Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Everyone wants to play at being a high-flying lawyer, like their on-screen idols Toadfish and Ally McBeal, but obtaining a law degree is such a long, boring not to mention expensive process... thankfully there is now a way to achieve instant results for only £29.99! You'll have to pay for your own Toadfish mullet though and Hawaiian shirts aren't included...

I had Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ordered from Liksang for an age back in December, but it went out of stock when America completely ran out of copies of the game: the demand far exceeding the relatively limited initial run of copies supplied. Liksang refunded me my money, and I found it was to see the light of day as a European release so I decided to just wait for that. This paragraph serves no purpose other than to show you how utterly cool I am in knowing about this way before you guys.

The basic premise of the game is to prove your clients innocence and win the case through a combination of logic puzzles at the scene of the crime and in-court bargaining. The game features a series of 5 trials, only the final one of which was written with the DS specifically in mind: the first 4 are ports from the Japanese GBA version of the game so don't have any specific touch-screen reliant features.

Don't let this put you off, however, as the first four trials are visually very nice in an anime sort of way, and although the addition of touch-screen makes menu navigation and gameplay a lot simpler, you could practically play Phoenix Wright on a Spectrum and gleen just as much enjoyment from it. This is because it is driven primarily by its gripping storylines and your own thirst for justice. These stories are pretty well written and just as intriguing as any Columbo episode you may have seen: so rivetting and, at times, humorous that it would even work simply as a text adventure.

Thankfully though, the game is lushly presented, colourful and the depictions of the characters are very fitting and only further develop the already excellent plotlines and character studies. The music is chirpy enough, but fairly unremarkable. Each character you encounter though sort of have their own "theme" music running in the background, and this again usually suits each particular character down to the ground and really enhances the character study.

Gameplay takes place in two distinctly different gameplay styles: investigation phase and court phase. During the investigation phase, you have to gather evidence from the scene(s) of the crime, nip back and forth between here and the detention centre to talk to the defendant you're representing, and perhaps other locations as things develop.

This investigative phase will be familiar to anyone who is used to point-and-click adventures as these segments play out like Broken Sword or Monkey Island with players examining rooms, adding items to their inventory, perhaps using these to get access to other areas, trading them for other items or just presenting them to the people you encounter to get a little more information about the item in question. The people you meet can of course be quizzed on the events surrounding the day of the crime and they will tell you certain facts, most significant ones will be added to your inventory as a written testimony, but it is worth remembering as much of the dialogue that you think relevant as you may need it in court.

Upon obtaining enough evidence, you are taken to the court for the court phase of the game. During this, witnesses are called to the stand, testify and then you have the opportunity to cross-examine them. After every significant piece of information they say, you can either "press" them to say more if you have a hunch they're not telling the whole story (either by touching "press" or, the ultra gratifying option of shouting "OBJECTION!" into the mic), or you can present them with a piece of evidence from your inventory that directly contradicts something they're saying, or if you're satisfied with what they're saying you can just continue onto their next sentence. Occasionally the judge or your partner will ask you a question like "If it wasn't X that did it, then who was it?" and present you with 3 choices. Most of the time, it doesn't matter if you get these wrong, as you just have to answer until you finally get it right.

These court sections are entertaining, the dialogue is very good and they basically play out a little like one of those "Ian is older than Jim, Jim is twice as old as Sally. Sally is 2 years older than Jack. How old are they?" logic puzzles. It is a lot of fun in court, but I find that sometimes you can take a fairly logical stab in the dark and get it right, without even meaning it. This is where the game feels a little unrewarding, and unchallenging as on more than one occasion I've presented evidence to contradict what someone was saying based on something I've had in mind and, sure enough, the stab in the dark was accurate, but the dialogue uses the evidence in a way you hadn't even considered and you're left feeling a bit hollow: glad to be succeeding, but not entirely convinced of your own abilities, DS in hand telling yourself "Uh.. YEAH.. that's exactly what I meant."

Sure, there are a number of lives in each specific case, and you lose one of these if you present the wrong evidence at the wrong time and yes, losing all of these results in you losing the trial, but to be honest the game is very generous I think. You can only lose lives by presenting the wrong evidence at the wrong time, so you can press the witness as many times as you like without risking anything, and if you miss something, you just have to go through the same testimonial again until you find it. In the investigative phase too, it's a little too "safe", as the game will decide for you when you've got enough evidence. It's a little sedate at times.

That said, the game is fantastically unique, and I suppose not knowing where you're going with a line of questioning is necessary for the plot to twist and turn as it does and for the outcome of a case to be a surprise even to you, I just find the lack of pressure and sometimes "fool-proof" gameplay makes the game a softer experience than it should be. Occasionally it's so linear that it just feels like you're reading a semi-interactive novel or comic book rather than influencing outcomes terribly. When you DO puzzle hard over some minor detail though and something previously overlooked dawns on you, throwing the evidence in the faces of the often unlikeable in-game characters though is an extremely satisfying experience. Gloating's ok if it's in the name of justice.

<3<3<3<3<3 3.5 videogame hearts out of 5. Rivetting, but not quite as demanding as I'd hoped it would be and the menus are sometimes a bit cumbersome. I'm looking forward to buying the next one (which is out already in Japan, and worth noting, already has English as a language option) where every case has been written to take full advantage of the DS' touch-screen.