination; the trial parts of the game, you maintain your two normal ways of getting information out of the witnesses, press and present. Press means that you learn more information about that part of their testimony you’ve just heard - being a very useful way to ’slip someone up’ on their testimony. Present is to show evidence which shows contradicitions within the testimony and to reveal to the court why there is a contradiction.
Now however, there is a third option that you get during the first trial; the ‘perceive’ system - where Apollo uses his braceletto study people’s actions whilst they give their testimony, then you show to the court that they are lying by shouting “Gotcha!”
As with any other Phoenix Wright game, there exists an investigation section as well as a courtroom section. This is used to get information out of people about their past, relationships with the victim or your client, or other people, and then you piece together the clues to discover the truth.
Overall, yes, this game is as good as the other 3. Don’t let the fact Phoenix Wright isn’t the main attorney put you off - Apollo makes a brilliant new Ace Attorney, and a nice change to the series!
Overall: 92%