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Phoenix returns to another famous victory

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 19
Date: January 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Phoenix Wright returns to the DS after a year's absence. This time round, he's no longer a rookie defense attorney. Instead, having achieved some seemingly impossible victories in the courtroom last time round, he's now quite a celebrity. Which is why, when a policewoman is charged with murdering his fiancé, she turns to Wright for help. Unfortunately, just before the trial, he was attacked by an unknown assailant. He wakes up with amnesia, and is then pushed straight into court to fight the case. An impossible case again, perhaps? Not exactly, because by examining every piece of evidence, pressing every statement from the witnesses, and pinpointing every contradiction that are present, the ace attorney has return to yet another famous victory.

The above basically sums up Phoenix Wright's premise. Justice for All, which begins soon after the end of last season's sleeper hit, employs primarily the same gameplay features from its predecessor. The game is still divided into two parts - investigation and trial. During investigation, you will still go from place to place, talk to NPCs, and gather clues. During trial, you will still press witnesses, present evidence and, more often than not, bluff your way through. Nothing really changes here when it comes to the basic nature of the gameplay.

Capcom does attempt to make things a little more varied though with the new, but rather tedious "Psyche-Lock" system. This time round, secrets that are guarded by NPCs (even your allies) are typified by on-screen locks. These prevent important conversations from happening. You will need to gather enough information before you can unlock these Psyche-Locks. A wrong deduction will expectedly lead to loss in health, even during the investigation stages. This is a change from the previous game, in which you could only get "hurt" in court. The system is not exactly bad, since it does make the game more challenging. But it also slows the game down, and adds more backtracking efforts to a game that is already filled with various backtracking requirements.

To complement the Psyche-Lock system, your health in Justice for All is also changed from the "Five-Exclamation Marks" bar to a more conventional health bar - something that you usually see in most action adventure games. Now, this is definitely a good move, even though the exclamation marks present more uniqueness. The good thing with this new health bar is that damage taken is varied. Some mistakes will hit you minimally; while others may totally wipe out your health (beware!). On top of that, you can also recover loss health by successfully unlocking a Psyche-Lock. Ah, now you know why I said that it complements the Psyche-Lock.

The fun in Phoenix Wright is not restricted to the gameplay, of course. Interactions with quirky characters are part and parcel of the investigation and court proceedings. In this instalment, you will take on clowns, magicians, and even a radio transceiver. Many of these encounters provide great comic relief. Especially the one with the clown, but I will leave that to you to find out. The game also features returning casts from the previous game - those interested in the Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth sub-plot will be happy to know that he has a major role to play in the intense finale of the game.

On the topic of intensity, you may also want to know that Justice for All has a much more compelling story than its predecessor. Even though it doesn't have a bonus case like the last game, the cases are generally longer here, which more or less compensate for the absence. Murderers are also smarter, more ruthless, and will continue to frustrate you through well-constructed lies. These generate a great sense of competitive tension - if you're the emotional type, you may find yourself totally immersed into the game's universe. The final case, in particular, will test your resilience as well as your conscience. The only gripe is that some parts of the game are a little too draggy. It's almost as if these moments are lengthened just for the sake of lengthening the game.

Justice for All doesn't provide any breakthrough when it comes to presentation. The graphics remain typical anime fare, and some sprites are reused from the previous game. Nevertheless, you will still find them charming, simply because of the various expressions on the characters. Each character has a fixed set of expressions, and many of them are simply hilarious if you spend time observing them. We particularly like the one with a flying puppet's head, so be sure to check that out when you play the game. Sound wise, some scores from the last game are used again, especially the ones played during court. As usual, they provide a sense of excitement, and sound really sweet when you're on the verge of victory. Some of the new scores are a little disappointing though, as they sound bland and uninteresting.

In conclusion, Justice for All is another great entry in the Phoenix Wright series. It doesn't rock too much of a steady boat, and prefers to focus on its strength of delivering a deep and compelling murder mystery. Fans of the adventure genre would better gear themselves up for another round of sleepless nights as they engage to solve these murders. As for those who haven't played the previous game, I'd suggest picking that up first to fully appreciate the story in this one.

Amazing sequel to Wonderful Original

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The second Phoenix Wright game is a wonderful followup to the the original. The new Psyche-Lock system makes the investigation portions more interesting, since breaking the locks is almost a mini-trial of its own. The health bar is an improvement over the generic 'strike' system from before. And, if it's possible, the cases and overall story may actually be better in this one than in the original. Despite the fact that the new game only has four cases instead of the five from the original, this new game feels longer, and each individual case has more witnesses and more of an evolution to the story. Recommended for anyone who liked the first one, or who enjoys a good thinking game instead of a twitchy action game every once in a while.

Great Game With Tons of Future Potential

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: February 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It took my having to read a half dozen gaming reviews before I decided to buy this game. I'm not in any way disappointed.

The entire plot device for each of the four cases is text based, but the humor and anime inspired graphics support a style of gampeplay that can grab your attention and keep it.

There is some mental adjustment you might need to make. The first case is meant to help you understand the gameplay, and the difficulty doesn't truly get to full steam until about 1/4 of the way through the second case.

Once you've adjusted, you're in for a treat. Every clue you come across, every name mentioned, and every minute detail presented will make you want to store it in your long-term memory in case it turns into a vital clue during the court proceedings.
There were times where I would get frustrated with how the "legal process" played out, with the overly submissive judge and backhanded actions of the prosecution, but this just speaks to how impressive the script writing is. I never felt they were just being lazy, it was just a part of the Phoenix Wright world.

You are able to quick save, with only a few points where you are not allowed. I would find myself randomly saving, since you are unable to speed through dialogue the first time you are presented it. Therefore, if you lose your case near the end of the proceedings and are forced to go back to the beginning, you're looking at a lot of time being forced to sit and wait for dialogue to finish scrolling. While this can indeed be cumbersome, it makes you learn to take your time and think through everything instead of just randomly guessing at what the key piece of evidence is.

While the four cases will take up plenty of your time, the re-playability is definitely limited. I would love to see future installments have some way of actually downloading new cases, either through Wii24Connect or even going to a local download point.

Phoenix Wright shows just how amazing a game can be without having to worry about high octane graphics or seeing how many enemies the developers can fling at you. I fully plan on going out and buying the first Phoenix Wright game after I complete this one. As far as I'm concerned, this is a DS must have.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney -Justice for all

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: February 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I is a very exciting game I truly enjoyed playing it and cannot wait until
they make another one

Great game! A worthy sequel!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This second installment of the Phoenix Wright series is better than the first, and the first game was spectacular.

First of all, there are some setbacks. There are only 4 cases in this game (the first game had a bonus case created specifically for the DS). But on the positive side, these cases are all long! In the first game, the first trial was a throwaway case. It was short and just introduced players to the gameplay. In Justice For All, the first case is a full case that will take hours to complete. The second setback is that many of the logic puzzles don't seem as clearcut as the first game. Instead of blowing me away with a "of course! why didn't I think of that," I would kinda just shrug and say "I guess that makes sense." This happens quite a few times, but doesn't ruin the game.

Okay, so what makes this game better than the first is the improved investigation levels. In the first game, players would trudge along and find the missing evidence until it was time to go to trial. In Justice For All, players now have to gather evidence to unlock people's secrets. It brings some of the cool Trial elements to the often tedious Investigation mode.

But more importantly, the last case is truly unique and something I never expected. It takes on a really fresh approach that I loved.

HOLD IT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I played this game for 8 hours straight one point. A linear game with a freakin awesome story. I loved yelling OBJECTION! into the mic.

Objection!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because I thought it would be a fun and mentally challenging game. I never played the original, so I can't compare it to that or really say if its improved in any way. I like that it makes you think like a lawyer would about evidence. Its so fun watching the other lawyer sweat and the witnesses lose their composure when they are caught in lies. I recommend this title to anyone who likes strategic games or games that are not beaten within an hour of game play.

Take That!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've played both "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" as well as it's sequel, "Justice for All" and they are both excellent games. I don't think I ever tired of seeing Phoenix point and yell, "Objection!" or Miles Edgeworth slamming one hand on the Prosecutor's bench. Franziska von Karma definitely has unique methods of justice as well. The storyline really keeps the game moving along and I played it for hours at a time. The style of the game really does force you to pay attention to what is being said by any and all of the characters. The music is great, too, although I liked the tunes in the first game a bit better.

I know that other reviewers have commented on the lack of utilization of the DS's special features, but these games are in fact remakes from those originally realeased in Japan on the Game Boy Advance. Also, Case #5 in the first game does bring in some more of the DS's touch screen and mic ability and I read that it was specifically added to do so. That is why if you follow the storyline, the beginning of "Justice for All" doesn't quite match up to the end of "Ace Attorney" but that's ok. I still enjoyed it anyway. In Japan, they will soon be releasing what is I believed the sixth in the Phoenix Wright series, and I think that game was truly designed for the DS console. It's really something to look forward too once we catch up here in the U.S.

As far as the quirks in the legal system, this game does take place "in the future" and it is a mesh between current Japanese and American law, with some laws just made up for the sake of the game. Therefore, you can't look to it to learn about the legal system with any sort of accuracy. I suppose that is what my government lectures were for!

On a sad note, there were only four cases in this game (the first game having five) which was a bit of a disappointment but they were nonetheless quite entertaining. I highly recommend this game!

Excellent interactive storytelling

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is the second game in this series, with some additional features. I found the game as fun and addictive as the first one. Though they have an alternative law system, the story, characters, and dialogue are top notch!

Awesome and Captivating Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is so much fun! I'm addicted to it after only having it a week. You have to really pay attention to the hints and clues that are given to you in order to use them to get a "not guilty" verdict in court. The game is somewhat difficult in that you have to figure out exactly the right time to present evidence in court or else you are penalized for using the evidence at the wrong time. Getting too many penalties will eventually cause you to lose the case, but no worries, you get to start over from the beginning of the chapter...

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