Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) Playthrough [1 of 2] - NintendoComplete
444A playthrough of Capcom's 2005 detective/courtroom drama game for the Nintendo DS, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
This video is the first part of a two-part playthrough, and includes the first four (of five) episodes:
Episode 1: The First Turnabout 0:05
Episode 2: Turnabout Sisters 36:23
Episode 3: Turnabout Samurai 3:06:50
Episode 4: Turnabout Goodbyes 6:30:04
You can find part two, which shows the final episode, here: https://youtu.be/CWiFkr2Piic
Ace Attorney is one of Capcom's most successful franchises to have been established since the turn of the century, and it is largely responsible for introducing the visual-novel genre to players in the states. It certainly wasn't the first game of its type ever released in English, but the game's humor, production values, and press coverage made the game an unexpected hit. It nearly instantly sold out on its initial production run back in 2005, and eventually turned out to be the game that would popularize visual novel, much like Final Fantasy VII had done for the JRPG.
This version of the game is actually not the first. The original trilogy of games (called "Gyakuten Saiban" in Japanese) were GBA titles. The DS ones were upgraded ports, featuring an improved interface, higher resolution text, better quality music, and each included its own brand new episode that made use of the DS's unique features.
So, for anyone that isn't familiar with the game, you play as Nick "Phoenix" Wright, a defense attorney fresh out of law school. When his friend, Larry Butz, is arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Nick agrees to help out by representing him in court, neatly setting up the tutorial.
Once you win the case, things quickly become grim. Nick's mentor, Mia, is brutally murdered at the office, and when her little sister Maya is accused, Nick feels obligated to do everything in his power to get her declared innocent.
The gameplay is simple. Cases are split into days, and each day features two parts. During investigations, you comb the crime scene looking for clues and evidence and question any potential witnesses. In the courtroom, you pour over the court record, prod the witness testimony for contradictions, and frame your questions so that you can ultimately separate the truth from the lies, absolving your client of guilt in the process.
The real star of the game, as it should be in a visual novel, is the writing. The characters are fantastically entertaining, the humor is on-point, the cases are diverse and (generally) logically sound, and the plot surely does love its eleventh hour twists. It's very good at building tension as it's making you laugh, and it can make you think on occasion, too. It's a great mix, especially for a first effort by series creator Shu Takumi. Much like his later -absolutely genius- game Ghost Trick (https://youtu.be/CYnxMB5vnPk ), it's hard to fault the project's ambition or the execution. It nails it.
And really, in a game with a script that tops 800 pages in length (that's not a typo, it's about 210k words!), the quality of the writing is pretty damned important. What is even more impressive is that this was originally in Japanese. The localization in the English version is extraordinary, especially given the time and the platform. The dialogue flows naturally and feels like it was written by a native English speaker that knows how to write. Capcom had come far since the days of the Breath of Fire II translation!
The presentation is top notch as well. For a game so filled with talking heads, Phoenix Wright manages to put on a thoroughly entertaining show. The music is super memorable, the characters are all well drawn and have nice little situational animations, and the game all-but-bleeds its unique brand of enthusiasm in those courtroom scenes.
They're presented as battles between Nick and the rival prosecutor, and they often take on the frenetic feel of Capcom's arcade fighting games. Zealous screaming, aggressive finger-pointing, frantic camera pans, flashing backgrounds, and violent sound effects all come standard here, and in mashing that into such a ridiculous story and cast of characters makes Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney an unforgettable experience.
Unless you absolutely hate games that make you read, it would be a real shame to pass up such a classic. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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