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“Objection!”

“Take That!”

As foolish as I sounded yelling into my Nintendo DS, I had to do it. My best friend’s life was on the line!

Plus, I wasn’t going to let Edgeworth cheat to another victory……

As I was growing up, much of my view on the outside world was based on what I had watched on television. While I was pretty sure ER was mostly exaggerated, the life of a doctor seemed so exciting and wonderfully heroic. On Law and Order, I watched battles of wits, ethics, and moral ambiguities face off against each other as people debated the law’s role in protecting society.

In Capcom’s Phoenix Wright (PW) for the DS, you take on the role of the titular hero as he begins his first case out of law school. Under the guidance of your boss Mia Fey, you begin the game trying to fend your best friend from murder suspicions.

To clarify some things, it is best not to approach PW as if it were based in reality. The court system in the game is a bit different from the American one. Some differences: trials can only last 3 days, your defendants will never tell you everything that happened, you cannot call your own witnesses (except in the final case), the law seems to always be against you, and true legal sense is not really the key to winning battles. You also won’t find much of the complexities in real law and human drama- there are no struggles of ethics or thought provoking situations (again, except for the final case).

Much of your role as Phoenix takes place inside the courtroom, but your work will also take place outside of it investigating crime scenes and interviewing people for clues.

The gameplay itself is nothing special. The game is incredibly linear, and while that may be expected from an adventure game like this, there is so much reading to go through, at times the game feels more like a book than a game. The most enjoyable parts of the game are found in the courtroom, where you will get a chance to cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses and find holes in their testimonies. If you have played a point and click adventure game, how the game has you present an inventory item (inventory is considered evidence) to unlock a new testimony is basically like someone using an inventory item to unlock a puzzle. Like in an adventure game, when you don’t know what to do next, you might find yourself randomly trying every object to get the right response. Even if you do know what the truth really is and how you think there may be holes to expose, you cannot do it unless that is what the game wants you to do. Whether it’s questioning witnesses or looking at evidence, your own creativity isn’t going to be tested. You simply need to follow the game’s guidelines.

PW was originally developed in Japan for the Game Boy Advance, and its roots still show. While you can use the DS’ microphone to yell objections, for the most part, this isn’t that fun over the long course of the game. You can also use the stylus to navigate through the game’s menus, but you could easily put the stylus away and play the game just as effectively. PW consists of 5 cases in all, with the final case a DS exclusive. In the final case, you are able to take greater advantage of the DS’ distinct features, and this does add significantly to the gameplay.

It may sound like PW is a rather limited game, but its selling point is its writing. While you will handle 5 cases in all, the character development through the course of the game, witty dialogue, and balance between drama and comedy make the game interesting and worth playing. Most characters are genuinely unique and interesting, with their own motivations, and I found myself developing an emotional reaction to each of them over the game’s duration. Each of the cases are interesting and filled with constant twists and zany characters.

From a technical standpoint, PW is decidedly low-tech. While the graphics are well drawn, sharp, and colorful, there is very little motion as the game is primarily presented through two-dimensional still images. Sometimes you’ll see characters blink or do occasional movements to project a feeling of liveliness, but overall, the game’s anime-styled effects make the game look fun without placing a strain on the system.

As you would expect from a Nintendo DS game, there isn’t much speech in the game other than various characters’ growls or Phoenix’ courtroom cries of “Hold it!”, Take THAT!”, and “Objection!”. The music matches the events in the game well, but can become repetitious because of the length of the cases.

Phoenix Wright is a lengthy game. Sometimes I thought the cases were too long, but the best approach to this would be to not expect to solve cases in a single sitting. I think most gamers could easily find themselves playing it for over 20 hours. While there is virtually no reason for replay, this isn’t too much of a hindrance to the game’s value. If you are a fan of text-driven, story-heavy role playing games, I think you would find Phoenix Wright enjoyable. Despite the game’s unique setting, it’s best to think of PW as a point and click adventure game to get a feeling of what the game experience is like. If you’re someone who needs to feel like he is constantly affecting gameplay, or is more of an action-game fan, PW’s pace and emphasis on text could tire you.

Note: I played the Japanese import version of Phoenix Wright, which has an English option and is identical to the US Version. I am using a US DS Lite (White) system.

(originally published in GamersInfo.net)

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