Phoenix Wright: Justice For All

Ahh.. it's been too long. I don't know why I took so long to buy the sequel to what became one of my favourite games of recent years, and a 2 day obsession. At any rate, Phoenix Wright: Justice for All arrived some time late last week from Play-Asia, and it was under £20, as in Japan this gem is now in their DS budget range. Don't fret though, the language can be switched to English and as we all know, the DS has no cynical region-locking.

For those who don't know already, the Phoenix Wright games are basically lawyer simulators, although simulator maybe suggests dullness and a certain accuracy in recreating a situation. Neither are the case in the Phoenix Wright series. Not at all accurate, instead more like a Manga book where you play the title role as your character, budding lawyer Phoenix Wright, and as such it is an exaggerated and at times hilarious and touching tale featuring a rich cast of well-developed, colourful characters.

Each court case usually starts with an intro sequence a la an episode of Murder She Wrote, rather than an episode of Columbo, in that you see the murder being committed but usually the murderer's face is conveniently obscured, only showing the murder weapon in a gloved hand. This is a brilliant story-telling device, as often your initial suspicions are disproved by the many twists and turns during the case, so the outcome is as much a surprise to you as a player as it is to the astonished courthouse. After all, it wouldn't be fun to play through a case knowing exactly what transpired and just having to go through the motions.

After the intro sequence, you are usually approached by the defendant, or a friend or relative of the defendant, and asked to represent the accused in court. For this part, the game plays like a point & click adventure. You go to locations, talk to people, pick up items, examine crime scenes and generally collect evidence to support your client's case. The game does have a tendency to spoon feed you, so you can't really go wrong here. Eventually through travelling from the various locations and examining everything and saying everything possible, Phoenix will decide that he has enough evidence, and it will then proceed to the court phase.

During the court phase, witnesses testify and you cross-examine them, squeezing more information out of their vagueries, presenting evidence that contradicts their testimony, and generally setting them up for a fall. Get it wrong however, and the judge will penalise you for wasting the court's time.

For players of the first game, the first case is again a sort of "training" case, your assistant prompting you with what you need to do. The game does this very convincingly though, with Phoenix being struck on the head and suffering temporary amnesia at the beginning of the trial, so any potential inconsistencies of "But, but, but how would Phoenix not know how to be a lawyer any more since the first game?" are explained away with this entertaining plot device and you don't feel babied, but understandably disorientated at being thrown right in at the deep-end.

So, what's new for those who have played the first one? Well, I can't say an awful lot about what has changed in the lives of the characters since the last Phoenix Wright without giving away many plot spoilers, but I can tell you the most notable changes in game mechanics.

Gone is the "5 strikes and you're out" life-meter to be replaced with something akin to an energy bar in a fighting game. This is a pretty big change, as various mistakes now hold different penalties. The judge for example can now give you one chance alone to present evidence to support your case, as the whole life meter flashes, the case hanging in the balance based on the outcome of this single decision. Also smaller mistakes will only cost you tiny nibbles out of the bar, which gives you a better chance in the earlier stages of the case.

A notable addition is during the investigative stage of the proceedings, whereby upon questioning witnesses and characters on the scene, it will be revealed that they have a "Psyche-Lock", meaning they aren't letting on about something. These "locks" are illustrated as physical locks, the greater the secret; the greater number of locks. These are broken by presenting evidence which disproves whatever they have just said, or proves your theory on why they would be with-holding the truth. This isn't really a major gameplay enhancement, in fact, it is really just the same as using the "present" command in the first game to get them to squeal about something.

It seems they are basically here to increase the longevity of the game, as you cannot get certain information out of them until you acquire certain pieces of evidence, and as a number of people you encounter may have "Psyche-Locks" it often means gleaning evidence from someone who was "locked" then using this to unlock another person. It paces the game and also allows it to unfold as the author of the cases intended, allowing them to be maybe slightly more complex, rich and intertwined as they were in the previous Phoenix Wright.

And the stories really are involving. I stand by having said it often feels like a semi-interactive graphic novel in my review of Phoenix Wright, as it still feels like this. This is no criticism though, as it is a joy to "read": the character traits and moods of the people you encounter are wonderfully realised through different "theme tunes", little catchphrases, the rate the text displays, speech impediments, typographical effects.. it really is surprising how much is conveyed without voice acting and very few frames of animation.

Replay value is still nil, there isn't an awful lot in the way of new gameplay, but with storylines so rewarding and genuinely moving and an experience so enjoyable, who cares really?

Especially taking into account the budget price, and the fact that many cases would take you hours to complete even with a walkthrough, just with the sheer amount of reading.

I give this....

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

4 videogame hearts out of 5: More than I gave the original? I know, it is strange.. but I feel more attached to the characters, I love the improved storylines and longer cases. I do however have one objection... WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE STILL TREATING PHOENIX WRIGHT LIKE SHIT? If you played the first one, that means he has never lost a single case.. I guess it just adds to his bumbling appeal though..