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Very dull

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 84
Date: February 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game has a good concept, nice graphics, and some definitely funny moments, but the gameplay is a total bore.

There are two main gameplay styles: "investigation" and "trial". Investigation is the worst; it involves nothing more than checking everything in a room, talking to everyone, and a ton of pointless reading, much like an old point-and-click adventure on PC.

The court sections are a little better, but not much. Once again, it's very linear; you don't have to use your brain much, just try all the options. And once again, there is a huge amount of reading. There is way too much dialogue packed into the game, and not near enough actual gameplay. And most of the talking is aimless, too; very little of it actually advances the plot.

Overall, this game just tried way too hard to have good plot and characters, and left the player with little more to do than click on objects and scroll through text.

Too average in comparison to others on DS.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 19
Date: June 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Average to decent game, but there is so much better out there for the DS. Even in the text-based genre that Phoenix Wright is based in, it only pales in comparison to something like Hotel Dusk.

If you actually like games where you just sit there reading text, then I'd say get this and Hotel Dusk, as well as whatever sequels for Phoenix Wright they have planned in the future. If you're like me though, and believe there should only be one text-based game on your DS, then get Hotel Dusk without a doubt and pass up on this semi-mediocre experience.

I will say the fourth level (the last non-touch screen using level) was pretty interesting though.

Am I missing something?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 13
Date: September 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After reading all the glowing reviews for this game, I cannot believe how incredibly dull and tedious it was. I gave up in the middle of the third case. The only reason I got that far was that I assumed I was missing something, that surely it must get better. I did not find this game to be challenging at all, it's a matter of reading through page after page of text, clicking on everything in a room to get all the evidence, and presenting everything you've got in court. I see no comparison between this and games where you actually have to solve puzzles, like Myst or the Nancy Drew games.

boy, was i disappointed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 14
Date: October 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game could not be any more boring if it tried. I tried to stick with it and play through to the end, but, I only made it as far as the third case.
The most annoying part was the awful capcom graphics, and the constant shaking that seemed to go on.

Not for anyone who knows anything about the law

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 20
Date: February 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This was purchased for me as a gift because I'm about 6 months away from being a lawyer. I know that this is a Japanese game, and therefore the portrayal of the legal system won't necessarily translate perfectly for people used to the US legal system. But I can tell you that if you're a US law student/lawyer, the only thing you'll do while playing this game is pick out all the things that are wrong/inaccurate and yearn to make this like a real game of legal strategy that would be super useful. As a result, I hated this game within the first 15 minutes.

Please no more 'objections' puns...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

To be honest, after reading all of the glowing reviews I was disappointed playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. It's true that the characters & stories are fantastic, but I found the gameplay itself to be somewhat tedious. Overall, I found it to be entertaining, but more as a story than as a game.

What really makes this game stand out are the characters. There isn't a single character in the game that isn't cleverly designed and written. The graphic designs of the characters are well done; each shows their emotions in a unique and very, very funny way.

The cases are interesting, but the conversations became extremely repetitive. After hearing the same point repeated 6 or 10 times, I got a little bit tired of even the most scandalous murder cases. Gameplay is point and click, solid enough for the genre, but nothing special.

What really hindered gameplay was the lack of effective use of the stylus, dual screens, and microphone that differentiate the DS from the gameboy. This is a port of an older GBA game, with one new case added specifically for the DS. You can use the microphone & stylus to do certain tasks, but all of them can also be accomplished with the buttons.

One case at the end was added for the DS specifically, but playing through it I felt as though the features were just a bit tacked on. An example: you can dust for fingerprints by touching the screen to distribute powder and then blowing it away. This entire process takes about 5 seconds, and there is little to no guesswork involved about where you should fingerprint (hmm, maybe the bloody handprint?) making it seem kind of pointless.

To sum it up, the good:

- Fantastic characters with amusing & quirky personalities
- Well plotted cases
- The game has a great sense of humor

and the not so good:

- Extremely repetitive at times
- It's a port of a GBA game and the features of the DS are barely used.

The game is well worth a look at, but I'd rent it or buy it used.

Anime law and order meets adventure/puzzler

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: April 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The hilarity, adventure, wit and fun of this game is nothing shy of stupendous (amazing great, marvelous). It has a certain nostaglia to it with a new twist on the adventure/puzzle genre.

Think of all the games that consumed our time back in the day such as King's quest, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry and put it to the tune of trials, evidence and investigation with hints of an RPG, text adventure and anime and you'll land on Phoenix Wright.

It's concept does seem retro but it really is like nothing you have played before. The star of this show is Phoenix Wright, a lawyer who is new to the scene and must prove is worth with the Fey & Co law offices.

As his first case, you must take on a murder case as the defendant's lawyer. In court, you will have prove to the court that the defendant is 'not quilty' by cross-examining witness testimonies. Your object is to find faults and contradictions in their testimony by referencing evidence and prior statements. You can 'press' them on everything they say to make them open up more about their testimony or to get them to confess more information.

The game doesn't stop there though, after winning your first case you will go on to also investigate the crime scenes, talk to witnesses and find your own evidence for your next case. Think law and order but you will be handling both sides of the coin. Sure, there is a detective but he is a bit slow witted and quick to come to mis-conclusions.

That is where you come in, to further investigate all the missing gaps that the detective doesn't fill, to use finding in the investigation to prove your defendant innocent later in court and to provide the court clarity as to what actually happened. It plays like a puzzle/adventure in that you must find clues and evidence and present them at the correct times (to object to a testimony, prove a contradiction or to trigger an event in a investigation) in order to progress through the game. These items are stored in your court record.

This game plays more like a interactive comic book and that is definitely not a bad thing. Most of your time will be spent reading text, I would say this takes up 75% of the game. This doesn't hurt the game's score any because for 1) the game has a great story and is intriguing around every corner 2) the interaction between the characters is oft times funny and not at all dry. It reads like a quality script written for a comic book or tv show.

The following 25% is interaction, the ability to choose the right option or to present evidence at the right moment of the game. This interaction goes seamless with the story and fits appropriately with the DS. As the stylus is greatly utilized for presenting evidence out of your court record and exploring crime scenes.

There is a good reason why this makes most people's top ten DS list.

Graphics: 3.5 out of 5. Although this game only consist of anime-esque stylings of still life characters that are only slightly animated amongst static backgrounds, the graphics still help carry the story. It looks like the makings of slightly animated, interactive comic book. The character art is well drawn and each character changes looped animations based on their current mood. However, the graphics could easily have been shown on a lesser system such as the GBA. Perhaps the graphics have been revamped and enhanced slightly for the DS version. The only real thing that separates it from a GBA title is its use of stylus and its length.

Sound: 4 out 5, good use of sound effects and use of music add suspense and drama to the game.

Gameplay: 5.
Story: 5.
Replay Value: 3.
Overall: 4.5 A must for DS owners.

Games like this make the DS the #1 handheld!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: February 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a fun game. It's that simple.

Graphics (4 out of 5): I would say the graphics are on par with most DS games. They could be better, but they don't retract at all from the gameplay. They are fun and in the same style as games like Sprung and Under the Knife.

Audio (2 out of 5):The audio is where most DS games fall short. I am content with the graphic abilities of the DS, because quite simply the graphics don't make a good game. Sure they help, but the gameplay is were the entertainment truly lies. It's knowing this that has kept Nintendo on top in the handheld market. I just wish that the DS had a little more power behind it for the audio's sake. I would like speaking characters throughout an entire game, especially a game like this. And the music is so repetetive, it got to be so annoying that I found myself just turning the sound completely off. I guess they do the best they can for what they have to work with, but in this case, it's just not good enough.

Gameplay (5 out of 5): As far as the gameplay goes, you couldn't ask for a much better experience. You are put in the role of Pheonix Wright who in his first trial is defending his best friend who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. Eventually you go on to work other cases and along the way you are required to gather evidence to use in court to suppport your defense. The characters are over the top and a lot of fun to interact with. This is a text based game and I suppose you might have to be a fan of the genre to really appreciate it. But it's a simple pick up and play game that held my attention from beginning to end. I really had trouble putting it down. While a game like Sprung got a little monotonous and came down more to memorization then common sense questioning. Phoenix stays on track in that area and logic plays more of a part in the solution of the cases. I highly reccomend this game!

Well thought out game, but a bit boring

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this on the high reviews that people gave for this game. Because of that, I had high expectations for it. The game offers 5 cases (I'm in the middle of the third) and harkens back to the age of text RPG adventures of the olden days.

Pros:
The game is well thought out. You are given chances to find clues and solve cases. So you are a mix between a PI and a lawyer. You interview the witnesses (by choosing topics of discussion) to find info and clues, once done, you go into trial phase where you present clues to the appropriate arguments to win the case. The dialog is well designed and funny, at times.

Cons:
The dialog moves WAY too slowly. It's frustrating to have to wait for the dialog to finish before you can move on (you can fast forward a bit on the second time you hear it). Considering that there is no recorded voices, there is NO advantage to doing it that way and extremely time consuming and frustrating (considering I can read 80% of Trauma Center's dialog in the fast forward mode).
Also, except for the recording gimmick, there is nothing that could not be done on a GBA instead, so there was no reason to put it on the DS. Frankly, anything you could do with a touchpad you were able to do it better and more easily with the buttons

Overall:
This was a well crafted game, but because of the frustrating controls, it becomes tedium. I can't say too much about replay value as I have not finished it. But from the 2.5 cases I've seen so far, I see no reason why it should be replayed

A fun concept with a few flaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney hearkens back to the days of my youth when the adventure game was king. While adventure games may have taken a back seat to FPS shooters and RTS strategy games since about the mid-1990s, Phoenix Wright proves there should still be a place in every gamer's library for titles with complex stories, interesting characters, and an emphasis on thoughtful problem-solving.

In Ace Attorney, players assume the titular role of Phoenix Wright, a fledgling defense attorney. Throughout five episodes, Phoenix must defend clients with the odds stacked heavily against him. The prosecution always seems to have the evidence on their side and the judge in their pocket, but if the player is attentive to the evidence in these (fairly wacky) cases, Phoenix will save the day in court. The game primarily alternates between investigating crime scenes and questioning witnesses in court, pressing them on vague statements and objecting to point out contradictions. Ace Attorney is generally fun and interesting, but it is not without flaws. The investigations are enjoyable, but as with most adventure games, they occasionally require the player to jump to rather bizarre conclusions in order to figure out what to do next. Also, the story really strains credulity at points, especially to anyone with a even a passing familiarity with the legal system. Finally, the game really should have had an option to adjust the text speed--for a game with so much reading involved, it can be quite frustrating for the game to dictate the speed at which you read all of that text. Despite these flaws, however, Phoenix Wright is definitely worth checking out on your Nintendo DS. The stories are genuinely interesting, the puzzles challenging but not overly difficult, and the writing is funny (albeit a bit juvenile). Despite a few flaws, Phoenix Wright is ultimately a satisfying adventure gaming experience.

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