Phoenix Wright- Trials and Tribulations

Warning: Spoilers may be ahead. Read this review with caution (and comments are loved)

I've been a fan of the Phoenix Wright series for a year or so, but it was only recently that I played the third installment, due to the fact that I could not take it anymore. (I've sadly been playing on an emulator due to my lack of cash for my own DS, but now that I received one it's only the matter of finding the cartridge.)

So anyway, while I don't know if I can consider this a "casual" game, I decided to write about it anyway while the game is still fresh in my head.

First of all, before you play this game, I highly recommend you play the first 2. That would be "Ace Attorney" and "Justice for All." Why? First of all, Trials and Tribulations contains plots and details that happened in the past 2 games. Second, I feel it could be said that Trials and Tribulations is difficult for someone who is not familiar with how the game mechanics work.



I would think Capcom made sure that their targer market would be those who have already played the previous series and would not make it any easier to finish the game. After all, it would suck if their latest game did not do justice to the first two.

Anyway, let's talk about the game.

Interactivity One of the cool things about the DS is that it's quite interactive, with the implementation of a microphone that can actually be used in games. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney made use of this during some of the investigations where it's like you're part of the CSI. However, Trials and Tribulations did not implement this. You don't do any CSI stuff in this game, but I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It might be...if you like that stuff.

Story and Character Development The cases that had happened, all have something in common. They all revolve around the main antagonist, Dahlia Hawthorne. There was only one case that didn't have anything to do with her, but it was still a pretty interesting case. (Well, Recipe for a Turnabout was KINDA silly with the whole Tigre looking like Phoenix but I suppose they needed a side-case somehow to sorta sidetrack the player for a while)

This is where we get to learn more about Mia Fey, and how her life was before Phoenix Wright took over. It was a good thing to do this actually, since her death was kinda surprising considering we all thought she was going to be a MAJOR character and then gets cut off so early in the game. It's also interesting to see how it all started before Phoenix Wright came in, during the first case where Mia Fey and Miles Edgeworth made their debut and in a sense, how the last cases related to it. (On another note, Mia and Miles 6 years ago == WOW)

Other than the DL-6 incident from Ace Attorney, we also are brought back to a case in Justice for all which was the murder at the Kurain Village and Maya Fey was put to the stand. In T&T, we learn more information about the Kurain Village and the cruel family feud where the branch families are fighting for the main bloodline, and as promised from Justice for All, Morgan Fey did try to cast revenge.

It's amazing how one case connected these 2 past cases, and older cases that were only brought to light in this chapter of the series. We've come to understand more about how Mia Fey grew up to the lawyer she was before she died, and how Phoenix has also become more mature to handle his cases. If you've noticed, Phoenix is rarely unsure of himself when he makes objections unlike before. He knows his stuff now, which I feel is a major development. After all, even by now the players are more familiar with how the cases go so it makes sense that Phoenix has a more confident attitude than he did before.

Miles and Franziska have slightly changed as well. While Edgeworth is still arrogant and Franziska still whips anyone she finds annoying, they actually do help out Phoenix Wright when he needs it, and are vital characters in this game.

Larry is still an idiot though, but I think we can all live with that.

Art and Gameplay These 2 haven't changed since the first game which is no problem at all. The only major game update of the 3 was starting from the second game you can now present profiles for evidence and the feature of the Magatama. Phoenix Wright never had the need to change their art, and I don't mind that at all. The only thing that seems to change is the cases and the challenges of getting your client the "not guilty" verdict.

Overall: Trials and Tribulations is yet to be one of the best Phoenix Wright games I have played, and if you're a fan, you'll miss out if you don't play it.


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Mystery Case Files- Prime Suspects Review

For my first review, I'll be starting off with Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects.

Story: Someone stole a diamond. There are 20 suspects. Find the culprit.

Game Mechanics: Basically the goal is to go through around 20 set of possible suspects by searching through random locations on the map. Once you've found all the "clues", you go through your Crime Computer and piece them out through mini-games to see if the person is innocent or not.

This cycle continues until you have to find the actual diamond.

Here are some screenshots of the game:




The case report, which talks about the different suspects.



The map of Capitol City, where there are different HO scenes to find your clues



The Crime Computer

My opinion:

Story-wise, it looked like they focused more on making the game and then just making a story out of it. While they say that casual gamers don't care too much about a story, for me I felt that story is STILL important which is why games like Ravenhearst became so popular.

Like a lot of HO games, it borders around the "find clues by finding random objects" idea. So, yes it's possible you need to find 3 kinds of keyboards which has no relation to the case.

Difficulty wise, Prime Suspects is kinda tricky. Not only is the area messy like a lot of HO games, I noticed they love to mess with the ambiguity of the English language.



THE MESS

Example: 2 spades. A spade could either be a face of a card, or a shovel. You'd think once you'd find a shovel the second one would also be a shovel.

Wrong. Most likely the second spade you'll be looking for is the one you see on playing cards. It makes one think out of the box, which is great.

Along with ambiguity, they added another feature that may make it easier or harder for the player which is the x-ray/flashlight feature.



X-ray feature



Flashlight feature

To make things a little interesting certain parts of the map required that you find a battery in other locations to be able to find other items. I don't know if this makes the game easier or harder, because it has it's pros and cons. Still an interesting thing to place though.

So for every time you find all the clues per investigation, you use the Crime Computer and play 3 different mini-games. One is puzzle-type game, one is crossword-type of game and the last is a memory game. All 3 have one goal which is to see the underlying picture.



Sample Mini-game (Puzzle)

These mini-games are the easy to finish. The hardest one of all was the crossword puzzle, since that required me to think. (The first one was to find 10 breakfast foods...not only do I not eat breakfast, but I'm unaware of what Americans usually eat for breakfast.)

Overall:

If you're the type who just wants to find things, with no other complications like finding a key to open a door or to have a deep complex story, Prime Suspects is the game for you. Note that like the Ravenhearst series items are REALLY tricky to find due to the messy scenes, but that's worth the challenge right?


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