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»Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
"Third time's the charm."
The day has finally come - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and
Tribulations has arrived, and while it is the final game in the Phoenix
Wright trilogy, it certainly isn't the Ace Attorney series. While I'm
glad that I finally got to experience this game, I almost wish I
didn't, because this means that I will no longer be solving cases as
our friend Mr. Wright. The high point, however, is that this is his
crowning moment - by far, Trials and Tribulations is the best game in
the entire series. Any self-respecting Phoenix Wright fan should
snatch this off the shelves as soon as possible.
The game starts out four years before the present day of
Trials and Tribulations (which takes place in the not-so-far-flung year
of 2018 ), reliving Mia Fey's second trial. Mia, under the guidance of
Marvin Grossberg, is defending a familiar face - Phoenix Wright, who is
on trial for murder (but really, what else do people get arrested for
in these games?). Two other familiar faces show up as well - Winston
Payne, who sports a very odd hairstyle, and the Judge, with the exact
same hair. She obviously gets him acquitted of the murder - if she
didn't, none of the events in PWAA and beyond would have occurred - and
they go their separate ways until he joins Mia's law offices three
years later, which eventually became the Wright & Co. Law Offices
when she died. The game focuses on four characters primarily - Phoenix
Wright, Mia Fey, her younger sister Maya, and the mysterious prosecutor
simply known as Godot, who seems to hate Phoenix with every fiber of his being, and wishes nothing less than to defeat him for reasons unknown to anyone - most especially to Phoenix himself.
Trials and Tribulation's mechanics are exactly the same as
Justice for All. In trial, the player is almost always reading text,
and in between all of this reading is the cross-examination portion of
the trial. Depending on the testimony, the player will be required to
either press the witness's statements or present evidence that
contradicts what they testified. Earlier testimonies can be taken apart
at first simply by presenting evidence to a particular piece of the
testimony that would serve to discredit it, but with each testimony
they make, it becomes more difficult to find their contradictions,
forcing the player to press them, which usually reveals the flaw in the
testimony. If the player presents the wrong evidence or presents the
right evidence at the wrong testimony, Phoenix
will lose 1/5 of his health bar. When the health bar is depleted, the
defendant is found guilty, and the player must start from the last save
point. Be careful, as one could lose more than that one-fifth of health, for example, if Phoenix makes a significant mistake, he can lose much more, sometimes depleting his health bar instantly.
In most episodes of the game, the player has to
investigate several areas, including the crime scene. During this
sequence, the player is presented with a maximum of four options -
Talk, Move, Examine, and Present. Movement simply allows Phoenix to go to any area that he has already visited or is aware of, and examination is simply examining the area that Phoenix
is in by moving a cursor around and examining any hot spots (areas
where the Examine button appears on the touch screen). Most hot spots
are not relevant to the case, but they still provide plenty of humor.
Phoenix can also talk to and present certain things to anyone in the
area (not including anyone who is accompanying him unless they are
standing in front of him), and is given a list of subjects he can
discuss with them, with a maximum of four strings of discussion
available. Phoenix
can present items and profiles just like he can in trials, except that
he can freely present it without having to worry about losing health.
And like in Justice for All, health IS a concern outside of trials as
well, thanks to the Psyche Lock system. The Psyche Lock is activated by
presenting Maya's Magatama (the 9-looking object she wears around her
neck) to anyone who is hiding a secret from Phoenix, indicated by chains and a lock(s) appearing in front of the person. After presenting the Magatama, Phoenix must then present the right evidence or provide the right answer in order to eventually break the Psyche-Lock, allowing Phoenix to learn of the character's secret.
The touch screen, microphone, and face/shoulder buttons are usable in
Trials and Tribulations - the touch screen and face/shoulder buttons
can be used separately or together, while the microphone is used to
shout "Objection!"¯, "Take That!"¯, etc. The buttons and the touch screen
are good enough alone, but I prefer a combination of both! And to any
reviewer who dares complain about the lack of innovative
touch/microphone controls that the first one had - go to hell. If you
understood the series at all, you'd know that it would simply be
irresponsible of Capcom to do so - the first game's fifth episode was
rushed, so you want them to focus on rushing out Episode 6 for Trials
and Tribulations and allow Apollo Justice to either have less content
or get delayed?
If there's one thing that TaT absolutely excels at, it is
its plot. Trials and Tribulations not only gives players the most
satisfying and deep plot the series has ever delivered, it also ties up
many loose ends in the series without untying any new ones. The cast of
characters in Trials and Tribulations is great - probably the best
collection of the entire series. We've got an obnoxiously arrogant "Ace
Detective"¯ named Luke Atmey, an overweight spiritual medium named Bikini,
a coffee-addicted prosecutor named Godot... the list goes on. And if
you're worried that you won't see some of our old friends, fear not -
we have many returning characters (none of whom I'll reveal - that's
half the fun, right?) And thankfully, this game is just as funny and
well-written as Justice for All (and with much less typos as well!).
It's also very, very difficult and very, very long - there are five
episodes in total, and Episode 2 was incredibly long and difficult
considering how early in the game it is.
The one biggest disappointment with the plot is that it's
the end. This is the last time we'll ever play as Phoenix Wright, the
last time we'll be accompanied by Maya or Pearl, the last time we'll
face off against Edgeworth, the last time Mia will help us from beyond
the grave, the last time Gumshoe will stumble around during the trial - but it's not the last time we'll have our favorite Judge presiding over
the trials, as well as our least favorite prosecutor Winston Payne. For
those who have been under a rock, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is on
its way to America.
It takes place seven years following Trials and Tribulations, and stars
newbie defense attorney Apollo Justice, who has to defend ex-attorney
Phoenix Wright, who retired after a traumatic event and became a
professional poker player. I wouldn't mind seeing a new Phoenix Wright
title (Phoenix Wright 3.5, anyone?), but it appears that Apollo Justice
has taken the spotlight, and I've gotten over that.
The visuals haven't changed much since Justice for All -
all returning characters reuse their sprites from the previous games,
although some of them have new animations. While having so similar
sprites may hurt in some cases, this game didn't really need much
advancement in visuals. The artwork of the characters and their
humorous animations really holds up, considering they were made back in
2004 (well, some were made back in 2001 and 2002 for the first and
second installments). There are no advancements in the reused
backgrounds (i.e. the courtroom, Wright & Co. Law Offices, and the
Criminal Affairs Department), but they hold up just as well.
There's no question about it. Trials and Tribulations has the best
soundtrack in the entire series. Almost every single song it introduces
is excellent, and it borrows several of the best songs from the
previous soundtracks. Every song is appropriate to the situation. An
intense song to an intense scene, a depressing song for a depressing
scene, and a joyful song for a joyful moment, they all fit beautifully.
However, the one song I loved the most has to be Mask*DeMasque's theme
from Episode 2 (just wait until you hear it - you'll love it too).
Trials and Tribulations features a limited number of voices, just like
past games. In total, there are six voice actors in the game, compared
to Phoenix Wright and Justice for All's four VAs.
I said this with my Justice for All review, and I'll say it with this
one - my replay score is representative of me, not the average gamer.
To date, I have beaten Phoenix Wright 15 times, Justice for All six
times, and I'm already on my second playthrough of this. There's
nothing new in the second playthrough, just the same ol' same ol'. But
hey, when the same ol' same ol' is absolutely amazing and engrossing,
where's the problem? If you would like to replay it as much as I do but
can't imagine replaying it so soon after beating it, just try waiting a
few months; put it away, play some other games (like The Legend of
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Picross DS), and after your memories of
certain parts of the plot and how to find the contradictions in
testimonies have gone, give it a try.
Overall, TaT is easily the biggest game of the year for me - I'd rather
own three copies of it than one copy of Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and
...well, there just isn't a PS3 equivalent to those two. It's an epic
plot, perfect gameplay, amazing soundtrack, and a wonderful cast of
characters. It's sad to see Phoenix
go after playing as him through 13 memorable cases, but I guess all
good things have to come to an end. Apollo, don't let me down!
Article by: Alttp
Posted on: Oct. 23rd, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| By far the best game in the trilogy - while the original was an overall solid game with most of the episodes being excellent and the sequel had an overall solid selection of episodes with one absolutely amazing final episode, all five episodes in TaT are consistently amazing. |
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Graphics |
| Haven't changed from Justice for All, but they're still good. |
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Sound |
| Best soundtrack in the entire series, by far. |
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Replay Value |
| I'm the kind of guy who can watch a great movie with a great plot continuously. This game is pretty much the same situation. |
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