Visual Novel Spotlight: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
With the release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies only a few weeks ago, I thought I’d take a look at the game that started it all: the first Ace Attorney. Follow rookie defence lawyer Phoenix Wright as he tackles murder mystery cases and puts his wits against some of the country’s top lawyers.
Perhaps in your years of playing games, you’ve reflected on the good old times; the times of replaying Zelda over again or the times of repeating information about how to find Mew under a truck in the Vermilion City port. But there comes a moment when something truly shocking sets in, and today that is the realisation that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is twelve years old. Yes, Ace Attorney is old enough to graduate from primary school. Admittedly, it has only been eight years since defence lawyer Phoenix Wright appeared in the translated Nintendo DS game that had you investigate crimes and solve perplexing murder mysteries, but twelve feels like a more impressive number – and technically it’s true.
Ace Attorney splits the game into an investigation section and a trial section. Investigation allows you to gather evidence and interview key characters, while the trial sees you draw conclusions from these clues in order to defend your client. There is a good amount of content in the investigation part, making this game more of an adventure title than a visual novel, but the story and prominent caricature-like characters carry each chapter through to a satisfying end.
At this point, you may stand up and point an accusing finger at me, shouting “Objection! Everyone knows this already!”. But today I lay my crimes out for the Rice Digital court to witness: it was only recently that I started the Ace Attorney series. I plead for the court to consider – what about people who have never played this game? What about the people who have suffered through endless cultural references but are still unsure as to whether they want to pick this title up? It is to these brave souls that I write this spotlight and push that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney can be a visual novel if you really want it to be. It is also really enjoyable if you’re willing to put some minor annoyances behind you.
The main problem I had with this game was during investigation sections where certain pieces of important evidence was hard to find without a guide. Certain things like having to move between rooms, activating events in a specific order, or having to click on a small part of the screen to uncover a note left me guessing for quite a while. Thankfully, this isn’t often, and the game offered plenty of hand-holding options in every other situation. The trial section of the game runs more smoothly, unless you have a bit of trouble piecing evidence together. There are no real wrong answers since you either loop back to the choice or get a game over, so the real challenge of the game is figuring out what really happened without failing.
With that forgiven and almost forgotten, Ace Attorney presents a delightful array of caricature-like characters, much like Danganronpa (if you’re not playing backwards, you’ll notice Danganronpa borrows a lot of Ace Attorney elements). It’s not hard to enjoy the antics of detective Gumshoe while laughing at the chapter’s unique characters or despairing at the over-the-top prosecution lawyers. The stories as well (divided into chapters) present a careful weave of outrageous situations and characters with human motivations and labyrinths of lies. Some chapters may feel like a build-up to something more while others present challenging puzzles.
Ace Attorney is an old game but still around for a reason. In blending caricature-like characters with semi-bizarre situations, believable motivations and logic, the game pulls off an entertaining mix of story and puzzle. If you’ve held of playing this game for some reason or another and are looking for something comedic but challenging, this game is calling for you.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is available for Nintendo DS, Wii through WiiWare, and iOS through the US iTunes store. The version featured in this review is of the localised enhanced remake for Nintendo DS.
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