Phoenix Write: Ace Attorney Review

Alright, I finished the game (DS version) today! so it's time for my review.

TL:DR I think the game is a 3.5/5, it is essentially a visual novel that you vaguely play. 

Setting: I'll give a brief breakdown of the game now (spoiler free, generally): You play as Defense Attorney Phoenix Write as you use evidence to get your client a not guilty verdict. Generally you have a sidekick as well throughout each mission that helps you in one way or another. There are 5 trials to the game: The first turnabout, turnabout sisters, turnabout samurai, turnabout goodbyes (in which you also solve a sub case, the DL-6 incident), rise from the ashes (in which you solve a sub case: the SL-9 incident). Each case builds upon the last, introducing more concepts, more complex clues, less hints, and so on. The 5th case in particular introduces 3 new concepts all at the same time, which I will talk about in a second. Each case (minus the first, which is more a tutorial) takes place in stages of investigation, where you look for clues, and then trial, in which you use what you've gathered to defend your client.

My overall (spoiler free thoughts) here: Ace Attorney is a game that I would consider to be a cult classic, it certainly is not a particularly well known game, but it is around, and there are plenty of walkthroughs and hint systems and all wiki's and all that. This, of course, was my first ace attorney game, and although I knew generally what it might be about, I had not seen any spoilers on story, characters, or actual gameplay. Essentially I was going in blind. Given this, there was both a lot more and a lot less to the game then I thought there would be! 

A lot more in the sense that this is a pretty long game? It took me about 20 hours to complete, which was a lot longer than I was expecting, even if I was a newbie and not playing particularly efficiently, it was fun to meet the colorful yet odd cast. There is a shocking amount of dialogue for each character, while they dont have lines for every random piece of evidence you collect, they do for all relevant clues of course, plus a few extras just for fun! (hint: show everyone your badge every chance you get).

A lot less because this isn't really a game  so much as a story you push forward. In each case you get 5 mistakes per trial, if you make a 5th mistake, the client is declared guilty and you have to start over from the day start. Because this game is generally just a story, and not really a game, it isn't particularly fun to lose. There are no bad or good endings, just a win or a loss. you will never enter a trial with insufficient evidence ( the game wont let you progress until you have all the needed information from the investigation ) you can't talk your way into a dead end in the trial ( there is only ever one way truly forward, you cant really misstep, you just lose one of your mistake markers). Basically I would categorize this as a slightly more interactive Visual novel. I will note that one thing that can change is the 

Because the game isn't particularly fun to lose, as all you can really do is then go back and painfully replay the day, this time getting it perfect as you know all the steps already, I found  myself using this hint system a lot Which was fantastic as it gives piecemeal hints instead of a direct walkthrough, letting me still play the game, but pushing me along if I ever got stuck.

That being said, the story the game is telling is really really fun, its so interesting watching the case be put together slowly as you navigate each interaction, I loved watching the clips and then the final reveal of the crime and how it happened, and you do feel a level of satisfaction when you finally get that verdict of not guilty, after fighting for multiple days haha.

Spoilers start here.

CASE 1: In this case you defend your best friend Larry butz as he is accused of murdering his girlfriend in cold blood, this case is essentially just a tutorial as there is no investigations phase, you are simply given the evidence and heavily helped by your sidekick (and boss) Mia Fey. This case is pretty fun! its very simple, you get tons of help, and it really eases you into the world and characters, you meet most of the reoccurring cast here with the exception of Edgeworth. This was probably my  least liked case, mostly because I found Larry to be annoying, but its also the tutorial so who really cares haha. 

CASE 2: in  this case you are defending Maya fey as you defend her when she is accused of killing her sister (and your boss) Mia fey! This case introduces investigations and is somewhat enjoyable? you are introduced to Edgeworth in this trial and Mia still helps you from beyond the grave as Maya is a clairvoyant who can summon the dead and channel their voices through them. Overall a very cool story, though it can be easy to get stuck in the start of the investigation as you aren't yet used to navigating talking to people or presenting evidence.  The villain is really a highlight of this case as he is so smarmy you cant help but enjoy taking him down. 

CASE 3: In this case you defend movie star Will powers from the Murder allegation of killing his coworker Jack Hammer. This is probably a controversial take but this was my least favorite mission, I was stuck for much longer than any of the other cases, the characters in my opinion weren't particularly interesting, especially the director, the story of her killing jack hammer was whatever, and jack hammer dressing up as the samurai is an easy read yet it takes forever to prove, which is frustrating when you already know how the case is going to go down, but you still have to go through an entire investigation phase before getting to the end. This is the first case where you lack Mia almost entirely, though the whole "win at the last second here" is kind of an ass pull compared to the other cases, in my opinion. You also aren't shown the murder like previous cases, so this is the first time things really are worked out as you go, as opposed to the first 2 cases, where you are shown the murderer and essentially the big moments of the crime in a cutscene before the case.

CASE 4: Turnabout goodbyes is my favorite case, this time YOU'RE DEFENDING EDGEWORTH! as he has been accused of murder, woah! and the prosecutor is his old mentor, Von Karma. as previously stated, you also solve a subcase in this one, the murder of Edgeworth's father. and end up proving that Von Karma did it. I really like this story for a number of reasons, 1: it keeps you guessing on how things went down, even when you generally what happened. you are shown VERY little of the crime before hand, basically just Edgeworth's face, so you almost assume he DID murder someone. The reveals in this case are also top notch, from showing how Von Karma killed Edgeworth's father with a great motive, to Yanni Yogi pretending to be a senile old man. Overall just great cast and story and reveals.

CASE 5: This time You are defending Lana sky (the chief prosecutor) from murder allegations, revealed to be set up by the big bad chief of Police! a menacing and powerful figure who pulls a lot of strings to get his way. This case is a VERY appropriate "final boss" you are shown nothing before the case! you know nothing about the murderer, the trial, any clues, you are on your own, Mia is completely gone, and you are introduced to a whole new side of investigations from your new side kick Ema Sky in the form of "scientific investigation" where you can now turn 3d model versions of the evidence around in your inventory to check for further clues, you can test for blood with your luminous spray, and for fingerprints with aluminum dust. Truth be told though? these things should have been introduced sooner. The game spends so much time walking you through these new tools, you are rarely able to just organically use them, it almost always tells you when you should be checking for blood or for fingerprints, which took even more of the "game" away from you. if these tools had been introduced earlier, it may have been a really cool mechanic. but as it stands you dont really get to use them so much as they are used for you.

Alright! that's pretty much my thoughts broken down! I am aware there are 6 games in the original series, and I will at least be getting through the OG trilogy soonish, so look forward to those reviews.

Next up on my media list is Dune though, so they will have to wait.

Thanks for reading!