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Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
“Order! Silence in court!” Since the Nintendo DS debuted a couple of years ago, the Phoenix Wright games have been one of the stand-out series on the console. Part point-and-click adventure, part text driven RPG, it has been one of the defining points on Nintendo’s revolutionary handheld console because of its simple, inquisitive game play and quirky creativity.
The series appears to be set in some strange alternative reality where crazy laws and sociopathic prosecution lawyers rule the world. For some reason, as a defence lawyer, it’s up to you to find your own clues and question those involved in order to free your client. It seems that the only thing the police are there for is to make your life difficult. But bizarre twists of reality aside, if Phoenix Wright games just involved you questioning people in court then it wouldn’t be half as interesting and intriguing as it is. Before the trial (which usually involves a murder of some sort), you have to travel to the different locations, learn character backgrounds and potential motives and collect the evidence that you find the along the way.
When it gets to the trial yourself, you have to use your knowledge of the case and the evidence you have found to squeeze out the lies (being Phoenix Wright, there’s bound to be many) and find the real culprit. But any mistakes that are made in court (such as incorrect answers or presenting the wrong evidence when challenged) usually result in loss of life points and the game ends when you run out. For a man that has only lost one trial in his entire life (due to the events of the gripping finale in the previous game) he still comes across as a bumbling imbecile that has to rely on the advice of others in order to win. While this help is obviously aimed at the player, in case they have forgotten how the game works or are new to the series, it does become a little patronising at times.
The game uses the same visual style as the others and remains a one-layered, 2D game. But as usual the animations are amazing; every character has their own individual look and facial expressions that give the game a Japanese anime quality. It also gives the game an edge of humour; you can’t but laugh as Phoenix gets himself into a rut and starts sweating after every mistake even if it does mean you lose some life points. Occasional lines of dialogue (which seems to have been translated quite well) are also genuinely hilarious, such as Mia’s reaction to an alluring female witness, “We know whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard”, is so misplaced that it’s laugh-out-loud funny. Sometimes it’s almost like watching a cartoon play out in front of your eyes, albeit a very confusing one.
Traditional point-and-click games almost died out when 3D graphics made an appearance, so in this modern world of realistic visuals and HD televisions they are somewhat refreshing. Maybe the reason why this series has been so successful is because it reverts back to one of games’ forgotten but most popular genres but still adapts itself to out times. The DS touch screen once again means you’ll never have to press any of the console’s underused buttons, and the mic gives you the chance to stop witnesses in the middle of their testimonies by yelling “objection” at them. It’s always a fun addition to the games but you probably won’t be trying the latter part out any time in public unless you are partial to bemused stares from people on the street. The incidental music, although borrowed heavily from the previous games, is brilliant in its synth simplicity and really adds to the drama of the scenes. The occasional touch of voice acting and sound effects give the sense of something happening and that there’s more to this game than constant reams of text.
It’s the 2D element of the game that makes it look so original. If the graphics were any different it just wouldn’t seem right and although some of these detective style games on the DS have fared quite well with 3D elements (such as Hotel Dusk) by keeping the same actual look, Trails and Tribulations eases you in because it’s so familiar. The animations are brilliant and although most of the characters have the same model from previous games, they do find a way to convey their emotions. There’s nothing more satisfying in this game than pressing a witness for answers and having them break apart in front of you. When that happens, you’re on the right track.
There’s also a whole host of new and returning characters. Those who make an appearance are: Phoenix’s assistant Maya Fey, a spiritual medium in training who can be irritating at times, Dick Gumshoe, who sounds like he should be a character from a hard-boiled detective novel but is more like an incompetent version of Columbo, and Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix’s rival and sometime friend who sometimes shows up. Making his debut is the mysterious new prosecutor Godot, a masked caffeine addict who looks like someone out of Star Trek, a genuinely an interesting character and acts as one of the game’s main foes. But it’s meeting these people in the different cases that makes it exciting, along with the whole whodunit side to the stories. Like a great TV series each episode has its own plot, coupled with constant “To be continued” screens every time there’s a major twist, but they are all tied together by one overall theme. It’s this aspect that makes the Phoenix Wright games so engaging because you always want to play on to see what happens next.
The first case acts as a prequel and actually takes place five years earlier in the timeline putting you in control of Mr Wright’s deceased former mentor Mia Fey, who is defending a young Phoenix against a charge of murder. This chapter looks into the reasons as to why he became a lawyer in the first place, adds some much needed depth to the character and gives more background on Mia Fey, who was abruptly killed off early in the first game with little character development and has only since returned in the form of an all knowing spirit much like the ghost from Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). One problem, however, is that each chapter is restricted to a handful of characters, making it quite easy to figure out who the real killer is; so having to go through the constant questioning does feel like a waste of time.
It would be good to say that Capcom have used the time saved by not updating the graphics to give players more in-depth playability but once again it’s a missed opportunity. It looks as if the brilliant extra chapter at the end of the first game, which had more interactivity with evidence and was lengthier than the normal cases, was just a one off after all. It’s such a shame really because although the game is fun, the Phoenix Wright routine has become a bit tired by this point. While that formula has not changed (being that it’s a port of four year old GBA game), it comes across as a bit cheap and lazy to offer fans an almost identical game to what they’ve had previously. It does however continue to use the psyche-locks, an interesting addition from the previous game which involves witness’ information suddenly being hidden away by special locks that only Phoenix can see. Only by presenting the right evidence are these broken and you can finally gain the facts you need to continue the game. As with the second game, this is an interesting feature that does prolong the game’s lifespan but they do become annoying when piled on repeatedly in the later chapters.
As the final game in the Phoenix Wright series (with new comer Ace Apollo soon to take up the Ace Attorney title) it does very well to wrap up the story with numerous cases looking into the past and present of Phoenix’s life, but it’s certainly a shame that this is the last time we’ll possibly see these characters. Although it’s merely a conversion of an old game, it does come across as a little lazy and could have been developed more. This will definitely please Phoenix Wright fans that want more of the same and enjoy the series’ impressive story telling techniques, but for those who desire someone new will be slightly let down.
Overall 7/10
Genre: Adventure/visual novel
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Ages: 12+
Available on: Nintendo DS
