Mallico
01-09-2008, 01:24 AM
In an effort to support the idea of making a review section of the forums I will be writing a (quick) review of the Phoenix Wright series as a whole. I`ve decided to just make a review of the entire series rather than just one of the three games because they gameplay is nearly identical.
This is my first review, if you disagree with me on some points please add a comment, and don`t forget to vote in the poll.
Review Start =====
The Phoenix Wright series is one of the most unique games I`ve played on the Nintendo DS, it combines thought provoking gameplay with the excitement of a good storyline.
Gameplay
Let`s get into the gameplay for a moment for people who have never seen this game before. The gameplay of Phoenix Wright is actually mostly a text adventure with a graphical interface, while that may sound boring at first, most of the people can tell you it can be very fun. You start the game as a lawyer who gets involved in many bizarre and complicated cases (Keeping it spoiler free here, so no specifics , sorry.) To solve these cases you go through many phases, in most cases you talk to witnesses, police, your client, and many others to gain clues to let you progress into the next phase. Aside from just talking to them to get clues you can present them with items or profiles of other characters that will unlock new dialogue options which may tell you something important to your case. Another way to get evidence is searching, you tap a button and move your stylus (or dpad) to a spot in the room and search, in most situations where to search is obvious, but in some it can be difficult.
Once you have all the evidence you need, you will procede to the courtroom phase of the game. Your job is to protect your client and prove him innocent, usually by exposing the real criminal. In most cases the prosecutor calls out a witness to testify against your client, you then go through the process of “Cross Examination.“ After you listen to the witness testify, little blocks of that testimony come up and you can press or object. Pressing will get you more information, and ask them to remember more details which may be ammended to their testimony. When you object you need a piece of evidence to back you up, and even after that you may be asked follow up questions. Every time you object with incorrect evidence you lose favour with the judge (Represented by a health bar in the second and third games) until eventually your client loses and you have to start from your save point.
Controls
Moving along, let`s take a look at the controls. You can do mostly everything with the stylus, but if you`re like me you`ll end up using the dpad whenever possible after the first few hours. There are also voice controls, when you want to “press“ a witness during your cross examination you hold Y and say (or yell) “Hold It!“, and to object you yell “Objection!“ this may seem fun at first but the mic can be very unresponsive at times and you end up tapping the button with your stylus. I would like to mention however, if you`re using the DS headset microphone the voice controls are much more responsive, but you`ll still look like a weirdo at the bus stop. There are some interactive parts in the later games such as spreading finger print dust (with the stylus) and then blowing it off (blow on the microphone.)
Graphics
Now for the graphics, this will be short. In most cases there`s a backdrop that mostly stays the same and then the characters themselves, the characters all have animations to them, usually just mouth moving or funny facial expressions, some have more interesting animations, but it`s all basic stuff. I`m not saying the graphics are bad, I love the way the game is presented. Here is a quick screenshot of the game:
http://masem.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/phoenix_wright_screenshot2.jpg
And one more:
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles/a/6/1/2/2/7/a_med_eg_rev_phoenix_004.jpg
As you can see they make good use of both the top and bottom screens, leaving the bottom for interface and the top for display. Aside from still pictures with slight animations, some parts have video animations, including one case where a video is given as evidence.
Storyline
Storyline, I`m not going to put in any spoilers seeing as this game is all about it`s storyline. The game has an awesome storyline that will keep you playing through it`s many hours of gameplay, it will keep you guessing the entire case, a new piece of evidence could destroy your entire theory.
Aside from short term story there`s some long term stuff with certain characters. The game has many funny parts in it, along with some characters that are just so ridiculous it`s funny, including a character who uses 1337 speak and chat abbreviations (some of which I`d never even heard of) at his workplace and in court. Make sure you examine the police chief all the time, he has some of the best lines in the game that are probably overlooked. The Judge wins at being the funniest character in the game.
Audio
The Audio is just great in this game, although there is very little for actual voices. The music is a little different in each game, but it`s catchy and dramatic. When you press you hear Phoenix yell “HOLD IT!“ and when you object you hear the famous “OBJECTION!“ There are also sound effects for just about everything, it`s really well done.
Final Thoughts
What else can I tell you about, I`m sure I`ve missed a few things but I`m going to go ahead and wrap it up here. Firstly these games only run about $20 each (new) for many hours of entertainment. I`d also like to mention that people who enjoy using walkthroughs for games might not want to do that for this game unless it`s absolutely necessary, it would ruin the experience. Many people will hate this game and find it utterly boring and devoid of action, the way some people hate reading books I suppose. You could be on the edge of your seat with excitement wondering what will happen while they could have dropped the book after the first chapter. The game is sort of an interactive story so that`s not a bad comparison.
Overall Rating: Buy - I would recommend buying this.
Review End ======
Sorry if I missed anything, I probably did. Thanks for reading my first review, if you have a game you would like reviewed for PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, GBA, or of course DS just let me know. One game I have immense experience in that some on this forum may not is FFXI, I played for 3 years and had numerous characters at the highest level and participated in all the endgame events available before the new expansion because I quit.
I would like to credit Rothbart with the rating system from his post in the thread “Review section in the Forums“ and Garwalker`s post in the same thread for the poll format.
Please comment and vote, I hope you enjoyed the review. It ended up being alot more longwinded than I had intended. I tried to be honest, but I think I leaned a little to the “Omg it pwns side“ but well, it does. Games are preference, I`ve recommended this game to all my friends who own a DS and most of them have enjoyed it.
If anyone has any tips for me don`t be shy, I know my grammar and punctuation aren`t quite right.
This is my first review, if you disagree with me on some points please add a comment, and don`t forget to vote in the poll.
Review Start =====
The Phoenix Wright series is one of the most unique games I`ve played on the Nintendo DS, it combines thought provoking gameplay with the excitement of a good storyline.
Gameplay
Let`s get into the gameplay for a moment for people who have never seen this game before. The gameplay of Phoenix Wright is actually mostly a text adventure with a graphical interface, while that may sound boring at first, most of the people can tell you it can be very fun. You start the game as a lawyer who gets involved in many bizarre and complicated cases (Keeping it spoiler free here, so no specifics , sorry.) To solve these cases you go through many phases, in most cases you talk to witnesses, police, your client, and many others to gain clues to let you progress into the next phase. Aside from just talking to them to get clues you can present them with items or profiles of other characters that will unlock new dialogue options which may tell you something important to your case. Another way to get evidence is searching, you tap a button and move your stylus (or dpad) to a spot in the room and search, in most situations where to search is obvious, but in some it can be difficult.
Once you have all the evidence you need, you will procede to the courtroom phase of the game. Your job is to protect your client and prove him innocent, usually by exposing the real criminal. In most cases the prosecutor calls out a witness to testify against your client, you then go through the process of “Cross Examination.“ After you listen to the witness testify, little blocks of that testimony come up and you can press or object. Pressing will get you more information, and ask them to remember more details which may be ammended to their testimony. When you object you need a piece of evidence to back you up, and even after that you may be asked follow up questions. Every time you object with incorrect evidence you lose favour with the judge (Represented by a health bar in the second and third games) until eventually your client loses and you have to start from your save point.
Controls
Moving along, let`s take a look at the controls. You can do mostly everything with the stylus, but if you`re like me you`ll end up using the dpad whenever possible after the first few hours. There are also voice controls, when you want to “press“ a witness during your cross examination you hold Y and say (or yell) “Hold It!“, and to object you yell “Objection!“ this may seem fun at first but the mic can be very unresponsive at times and you end up tapping the button with your stylus. I would like to mention however, if you`re using the DS headset microphone the voice controls are much more responsive, but you`ll still look like a weirdo at the bus stop. There are some interactive parts in the later games such as spreading finger print dust (with the stylus) and then blowing it off (blow on the microphone.)
Graphics
Now for the graphics, this will be short. In most cases there`s a backdrop that mostly stays the same and then the characters themselves, the characters all have animations to them, usually just mouth moving or funny facial expressions, some have more interesting animations, but it`s all basic stuff. I`m not saying the graphics are bad, I love the way the game is presented. Here is a quick screenshot of the game:
http://masem.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/phoenix_wright_screenshot2.jpg
And one more:
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles/a/6/1/2/2/7/a_med_eg_rev_phoenix_004.jpg
As you can see they make good use of both the top and bottom screens, leaving the bottom for interface and the top for display. Aside from still pictures with slight animations, some parts have video animations, including one case where a video is given as evidence.
Storyline
Storyline, I`m not going to put in any spoilers seeing as this game is all about it`s storyline. The game has an awesome storyline that will keep you playing through it`s many hours of gameplay, it will keep you guessing the entire case, a new piece of evidence could destroy your entire theory.
Aside from short term story there`s some long term stuff with certain characters. The game has many funny parts in it, along with some characters that are just so ridiculous it`s funny, including a character who uses 1337 speak and chat abbreviations (some of which I`d never even heard of) at his workplace and in court. Make sure you examine the police chief all the time, he has some of the best lines in the game that are probably overlooked. The Judge wins at being the funniest character in the game.
Audio
The Audio is just great in this game, although there is very little for actual voices. The music is a little different in each game, but it`s catchy and dramatic. When you press you hear Phoenix yell “HOLD IT!“ and when you object you hear the famous “OBJECTION!“ There are also sound effects for just about everything, it`s really well done.
Final Thoughts
What else can I tell you about, I`m sure I`ve missed a few things but I`m going to go ahead and wrap it up here. Firstly these games only run about $20 each (new) for many hours of entertainment. I`d also like to mention that people who enjoy using walkthroughs for games might not want to do that for this game unless it`s absolutely necessary, it would ruin the experience. Many people will hate this game and find it utterly boring and devoid of action, the way some people hate reading books I suppose. You could be on the edge of your seat with excitement wondering what will happen while they could have dropped the book after the first chapter. The game is sort of an interactive story so that`s not a bad comparison.
Overall Rating: Buy - I would recommend buying this.
Review End ======
Sorry if I missed anything, I probably did. Thanks for reading my first review, if you have a game you would like reviewed for PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, GBA, or of course DS just let me know. One game I have immense experience in that some on this forum may not is FFXI, I played for 3 years and had numerous characters at the highest level and participated in all the endgame events available before the new expansion because I quit.
I would like to credit Rothbart with the rating system from his post in the thread “Review section in the Forums“ and Garwalker`s post in the same thread for the poll format.
Please comment and vote, I hope you enjoyed the review. It ended up being alot more longwinded than I had intended. I tried to be honest, but I think I leaned a little to the “Omg it pwns side“ but well, it does. Games are preference, I`ve recommended this game to all my friends who own a DS and most of them have enjoyed it.
If anyone has any tips for me don`t be shy, I know my grammar and punctuation aren`t quite right.