Ghost Trick: The Phantom Detective (Switch)

 

So Supernatural!

After three Etrian Odyssey games I needed something different so I picked up Ghost Trick that have been on my shelf for almost a year. It's a remake of an old DS game that was made by Capcom and the same team behind Ace Attorney. I remember reading about the original in some gaming magazine, but I never got it. Maybe since I hadn't played any Ace Attorney games at the time and I frankly just thought the main character looked super weird with his spiked hair. Glad I got another chance to rectify that mistake.

Story is that you awake as a ghost after you have been killed. A lamp possessed by another ghost tells you have to do your thing and then your of to find out who you are, why you where killed and try to maybe stop that. Your power's consist of manipulating things, travel through telephone lines and go back in time when interacting with dead bodies to 4 minutes before their death to change their fate.

During your investigation you have to save the police detective Lynne that constantly get herself killed so you babysit her most of the time, but during this you uncover a strange tale of an innocent death-row inmate and former police detective that is about to be executed and the machination of "the Manipulator" that forces people to act against their will. And in true Ace Attorney fashion the story just staggers and staggers. There's a collective of spies from a foreign country, which also consist of robots for some reason. The Manipulator turns out to be a dead man from 10 years ago that was killed by a falling meteor that lodged a piece into him, pretty much making him immortal. And who's face is your own. You also meet Missile, the dog from the first Ace Attorney game that helped you in the final episode with Von Karma. 

I got hooked rather fast and I just ran with it. The story kept me engaged to the end and the twist and turns makes it a great story. The graphics are really good and especially the animation of the characters. Well, mostly Inspector Cabanela and his dancing movements. And then the music is amazing. The puzzle was manageable most of the time. Wasn't until chapter 14 I began looking up when I sat 5-10 minutes trying to get how to get it. Took me around 12 hours, I didn't 100%, for that you needed to finish the chapters on a first try pretty much and then you had some extra sliding puzzles to finish with moving pictures. I did one and tried a harder difficulty and just couldn't get on. You get concept art and such to look at, but I got other games to play.

Phoenix Wright : Ace Attorney 3 - Trials and Tribulations (Switch)

The end of the beginning!

Third and last game in the original Ace Attorney Trilogy. Begins 5 years before present time where you don't take on the role as Phoenix, but Mia Fey defending Phoenix Wright from the accusation of murder together with Marvin Grossman by her side. There she exposes the vile machinations of Dalia Hawthorn, the demoness that have several people on her non-existent conscious. Really, half the cases seems to be either Fey or Phoenix Wright himself so I wonder what pays for all this?

Second case begins with not a murder case, but a case of the stolen family urn off the Fey family as it was being shown off in an exhibition. But the case turn bloody as a the same time as the theft an apparent murder takes place in the office of a security office. And they introduces the new prosecutor, Godot. So Phoenix gonna protect the man behind the mask of... Mask*deMasque. A very timid man named Ron Delite that apparently got himself married to the very carefree spender Dessie Delite... in her very nice biker outfit that... captures the curves... *ahem* What was I talking about?

I mean, look at her?

And it's also a blatant Columbo reference as to pin the theft on the culprit they use fingerprints from the investigator on the item from the episode with the art critic, you know the one where Columbo pulls out his hands wearing gloves during the gotcha-moment? Third case involve trying again to protect Maggy Byrde from being wrongfully accused of murder, this time in connection to loan firms, mobsters and computer viruses that destroys the police ability to work. Oh, and a phoney Phoenix Wright that put her as guilty the first time around. Fourth case is another look back where Mia defended Terry Fawles, a mentally challenged death row inmate that is accused of killing a police officer Hawthorne... wait, it's the same name as that other girl? And Edgeworth makes his first appearance in court as a prosecutor. No investigation in this one, but begins to tie the whole story together. 

Fifth and final chapter is the culmination of the series, getting references to all three games and solving mysteries unexplained. What happened to Misty Fey, Mia and Maya's mother? What is Morgan Fey gonna do to exact revenge on the main Fey family? We see Edgeworth and Franziska back in action as they duke it out in the courtroom as Phoenix lies in high fever at a hospital after falling from a burning rope bridge as he tried to reach Maya. So far he has broken through two doors and risked his life for her. It's a great ending and ties it all together... but I think prefer the ending case of Justice For All. Mostly since the threat level is there from the beginning. Maya's life is supposedly in danger from the moment she is trapped on the mountain after the bridge collapses, but it only gradually becomes apparent the danger she's in since we don't think the murder occurred there until the second day, and then the police already fixed the bridge. I mean, the assassin was there from the first 15 minutes of the case.

Overall, it doesn't have the low-point of the last game so it's on average probably better, but you get the same mechanic in case 3 where everything you press is a penalty, but I give it the benefit that the character in question is actually is someone "scary" so I buy that compared to annoying. And all the defendants are actually likeable. Which reminds me that I also have Apollo Justice on 3DS and I think I'm at the case with the mobster boy... *shudder*. Music is not as good as the second game, that one had force behind it. Also, I get the impression here is where they really upped the quirks of people in the court. The coffee-drinking Godot slowed down the game a bit more than earlier games and it will only accelerate from here when everyone is supposed to be doings quirks.

The trilogy overall, great. Although it's the same package as from the 3DS, they couldn't have thrown in concept art or such as they did for the Great Attorney games? It's a bit empty I mean. Been fun to revisit it. A problem though is that certain characters just disappeared after these games. Gumshoe that was there in the beginning haven't appeared beyond the Investigation games and a small cameo in Apollo Justice pre-present time case. Larry, Edgeworth and Pearl have made their presence known and even Maya. But the others? That was also fun to see characters appear again and again to build together the whole universe and I miss that. Hardly done by the characters in the new games either besides the lawyers. I think only Ema Skye would qualify actually. Well, summer vacation for 2022 is about to be over for my part so let's see what I figure out next.

Phoenix Wright 2: Justice For All (Switch)

Justice for one, justice for all
You get what you give when you've broken the law
Know what it costs before you commit
Don't start a fight, I won't let you win it

 The sequel. Begins with Phoenix getting hit in the head and having amnesia forcing him to relearn everything how it works against the starter prosecutor. Interesting enough it has a very peculiar cutscene in a dream sequence when Phoenix stands on a cliff and the judge strike him down while that horror music from Bach is playing. The rest is protecting this innocent police aspirant from the murder charge against her boyfriend. The real criminal was some paranoid scammer... which doesn't tie in to the rest of the game and is actually set between case 2 and 3. Mostly it's probably to keep Maya out of the way for reveal in the end. Which is nice since it's so fun to see them together again. 

Case 2 is their meeting each other again when a client of Phoenix requested a spiritual seance with Maya to get a dead nurse to admit to being responsible for 14 deaths at his hospital. Also have a nice cutscene with a car speeding though on the highway and crashing and exploding in flames with one survivor. This chapter is more learning about the Kurain spiritual technique that Maya uses to summon Mia. And introduce Pearl, Maya's cousin and probably the stronger medium since she actually is from the main branch of the family, but due to her mother's lack of spiritual power it was passed to Mia and Maya's mother who's been missing since the DL-6 incident from the first game. It sets up Morgan Fey as an arch-villain for this and the next game. It also gives us the psych-locks which is a mini cross-examination to learn secrets from people to get evidence or such to help in the trail. New prosecutor for the series is  Franziska von Karma that whips everyone.

Playing with hearts, is a dangerous game
So don't play with mine, I'll put you to shame
It's an eye for an eye, you're in a blind rage
And I'm standing my ground, no I'm not afraid

Case 3... pretty much seen as the worst case of the original trilogy. You have to defend a stage magician from a murder in the circus. Where you have an unfunny clown, an obnoxious ventriloquist and one episode in the trial where you can't press the witness (the clown) since he does a joke and you get penalised for it. Also, is it just me or is everyone fawning over the animal tamer a bit... gross? I mean, first off, she's 16 and the suitors range from 21 to 30... and to top it off, she appears a bit... mentally challenged? I didn't have that much trouble the first time playing and it's one of the more sadder episodes when it comes to why the murder happened. 

Then comes case 4, I would argue the best case so far. First off, it's the most callbacks to the first game, you're at the hotel where April May was observing the murder of Mia Fey. Powell, Oldbag and Lotta shows up and Edgeworth reappears with the greatest theme music in the series (for real this time). They use it like 4 times and every time it just pumps the mood. You have an assassin that kidnaps Maya to force Phoenix to defend the superstar actor so you have stakes in this. Franziska gets shot, Gumshoe gets fired and crashes his car racing to the courthouse with crucial evidence and Edgeworth returns to the prosector stand after spending a year away... I assume looking into the assassin's overall activities. This case, not a single bad thing about it. This is the high point of the game and I think my original statement included the whole trilogy. 

Sadly no extra 5th case in this version. But you got to search for electronic bugs in the final chapter which together with the blood and fingerprint in the last chapter from the first game would work for a detective series. I don't recall investigations worked like that, but that would have been fun. They introduced the ability to show people as well making it a more intuitive way to ask people about different people. Still the same thing with evidence that they aren't able to investigate them. Overall, the final case makes it wonderful, the second case you need to get the payoff in the next game, same thing with the first case since it affects another case in the third game. If you could I would maybe skip the 3rd case, but it has a point for a chapter in the newer games (I think it may have been one of the extra cases and not a main one, but it was so long ago I can't remember, probably with the murdering whale). 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Switch)

 

Breaking the law! Breaking the law!

So I had to replay the Ace Attorney trilogy after playing the latest games in the series, and of course you start from the beginning. Which I apparently did in 2020 by playing the intro chapter and nothing more. Finished it in a couple of days and what a nice nostalgia ride it was. Last time was back in 2015... or maybe 2014, but I think I at the time still were rather close to play and release compared to now when I got something like 10 months of post already in the cue.

So, as I wrote back in 2015, the story of Phoenix Wright trying to help Miles Edgeworth leave the darkness that hangs above him, rumours of false evidence and so on. And now I watched a couple of Columbo episodes I can quite see a possible inspiration from that series. I mean, someone mentioned that Columbo was about an apparent bumbling police detective taking on the high and mighty who believed themselves to be untouchable by the law, and that premise is very much here. The defendant is someone everyone already dooms and it can't be that rich, famous or powerful person. So much so that I wonder if Gumshoe is actually an homage with the coat. The first chapter just establishing Phoenix, Mia Fey and Larry Butz in order to show off the gameplay. Second chapter is the death of Mia and the accusation against Maya Fey, Mia's sister. Third is the Steel Samurai episode that made me cheat my way through the whole game on the 3DS, which I didn't do this time (maybe due to having a save function that allows for easy retry, still got caught on some pixel hunting episodes). Fourth and final original chapter on the original GBA game is the trail of Miles Edgeworth. And I got a say, it feels rather short so I get adding another chapter for the DS version, but the ending feels right here. It's a bit like Ni No Kuni where there is a natural end, and then a tacked on chapter after for the upgrade to better console (in that case from DS to PS3). 

I'm not the only one seeing that right? He even have a dog!

Fifth chapter on the other hand is great. We have actual investigating to do. Ema Skye brings both finger prints and blood stains hunt, and to be honest I was listening to a couple of Gabriel Knight 3 playthroughs and I had some great cravings for that kinda gameplay. Of course Ace Attorney don't give the whole experience since it amounts to... what, 3 finger prints and 6 blood stains? They of course changed how it worked a bit since the 3DS had a touch screen as well as a microphone to blow away the dust, all changed to buttons now... thank god. Don't recall how often I had problems with the microphone not working correctly with the earphones plugged in. We can also investigate items in 3D which made it a lot more fun since otherwise the only thing you could do was press statements to change the meaning of evidence. The chapter also deals with corruption in the very top of the criminal law enforcement.

Bad things with it... I now get why I get the newer games to be a bit boring, they are so slow compared to this game. The statements fly by and it's easy to rush through if you press again and again. It doesn't work like that in the newer games, which is obviously blamed on the shift to 3d characters who has to show every quirk. I mean, Enoch in the Great Attorney 2 used what, like 15 seconds on every statement showing him doing the robot. You get the same problem here since they made a video tape I believe is made with 3d characters that move so slow and you can't fast forward enough. Other than that, it was a great game. The graphics are nice and the music top notch. Everything from the awaiting the trail to the piecing together to evidence to... wait, there's no Edgeworth theme here? Did they introduce it in the next game with Franziska von Karma's theme first? Well, that make me looks bad in the last post.

The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (Switch)

 

Wen er anfällt,
Dieser Hund von Baskerville, oh yeah,
Hat verloren
In dem Kampf um Baskerville, oh, yeah

So continued with the second game, not that hard when both are in the same application. Starts of back in Japan with Susato disguising herself as a boy in order to defend her friend who are accused of the murder of... the girl that murdered Dr Watson? All right! Turns out she was killed by a journalist who was a bit miffed that she was able to escape justice. Ok, it also tells us that the reason Susato was called back was a ruse by her father since he hadn't fallen ill, but apparently a report from the author guy was the cause for some reason. With that we get the retelling of the story that followed the not murder on Baily Street. That have to been cut from the first game since the colourful person appeared again and the not-murder victim turned in again. She still didn't die, although nearly took her own life. It ends with the loot from a burglar being found containing a jewel studded dog collar.

And the third one we have a mad scientist trying to create a teleporter, but the the financier is murdered. Turns out that the scientist is also an old classmate with lord van Ziek. There's bombs, a dead man arising from the grave, a tale of the Professor, the worst mass murderer in London, wax dolls and madam Tussauds and a man seeming to be half clockwork machine. And this is only the third chapter, it ends with Kuzuma returning from the dead and revealing that the Professor is actually Kazumas father. Gave me a bit of Professor Layton flashbacks with the exploding machine.

4th chapter and it's the death of inspector Gregson... wow, a prominent character in the games is killed and Barok van Ziek is the defendant? And this isn't even the last chapter? What will they do to top this? What we have is an international conspiracy with assassins, a cover up of a prison escape, falsified evidence in a ten year old case, the reaper of Baily exposed and so much more... and then the chapter ends midway and continues in chapter 5. Well that explains it. Too big for one chapter. What don't we learn here? Watson wasn't Iris father, but Klint van Zieks, the brother of Barok. Watson wasn't even Watson, but Susato's father was Holmes assistant. Klint was also responsible for the Professor, but coerced by Lord Chief Justice Stronghart, and the murderer of both Kazuma's father and inspector Gregson was the Japanese judge. The ending was a bit contrived though since it basically ends with Holmes, using a hologram to persuade Queen Victoria of Britain to sack Stronghart when he has the whole judiciary eating from his palm. The clearest form of Deus Ex Machina I've seen.

Together these two games are great, how they constantly spin back to the case of the professor, leaving more details as everything goes on, and letting it feel like Sherlock is pulling the strings behind the scenes to solve this 10 year old mystery. Individually... maybe the second one is better since it contains the heavy hitter cases that have the pay-off, but you need the establishing game. Also, strange that they did away with the jury in the last two chapters when it was a prominent feature for the game. Also, the music is a bit lacking. Not bad and I liked it, but there's something missing. In the other games one of the best tracks is the Edgeworth theme whenever it shows up (that become the theme for van Karma in the second game as well) and in the latest games the music with the thought thread was great in pumping you up, missed that kinda sequence here, maybe because the game was a lot easier so they didn't need to try getting people on the same page (meaning it was probably better telegraphed what to do). I frankly had only 2 problems and both was related to missing an item to investigate since it was obscured by things around it that also could be investigated.

Overall I liked them. The package also had some "Escapades" that are short stories taking place around the first game. Funny little moments like the discussion on different taxes... I'm a political scientist, of course I found the discussion of the absurd taxes to be interesting. Strangely non for the second game. Also, the game sets up the possibility for a 3rd game in the series with Sherlock and friends traveling to Japan it feels, but there is non after that and it originally came out in 2017, might we get a new game soon? It haven't even been a mainline Ace Attorney game either, or yet another Ace Investigation game.

The Great Ace Attorney 1: Adventures (Switch)

 

Nebel zieht in dichten Schwaden
übers Moor von Forrest Hill,
Grün-gespenstig grinst ein Irrlicht,
Es ist Nacht in Baskerville.

Well, another murder mystery visual novel played and what better than Ace Attorney, set sometime around the beginning of the 20th century as the young... well, Naruhodo. Bit more problematic to remember for me than Phoenix. First case is Naruhodo representing himself in court for acusation of killing a foreign professor in medicine, a John H. Wilson... it's supposed to be Watson, but due to draconic copyright protectors in the Doyle estate they decided to change it to get it released at all since I think I actually hear the real name of Sherlock Holmes in the trailers for the japanese original releases. Yes, Sherlock Holmes have a prominent presence in the game. Back to the trial, Naruhodo have only his friend the law student Asogi beside him (who feels a bit like Simon Blackquil from the last games), but after interference from another professor Naruhodo have to defend himself so that a failure to protect Naruhodo would lead to Asogi to not cancel the planned trip to Great Britain for an exchange student program between the empires of Great Britain and Japan. 

It turns out that Watson was poisoned by some new poison from South America that paralysed him by a student from Great Britain, but she had some diplomatic immunity that forced the Japanese to give her to the British consul in Shanghai. But Naruhodo is proclaimed free. So Asogi invites him as a stowaway on the trip to England, which starts with the death of Asogi and Naruhodo is once again blamed for the crime, until the detective Herlock Sholmes.... I'm gonna say Sherlock Holmes onward, even though the running gag of the german Herr Lock Sholmes is kinda funny and his judicial assistant Susato. So Naruhodo takes Asogi's place and the first trial they have to endure in London is protecting this rich Irishmen that been charged with murder and to top it all off is being prosecuted by the Repear of the Baily, the Lord of Darkness, Barok van Zieks.

Wer verbreitet Angst und Schrecken,
Wer vernichtet was er will,
Jeder sucht sich zu verstecken
Vor dem Hund von Baskerville.

Every defendant that faces the Grim Reaper ends up dead, even if they are cleared of all charges. Which is silly superstitious. Well, you get your client McGuilder off the hooks after some evidence have been made light... which of course is strange since it's a bit convenient, especially when the witness Gina Lestrade shows up with her pickpocket skills. Well, case closed and everyones happy. 10 minutes later the scene of the crime (an omnibus) is set a flame with McGuilder inside, too late to save. Damn.

Another case is clearing another japanese fellow who is apparently one of the most famous Japanese writer to have ever lived that lived in England for three years before returning home to Japan somewhere around 1907 or so, which gets strange since the game clearly puts him to be there only a year. Here Sherlock comes back and you are introduced to his assistant Iris Watson that writes the stories that are published in the magazines. Iris being the daughter of John Watson, the same Watson killed in the first case? Well, the author is cleared of charges after it turns out it was a domestic dispute that got out of hand and a knife accidentally fell into the back of an innocent victim. Which turns out to be the first victim to survive an Ace Attorney case I believe. 

The last case concerns defending Gina after being accused of killing a pawnbroker. Turns out it's a tale of governmental secrets, cold blooded revenge when it turns out the reason is that a perpetrator wanted a couple of discs for a music box encoded with logs of secret information in morse code. Information the perpetrator was supposed to sell to McGuilder through his father, but McGuilder killed him which was the first case and then faced revenge by being burned. After the trail Susato leaves back to Japan since her father have fallen ill, the same professor that interfered in the beginning of the game. Meanwhile they solve the morse code and the names Asogi and Watson turns up and here the game ends.

It was a fun game. They changed it up a bit with trying to solve Sherlock's flawed leaps of logic to make less courtroom cases. They also references a lot of Holmes adventure so I checked them up in a compilation of the greatest Holmes Adventure I have in my book shelf. The Speckled Band being the most fun since they poke fun of inconsistencies of the story, such as that the snake listened to whistling and was trained with milk or was incapable of climbing the wall. One problem though, as is it's clearly not a complete game. The murderer in the first game gets away, the message at the end of the last case is unsolved. A character appears in episode 3, but isn't referenced again (if I didn't miss something). Loved van Ziek, but his enigma in being gone for 5 years and suddenly appearing and taking these paltry cases Naruhodo is involved makes no sense. 

There's a sequel and luckily it's on the game. One problem though it's a bit often the game case is a locked room mystery and I find it a bit repeating. The several witnesses are fun and was used in the Layton and Phoenix crossover game earlier, which I played 7 years ago. Must be easier since I didn't look up any hints (or maybe save scumming helped with that). Also, the jury feels like a counter argument from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney where we needed to use a jury to convict the main bad guy, but here the jury is more of an hindrance since they interrupt all the time and is swayed by every little bit of change in the story. Interesting how the story also shows racism, arrogance of the great powers and how they bend the will of weaker nations around them.

Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

Enemies of the law beware

So I finished the latest Ace Attorney game and it was an enjoyable ride from start to finish. No Nine-tails village episode that completely put me to sleep, no I enjoyed pretty much most of the episodes. Worst being the Athena one, but that one at least had Simon Blackquill in it alleviating it to a rather fun episode... that or the constant references to one of the main witnesses "balloons". Interestingly the stakes is immedialty higher since with Phoenix in Kurah'in a guilty verdict is a death sentence for the defendant AND those who would defend a guilty person. And to annoy me more they have Divination Seances which shows the last moments of the victim and the summoner then interprets them and I have to blast holes in them. It's like the movies from the earlier games and I hate those. And don't get me started on the new prosecutor who I really detested for most of the game. It might be that his snobby spiritual side really rubs me the wrong way with all "let it go" and "you will join the defendant in the fourth level of hell". I had a good mind to throw back how his soul would feel in hell for almost sentencing an innocent (or more) people to death. The good thing about that is that the only time I felt I really need to beat the prosecutor.

Everything is forgiven Simon

There are five cases presented as the main story and a special episode and two smaller "what if"-stories that has nothing with the games cannon to do at all. And I gotta say they hit pretty hard with call backs to earlier games. Galvin is mentioned and appear in one of the one-offs. Simon joins the defence side in one. Gumshoe is mentioned, Ema Skye is back as the main investigator. The Troupe Grammereye has a whole case to themselves and Larry Butz is back in the special episode as Edgeworth take the stand as the main prosecutor. Yes, it feels like Ace Attorney all right. Oh yeah, and Maya and Pearl Fey are back as well.

Now back to the serious stuff

So the main story is that Phoenix is in Khura'in to visit Maya Fey who are about to finish her training as a spirit medium. While there he gets caught up in several murder trails and as the literal only lawyer in Khura'in he must protect the innocent and try to stop the laws that perverse the judicial system in the land and restore the spirit of justice. Most of it can be traced to the Defendant Culpability Act which is explained above and was enacted 23 years prior after the assassination of the former queen by the leader of the current insurgent leader and former lawyer Dhurke Shaman (... or however you spell the name) which is the foster father of Apollo Justice who he took in when his father died in the assassination 23 years ago and he's also the father of the main prosecutor of this game, who's mother was the former queen. It's a real mess.So it's more of an Apollo story actually although there's a a total of 3 episodes with Phoenix and 2 with Apollo (but Apollo have case nr 5 which feels like 2-in-1 case). Athena only got 1. She actually hardly got any time at all, not even in the extra cases either. In the special episode she mostly run away from Trucy to avoid getting in her magician act.

As stated overall a good game, maybe case 4 is the weakest (and it happens to be Athena's case), but Simon and Taka is there to make up for it. Did I cheat anytime in the game? Yes, chapter 3 with the divination seance which made me rage since I never really had a clear gasp at where I was going and the twist of the story took me by surprise. Also the end of case 5 was a bit anti-climatic. Nothing really wrong and it works completely fine, but I expected we would have forced the main culprit to admit a culpability in a murder and force said person to either take the punishment or rewrite the law. The games solution worked as well, but still.

Ace Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste!

It was AMAZINGLY COOL! Damn, this puts Apollo Justice to shame since this one has a better connection to Ace Attorney. Frankly, we have Gumshoe, Wendy Oldbag, Menkins, Lotta Hart, Maggy Pie, Viola from the loan shark agency, both Von Karmas, Payne and Larry Butz and you know  that if something smells, it's usually the Butz. They even got Ema Sky. Apollo Justice got Ema Sky and Phoenix Wright.

We're a DUO, A DUO

It's basically the same although more focus on the cases and finding evidence to use compared to the Attorney games. It's a bit more fun though since it is actually much more logical compared to Phoenix insane turn it upside down logic. Although some things make me appreciate Dual Destinies saving futures. I was gonna play it legit and did up to the last case where I restarted twice due to failure and after that I used a walkthrough to finish it up. Damn final villain was hard to get. Mostly since it was so insanely long without much way in restoring the bar at the top. Especially when I have to finger him for the crime *spoilers* you use a statue, but there is two of them so don't fail to show the right one. *spoilers*. Also, you can walk around the actual sites and at points deduce if methinks wrong and such. And the music, Edgeworths theme is one of the best and here it's used all over. The new music isn't bad either.

Murder on the dance floor.

The story is that while traveling back to the states Edgeworth stumbles upon the activities of a smuggling ring that been active for over 10 years leaving dead corpses all over and some of them being important for the career of Edgeworth himself. So it's your job to stop this ring together with the always loyal Gumshoe and series newcomer Kay Faraday, the great thief who hunts for the truth. Another things it ups over Apollo, the story actually means something for Edgeworth and those around him. It's almost like they dropped all side characters and wanted to start new with Apollo and gave Edgeworth all remaining ones. They made a sequel, but sadly it's still stuck in Japan so I must wait for the next game... whenever that is coming.

Ace Attorney: Duel Destinies

He's Back, the Man Behind the Badge and he's after... the truth?

So I finally finished this game which I got around I got the New 3DS. I played the intro and half the first "real case" and just stopped. Probably because it was just so absurd and the story didn't grip me, didn't help that the protagonist was Apollo together with newcomer Athena Sykes. It was just a stop until the next case which just flipped out on the crazies... although I knew who the bad guy was even before the murder was discovered.

Hey! Teacher! Leave these kids alone!

No, the big case is the third one which takes place before and after the tutorial case. It's long, but it needs that to establish characters, motivations and the drama. It tells the tale of sabotaged space program and how this games prosecutor Simon Blackquill ended up on death row. It's amazing and actually has a twist on the culprit that would have been really good... if I hadn't stumbled upon it at TVTroopes. Damn that site. So it spoiled the big shock which would have been awesome hadn't I read it since I couldn't have believed it. I also got the special episode telling the first case Phoenix Wright took after getting his badge back. Also a great episode which is very tragic in it's core story and at the same time really silly due to some of the premises. Both the last episode and this special one had a visit by Pearl Fey and it was so damn fun to see. Klaus Gavin also made an appearance and the best character of them all shows up to take the stand once again.

I broke the law and the law won!

The music, the scenery, the stories and the throwbacks to the earlier games all makes this game better than Apollo Justice. I care about the defendants, the lawyers have a personal stake in it and friends get in trouble and have to take the stand so I can save them. I can dislike Blackquill and at the same time pity him after I find out how he became so twisted and see his good sides. Apollo Justice probably suffered from having Phoenix Wright shoved into the story, but this game knew how to use all three attorney's. One final note I have to mention is that the game is a lot easier, both gameplay wise and I think as well overall, I hardly had any trouble and I didn't feel the need to... "look ahead" so to speak. The gameplay changes are that I can save and reload anywhere... which makes it possible to cheat a bit by save scumming the answers, but why bother when the game lets you restart from the final question you depleted your bar with and they even refill it. This takes away the dread from having to figure out a puzzle before you have to restart 1-2 hours of lost game progress. Quite enjoyable overall and I'm at the moment busy with Ace Investigations, the spin-off staring Miles Edgeworth himself. Oh, this is gonna be so cool.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

 

 Got my hands on the sequel for the DS and I gotta say, it's probably the most knitted story of the Ace Attorney series I've played (with exception for the Professor Layton Crossover). Each case ties together to form a rather interesting narrative, better yet, they even reference the extra case of the first game in the Ace attorney trilogy with two characters returning from that one. First, and most obvious is Ema Skye that is this games investigating detective that was your assistant in that previous case. The second one is the police assistant that makes a brief cameo in this game. At least we tied all games together. Things that changed up is that Phoenix Wright isn't the main character in this game, actually he's the defendant in the very first case, which hardly is a spoiler. It takes place 7 years after the trilogy and almost right after the trilogy Phoenix Wright was stripped of his Attorney badge for presenting fabricated evidence in a trail. So the suit is gone and instead we have Phoenix Wrigt the bum. And he's gotten a daughter as well. The magician girl Tracy. So who is this new defence attorney? Apollo Justice... or Polly as Tracy calls him. Dressed in red... I get it, red and blue, the constant poles of Japanese visual media.

Also, on the opposite side of the courtroom we have... sadly no Miles Edgeworth, but a rather care-free rock star prosecutor named Klavier Gavin. Strangely also educated in Germany, but he got the German accent. And as someone else said, you really can't hate him. He doesn't have the flaws of Edgeworth or Von Karma that would try to win at every chance (so much that they were rumored to use fabricated evidence) while Gavin appears to be all around nice guy that just want the truth. So right of the bat you don't have the competitive nature of the previous prosecutors (Godot clearly had a grudge against you and you could feel it how he tried to insult you at every turn), but here I don't feel it... which makes it weirder due to the story since it lends itself perfectly for such a clash, but they don't go there. So it's a bit of a disappointment compared to the trilogy. Apollo himself... feels rather alright. He has the snark that Phoenix had, but for some reason he gets more in trouble which makes him more of a clown and yet he feels more professional then Phoenix. Especially in the second case. Theirs a certain crime there that just makes for perfect delivery when you carry around the evidence and present it in court. The absurdness of the evidence coupled with the squirms of Apollo makes for a great chuckle. Sadly the defendant in that case is rather annoying.

Really, it's hard to care for some of them. Only the first and last defendant you want to protect and the first is Phoenix Wright that you know from earlier games while the last is the longest case were you build up an understanding for the defendant and feels sorry for her. The second one is rather annoying and the third one you don't hardly talk to so you can't get a real understanding of him. Also, there's not like in the old games when Maya Fey was in trouble in every game or Phoenix Wright himself or his friends got put on trail. There is something similar happening, but not really. All this makes it less personal for Apollo (even defending Phoenix Wright since it comes out of nowhere and it's only due to the player knowing who he is that it feels personal, nothing is conveyed from Apollo, just that it is his job). The game has interesting story twists, but those mostly doesn't affect Apollo directly so Apollo feels a bit disconnected from the story. May have something to do with executive meddling to push Phoenix into the story. So a bit flawed, but still some fun for one play-through, not as memorable.

Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

 

Since playing the Ace Attorney Trilogy I was hooked so I had to get this game just to see Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey again. It was fun. Created by Capcom and Level 5 it mashed both series really well. With some exception. The stile of Professor Layton clashed with Phoenix Wright more "realistic stile" that also was adopted for the cast unique for this game. And then voice acting, a bit trouble with Phoenix voice, Maya not so much and the other no problem. Also, the 3D models feels a bit slow during certain scenes compared to the 2D court room reactions that went fast. Really need a job if I'm gonna get all 10 Professor Layton games. Damn crossovers. This is how they get you.

The good things is these really nice animated cut-scenes that pop up from time to time. Probably made by Level 5, the same studio that worked with Studio Ghibli on Ni No Kuni.and it shows in the animation style. What really makes this cross-over work is that it merges two different game stiles, one puzzle and the other more or less a logic puzzle visual novel (so maybe not that different). The thing is that they compliment each other. The court room puzzles is just trying to breach the witness testimonies while the puzzle is fun distractions that spice up the game play (I presume it's the other way round if you came from the Professor Layton camp first).

The story then, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey are in London for a Exchange program while Professor Layton and Luke gets dragged into a mysterious car accident by their friend Carmine Accidenti.... Really? That's what they went with? Well alright, that humor is not below me. Somehow they cross paths while they get dragged into a magic book and transported into a medieval town and it's your job to unlock the mysteries of the town and protect the innocents from the fires of the witches court. Get's real intense. Really, the ones you protect you really fight for because you know they will get dropped into the fires of hell directly if they loses. Sadly the witnesses gets on my nerves. Really, in the Phoenix Wright games some witnesses just got on your nerves, while others accidentally stood in your way as they misremember or are tricked by some illusion. In this game though they change it up by having multiple witnesses egging each other on and everyone adjusting their testimonies to get your client sent to the fires. Credit to the game for emulating probably the right feel of a witch trial were they egged each other on for a guilty verdict, but man, it makes me despise the witnesses. 

So, question, did I "cheat" on this game by looking up the answer? Yes... and No. Technically No since the game provides a hint function by using hint coins you find hidden on the different sets. You can use these both in court and during the puzzles making some sections so much easier. For example a moving tile puzzle where each move changes the floor and you need to get all tiles on the same side or the court room picture puzzle to point out contradictions, I hate those segments in the other games. Of course, if you are willing to use them you can get around the game in 23 hours, but you can also play it hardcore, no hint coins, no penalties and no loss of puzzle points (or whatever it was called). If it get you anything I don't know. Still, fun game with an interesting story and the voice acting works fine together with fantastic cut-scenes. Also, really fun if you played the Ace Attorney trilogy with the references like "17 cups of tea" or the end objection line. Hell, even Edgeworth makes a voiced cameo once or twice in the game. Hope they make a sequel.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

OJECTION!

Another game I didn't think about buying and I heard about these game since they came out. Original Game Boy Advance games ported to the DS and now piffed up for 3DS and HD. Basically a point-and-click adventure game centered around a defence attorney protecting the innocent from death row... with the help of a spirit medium and a bumbling police detective. A really fun game with interesting stories and characters that really connects with me (if other feels the same I don't know). I really feel for the characters, even some of the murderers you feel for since sometimes the victims are not some little angel. Since the games are more story driven than anything else I will not spoil anything that tells who the murder is or something like that. Which makes it hard to say anything about the special cases so I'm gonna speak of overall themes. The first game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney overall feels more about the prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. The cases ties in more with him overall and tells his background as he became prosecutor and also his connections to Phoenix Wright. A fun little note is that there is one case that probably comes when it was ported for the DS since it also have moving pictures on a videotape, several pictures where you must press the screen and characters that I guess came in later games. Which is rather noticeable since it isn't mentioned in the other games or even make a cameo compared to most other characters that show up again and again.

I presume the first game sold enough to warrant 2 direct sequels since both games feels like their stories are connected more than the others and was made at the same time. The first sequel, Justice for All is more about Maya Fey (your spirit medium side-kick) and her heritage. Plus they set up a really great arching enemy for the next game, Trails and Tribulations which incidentally is more about Phoenix Wright. And the truth is that when the game ended after almost 70 hours I felt a bit misty eyed. All the characters, the ups and downs in the courtroom and then it was all over. No more Gumshoe, Edgeworth, Pearls and Maya Fey and no more Phoenix Wright, well until he was back again, but for that I need a larger memory card. A funny thing is the localization where it's stated they are American and ergo the games take place in America. Then explain to me how it can be that there are Japanese shrines and temples fricking everywhere I go, not to mention all the Japanese symbols and texts all over the place?

Gameplay mechanics then. Looking for clues and evidence to use in the courtroom to expose contradiction in the testimonies. Nothing wrong for the most part. Sometimes though it's the usual point-and-click sin of having clearly seen clues that you can't pick up until you have a in-game reason to pick it up, even though I as the player can think one or two steps ahead. Of course this also bites me when trying to prove contradictions as I can see the contradiction and have proof, but the game doesn't allow it since I need to follow the game designers logic than how I think. It would work if the penalizing system wasn't made harder after the first game. In the first game every recess restored the penalty bar, but in the second game to restore the bar you have to unlock something called Psyche-lock during the investigation segments of the game, meaning I have to treck through 2-3-4 trails before it was back to 100 % meaning every penalty is hard on you (I think they did that since the first game had penalties for doing the right thing since you were a newbie at it) since they stick for a long time. 

Also, other things I don't like is proving contradictions on a photo cause it isn't always clear how Phoenix Wright thinks (which harkens back that it isn't my logic that solve the case, it's the game designer). Worst part is if you know it is a contradiction, you have the proof, but you must also choose which statement is false, even though it could be another one. Another worst part was the tape in the final case of the first game, where we time and time again went back and forth over the tape showing inconsistencies in the testimonies. You have to play each case in one sitting as well, since you need to keep all information in the head to see if somethings wrong. And this is when I'm shamefully admit that I time from time had some little guiding help from a walkthrough. Yes, I know, but sometimes the logic is a bit over the place and when the game throws instant game overs if you press the wrong statement or penalize you for even trying. I have a hard time going through the same dialogue again, especially if it's the very end of a long trail segment just before recess. Still, took me 70 hours with cheating here and there so it's still a massive game. I can also chalk it up to being more of a story kind of guy and really enjoying it and the suspense of a court room drama.

Final thing, the music is fantastic, the different prosecutor themes of Miles Edgeworth and Franziska Von Karma are the best, and the plot thickens sound bite puts me on edge every time. Most tracks are energetic and  want more and more of it. Even if it's just a 10 second loop. Hmm, need to get my hand on that.