Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Nintendo DS) Review

Considering the storyline of the Ace Attorney games and how they all interlink is imperative to the enjoyment of each game some will initially be confused by how Apollo Justice steps up as the rookie attorney on the scene, with the first defendant actually being a much older Phoenix Wright, sans attorney badge, having lost his license seven years prior. Just what is going on and why has nothing been explained properly? But it is not too long before everything begins to fall into place as bits and pieces are revealed and the roles of familiar characters come more into play. The pacing of the story for this latest outing is by far one of the strongest so far, battling with Trials & Tribulations for sheer brilliance. Each and every time you think you have the game sussed, the script throws in another twist and surprise to keep gamers on their toes, increasing the enjoyment factor considerably. The writers should most definitely be applauded for their impressive work...

In terms of the graphical prowess of the game, however, sadly things have not progressed as much as many believed it might do given how this is the first entry specifically created on DS. Okay, a lot of the surrounding locales and characters are subtly more detailed and colours are richer than before, but on the whole just glancing at this you could definitely be forgiven for thinking there is no real difference between the first three GBA remakes and this, save for the odd cut-scene here and there. The soundtrack, on the other hand, differs greatly to begin with, a change that which will not actually best please veteran fans, yet as the game continues more recognisable tunes start to filter in and the new ones really do have a tendency to be growers, so no need to worry. A bit of a drawback is how Capcom has not seen fit to add extra voice-work for now, with only the usual snippets of 'Take That!' and 'Objection' remaining in place (both of which can be shouted into the microphone as with previous games, rather than simply tapping an on-screen prompt). Perhaps that is something that will eventually be rectified, but clearly has not been addressed just yet...Thankfully it does not detract from the experience too much, but after playing Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, the lack of speech leaves the game feeling a bit dated in comparison.

The actual game itself plays just like it did before, except there is the new, quite unwelcome, addition of something called 'Perceive', a feature that will be explained later. The basic idea behind the Ace Attorney series is to investigate and then interrogate. Taking on the role of Apollo Justice, players are actually guided by none other than Phoenix Wright and his adopted daughter Trucy as they attempt to unravel various crimes and uncover the real culprit behind the dastardly deeds. As players work through each case on offer, they must absorb all the information they can find, searching around various locations (accessed via a menu screen, not by actually having the character move around), using the touch-screen to look at numerous aspects of the surroundings and piece together enough evidence to be able to confidently walk into the court-room the next day and suitably defend the accused.

Once in the court of law and proceedings have commenced, it becomes a case of analysing everything that witnesses say, scrutinising the evidence in the Court Record and ultimately attempting to find flaws in the testimonies given and turn around the verdict to obtain a 'Not Guilty' for your client. As each witness takes the stand to deliver their vital testimony, Apollo Justice will (via the obvious input of the player) press every statement for more information and eventually raise an objection, providing substantial evidence in order to ensure the claim is completely justified (or else your 'power gauge' is reduced for false accusations and wasting the judge's precious time...). So concentration is the key and skipping through conversations quickly is certainly not advised. In many cases the answer will be right in front of you, but unless enough attention has been paid to the goings-on, then the solution could easily slip right past...

The key to the game's charm is the wealth of likeable characters, witty repartee between people, the stacks of humour throughout and the completely outlandish reactions from witnesses on the whole. Of course it would all be for nothing if the system was too clunky, which is why the simple touch-screen controls help to make playing a breeze. Everything is a simple tap of the stylus away, be it choosing a piece of evidence, exploring an area for useful clues, selecting conversation threads or merely hitting 'next' to continue a conversation thread. Now, though, mock-ups of crime scenes can be manipulated to prove points, finger-prints can be uncovered by tapping dust onto the screen and blowing into the microphone to clear the excess and letters inside envelopes can be viewed by gently scratching the screen to use the in-game analysis technology. The team has tried to make use of the DS aspects more than ever, adding far more variety to the proceedings.

Sadly there is another inclusion that does not work too well. Whilst Phoenix Wright was able to use the special Magatama stone to break down people's Psyche Locks (special locks that prevent people from expressing the whole truth when quizzed for whatever personal reasons they have, each of which can be broken using evidence to force them into a corner), Apollo has the ability to 'Perceive' aspects of witnesses that give away when they are lying. Using his special bracelet he can slow down time whilst the player zooms in on the witness and checks out their whole body as they say a particular phrase. The first reason for it not working too well is because it is far too random in that you can use the Perceive technique on their whole testimony, which causes unnecessary frustration and sometimes boredom, and secondly you need to slowly move the tiny zoomed-in window around as quickly as possible because if they finish what they are saying completely before the sign is spotted, you simply have to start the process again. Telltale signs of lying include people moving their eyes when saying a certain phrase, armpits starting to sweat or nervous twitches, so they are normally really small and very easy to miss. The idea in principle is a clever one, but in practice it proves to be quite a slow, cumbersome process that will hopefully be refined in future games featuring Apollo as it will likely return seeing as it is a key feature of Apollo's back-story.

As players work their way through the four cases on offer, the various strands of the storyline that may have seemed quite unrelated earlier on in the game start to all weave together so perfectly that by the time the credits begin to roll there is such a sense of satisfaction, both for long-term fans and even those coming to the series for the first time. The length of each case is such that there is no worry about feeling short-changed either, with sufficient content to keep the majority happy, with just enough thirst to keep them wanting more from the already announced Gyakuten Saiban 5 and Gyakuten Kenji games. In the absence of Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations in Europe, this should definitely be strongly considered by fans of the previous Ace Attorney outings...