Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

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feilong801
Posts: 2173
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby feilong801 » November 2nd, 2006, 4:12 pm

This review is a little long, but I really liked this one (-: -R
 
Tort Reform: Phoenix Wright's Brilliance has Many Lessons
 
Sometimes the biggest arbiter of success is scarcity. Any attempt to find the Capcom produced Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on store shelves will most likely be an exercise in frustration. Possibly convinced that a game loosely based on the Japanese legal system would not be a great fit for the US audience, either Capcom didn't publish this title in large numbers, or Gaijin retailers didn't see fit to carry it in any sizeable amount (another example of Wal-Mart dictating what gamers get to play, perhaps?).
 
That said, it took me awhile to jump onto the Phoenix bandwagon. A game that essentially consists of just pointing and clicking at scrolling text? A game that can basically be "won" with no skill whatsoever, if one is persistant enough? A game that is extremely linear that has little replay value after you complete it?
 
Yes, the hype is real. Phoenix Wright is brilliant. And there are lessons to be learned.
 
There is a small but significant movement in gaming today and "Phoenix" is part of the vanguard. I call it "literary gaming." Phoenix Wright is fun to play because the writing is sharp and the plot interesting. Also, the developers did a great job dressing up that asset with clever musical cues, hilarious character animations (the looks on the faces of the witnesses when you trap them in a contradictions are classic) and just enough "gameplay" to make the game feel like a game, unlike the decently written yet universally panned "Sprung!," which was released early in the DS launch period.   
 
When will developers learn that a great story isn't some idiot character who is poorly voiced and shouting obscenities (Prey)? Writing is becoming more and more important to games, but what is significant about Phoenix Wright is that it is essentially a budget title, with much of the gameplay determined by devices that could have been implemented in a 1992 era PC game. This is important, because up until this point, the games produced with good dialogue and story were limited to expensive AAA releases like KOTOR and Oblivion. Now we know that great writing and cogent storytelling benefit even lower budget titles. Indeed, they could even be especially useful, as one could but resources there instead of graphics. I am just finishing up a musical score to an new RPG that will greatly benefit from the dedication of skilled writers: www.planewakergames.com.
 
Not  that skilled writing is particularly new, especially for PC gamers. Anyone gaming in the 80s and 90s remembers the "Adventure" game genre, games that were based purely on story, exploration, and dialogue. Some of the better examples of the form include "King's Quest" and "Sam and Max Hit the Road." One of the final examples (or at least the last adventure game I can ever remember playing) was "Blade Runner," released in 1999 (a darn good game).
 
As fun as those games were, however, they had a snag. As any adventure game veteran knows, there are many points in these games were you get stuck, and you are reduced to madly clicking around the room to find that little trinket that advances the plot forward. Phoenix avoids that mistake. It simplifies the structure, and while there are still rooms to explore, the process is so easy that it will prove difficult to miss important clues. This streamlined process takes any frustration out of the game.
 
I suppose if one is completely disinclined to read, or if one is just completely unable to play anything but shooters and FPS games, Phoenix might not work for you. I found it to be wildly fun, and would give it a solid A grade.

 

 

www.therobzone.com


 


feilong801
Posts: 2173
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby feilong801 » November 3rd, 2006, 1:31 pm

Correction: The website mentioned should be www.planewalkergames.com.

 

-Rob


Shawn

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby Shawn » November 3rd, 2006, 3:55 pm

First things first, this is a very well written review however, I have to be honest with you, I thought the game was terrible. I would describe this game as boring, verbose and ill conceived. The thing I liked least about it was the way in which you presented your "evidence"; meaning if you didn't show it at the right moment the game would not recognize it and the misery would drag on and on. Also, this game resembles very little as to how court procedures actually occur. Of course, this would be fine if the game was entertaining but it's not; it's boring! I also love how you have to prove your innocence in the game as opposed to being "innocent till proven guilty". It makes for some terrific court room drama when the judge is siding with the prosecution as he "reminds" them of certain facts througout the case. I think the most glaring flaw is when the witnesses blatantly lie on the stand and the judge let's it slide. This game is idiotic. I am sorry, I know people love this game, but God is it awful. Like I said, your review is well written but I think your objectivity is questionable as you ommitted certain key elements of the game. Is this an "A" game? Hardly? I would give it a D+ at the very least.  I would love to see the VGC review this game in order to get his opinion on the matter. Finally, I would recomend to anyone who wants to play a text adventure to pick up an old copy of Zork or Planetfall for the PC; those games got it right!

 


feilong801
Posts: 2173
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby feilong801 » November 3rd, 2006, 4:31 pm

Hi Shawn, you make some good points so I will cover them as best I can.

 

When I review games, I don't really like them to be a "blow by blow" account of the game's functionality. I like to touch on larger issues that they bring up. That said, I do realize that I need to point out why a game is worth buying, so I do make an attempt to balance that with points about gameplay specifically. To summarize: I felt the storylines were compelling (not deep, but certainly well thought out and entertaining) and the funny, well written prose was, for me, more than enough to make the game entertaining. That was the overall point of the review: The game played so well on the merits of its written words that it became much more than the sum of its parts.

 

I think the critic does a great job in doing what I don't: writing concise, short summaries that hit the important aspects of gameplay. But that isn't my style, unfortunately .

 

 

As to the "legal" aspects: Point one, as you said, is that it doesn't matter a great deal if it reflects a legal system or not. Point two, this game is most certainly based on the Japanese legal system, and this game shows it. They operate much more on a "guilty until proven innocent" system, so trials like presented in PW aren't so far off the mark. I've mentioned this in other posts but my wife lived in Japan for three years (though she was never arrested of course!) so this is coming from her experiences and understanding of how they do things (I should mention now that we both love Japan and it is an awesome place to visit).

 

Anyway, none of that matters to how one rates the game. Like in any review, I gave it an A based on how much fun I had. I had a blast playing through this game, and that ultimately is what determines a grade for me. Yeah, the game is hardly "game like" in the way we would define it... it has very fixed parameters and it is crazy linear. It's just like playing a "choose your own adventure" novel on your DS, although I would say that Phoenix does do a decent job at "tricking" you into thinking it is more interactive than it is.

 

Though none of this will likely change your mind, hopefully it clarifies my position a bit more.

 

-Rob 

 

 


Shawn

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby Shawn » November 3rd, 2006, 5:04 pm

Well Rob I appreciate your response and that helps to clarify things for me. If in fact what you say is true about the legal systems (Japan vs. US) then that explains a lot actually.

 

Does the game do a lot to "trick" you into thinking you are doing more then you actually are? I would agree with that point. However, like you said, the game is crazy linear.

 

The biggest problem is that I didn't find the game all that fun. There were times during a few of the trials that I knew exactly what point I needed to make but b/c I didn't present the evidence at the correct moment I would get stuck. It was very frustrating and a lot of those linear moments defied common sense.

 

Anyway, I really liked your review and like I said, I thought it was well written and succinct. Keep up the good work! Maybe you should open your own site!


JustLikeHeaven1
Posts: 2971
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby JustLikeHeaven1 » November 3rd, 2006, 11:20 pm

Nice review.  I found this to be a very enjoyable yet flawed game.  I agree with feilong that the humor and wit in this game is top notch.  The main problem is the actual courtroom portions.  Many people complain about the judge who says multiple stupid things.  Some may find this humourous and others will get aggitated. 

Even though I enjoyed the game I still wouldn't rank it in the A range.  For me it was more in the B range.  I really liked the game, but I never felt compelled to play it all the time.  Rather I would come back to it little by little. 

For those that haven't been able to find the game and still want it check out this link.  For whatever reason Circuit City is the only place I have ever seen the game since Capcom re-released this title.  Don't pay high ebay prices....

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Phoenix-Wright-Ace-Attorney-Nintendo-DS/sem/rpsm/oid/155248/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do



Adamant1
Posts: 2088
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby Adamant1 » November 4th, 2006, 12:50 am

It may also interest you guys to hear that the remake of the sequel (these games were originally GBA games), Gyakuten Saiban 2, is out in Japan now. And yes, it DOES let you play the game in english. Pick it up from your local importer today.

m0zart1
Posts: 3117
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby m0zart1 » November 4th, 2006, 1:56 am

[QUOTE=Adamant]It may also interest you guys to hear that the remake of the sequel (these games were originally GBA games), Gyakuten Saiban 2, is out in Japan now. And yes, it DOES let you play the game in english. Pick it up from your local importer today.[/QUOTE]

It's been released in the States in December of 2006.  I have it on preorder already.


Conn

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby Conn » November 4th, 2006, 3:29 am

[QUOTE=Adamant]It may also interest you guys to hear that the remake of the sequel (these games were originally GBA games), Gyakuten Saiban 2, is out in Japan now. And yes, it DOES let you play the game in english. Pick it up from your local importer today.[/QUOTE]

As much as it would rule, I'm holding out on importing it for one reason; Capcom USA makes no money off it. Now I know this sounds a bit weird, but if Phoenix Wright 2 doesn't do as well as they hoped, I highly doubt Gyakuten 3- which easily looks the best from a glance (GODOT!!)- and the upcoming Gyakuten Saiban 4 will be translations. I doubt Capcom Japan would port Gyakuten Saiban 3 for no reason AND translate it- the Japanese Phoenix Wright 2 is merely replacing the text (and a few images) with the already-written script. Easy money!)

feilong801
Posts: 2173
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS

Postby feilong801 » November 4th, 2006, 10:39 am

Ah, the "grey importing" issue rears its ugly head once again. If I'm not mistaken, I think PW 1 has an extra episode the Japanese version doesn't have. I appreciate the desire to support Capcom USA (I see no reason to import myself, since PW 2 comes out soon anyway), but I do think the onus is on the publisher to make sure that there are good reasons to not buy an import, since that can and should be perfectly legal and fair to do so.

 

@ Shawn: I do have a website, though it isn't a game review site (the PW review will be posted on it, however). It's basically me ranting about video games and sports. I update it once a week with new articles. Sadly, I haven't the time to proofread the thing as much as I'd like so I'm sure errors sneak into most things (-: It's www.therobzone.com.

 

-Rob



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