Customer Reviews

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am actually reviewing the whole Phoenix Wright series here. My son loves these games and I have to say they are the most involved and interesting games I've seen yet. He'll spend hours going over 'cases' and has even gone online to research law. It's sparked his interest in having a career in the criminal justice field as well. I can hear him saying "object" into the mic on the DS sometimes! I've taken a look at the game myself and really think the graphics are sharp and characters well developed. He'll also listen to just the music sometimes as well. If your child is interested in law, or if you want something more than the usual video game, this may be it. Very clever and I think it's a great mind-expander!

I just finished "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations." The biggest complaint I have so far is how much I miss the characters after 14 episodes!

The first game had 5 cases, including a bonus case made specifically for the DS. After searching many reviews and finding no answer, I feel inclined to tell you this game has no such feature either. However, it does have 5 well written and very suspenseful cases.

The story begins 5 years ago with Phoenix Wright on trial for murder, represented by his soon-to-be mentor Mia Fey. The trial takes a surprising turn and ends up throwing into motion all of the next few cases in the game.

The cases involve the mentioned case against Phoenix Wright as a college art student, a heinous villain known as MaskDeMasque who is terrorizing the city with thefts of precious treasures (done with excellent murder mystery style characters, including a hybrid Sherlock Holmes/Backstreet boy.) and a poisoning with a well loved accident prone policewoman.

You get nearly every character from the previous games here. Maya Fey, Mia's younger sister with the powers of a medium, Pearl Fey, a feisty 9 year old with romantic delusions about Phonix and Maya, Prosecutor Franciska Von Karma with her trademark whip, Wise Mia Fey in her ghost form and younger self, and all the other characters you know well.

I don't want to spoil anything, but if you played the previous two games and loved the characters this game be at the top of your list. Strapped for cash? Take Detective Gumshoe's advice, "Just buy freeze dried noodles and hang in there!" Buying freeze dried noodles would be a great way to save up to pick up this gem, and you'll have hours of time spent with characters you love. You won't want to leave them behind.

I was so sad to end this game. I made sure i dragged out the 5th case!

So, yes. What can i say? Obviously if you have the other 2 games then get this one too! i think they should definately be played in order otherwise you wont enjoy them as much. Getting to play Mia was amazing, even though her cases werent very long. Getting to play the other character (even though it's been revealed here who it is, i wont say) was even more amazing because that person is my favourite character. And new characters were very funny like the deluded detective 'Luke Atmey' (i liked the play on words with his name) and coffee obsessed Godot. although i wasnt sure of him at first. He wasnt so bad once i learned his story. The 5th and final case was absolutely amazing! It would be easy to get confused with that storyline but because it was so well written, any confusion was short lived and it all became very clear what was going on. And that's the key with the Phoenix Wright games, they are brilliantly written. I hope the Apollo Justice games are the same too. I will be playing that soon enough i'm sure!

Now, never before have i had to use 'walkthrough help' with these games, but on the 5th case, i did a tiny bit. but once i used it, i realised that i should of worked out what evidence needed presenting, so i was peeved at myself! So, at last, the game ended, and i got a bit choked to be honest. I have so enjoyed been in Phoenix's world, meeting Maya and Pearl and Mia and detective Gumshoe (a fab character) and Miles Edgeworth and the one who has been there causing trouble at some point in every game Larry Butz! He creases me up all the time. I shall definately miss all of them, and will enjoy re-playing the games forever! I just hope i can rely on Apollo Justice to bring some more characters i will love. Bye Phoenix and the gang. Thanks for the hours of enjoyment i had in your world. :)

If you've never played a Phoenix Wright game before, I suggest you start with the first one if possible, and works forward to this. I say that because the story is kind of a wrap up to the series, and its more enjoyable if you know what all happened in the previous two games.

For those not in the know, you play a defense attorney in murder cases and you spend half the "game" investigating, and the other half in the courtroom defending.

I say "game" cause its more of a choose your own adventure book/point and click adventure game hybrid and you spend most of your time reading than doing anything else.

If that sounds incredibly boring to you, well... it very well might be. But I urge one and all to give it a chance anyway because what could be the dullest sounding thing in the world is saved by some of the best writing in video game history.

Simply put, this games script is pheonomenal.

The characters and situations are all interesting, charming, and incredibly funny. There are so many laugh out loud moments in this game whether it be the Canadian Judge who isn't sure how he feels about ANYTHING, or the extremely effeminate but incredibly big and muscular French Chef who constantly refers to himself as a woman, or the always hilarious Larry Butz. So many great parts with Larry, I can't even begin to describe all of them (wait till you see his "art"). You also get references to Midi-Chlorians (Star Wars), celebrity tabloid couples, and that stupid "Milkshake" song.

Don't get me wrong, the game is NOT at all loaded with pop culture references, but there's just enough hidden in there that every one of them takes you by surprise and makes you burst out laughing.

I don't know who's responsible for the script, whether the Japanese original has all this or if it was just the work of an INCREDIBLE localization team, but I can say without hesitation that this particular game is by a HUGE margin the funniest one of the three. And those other two games were riots.

All of it makes for one heck of a great read.

If you're looking for a game with action, there's always Contra 4. If you're looking for something thats nice to relax to and will make you laugh out loud, Phoenix Wright is your man.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations is the third game in the Ace Attorney series. As it is the final game to be ported from the original Gameboy Advance games, not to mention the fact that the next game will feature a new lawyer as the ace attorney, this game serves as a closing point of the original trilogy. Here you will meet all the familiar faces of the series, including Maya and Pearl, Detective Gumshoe, and Miles Edgeworth. You'll also meet some new faces, most significantly the mysterious new prosecutor, Godot. An added bonus is that two of the five cases allow you to play Mia in her rookie attorney days. Additionally, you'll get a chance to play a third attorney late in the game (although I won't ruin the surprise and say who it is).

This game plays like the other two; you'll need to question witnesses, break through their lies, and then find the truth on the stand to clear your client of guilt. While the second game introduced the innovation of the psyche lock - a feature that is available again here - Trials and Tribulations focuses mostly on story innovations, specifically the chance to play as Mia in a shifting narrative. The cases are more heavily connected than before, to the point where you'll be finding clues for the final case in the opening scenes.

As with the other games of the series, the defining feature of Trials and Tribulations is its unique style of storytelling and presentation. Over the top characters and situations abound, and Phoenix will find himself constantly over his head as you yell "Objection!" into the microphone out of blind faith alone. As it advances, though, Trials and Tribulations gets a touch more serious than previous installments. Almost all of the loose ends from previous games come together here, as we get a final send-off to the original group of games that became a cult phenomenon. There's still a tutorial for new players, but those who are familiar with the series will get the most mileage here. As a stand alone game, Trials and Tribulations is excellent. As a wrap-up to the series, it is an epic finale to one of the best video game franchises ever. The only problem is bidding farewell to the characters that likely won't make the jump over to the Apollo Justice line of games. Fortunately, by the time you've finished playing through this third game, your memory of the first one might just be fuzzy enough to make it worth going back to the beginning...

If you are thinking about purchasing this game you've probably played the first two already...if not...go play them immediately. While you do not necessarily have to play them in order, the numerous surprises in this game are much bigger if you do. I don't want to say much as to spoil anything, but I will say that each game is known for its amazing final case- and the final case of this game is the most thrilling case of all. For that alone I would recommend this game. The characters are quirky and memorable, and the script is absolutely hilarious. However, if you like drama, there is plenty of that too.
I'm really going to miss these characters, but I can't wait for the release of the 4th game!

The original Phoenix Wright game really blew me away with its awesome storyline and empathetic characters. The second game in the series was very good, but not quite the perfection that the first one was. This game may just be a return to perfection. As far as I know, this is the last game in the series that features Phoenix as the main protagonist. As of the time of this review, the only other games released in this series are Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (featuring Apollo as the main character) and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (a midquel featuring Miles, obviously). So, unless Capcom releases a future game with Phoenix as the main character (and I don't see why they'd do that since they went to such great lengths to set up Apollo as a new character for his own franchise) then Trials and Tribulations can be seen as basically the conclusion of a trilogy of games. If this is truly the end (of Phoenix, at least), then I must say, he's going out with a bang!

Graphics (score 9/10): It's true, the graphics haven't changed a bit over the course of the series. They are still the same old barely-animated character images on static backgrounds. Some people might criticize this as a lack of innovation, but I still like them. You don't really need flashy graphics for this type of game, and the graphics are quite crisp, clear and pretty for what they are. So, I'm still just as happy as I was with the previous PW.

Music (score 10/10): Each location has its own distinctive music, and none of it grates on the ears. There's nothing epic like orchestras and choirs chanting Latin but this genre of game doesn't really mesh with that sort of thing anyway (you'd find something that awesome in the like of Final Fantasy). However, the music is very good for this genre. Too often, point and click games will have really bland music in the background or not enough musical variety. PW does not have that problem at all, so I'm quite pleased.

Characters (score 10/10): The same quirky character designs make a return. There are many cameos from previous characters, as well as many new characters. Despite the fact that they are meant for humorous effect, a lot of them have a great deal of character depth, especially the main characters (in other words, the recurring characters). In fact, if you've played the series' games in order, you will notice characters slowly developing over time. Now that's what I call character development! Contrast the subtlety of the main characters with the secondary characters, who are often overblown caricatures or stereotypes (like the gay chef or the overly sweet girl who actually has butterflies following her around). Even the secondary characters, though, have a level of depth and believability to them. Often the point and click genre focuses less on characters and more on puzzle-solving. I must say, the characters, especially for this genre of game, are outstanding.

Story (score 10/10): If you've been playing the series in order, you may be familiar with the first case being a sort of "tutorial case" where the story has no real impact on the overarching plot. Well, they threw that out the window here! The game starts off strong with a flashback to Phoenix's younger days, which fleshes out some of his history and character. This is totally not a throw-away case in the slightest! So, how to they follow up this fine introductory episode? With huge second and third episodes! The fourth episode is another flash back episode and is much shorter because it only includes court segments and no investigation. The fifth and final episode makes up for it though--it's enormous in scope and ties together a large number of past cases, both in this game and the previous PW games. It was epic! All I've got to say, though, is that you should definitely play the first two games in the series first, or you will not be able to appreciate just how epic that last episode truly is.

Gameplay (score 10/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. Well, if you're familiar with the PW series, you should already know exactly what to expect here. It's all point and click gameplay with investigation scenes and courtroom scenes where you attempt to present evidence to find contradictions in witness testimony (If you want more details on what the gameplay entails, check out my reviews of the first two games in the series). You'll either love the gameplay or you won't (as my friend once said, "this is the most boring game I've ever played in my life; what's wrong with you and why do you like this?!"). I'm going to assume that you're already familiar with the gameplay from past entries and get right to the important points. For those of you wondering if this game is just as difficult as the past entry, "Justice for All", let's just say, yes, and no. It retains a lot of the elements that made "Justice for All" a bit frustrating. The psyche-locks are still present, and there are still parts of the game where you are restricted from pressing witnesses excessively (which can be really frustrating). Despite the fact that these potentially frustrating elements are still present, this game doesn't feel as difficult as "Justice For All" was. It all feels more streamlined here in "Trials and Tribulations"; for example, while there are some witnesses that cannot be pressed on every statement, unlike "Justice For All", which statements you should press is more apparent - it feels less random and cryptic. Also, those annoying times where you're restricted like that are less frequent. This game is still nicely challenging though, and strikes a good balance between the easiness of the first entry and the difficulty of the second entry.

Overall (score 10/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it's my subjective overall score. I actually played all three PW games practically in a row. That's how awesome they are, however, I think I'm a little burned out on PW for now (especially after episode 5...), so I'm going to go play some RPGs before I dive into Apollo Justice. That being said, this is still an awesome game and an awesome series in general. I strongly suggest you pick up all three games and play them (though not necessarily all at once like I did). Even though they're becoming a bit rare and expensive, they're totally worth getting (at least to me). Just be warned that like all games of this genre, the replay value isn't too good in terms of sidequests and things like that (there aren't any). However, if you are the sort of gamer who likes to replay games like this purely to re-experience the story, then you'll love Phoenix Wright. If you are a fan of the point and click adventure game genre, then I suggest you pick up the series; after all, you just can't go wrong with Mr. Wright! (Bad pun, I know, but I just couldn't resist!)

This is probably the best DS game I have played so far; here is why:
-A very involved storyline that keeps you continually interested yet not confused
-Easy controls and directions in the courtroom and during investigations
-The anime-type graphics are awesome even if you aren't into anime
-The characters are awesome
-The different cases are so interesting, it almost makes you want to become a lawyer...and i'm serious
Basically this game is very fun and it keeps you guessing but not to the point of confusion. It's one of those games where YOU WILL get stuck, but not so stuck that you'll never play it again because, trust me, you will want so bad to continue. I have gotten stuck three times so far and I am on the second episode out of 5 or 6 (can't remember how many there are). Let me tell you why I didn't rush to a walkthru when I was stuck: You get so into the story that you really wanna figure out which piece of evidence to use yourself because when you do, it feels SO rewarding because it's not an easy game, but it isn't too hard either, it's just right. I did get stuck to the point where I HAD to check a site cuz I was so confused, but this doesn't frequently happen. Usually you can figure it out if you rethink the story and the crime and evidence. The fact that this game has many episodes, each of which is of a rather generous length, is a great point of why it is good for it's money because by the time it's over you probably will want to replay it and plus it takes so long (not in a bad way) to finish one episode that it lasts you a while, unless of course you play it non-stop. It is not addicting, but you will want to keep enjoying it. It is one of the best adventure games I've ever played and the best adventure game I've played on DS. It's totally worth the money and murder-mystery/law game/law tv show fans will love it. It is super fun. I know my review may sound confusing, but trust me, this is an AWESOME GAME!! Anyone with a ds should have it in their collection of games!

I don't mean to be biased, but Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations is the best game I've ever played. As a warning for those who are unfamiliar with the series, you should know that this game will make absolutely no sense unless you've played the other two games (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All) first. For those of you wondering whether to continue with the series, I cannot encourage you enough to do so. They have finally perfected the gameplay for the least amount of frustration during investigations, improving the magatama function and removing profiles as presentable evidence. There's still a little bit of the plug and chug - having to go around presenting every piece of evidence to every person when you get stuck - but it has been greatly reduced. More importantly, the writing is wittier than ever, the new prosecutor Godot is a perfect mix of mystery and hilarity, and the cases are engaging and filled with more turnabouts than ever. Many old characters make an appearance, and many new ones establish themselves in the Ace Attorney cannon - Phoenix's college sweetheart for one. The only issue is the difficulty of finding a copy of this game. I, for one, suggest checking Amazon Marketplace regularly and waiting for someone to post a cheap copy in decent condition. This is how I got my copy, and I have been most satisfied by it. For those who are still unsure whether to buy, I don't have much else to say but... OBJECTION!

I have played all of the phoenix wright games except for Appollo Justice. All of these games have great characters, music, and stories. Here's how I rank the first three games while listing what I consider to be the best cases:

3. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All. Best case(s): Shelly De Killer
2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Best case(s): tie between DL-6 and Rise from the Ashes
1. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations. Best case(s): All of them are great, my absolute favorite is the last case, but you need to play all of the cases to fully understand what's going on. And remember, in that last case EVERYTHING from the first game on is connected in that case.

Here's the way I see it when any video game series releases its first three games. Think back to Mario and Zelda for this example. I think it's fair to say that most fans of these games rank the third game in the series out of the first three to be the better game. That's the way I see it with the the Phoenix Wright series.

The first game introduced us to the defense attorney we know now with classic music that gets reused in future games, characters that we still see in future games, and good storylines. The third game took everything that made the first one great and made it better all around.

If anyone was ever curious about Phoenix Wright or played 1 but not 2 or 3, look into doing so sometime. You'll probably come to the same conclusion as I did. The third game is usually superior.