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noopnomad's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
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| [January 12, 2008 03:42:07 AM]
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SUMMARY
Released over 2 years ago, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a point and click adventure that follows the career of Phoenix Wright, an aspiring lawyer and the main character that the player controls. Players present evidence and disprove false testimonies to prove that their defendant innocent.
GAMEPLAY
I admit that I am a fan of the point and click adventure – a genre that has only found a niche market in America. Yes, the genre is called “point and click” and with good reason: interaction with the characters of Ace Attorney, is mostly comprised of using the stylus to “click” choices. Ace Attorney stays very close to the norm of the genre in this aspect – an aspect that has always kept this genre dull and repetitive.
But if the interaction between the character and the player is so uninteresting, why is it that I continue playing point and click adventures? Storyline. This is one part of Ace Attorney that clearly divides itself from other games of the same genre. I often play point and click games where I must find the murderer using clues that I gather. In Ace Attorney, I am clearly shown the murderer before the trial. It is certainly different from say, Famicom Detective Club: Part II, where one must find both the murderer and the murderer’s rationale for committing the crime. Once the intro is finished, I hope that I will no longer know the murderer beforehand.
Instead of revealing the murderer, the goal of Ace Attorney is to prove that your client is innocent through questions and evidence, ultimately reconstructing the event in question before the courtroom and the player. While Ace Attorney does contain a level of uncertainty in understanding the murder’s rationale, it also shows the murderer before the case begins and therefore, lacks a feeling of reward at the end of the case. This new form of presenting the story has left me disinterested.
Regardless of this fact, there is no denial that this is a novel take on a genre that is on life support. While I am not a fan of the game, it is certainly worth considering.
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A Second Look:
I now realize that one element of most point and click adventures that I missed from Ace Attorney was the investigative element. While the trainer did not contain this element, it is refreshing to see this element reappear in all other chapters. Once again, I happily find myself snooping around and interrogating characters. As Phoenix Wright is trying to gather clues about the event to better understand the case, so am I. It makes me feel better connected with my “token” in this game and better connected with the game as a whole.
One of my biggest initial gripes with Ace Attorney was that it made no use of the DS in advancing the point and click genre’s game play. After playing this game a little more, I realize that I was wrong and I have come to appreciate this game’s use of the DS. I admit that yelling “Take that!” or “Objection!” into the DS’s microphone has become a guilty pleasure and one that adds to the game’s overall charm. Furthermore, the touch screen makes answering questions easier while making room examinations more intuitive. It is refreshing to see DS unique functionality used in point and click game.
DESIGN
Nonetheless, Ace Attorney’s continual presentation of the murderer before the trial is certainly a let down. While Phoenix is gathering clues to find the murderer, the player already knows who it is. At one point, Phoenix accepts a case because he feels that the defendant has no one else to turn to. However, the player will believe that Phoenix should accept the case because the defendant was not the murderer as illustrated by the opening scene – something that Phoenix could not have seen. Because there is no way that I could communicate this to Phoenix, there is ultimately a difference in my knowledge of the case and Phoenix’s. It separates me from my token and therefore, I feel more frustrated then emotive in playing as Phoenix Wright.
Looking at the game as a whole, I can safely say that the writing is top notch. It not only contains pop culture references, its characters are so outlandish that it becoming both charming and engrossing to read what each person has to say. With a character who’s last name is Butz, a bumbling detective known only by his last name, Gumshoe, and a girl who is literally named April May, these characters will keep the story interesting. Furthermore, their animations exaggerate their emotions so much that it is a charm to watch them move. One character’s wig flies directly up when he is shocked and when he was charged with the murder, the throws his wig and exclaims “Shutupshutupshutup! I hate you!”. These animations only highlight the personalities of each character and of the game as a whole.
While I did not enjoy this game as much as I had hoped, I recommend that people interested in this genre seriously look into this game. Ace Attorney offers a charm that is lacking in many games and the game puts a unique twist to traditional point and click games' storylines.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 14th, 2008 at 19:08:30.
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noopnomad's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got frustrated
GameLog started on: Saturday 12 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Monday 21 January, 2008 |
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