Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All

Those who have played the original Phoenix Wright will know exactly what to expect (more of the same!). Your clients explain their story, the prosecution are trying to frame them and it's your job to pick apart the holes in their statements using the evidence at hand. In many ways Phoenix Wright: Justice for All is little more than an "Choose you own destiny" book; albeit one with excellent story, characters and a distinctive manga themed flair.

When in court (and later in the game out of the courtroom as you investigate crime scenes) you can scroll through each part of a testimony, press for further information and object when you spot something that doesn't add up. You then need to present the evidence that proves this (for instance, right handed writing when the author was left handed). Should you present the wrong evidence, Phoenix will become flustered and mumble as he makes a fool of himself in front of his audience. The Judge takes none too kindly to any such interruptions, and you will lose credibility. If you lose all of your credibility in front of the Judge, it's game over for you and a lifetime's supply of free porridge for your client!

The story carries on from Phoenix's first DS game. Before your first case in "Justice for All" Phoenix has received a bump on the head, so he doesn't remember much about his client, his colleagues or the court case. As you progress through the game you'll learn as Phoenix does, which is an excellent device to ensure players new to series can enjoy it and a worthy excuse to re-introduce characters.

Phoenix's assistant, Maya Fey, is a medium. On returning to her home town in the second act you are presented with the new tool in Wright's repertoire, the Magatama. This lets you see "psyche-locks", indicating when someone has information they are concealing from you. If you can present the right evidence to this person then the psyche-locks will disappear and they will open up to you. Although a new touch, this actually works very similarly to court room questioning. The only difference is you tire yourself out if you fail too many times. In court this would be game over, but when dealing with psyche-locks you can immediately start the process again, although you can then only afford one fail.

I have two main complaints about PW:JfA; the first is the save system. You can quick save, however proper checkpoints are few and far between. The second factor, is some of the evidence can be a obscure when you need to present it and you may not be sure why you are doing so. It adds up to being sent back to your last save point and you will need to read through all the statements again, which isn't too time consuming considering you will know what to present and where, however it's a waste time when you have read this before and know the answers already. For a game that is solely text-based (touch screen is used to present evidence from the Court Record), having to re-read large portions is a major flaw.

Justice for All also isn't terribly long, as it only has four acts to get through. This will take most players around 10-15 hours, providing you don't get stuck with all the running back and forth you have to do to find certain pieces of evidence and unlock statements.

While Phoenix Wright: Justice for All provides an entertaining escape for a good few hours, the storyline, although entertaining, is as linear as it could be. Should you fail to provide specific evidence at specific points, you're penalised - although it's possible to get to those points without actually having discovered the evidence yet.

Having said that, the loveable characters, nice artwork (although sparse in actual animation) and witty dialog make this a game that fans of the original will enjoy and I'm sure plenty of new players will appreciate.

Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL 7.5 7.0 6.5 5.0 5.0 7.0

THE VERDICT: I never thought a linear text driven game would be this much fun. It can be frustrating in points, perhaps due to cultural differences between the western gamer and eastern developer, but Phoenix Wright has more than enough character and dramatic story to warrant making this worth a purchase.

Video Coverage (Latest Videos & Video FAQ)
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Description	Dur.	Size	Details
Phoenix Wright Direct feed trailer   (DS - Capcom)	01:49	16MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 1.3Mbps