Well, here it is, the sequel to the wonderful, excellent, awesome game that is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Due to the fact that this is a direct sequel to the first game and it plays very similarly, I'm going to be making comparisons between the two. Now, since that's all out of the way, here're some things you should know. This is a point n' click adventure game (not an accurate simulation of being a lawyer, thank goodness). As per the genre conventions, it is text-heavy, gameplay is repetitive and non-action oriented, and story and characters take precedence over puzzles (of which there really aren't any). If any of these things make you unhappy, then I would avoid this game. Also, it's a good idea to play the first Phoenix Wright game before this one, or you will be missing a lot of references.
Graphics (score 9/10): The graphics are exactly the same as they were in the first game. PW features mostly anime-inspired character-portraits on static background environments. The character portraits do change position and facial expressions, so it isn't entirely static, especially during the court sequences. This sort of graphical style is acceptable in this genre (and pretty good for its purposes, in my opinion). Everything is crisp, clear and looks good, so no complaints from me.
Music (score 10/10): The music here is just as good as the music from the original PW, in fact, much of it is very similar. As such, it merits the same score in music I gave the first PW. However, if you've played the first game and then immediately play this one, it may sound stale and re-used to you. The music scores are pretty good in and of themselves, though. Plus, they keep it from getting too dull since each location and character has their own theme, plus music often changes dynamically based of what's going on onscreen. For example, the music might change from a character's normal theme to something melancholy if they start talking about something sad.
Characters (score 10/10): The characters are the highlight of this series, and they don't disappoint at all. Our plucky lawyer protagonist Phoenix Wright and his sidekick Maya make a return, of course, along with several characters from the previous PW game such as Detective Gumshoe, Winston Payne, and Wendy Oldbag. Several new characters are introduced as well, the most important probably being Franziska Von Karma (she looks a bit like a German dominatrix with a whip). If you haven't guessed it by now, the character designs are quite quirky. Despite being humorous, there is actually a lot of good subtlety to their personality and decent character development for the main characters; none of them feel one-dimensional at all.
Story (score 10/10): Well, you've probably figured this out by now, but you play as Phoenix Wright and you solve cases and defend your clients in court cases. There are four cases in total, and each one involves its own little storyline, but they really need to be played in order since they form a cohesive continuous narrative. The storyline is excellent and I'm quite pleased overall. Much of it is quite humorous, but an equal amount is very serious, lending itself to a nice balance. Unfortunately, in order to help ease new players into the game, they decide to use the old "amnesia" plot device for the first case. Oh, so that's why Phoenix doesn't know how to do anything (thus necessitating a tutorial), he has amnesia; of course! All joking aside though, I can forgive them for using the old "amnesia" cliché since the rest of the game is so very well put together story-wise. Objectively, the storyline is excellent, but I found it to be a little less gripping than the original PW, if for only one reason: Miles Edgeworth. He is a very compelling and interesting character from the original PW and I started to feel impatient with what was happening in the here and now of the current case since I badly wanted to know what had happened to him. This is especially apparent during Case 3, which just ends up feeling like a giant cock-tease for the appearance of Miles Edgeworth. If you are a big fan of his character (like me), this can start to drive you nuts. Of course, this "weakness" is also the story's strength--it keeps you playing till the very end (and don't worry, he plays a big role in Case 4). Obviously, my complaints won't mean a thing to you if you've never played the original game or if you have no interest in his character. In fact, if you aren't a huge fan of his character like I am, you won't be distracted from the fact that all the cases are interesting and extremely well-written (yes, even Case 3). The awesomeness that is Miles Edgeworth aside, though, the story is quite good and fully deserves the 10/10 score I've given it; you'll likely become very emotionally invested in the story like I did.
Gameplay (score 8/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. Well, you should have gotten this from the introduction, but this game is a point n' click adventure game, and basically has that sort of gameplay. It's just reading text and choosing options. If you don't like that sort of thing or don't have much patience, then you should avoid this game. The gameplay here is almost exactly the same as the original. You basically have portions of the game where you investigate by collecting evidence and talking to witnesses at the crime scene. The other half of the game is spent in the courtroom cross-examining witness testimonies and looking for inconsistencies with the evidence or within the statements themselves. There's a life bar, and if you screw up too much, you get a game over and have to start over again from your last save. Thankfully, you can pretty much save at any point in time, so that should help prevent too much repetition. There are really only two differences between this game and the original: 1) the new Psych-Lock system and 2) the ramped-up difficulty. Firstly, the psych-lock system basically allows Phoenix to see (via magic) when a person is lying to him (although sadly he never uses this in court, only in the investigation phase). The person who's lying has to be shown key pieces of evidence to get them to tell the truth, and there's a life bar just like in court that depletes if you get things wrong. If you do drain your bar, you're forced to start your Psych-Lock over again from the beginning (which is kinda pointless since it's pretty short). The difficulty with this new feature comes from the fact that you can initiate a psych-lock even if you don't have the proper pieces of evidence. This leads to a lot of floundering in confusion as you get almost all the way through a psych-lock only to realize that you must be missing a key piece of evidence to finish the thing. Aside from that though, the court-room portion has been ramped up in difficulty, particularly in Case 3 and Case 4. The penalties become especially steep; in some parts you can actually lose your entire bar in one fell mistake. Not to mention, some of the leaps in logic they expect you to make in order to solve the case become quite ludicrous. On that note, I hated cross-examining Moe the Clown for this reason. It also feels like you flounder directionless more than the previous PW in the investigation phase as well. Overall, the gameplay is just a bit more frustrating this time around as compared with the original which flowed beautifully while still making you feel like a deductive genius. I broke down a lot in the third and fourth cases and had to look up hints in an FAQ online. I just hope the third sequel (Trials and Tribulations, which I haven't played yet at the time of writing this) goes back to being less brutal in the difficulty department.
Overall (score 9/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it's my subjective overall score. Despite the fact that the gameplay got a bit more frustrating about halfway through, Phoenix Wright: Justice for All is still an excellent game and is a solid sequel to the original. The most important new character introduced, Franziska, is a strong addition to the cast and I hope to see more of her in the future. Overall, I highly recommend that you get this game if you enjoyed the original. In fact, I went out and bought all of them in the series to date. If that doesn't give you an indication of how much I enjoyed the first PW (and this one), then nothing will. I know the original games of the series can be quite pricey now, but it's totally worth adding to your gaming library, at least to me it was.Get more detail about Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Justice for All.
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