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Refried Hero's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
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| [March 5, 2008 10:03:31 PM]
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GAMEPLAY
So this game is fun. How do I know, well when I sat down to play – which I planned to only do for a short period of time – I ended up playing through about half of the game. That's about 5 hours of game play. I'm not sure what it was that drew me in to continue playing, but once I started on each case I just felt like I had to finish it. I mean, for example, the first case the game throws at you has your mentor killed and you left to solve the murder and prove her sister (and you) are innocent. For some words scrolling across a screen the game is pretty intense.
For me, who enjoys reading mystery novels in his free time, this game has proven to be one of the best I have played in a while. Even though the game relies on some of my least favorite game play elements to continue the story – 'GO TALK TO EVERYONE THAT EXISTS, MAKE SURE YOU EXAMINE EVERY SINGLE THING EVER, TOO. HAVE FUN, KTHXBYE.' - it still proves to be a fun and interesting experience. Further, the player really feels like they are doing their part to solve the mystery.
DESIGN
The Phoenix Wright series does an amazing job of using game elements that aren't innovative – text based interaction, 2d sprites, murder mystery – and putting them into a very innovative and different setting from one that the player is used to seeing in video games. The game play itself is not so new and original. In fact it is almost like a text based adventure game. However, the position of a defense attorney given to the player at the start of the game is unlike any other game I've ever played – and I haven't even heard of any other games that revolve around a court room battle.
But even though the setting is innovative, the game play can drag on at times. In fact, when the player is not taking action in the court room, and is instead gathering evidence, the game seems to falter a bit. Instead of going from place to place searching for clues it instead becomes talk to x until you learn y, then move to place a so that person c can tell you more about y. And this can go on for the entire investigation part of the game. Don't get me wrong, it isn't particularly un-fun or bad, but it can get extremely tedious.
Even with these minor flaws though, the setting of the game, and of course the tone it creates makes for an amazing game play experience that I would heartily recommend to any who have not heard of the game.
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| [March 5, 2008 09:50:25 PM]
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SUMMARY
The Phoenix Wright series has the player control the character, Phoenix Wright. Phoenix is a defense attorney in the near future where, due to the vast number of cases being tried in court, court cases have been limited in time to three days. The player must find evidence and clues as to the truth of the murder and then use that evidence to prove his clients' innocence.
GAMEPLAY
I am not a big fan of games that have the player constantly clicking, or pressing a button, to get through hours of dialog. Of all the things that can decrease my enjoyment of a game, incessant clicking to get through (often) shoddy dialog has to be at the top of the list. However, when I sat down and started getting into playing through the first Phoenix Wright game, I noticed that, while the gameplay almost entirely consisted of dialog, I was still enjoying myself. The dialog can be tedious at times, especially when you think you've solved something only to find out you had the right idea but you picked the wrong evidence to support it with. But, even with that, the story is extremely enjoyable.
Further, the player's interaction, through Phoenix, with the other characters in the game is about as animated as it could get for just being the player viewing a 2d sprite and reading some words. Each character has their own set of mannerism and actions that become apparent when talking. Each is fairly unique, even going so far to have hilariously outlandish names, such as Yanni Yogi, or Dick Gumshoe.
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Refried Hero's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 5 March, 2008
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