Customer Reviews

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Apollo Justice is the 4th in the series of the three previous Phoenix Wright games. The new main character: Apollo, many PW fans might find this to be somewhat of a disappointment (that is, at a glance.) Although once you get into the story (with Phoenix helping you along the way) you'll find that it's ultimately worth the ride.

The amount of detective work you get to do is increased. Take note though that most of the new stuff you get to do is only used a few times in each case. Also like Phoenix's magatama, here we have Apollo's weapon: The Perceive System. This feature is used throughout most of the game. It is utilized fairly well and testimonies do not solely rely on this (evidence is still used to point out most contradictions.)

You will miss a lot of the main characters, basically because of what Phoenix Wright's story and background was built on. Since you play as Apollo you kind of start his story, introducing new and intriguing characters. But you also backtrack as to why Phoenix is the protagonist no longer (and more!) You get a cameo appearance and Ema Skye - an old character from the first PW game appears as a main character.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game. However it felt a bit empty in the end. I felt it was too easy, and it's shorter - with only 4 cases! And although the premise (for a specific case) was really fun and a great idea, it turned a little weak in the end because you already know what to do for the final round. It was better than I expected, considering that I was a bit skeptical about this new main character (and how it all tied in.) It is very fitting to the series and a sequel should be coming out ... eventually (It was announced in Japan but with no further details or known progress.)

As your defense attorney boss, Kristoph Gavin says, "'Justice' doesn't start small." Indeed! If you are a fan of the first three Ace Attorney games, there is absolutely no good reason for you to buy this game and love it. Don't get a rom for it, or borrow it, rent it, or any of that crap. Support a sequel for Apollo Justice by buying yourself a copy because I guarantee you will love it.

Ever since the end of Trials and Tribulations, I have wondered, will Apollo Justice be able to top this? For four (very) long months, I waited to find out the answer, and was squealing with delight when I finally got it. What should you expect in getting this game? While we don't see the Fey family, Maya, Mia, or Pearly, we do get the return of our hero Phoenix Wright, and Ema Skye as our new detective (Do note that you get to see Gumshoe again in one of the cases). There is also the return of the ancient Judge, and we even see Doctor Hotti and Mike Meekins once.

Graphically, the game has taken a big leap. Aside from the graphics being more crisp, smooth and fluid, we also get some nice new 3D video! This adds a very nice touch and brings out the graphical capabilities of the DS and gives a whole new dimension to the Ace Attorney series. Characters are as kooky and crazy looking as ever, and the final case's big baddie breakdown is absolutely insane.

The music is also cleaner and while not as intensely exciting as the first and third game, there are still a lot of catchy songs that fit appropriately in serious and silly situations. I personally loved the courtroom music in the first Ace Attorney game, and let it be known that others who feel the same way will find themselves in for a very pleasant treat at two points in the game.

Sound effects are the same, although all the characters' shouts of "Objection!" and "Take that!" have become clearer, plus the addition of Apollo's "Gotcha!"

Which brings me to discuss the gameplay and storyline. Just as good as ever, if not better. Despite being called Apollo Justice, this game is still very much dominated by Phoenix Wright himself. The story arc is 'what happened to Phoenix seven years ago?' Phoenix seems to have grown a new dimension of intellectual thought, as he is now more secretive and cunning in his methods. The gameplay is pretty much the same thing as well. There are now more forensic investigative tools to use for different cases, and a new perceive system in the courtroom, where you can analyze witnesses and their nervous tics to catch them in their lies. If you liked the gameplay in the first three, you'll definitely enjoy this, as it is the same and then some.

The story of course, is just as humorous and well thought out as ever. There are plenty of plot twists and you'll be left wondering throughout all the connections and secrets.

Basically, if you loved the first three games, get this one RIGHT NOW. We all love Phoenix and seeing as how he is still around, there is no excuse to not get this game because it's Apollo Justice. I would like to see how Capcom plans on topping this game but until then, grab this one quick and find out what happened to Phoenix NOW!

I haven't finished yet, but Apollo Justice stands up to everything that Phoenix Wright was before him. Quirk characters as well as surprising turns in the trials is just as prevelant as it was in the original three. Although the characters from the originals aren't in there (or most of them anyway), Apollo has a lot of new characters to offer that are just as entertaining. Don't be fooled though, Phoenix is still in the game, but in a decidedly different role. The gameplay is very similiar to Phoenix's games while also introducing some features that only a DS could bring to life, such as examining the evidence from all sides, as was introduced in the fifth case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Rise from the Ashes. The features didn't follow through to any other game until now).

Although my favorite characters from the original three aren't involved, Apollo Justice is a lot better than I thought it would be, and I would be extrememly happy to see another come out as a sequel to this game.

Pros:
-Graphics and sound truly are a step up for the series
-Gameplay retains the same PW charm
-Forensics add significantly to the fun factor of the game
-Chapter 2 is the gameplay pinnacle of the series to date

Cons:
-Story has continuity issues
-Still a very linear series
-Solutions can be obscure and frustrating at times
-Everything past Chapter 2 is disappointing by comparison
-Not much to do with the PW story arc aside from a few returning characters
-Very likely the last game in the Ace Attorney series

Short synopsis: Still caters to a niche crowd---won't expand the Ace Attorney fanbase beyond what it already is. Retains all the flaws of the PW games without adding much beyond the semi-new (for US gamers) forensics system. Better introduction to the series for new people compared to the original PW games, but not by much. Fun for current fans of the series, although story will disappoint.

Detailed review:

Having played all of the Phoenix Wright games, I was looking forward to this one. Ultimately, it was a mixed experience. The game starts out strong, with the traditional court-only tutorial sequence (and with a hefty spoiler right at the start for those that have played the previous entries---I can't go into detail here). Users that have played previous entries in the series or are already familiar with the mechanics through other means can skip the following bracketed section.

[A summary of the game mechanics for the uninitiated:

The core of the game is still the same as it was in the Phoenix Wright games. A crime is committed, you take the case, and begin your own investigation. The game is divided into two separate phases---the "Investigation" phase and the "Courtroom" phase. Traditionally, you will have two of each phases per case in an alternating pattern (i.e., I-C-I-C) although this is not guaranteed, sometimes you will have more than 2 court phases, or just one investigation phase and one court phase.

During the Investigation part of the game, you visit varied locales, interview witnesses and suspects, and collect evidence via the "Examine" command. This is the traditional Adventure genre part of the game, and is similar to older PC games like Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion. You spend most of the game in this phase. There is always a marked end to this phase which leads into the Court phase.

The Court part of the game is what is truly unique about this series. The Court phase is structured in a manner similar to an actual trial. A witness, suspect, or your client is called to the stand and testimony is given. After hearing testimony, you are able to cross-examine the person on the stand. Cross-examining consists of paging through their testimony, pressing them for more information, and presenting evidence to call out contradictions. The objective is to essentially discredit the testimony and/or reveal new information that leads the case in a new direction (which doesn't always work out in your favor---but this section is linear and you don't have a choice). These portions of the game are markedly shorter than the investigation phases, but the court proceedings further the story, whereas the investigation phases usually only provide information that you have to sort and decode once you get into the courtroom.

The obvious objective is to get a "Not Guilty" verdict, which will lead to a epilogue and the unlocking of the next chapter in the game.]

Review continues here:

Immediately it's obvious that this game, unlike the other Ace Attorney games, is not a GBA port. The character sprites have been revamped and look hand-drawn---they brought back memories of the old SF:Alpha games for the PS1. Additionally, the backgrounds were redone to take advantage of the DS's significantly larger color palette and no longer suffer from the serious dithering and lack of detail they used to. The music has also been updated to CD quality tracks that are also very reminiscent of CAPCOM's PS1 days (which is an excellent thing).

It's impressive that even after all of these revamps and updates, that the game still feels familiar and retains that classic Phoenix Wright charm. All of the updates seem like an organic evolution of the original, and players of the Phoenix Wright games will immediately recognize characters, locations, and even the music despite being drastically modernized.

After playing through the tutorial, the player is presented with an almost "open world" scenario with multiple objectives to be accomplished during the investigation phase. The investigation portion of the game has (thankfully) been updated to match the way the game played during the DS-exclusive case in the first Phoenix Wright game. Instead of solely relying on moving from location to location, talking through all of the subjects with every person possible, with the occasional "Examine" evidence collection; the game now utilizes a forensic element which makes the investigation part of the game significantly more fun.

Players of the first game will be familiar with this forensics concept. In addition to conducting interviews, you will now be responsible for tasks such as dusting for prints on evidence, spraying Luminol to check for blood, and creating plaster casts of footprints embedded in the ground at the crime scene. You will also be required to examine your evidence and interact with it in such a way that can either reveal the true function of the piece of evidence, or expose more evidence inside or on the original piece evidence itself.

A final thing worth mentioning before going into the problems this game has is the change to the court proceedings. Gone are the psych-locks from the investigation phases of the second and third Phoenix Wright games. Instead, a new feature was added to the court phase to make up for this. During certain parts of testimony while cross-examining someone, you'll have the option to slow time down and get a magnified view of the person you're cross-examining. During the slow replay of testimony, you examine the witness closely to check for a "tell" (for those who don't play Poker---you're looking for a nervous twitch or some other sign that indicates the person is lying), locating the tell allows you to press the person on the stand for more testimony.

With this said, the game is far from perfect.

Players of the original Phoenix Wright games will likely be disappointed that this game seems to take place on an alternate timeline that was created for the DS exclusive chapter in the first Phoenix Wright. There are only three returning characters (not counting The Judge), and a few (rather lame) references to other characters in the original timeline are thrown out there. The returning characters also feel almost out of place, which is likely due to the fact that the development team originally did not want a connection to the Phoenix Wright games aside from the "Ace Attorney" franchise name.

The game also really slows down after the second chapter. After being teased with a huge amount of freedom (for the series) in Chapter 2, the game quickly brings itself back into an extremely linear, contained world in the subsequent chapters. While it's not a game killer, it's disappointing because it almost feels as though the true potential scope of the game is realized, then quickly yanked away from you as though to tease you.

Additionally, the court sequences still feel too linear and "puzzle-like" with only one path to a "Not Guilty" verdict. This path can, at times, be extremely obscure as well, forcing multiple replays because of the "guess and check" method or requiring the help of a FAQ. There is only one "two choice" option at the very end of the game in the very last court session, and it feels like a token choice; since one option leads to a short "bad" ending. It seems that the developers weren't afraid to toy with the Investigation part of the game, but were horrified to change the Courtroom sequences (excluding the new special ability).

Finally, the story, even taken out of context of the rest of the series, is also somewhat disappointing. Most of the new characters don't have as much personality as those in the old series did, and a few of the characters are really just dopplegangers of past characters from a story and personality perspective. The ending, while touching, doesn't tie up a number of loose ends. This would be forgivable if not for the fact that the ending doesn't indicate that there will be a second Apollo Justice game.

To be honest, if I knew that the Ace Attorney series was going to take this direction, I would've told the guys at Capcom to stop them altogether. While Apollo and Trucy are cute characters, they've essentially made Phoenix Wright's character into a 7-year scapegoat for this game's plot. That means that if the Phoenix Wright games pick back up, he'll be middle-aged, seasoned, and expected to prevail... unlike the young, inexperienced, by the seat of his pants attorney that came with the first 3 games.

My rant aside, the gameplay is noticeably upgraded due to this being an actual DS release rather than a GBA re-release. There are actual FMVs, 3D recreations of crime scenes, and even the courtroom got a once-over. Instead of the Megatama Phoenix Wright had, Justice gets a bracelet that allows him to "perceive". While this was something new, I didn't much care for how it was conveniently permissible in the same court that made Phoenix Wright prove everything with evidence.

If you've played the other three Ace Attorney games, of course you'll want to play this one. It's worth that much. I'm glad this game ended so clean-cut that they couldn't readily make an Apollo Justice sequel. Also, in case you hadn't heard, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is due out February 16th of 2010. DO WANT!!

First off, those who may be put off by average ratings of this game need to be told something: most of those reviews are by people who have played previous games in the series. Having particular expectations that were not met in the sequel is what ruined the game for them.
If this will be the first time you've played an Ace Attorney game, rest assured that this game will leave you feeling rewarded and definitely satisfied with your purchase.
Apollo Justice is an interactive novel. That means you'll be reading for probably over half of the time that you spend playing. Everything that you read will be a part of helping solve each case, so you're never without an incentive to read carefully and not just click through the dialogue. Not that you would want to, either; Apollo Justice is brimming with humorous anecdotes, jokes, and a few references that will go over a younger players head -- all of them treated in the same intellectually niche style that is exuded from the entire game.
Apollo Justice has its own set of court mechanics similar to real life but with a few twists. Witnesses make a testimony, the entirety of which can be reviewed by you (usually each testimony is only a paragraph or two long). You can then have the witness elaborate on each segment of testimony or try to refute their statements with evidence. Evidence can come from many sources, and using the correct item at the correct time can at times be one of the hardest intellectual parts of the game.
When you're not in court, you'll be at other locations picking up evidence or pieces of info that move the story along and just may be helpful when deciding the correct path once you're in court.
Along the way you'll meet many varied characters. For the most part, the characters in the story are interesting and quite relevant. All of them keep the game interesting while adding interesting elements to the story. The main characters especially are fully fleshed out and really shine in the later stages of the game.
Once you've played for a while, you'll fall in love with the soundtrack. It always sets the right mood and never seems to get boring.
All in all, this is a five-star game experience if you're playing the series for the first time. With so many things to do, the gameplay is never lacking. Using forensic tools, examining evidence, grilling witnesses, picking apart contradictory statements, and getting swept into the story are what the game is about. The entire game is polished with an intellectual humor that makes it at once sophisticated yet accessible. The last court case gets everything right in a smooth synchronization of all the gameplay elements that will leave you dazzled by the complexity of the entire game, and how beautifully connected everything was all along.

I just finished the game and I must say it was another great addition to the series. It can't compare to the previous three games but it was still good enough to warrant a high rating. The ending was pretty spectacular (think along the lines of Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations). The music was remixed well and the characters were as loveable as ever.

I did have quite a few dislikes about the game though. Starting with Apollo. He seemed like a watered down Phoenix with a bit of Gumshoe's mentality and Edgeworth's emotions. I understand sticking to the formula but if you're going to make a new character, make a NEW character. I loved pretty much all the characters, but Apollo. I would've given anything to be playing as Klavier because I just didn't like Apollo's lack of personality. Also, I've seen others mention it but there really isn't a good opposite to Apollo. So that Phoenix/Edgeworth dynamic is clearly missing from this game.

Also, I compared the ending to Trials and Tribulations. It is, and it isn't similar. For those of you who played Trials and Tribulations, you know that the ending was brewing starting with the first case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and we finally reached a peaceful ending at the end of the third game. Understandably Apollo Justice does not have the same advantage seeing as this is the first game in the series. However, it seems the developers wanted that same ending again, but as I stated, they couldn't pull it off. It was still an alright ending though.

All in all, I'd say Apollo Justice is a good purchase, if you're interested in playing more Phoenix Wright. But if you honestly don't care for Apollo before going into the game, I'd say skip it for now. Wait until the price goes down if it's super important to learn this chapter of the story.

Apollo Jusice: Ace Attorney Review:

Introduction:
This review will cover over a few sections, I will keep spoilers to an absolute minimum, if any at all. Please be warned ahead of time, this review contains my review of this game. Meaning this contains a opinion that may only be unique to me, everyone's taste is different so please do not be deterred by one review alone. In the end, the decision is yours alone whether to buy the game or not.

Game Play:
I would have to say the game play is very very much like the previous three games. There are some, one or two added features. Considering this is the first (of the series) to be made exclusively for the NDS they decided to get rather fancy with somethings and really turned things around! It was rather nice to see some things you couldn't do in the prior things available. The biggest added feature being the "Precieve" feature which unlike the prior Megatama, you get to use this feature in court! SNAZZY!! Still other than that, everything is relatively the same, you can still "Press" and "Present" like you always could. You also have the standard four options while investigating too, so basically not much has changed! For me this was good, too may changes to game play can ruin a potentially good game. Where most of us who've played the first three games, we're use to a certain set up, I'm happy that wasn't changed.

Soundtrack:
For me soundtrack is important to any game, it sets the moods and the feel of the game. I hope everyone can agree to this. The soundtrack quality was over all lovely! It was very crisp and clean! Though the music itself I'd have to say it was a bit thumbed down. I wasn't too impressed with it, the music didn't leave me calm and relaxed it left me uneasy and weary. It made the game difficult for me to even manage to get through. I think the soundtrack wasn't so great for me, but there again I may have poor taste in music.

Cases:
The cases were okay, they weren't that exciting the ending case left me very unsatisfied much like 'Farewell My Turnabout' (even though it was an awesome case). These cases weren't all that exciting, Phoenix more or less solves the first and last one for you, I'm not joking on this. They just didn't feel like Apollo was doing ANYTHING frankly. Not very involving to me.


Characters:

Apollo Justice: He was alright. Seriously he wasn't a Phoenix Wright, he didn't seem to have the same flare and confidence Phoenix had. He was very unsure of himself all the time, it didn't even feel like he was solving the cases at all. Just felt like Klavier, Trucy, and Phoenix were always helping him all the time. It was never him figuring things out on his own unlike with Phoenix who would take the evidence, piece it together and arrive at a startling conclusion (Mia, Maya, and Pearls not helping ALL the time)

Trucy: She was an okay girl, she was no Maya, less annoying than Maya frankly. She didn't blame Apollo for things he didn't do...which was nice. She was a bit ditzy but really great fun! I did like her over all the characters in the game honestly! She was very witty, and amusing all over.

Klavier: The prosecutor for the game, he was NO Miles Edgeworth. He didn't have half the sharpness of tongue that Edgeworth had. Instead of trying to win the case he was more concerned about the "truth". He seemed to hold no interest at all in winning his cases, it was all some kinda pastime to him frankly. He wasn't a very good prosecutor for me.

Phoenix Wright: ...I won't lie, it made me very sad to see Phoenix as he is now. His morals took a big blow, he's really not the same "goody-two-shoes" phoneix we loved! It's...he's...so depressing. It broke my heart, so frankly I don't like Phoenix in this game at all...


Overall:
Overall the game was alright, it had some good points but it had too many bad points to be truly enjoyable. Namely how they treated Phoenix in this game, it was rather terrible. I really...didn't approve of this game, if you're big on the Phoenix Wright games just for Phoenix alone, I don't suggest you playing this, but it could be a good bit of...knowledge i suppose to the whole story line. So I do warn you buy and play at your own risk.

Okay, so you've already played the first three Phoenix Wright games and loved them, and then you see there's another sequel. Then you look at the title. "Apollo Justice?! Who's that?" Seriously, though, this game catches a lot of flack for trying to introduce a new protagonist. I understand that people have gotten attached to old Phoenix (heck, I'm attached to him too), but change isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes change can keep things fresh and interesting - and sometimes change destroys all the good things you had going in a series. So, which is it for Apollo Justice? Let's find out!

Graphics (score 9/10): The graphics are exactly the same as they were in the previous three Ace Attorney games. Basically you have slightly animated character images on static backgrounds. By "slightly animated" I mean that they change position and facial expression frequently without being fully animated. You might think that this means the game feels dead or wooden, but they change frequently enough that it feels quite lively. Besides, many games of this genre rely on static image backgrounds and the Ace Attorney series has some of the clearest, crispest graphics I've seen so far. There is one small difference I've noticed compared to the original games; there are brief cutscenes where there are 3-D looking animations. My best memory of this is at the beginning of Episode 3 (showing Klavier's and Lamiroir's concert). Believe it or not, it actually looks worse than the 2-D graphics. Why? Well, it's a bit hard to explain. The characters all look a bit wrongly shaped, like they're dolls made out of taffy during portions of the cutscene (the closeups look fine because they are in 2-D, and then the camera zooms out and it suddenly switches to taffy mode). Furthermore, their movements look a bit stiff and unnatural, too. The weird thing about this 3-D segment is that the first two cases start with a traditional 2-D cutscene. No, I don't understand why that is. Maybe the developers were trying to pander to the idea that they've updated the graphics (a little bit) for the DS? I just don't know.

Music (score 9/10): The music is pretty good. It's about the same level of quality as the previous games. Every song feels appropriate to its situation and nothing is out of place. Plus, I really enjoyed Klavier's theme song. There still isn't any voice acting outside of an occasional yell of "Objection", but this didn't bother me at all. I mean, if they had added voices and the voice acting was terrible, it would've made the whole package just that much worse. Of course, good voice acting would've made it great, too, so the sword cuts both ways, I suppose. The only thing I wish they'd included was actual vocals for Lamiroir's song since it's so vital to the story.

Characters (score 7/10): Well, let's get the good stuff out of the way. I like Apollo; he's a nice guy. I like Trucy, who serves as Apollo's "assistant". I like the new main prosecutor, Klavier. Yes, I know he isn't quite as intense as Sir Edgeworth, or as frightening as Manfred Von Karma, but I liked him anyway. It's refreshing to see a prosecutor who isn't full of snarky evilness. As for the secondary characters, they are just as zany as ever. Now, let's talk about the bad stuff... I can avoid it no longer - Phoenix Wright is officially dead. I don't know where they got this impostor from, but that is not Phoenix Wright! They seriously ruined his character. First off, he looks like a bum you'd see on a street corner holding a cup yelling "change?". This has earned him the affectionate name of "Hobo Nick" among Phoenix Wright fans. If it were just his appearance, though, I wouldn't be so upset. No, it gets worse. The real Phoenix was a kind, generally good-hearted man who would never stoop to dishonorable and dirty tactics - no matter what! The new Phoenix openly admits to using fake evidence - and does so casually as though it were no big thing. I mean, I know that they wanted to establish a new protagonist, but at this point it feels like it would've been almost less traumatic if they had killed poor Phoenix off. At least his character wouldn't have had to suffer this indignity. They just destroyed the essence of his character - a complete 180 to his original personality. They could've come up with a way to introduce a new character without crapping all over Phoenix's character - they could've just set up Apollo as an apprentice or something to Phoenix or even set it in a totally different city with Apollo and a new cast of characters (and include subtle nods to previous characters). They didn't have to destroy Phoenix Wright to set up a new character. I haven't felt this betrayed since I played Final Fantasy X-2 and saw the changes made to Yuna's character. Sigh, for fans of the original games, this will almost certainly destroy a good portion of the enjoyment to be had here.

Story (score 9/10): It's really hard to separate the storyline from the atrocious mishandling of Phoenix's character since it's such a horrible shock, but thankfully you don't see him all that much during Case 2 and Case 3. I found these Cases to be really enjoyable. I grew to like Apollo and Trucy, and I was interested in the murder cases themselves. Plus, in epic Ace Attorney tradition, all the episodes are interconnected in the last case. Unfortunately, Case 4 involves a lot more of Phoenix. It's basically an explanation of Trucy's origins and Phoenix's current state, which is just depressing. Despite the depressing subject matter, the individual stories are very well written and do a good job of introducing us to our new main characters of Apollo, Trucy, and Klavier. I like these characters and I wouldn't mind seeing them in a sequel - just so long as "Hobo Nick" doesn't make any more appearances. I don't think I could bear the sadness of it all. Best just to let poor Phoenix rest in peace.

Gameplay (score 8/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. First off, I have a complaint - there seems to be an over-abundance of flashbacks in this game. I actually read another review that complained about this, and I originally thought, "bah, how bad could it be?". Well, it wasn't so bad until I got to Case 3 and things were flashing back every five minutes to things that happened five minutes ago. Most of these flashback "reminders" are pretty short - but how many times do I need to see a guitar catch on fire? I remember what happened after the sixth flashback, thanks (strangely, Case 4 doesn't involve these gratuitous flashbacks. Go figure). There's something else that's bugging me, too, and this is going to seem completely random, but I need to say it. There are constant references in the first couple cases to "grape juice", but I can't help noticing that these clearly and distinctively look like wine bottles. There's even a scene where a doctor tells Phoenix he isn't supposed to drink that while he's in the hospital. Am I missing something here? Or is this another case of censorship (like the "Coffee Bar" in Grandia)? I mean, I thought the game industry had reached a level of maturity when it came to trying to censor alcohol references from video games. I never thought I'd see the day that such censorship made it into a modern game. Then again, maybe the developers did it on purpose to make a joke about the whole censorship thing? Oh well, never mind. Now, as for the main gameplay, it remains largely unchanged from the first three games. Basically, you have the courtroom segments, where you listen to witness statements and try to present evidence that exposes their lies, and you have the investigation portion where you poke around various sites looking for clues. The only real difference here is that the Psychlock system is gone. It's been replaced by the Perceive system whereby Apollo reads people's body language and nervous habits to detect when they are lying. I found the old psychlock system annoying at times, but this feels worse. At least with the psychlock system, you had some hints as to what you needed, but with the Perceive system, you're often scrutinizing minute details and it can feel hugely frustrating when you've been over and over the same five statements looking for that one tiny habit - and then you still overlook it somehow. That's frustrating. However, despite the irritating Perceive system, the rest of the gameplay is solid.

Overall (score 8/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it's my subjective overall score. Remember when I asked in the introduction whether this game is fresh and interesting or whether it simply destroys everything good about the Ace Attorney series? Well, ultimately, I'd have to say that it's a bit of both. It is really refreshing to see brand new main characters (and I really grew to love them), but on the other hand they screw over the most important character from the original game, Phoenix Wright. So, "Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney" is a bit of a mixed bag for longtime fans. If you were just getting into the series and started here, though, I think you'd have a great time. If you are a longtime fan of the series and can look past the flaws, then I think you'll have a great time, too. Just try not to take the new Phoenix too personally.

Okay... I am a HUGE Ace Attorney nerd and was upset because there was no Phoenix in sight! Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Phoenix was there. All the cases were unique to say the least. And the very last case was extremely tangled in "...a whole high schools' worth of drama..." and (in my case) utter excitement.

Fan girls such as myself will be extra happy adding this game to their collection because of the many new (VERY CUTE) male faces. Most fans will still be rather dissapointed because Miles Edgeworth (who is my favorite) doesn't show up at all (neither does Pearl or Maya).

All in all, the 36/40 rating from Famitsu and the fact that it had been nominated for best story on the DS 2008 is nothing to sneeze at. I agree with them.