Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations
- October 23, 2007 16:27 PM PST
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After playing Trials and Tribulations, I've come to the sad conclusion that a real attorney will never have as much fun in the court room as Phoenix Wright. If they did, I probably would have made my parents happy and gone to law school.
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Make It Work
Phoenix Wright games are notorious for their soaring leaps and twisted logic, but it always manages to come together in the end somehow. The game often requires out-of-the-box thinking, but the characters and absurdity make it a fun and entertaining romp through the courthouse rather than a brain-damagingly confusing experience.
The game has five cases in all but don't get your hopes up--there are still no DS-specific case like there was in the first Phoenix Wright. This game, like the second one before it, is a direct port of the GBA game with no real special DS functionality aside from the same old touch screen selection and the ability to shout "Hold it!" and "Objection!"
Same Old Song
Truth be told, if you've already played the first two Phoenix Wrights, you won't find any new improvements at all. The gameplay, graphics and music are almost exactly the same as in the previous two installments. Cases play out exactly the same as well: You talk to people, gather evidence by reading through box after box of text and squeeze key information out of witnesses by breaking their "psyche locks"--a concept returning from the second game--via countering the excuses and lies that characters tell to hide their deepest, darkest secrets. The only real difference is found in the two cases in which you go back in time and play as Mia, your mentor from the first game.
If you loved the first two installments in the franchise, then Trials and Tribulations definitely has more of what you're looking for. Newcomers to the series will be better served by picking up the first Phoenix Wright as part of the series' charm lies in getting to know the characters over time.
Ulterior Motives
But here's the real reason to buy Trials and Tribulations: if it sells well enough in America, Capcom will likely bring the fourth game to our shores. This title features a new ace attorney, Apollo Justice, and was designed specifically for the DS, so if you loved the DS functionality in the last case of the first game (such as dusting for prints, spraying luminol, examining evidence from all angles, etc), support the franchise to get more of that DS-based sleuthing goodness in the future. Either way, the courtroom antics of Phoenix Wright are well worth the trip, even if the formula hasn't changed.
PROS: Same wacky courtroom drama that made the first two games so memorable, with a couple of cases to play as Mia.
CONS: The game might be a little too much of the same old, same old for some gamers.
