Adventure games are dead? OBJECTION!
Overview
The Gyakuten Saiban series of legal adventure games has been a surprise hit in Japan ever since its initial appearance on the GBA in 2001. As a fresh take on the adventure game genre, the game won praise and accumulated a large fanbase. In 2004, Capcom unleashed a remake of the first game in the series on Nintendo's new handheld, entitled Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten, and in a surprise move, announced a localised version for the US market. That game is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and it is quite frankly one of the best games you can own for the DS.
Graphics 8/10
PW:AA was originally a GBA game, so it's no surprise that the graphics are primarily 2D. That said, the game looks really good. The DS version has a totally redesigned interface that, although minimal, is easy to navigate and looks pretty nice. The in-game graphics themselves are all large anime-styled 2D sprites, and they're pretty detailed, exhibiting a good deal of personality and style. Most of the backdrops you'll be seeing are also hand-drawn 2D artwork, and they look quite impressive.
The final case of the game is exclusive to the DS version, and it has some graphical touches that take advantage of the DS graphical hardware, including the ability to rotate and view evidence from any angle, as well as a full 3D cutscene as evidence. It's a major credit to the developers that these 3D touches don't really detract from the rest of the game's look and feel.
Gameplay/Controls 9/10
The gameplay is divided into two main sections. You'll spend a good amount of time examining crime scenes, talking to clients, suspects and witnesses in order to learn new information and gather evidence for the trial. The interface for this is mainly menu-driven - you select actions, conversation topics and evidence from a list and use it in various different ways to progress through the game. Even so, it's not particularly tedious, and most times the game makes it fairly clear what you have to do next.
The real core of the game is the court scenes, where you face off against the prosecutor and use the evidence that you've collected in your investigations to try and get your client acquitted. The main way in which you'll do this is by pointing out contradictions in witness testimonies (based on the evidence you collected) and by drawing (often fairly tenuous) connections from those in order to prove your client's innocence. Here, again, the game proceeds on a fairly linear track, although this doesn't necessarily work to its detriment. In fact, you'll need to pay attention to every single detail of testimonies you've heard and crime scenes you've visited in order to draw the appropriate conclusions. Often, the game really puts the pressure on you by making you gamble for really high stakes, and it's at times like this that the underlying gameplay truly shines for what it is. The sense of tension that builds up as the trial proceeds is palpable, and you really feel under pressure, which is quite astounding given that this is a handheld game.
The fifth, DS-exclusive case employs some of the DS' special hardware to allow you to rotate evidence in 3-D to find clues, as well as check for bloodstains using the stylus to spray luminol and dust for fingerprints by spreading powder using the stylus and blowing it away using the microphone. It's a little gimmicky, but it doesn't feel out of place at all, given the context of the game.
It's true that the game takes a lot of liberties with the legal system as we know it - trials only last 3 days, and for some reason defense attorneys are allowed to inspect crime scenes and gather evidence. Even so, you can't really fault the underlying gameplay, which is incredibly solid and entertaining.
Sound/Music 9/10
PW:AA features almost no voice acting, but the rest of the game's sound production is incredibly solid. The in-game sound effects are convincing and forceful, and when the attorneys yell "OBJECTION!" you can really feel your pulse pick up as you ponder what might happen next.
The music is similarly well-produced. It's suitably low-key during more mundane scenes such as investigation, but as the tension picks up and the mood changes, the music gets suitably more tense, and when you make a breakthrough in the trial, the music becomes dramatic and upbeat, suitably indicating that things are on the right track. It's excellent at setting atmosphere, so much so that you don't really notice that it doesn't quite take advantage of the sound hardware at its disposal.
Replay Value 6/10
There's only one real problem with PW:AA - and that is the lack of replay value. Since the game follows a more-or-less linear track, once you finish the game there's not much point to playing it again, except to perhaps revisit certain cases and try different options, or just because the game is so chock full of personality that you can't help replaying certain cases and certain moments. Admittedly this is a flaw of just about every point-and-click adventure game, but it should be mentioned nonetheless.
Overall 8.5/10
Bottom line? If you're a fan of adventure games, or just looking for a game filled with personality, excitement and atmosphere, you can't go wrong with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The game is incredibly polished for a handheld title (and especially so for a port from an inferior platform), and thoroughly enjoyable for its entire length. The lack of incentive to go back and play again is a little irritating, but nothing more than a slight blemish on an otherwise outstanding DS game.
- By ShadowSonic
