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Platform: Nintendo DS
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Publisher: Capcom
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Developer: Capcom
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Medium: Cartridge
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Players: 1
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Online: No
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Also on: (n/a)
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Law & Order: Anime Investigations
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With America's continuing obsessions with crime drama and anime, it's a wonder the Gyakuten Saiban series never made it stateside. Combining the two makes a strange, but effective mishmash that should appeal to enthusiasts of the two genres well...and until now, it never got the chance to shine in America. Capcom decided to remedy this, re-releasing the Game Boy Advance original on the DS with additional features and a new title: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
Our hero, the titular Phoenix Wright is a young law school grad starting at Fey and Co. Law Offices. As soon as he gets in, he's thrown into a case by Mia Fey, his new boss. One small thing: your best friend is the defendant in a murder case. If you're wondering how he could work on a case like that, as it would be a conflict of interest, you're not alone. Capcom's legal drama has plenty of strange loopholes and fake legalities that make it unrealistic at best, but work for the purpose of drama. Layers will do forensic research, enter evidence into the court record at their whimsy, and juries don't exist. Law students will go batty at the inaccuracies, the rest of us will wonder why the prosecutors look like they fell out of Castlevania.
Once presented with the introduction to a case, it's your duty to investigate. The game forces you to investigate to the fullest before it lets you pass, meaning it's impossible to miss vital evidence or clues. Most of the time will be spent talking to the crazy cast to figure out what went on, with their vibrantly exaggerated personalities coming out. Some will insult you at every turn, some will be completely bonkers, and some, like the slightly slow Dick Gumshoe, will find a place in your heart. No matter who you run into in the adventure that ensues, it's hard to forget much, if any of the diverse cast.
Investigating the scene of the crime takes up the other half of the game. Finding clues through a touchscreen-based point and click interface is simple and intuitive, with clues hidden everywhere. After you've found all the pieces of the puzzle that is the crime, the game shifts to the trial.
In the courtroom, you'll only be concerned with four people: yourself, the prosecutor, the judge, and whoever is on the witness stand at the time. Basic procedure has the witness testifying, then Phoenix is given a chance to pick it apart, statement by statement. Find the part that doesn't fit, present evidence that contradicts it, and move the plot forward. As the game goes on, this simple process gets tougher: testimonies get vaguer, and prosecutors will more frequently object to your line of questioning.
Phoenix Wright is unrealistic, and the gameplay is thin to say the least, but the writing combines humor and drama to make otherwise boring proceedings entertaining. In the words of the great artist Wayne Campbell, "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll blow chunks." Well, maybe not the last one, but the game always has a way of combining energetic character design, snappy writing, and a penchant for exciting musical themes to make it compelling throughout. If anything, the only tripping point for the title is the stubborn reliance Capcom has on forcing fake losses and last-ditch effort situations.
Quirky and nontraditional in every basic way, Phoenix Wright introduces gamers everywhere to a world where lawyers take a superheroic stature, women are gratuitously buxom, and psychic powers are accepted in the courtroom. For that, the game seems earmarked to become a cult hit...and with another game on the way in Japan, I can only see the series getting better.
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