Welcome to another edition of For What it's Worth, where I examine bargain titles to see if they really are worth your bottom dollar. Tonight we take a seat in the virtual courtroom as I cross-examine Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations for the Nintendo DS.
Gyakuten Saiban (or Turnabout Trials in English) began it's original run as a trilogy of popular courtroom games back in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance. They became a big enough hit in Japan for Capcom to decide to re-release each of the three titles on the DS. Capcom even decided to bring the games to North America (amoung other areas) and localize them with the hopes of repeating the success it had over in Japan. The end result was what we now know as the Ace Attorney series, which is a bit of a cult hit here in North America and Capcom's 9th best selling series of all time.
Trials and Tribulations is the third out of what is now five games. I would have reviewed one of the other two original games first but since I have yet to find them, this is what your going to get.
Is Trials and Tribulations gulty on the charge of sucking or will it be ultimately found not gulity?
Story: Just like any other game in the Ace Attorney series, Trials and Tribulations is divided into multiple episodes. The game contains five episodes in total with three acting as a branching story arc but even the two filler episodes have a few subtle links to the man story. The first episode is a flashback of Phoenix being put on trial for the murder of a college classmate and it is up to his future mentor (and at this point rookie lawyer) Mia Fey to prove his innocence in court.
In the second episode, Phoenix must defend a man who claims to be the master thief, Mask*DeMasque. In episode three, repeat suspect Maggie Bryde takes on a new job as waitress but sadly she suffers from another stroke of her cronic bad luck, as she is accused of killing a customer. Episode four is another flashback. Mia and a certain ace prosecutor make their courtroom debuts as Mia defends an escaped con who is accused of killing a police officer. In the fifth and final episode, Phoenix, Maya (she is Phoenix's assistant/Mia's sister and future leader of a group of spirit mediums) and Pearl (Maya's cousin and spirit channeling prodigy) take a trip to Hazakura Temple as part of Maya’s spiritual training but things go terribly wrong as one of the other guests is killed in the middle of Maya’s training. Phoenix and… well I will let you discover who it is on your own, are put in charge of defending one of the temple’s nuns who is accused of committing the murder.
As these events unfold, you will also have to go up against the mysterious prosecutor, Godot who is somehow linked to Phoenix's past and has a personal vendetta against him.
I know some of the story is based around past events in the series but it explains what you need to know in such away that it does not spoil anything. If you can get past that and a few localization issues like a Japanese Spirit channeling dojo somehow finding its way onto American soil or how obviously Japanese characters somehow have English names, then you are likely going to enjoy the story as it plays out.
Graphics & Design: The game’s entire design is made of still pictures and recycled character animation (some of which are from past games), all of which seems to be hand drawn. Trails and Tribulations may not be the most awe inspiring title in terms of graphics but the comic book (or Manga since it comes from Japan) style character designs and backgrounds really add to the game’s appeal and quirky sense of humor. Not too mention, the emotional expression are in perfect sync with the dialogue, making for some great comedic timing.
I know that you technically call the art style of the Ace Attorney series anime but I always thought the characters looked like they were gracing the pages of Archie Comics as opposed to Shonen Jump or Tyoko Pop, which to me is rather refreshing.
Sound: One of my favorite aspects of the Ace Attorney series is the solid collection of music in each soundtrack and Trials and Tribulations is no exception. Being a fan of the old school (NES, SNES and Genesis) I really enjoyed the 16-bit tracks played throughout the game. The original GBA development team may have been restricted to using a 16-bit sound chip but they have managed to create wonderful pieces of music, which represent each character and mood perfectly. The music is so good in fact, that it actually translates very well into orchestra and jazz music.
Gameplay: The game is your basic point and click adventure, so the gameplay mechanics are relatively simple. Since the game itself plays like a virtual novel, gameplay is as linear as it gets but lengthy interrogations/interviews with witnesses, courtroom battles and investigations will give you plenty to read and do.
There are three main aspects to the gameplay. There is the detective work, which you are going to have to do as you investigate each case. Unlocking psyche-locks (more on that later). And of course you are going to defend your clients in the courtroom. The detective work portions consists of going to each location provided to you in your menu screen and then looking for clues to prove your client’s innocence, as well as gathering important info from witnesses.
With this being a point and click style game and considering that each location is more or less just a still image, your interaction with the background is limited to merely finding clues in the picture and clicking on them. Once a clue is found it will be added to your Court Record for future reference.
Certain locations are going to have a witness who you are going to have to speak with. You will then ask this witness a series of questions about the case. Some times you are going to need to show them a certain piece of evidence from your Court Record to help jog their memory or gather some extra info. Each of these actions (or any in the game for that matter) can be done by either using the stylus or using the D-Pad and buttons. Both work just fine, so go with your own personal preference. To choose between different locations, select Move from your menu and it will give you a list of locals to choose from. To look for evidence, select Examine and you will be able to search the area for clues. To chat with a witness, choose Talk and to show the witness a piece of evidence, select Present. You can also use the menu to check your Court Record at anytime to look at the evidence you have collected or even character profiles. While we're on the subject of talking to witnesses and presenting evidence, this brings us to the second key element of gameplay, which is the psyche-locks.
Psyche-Locks are locks, which protect the dark secrets lingering in people’s hearts. Psyche-Locks appear whenever a witnesses has something to hide (outside of the courtroom) and it is up to you break the witness into confessing whatever secret they are trying to hide. To break the psyche-locks, you are going to have to open up your Court Record and present the magatama.
Once the magatama is presented, you will begin to ask the witness a series of questions. They are going to lie to you and you will have to present the correct pieces of evidence to correct each lie until all of the psyche-locks are shattered. But be forewarned. Any misstep will cause damage to your health bar but after the locks are gone, you will regain a fair bit of health lost in not only these psyche-lock rounds but also some of the health you may have lost in court.
Speaking of which, the final key gameplay element is the Courtroom. This is very similar to the psyche-lock rounds, except courtroom sessions are a lot longer and instead of dealing with one bit of testimony at a time, you are going to have to find the contradiction among several bits of testimony. When a witness takes the stand, they will give their bit of testimony, which will consists of few statements. Once they finish giving their bit of testimony, it is time for you to cross examine the witness.
Cross Examinations work like this, all of the statement's from the piece of testimony you have just heard will be presented to you again but this time you will be able to press the witness for more info if you happen to find something suspcious in that statement. I reccomend pressing every statement. Once you've found a statement that has a contridiction, you will need to present the right piece of evidence from your Court Record, which proves that the contridicition is there. This can be done by either clicking/pressing the Present button or you can yell Objection into the microphone.
Both work just fine but there is a certain novelty appeal in yelling Objection, just make sure no one is around to aviod looking like a crazy person.
Anyway, once you have revealed the contridiction, don't go thinking you're out of the woods yet. Witnesses will refuse to backdown and will give more pieces of testimony.
So just keep pointing out the contridictions in the testimony until the witness is asked to leave the stand. In the world of Ace Attorney, there is no greater sense of satisfaction than when you have debunked a hostile witness.
In summary, you investigate different areas to find clues, then talk to witness for more info, then enter the courtroom to defend your client and debunk any contridictions in witness testimony with the proper evidence to prove your client's innocence. But be warned. If you present the wrong piece of evidence or make any other mis-steps, you will loose health and once your health bar is empty, the Judge will give your client a guilty verdit and it will be game over.
Extra Features: Well I don’t know if you would call it a special feature or not but after you finish the game, you can choose the order in which you play each of the episodes once you start a new game.
Replay Value: The amount of replay value that this or any other game in the Ace Attorney series differs from player to player I suppose. If you really enjoyed the story and would like to experience it again, I would recommend waiting until you forget when to use each piece of evidence, otherwise it is going to be a breeze. Personally I like to replay the games after sometime has passed but I can understand why others wouldn’t want to considering how straight forward the stories are and how incredibly easy a second playthrough can be. If you’re the type not to re-read books, then you probably wouldn’t be playing it more than once but luckily with a solid 15 hours of gameplay, this is still worth every penny of your purchase.
Over All Value: Retail Price- $20
What it’s Worth- $35
I have to admit that this is actually one of my favorite DS games. The characters are memorable, the story is great and I really like how the game's crazy sense of humor revolves around each situation and how the characters react to it. Not to mention all of the subtle references within the game and the dialogue are good for a few laughs here and there. Even for all of it's humor, the game is still dramatically compelling when it needs to be and even characters who are not the most likeable still have qualities that are redeemable enough for you to feel sympahtic for them at certain times.
However, even with all of the love I have for this game (and the series as a whole), I still have a few gripes. It would have been nice to see a few more frames of animation added to the mix. It would have been nice to freely explore each location, instead of only being limited to a still picture. And I would have liked to have seen more than one character on screen at a time to make the conversations between characters feel more natural.
Other than that, I would say that this would be a solid addition to any DS library and I highly recommend checking it out.
Until next time: Happy Hunting!
Next on the docket: A double shot of Pokemon featuring Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia.
