[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by The Seed

I also really appreciated the improved production values and technical features: the part with the video evidence of the locker room where you hade to examine it frame by frame to find the hidden evidence particulalry impressed me. And of course who could forget...The Blue Badger!!!

I must agree. It was quite impressive. As for the Blue Badger... ahem, I think I hate it No, seriously, it was nice and now it gives me a chance to mention my second favorite character... Gumshoe!

[C_Knight]

One of my favourite series. Miles Edgeworth ftw. Didn't quite finish Apollo Justice though.. I'm hoping for a sequel.. but the Edgeworth prosecutor game looks interesting.

[Veovis]

I liked the first three games quite a lot better than Apollo Justice and I think they reached almost perfection with the third one, Trials & Tribulations. The first one is almost as good while Justice for All is only very very good. Also, I agree with what seems to be the general opinion here; all four games should definitely be played in order. Even in Apollo Justice there are references made back to characters and events from the earlier games and things make much more sense if you've completed those first. The continuity factor is one of the series strong points imo.

[wildcat]

The first three Ace Attorney games are better than Apollo Justice (although all are good). Trials and Tribulations is the best of them all, even though coffee swilling Godot doesn't quite overtake Edgeworth for me as best character

[noknowncure]

I'm a Gumshoe fan. I love how they gradually make him more and more unfortunate as the games go on. Must be a fan of the underdog.

Also can't forget the Judge. The most naive, suggestible man in the legal system.

Can't wait for the Edgeworth+Gumshoe title.

[TimovieMan]

*bump*


An off-topic discussion about Phoenix Wright started to develop in the 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors thread, so I decided to take it here instead...

Originally Posted by Mikekelly

I really like the third Ace Attorney game - stunning achievement in gaming - worth every penny I paid for it.

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Did you play all of them?

Imo: PW1 > PW3 >>>> PW2 > AJ > ME

The first one's the allround best game imo, but the third gets a special mention because I think that's the best written game of the lot. The twist after the first case (that immediately lead to the second) was pure genius!

Originally Posted by Mikekelly

I did. I liked the third one the best however. And because I was trying to be cheap with buying games, IE buying them when they had been out for a while I paid bank for the third one. Over all, I did well, I got some best selling games for half their origonal price, but the third Ace Attorney game cost me $$$$ for a copy. The good news was, I loved it - great game and my fave of the five big time.

Some really great adventure games - like 999 I picked up 1st day they came out and was glad to pay full price for. Another was Broken Sword DC - that was a WoW too and Ghost Trick. Another game I paid $$$$ for was Last Window and Secret Files 2 because I imported them.

I played the first four games in quick succession. I only found out about the series after a good review for Apollo Justice on GameSpot, and I bought all four games almost instantly.
I think the first one's the best because it took me by surprise the most. It was well written and hilarious. Most of the gags in the following games appeared to be less funny, but that could be because I basically overloaded on these games (by playing all four in about three-four months time).
Since I rank the third one about as high as the first one, it's actually possible that I would've thought it was the best of the bunch too, had I played them all with a year in between...


And Miles Edgeworth is still my favourite character...

[zane]

the first game is easily my favorite of the series. It meets all my criteria for a top notch adventure.
I have the rare opinion of the 2nd game being the next best, it is entertaining and adds to some elements of the plot in the first game while introducing its own zany plot. Of the three phoenix games i like the third game the least... it makes the timeline ridiculously crowded and seemingly every character has their own implausible plan. If it wasnt for godot being so likeable i might even have not liked the game. But i enjoyed it.
I havnt gotten around to playing ace attourney or apollo yet. I guess iv been slow to play them since theyr not as high rated as the others... but i should definitely play them and find out.

[Mikekelly]

"I think they reached almost perfection with the third one, Trials & Tribulations."

Yeppers - I have to agree with this too. However four and five are well worth playing. Six was released in Japan and a combo game with Layton is planned for the 3DS.

[skeeter_93]

I think the 3rd is the best. I liked the rest well enough, and I enjoyed Miles Edgeworth Investigations a lot - love Edgeworth and Gumshoe!

[Siddhi]

The first one was awesome, mainly because it I was encountering the formula for the first time. I've played one more, I dont remember if its the second or third one, which I also enjoyed.

I found the story writing to be top quality throughout. Often the cases would be heading one way before a twist happens and everything goes topsy turvy. Great fun. Unfortunately I've not been able to find any of the other games in the series

[Mikekelly]

All five are simply excellent. Second only to Prof. Layton in sales. Apollo Justice makes full use of the DS special features so I really liked it. The 5th one is a third person perspective game and is really good too.

I know at least one of these games will make the top 100 list - just a question of which one.

Apollo Justice is a great place to start, but all the games are great and well worth playing. The third is my favorite - but not by much over the others.

[TerminusEst]

Resurrecting an old thread...

I'd heard great reviews of the Ace Attorney games so I picked up the first one. I think I mentioned this in another thread but it did nothing for me. The courtroom part of the game was decent but it could also be quite frustrating at times. It was often obvious what the contradiction in the testimony was and the only difficulty was figuring out which of the items in evidence was relevant. Still, its novelty carried that part for me.

The investigation part, however, got on my nerves in a big way - it was overly linear and there was precious little variety - you just go from location to location, examine everything and talk to everybody about everything. The thing that really irked me though was the depth of the characters or, rather, their complete lack of depth. With only a few comically-exaggerated facial expressions, each of which denoting different emotions at different times, the characters seemed like absurd overblown two-dimensional caricatures. The weird humor and the quality of the writing in the dialogues didn't help either. So interacting with NPCs felt like dealing with overly-emotional and shallow 12-year old girls (no offense meant to the 12-year old female demographic, of course). All this clashed with the supposedly serious tone of the investigation and made playing the game a jarring experience.

None of this is necessarily criticism of the game - it is entirely possible that I am not playing it with the right mindset. Maybe I should take it as casual entertainment that I pick up for 20 minutes here and there and not necessarily as a police procedural (albeit heavily stylized). Anybody care to elaborate on the way they perceive the game/series?

[Mikekelly]

I liked all of them actually. The third one is my favorite. The art is Anime - but I like Anime so this works for me.

I've played all of them and they are all good. But the third was the stand out.

Good stories and humor make the series for me.

[orient]

I never did finish Apollo Justice. After 4 games of pretty much the same thing, I kind of got tired of it, but I do miss the characters. It may be time to pick up Miles Edgeworth: Investigations.

[Kurufinwe]

I'm currently doing a Phoenix Wright replay marathon (I finished the second case of game 3 a few minutes ago). I love these games. I love how they somehow manage to blend together over-the-top craziness and epic moments that get your heart racing, as well as strong emotional moments with characters you really care about and... this. And I also enjoy the gameplay and think that most of the cases are really clever and unpredictable, even if the way the game is constantly forcing you to approach things in a certain way can be frustrating at times.

I completely understand how people could not like the games. As I said above, they blend lots of elements that are tonally completely different. I think it (magically) works, but I can see why somebody else would disagree with that.

They don't evolve much. The third one is definitely the best, but only because lots of story threads from previous cases converge there, leading to a huge emotional pay-off. But at heart it's still the same style. If you didn't like the first game, then you should just move on to something else. There's no point in forcing yourself to play games you don't enjoy.

[Venkman]

I'm playing the first one now, on case 3 I think (the samurai one).

Not sure how I feel about the game. I'll finish it for sure, but if the writing doesn't improve I don't know that I'll play the sequels.

I'm also playing Ghost Trick and think that is much better. While I do think some moments in Phoenix Wright are genuinely funny (which is extremely rare for me in video games), Ghost Trick is even better. (Both games by the way are much funnier than anything Tim Schafer or any other adventure game developer has done - just wanted to get that barb in there). Ghost Trick obviously has more "playing" to it which is a large reason I like it better. If they beefed up the adventure elements and toned down the dialogue of PW I would possibly love it.

I also happen to be stuck on this case which is really annoying. Trying to find a contradiction in what I think is one of the final testimonies of the case. No idea what the game wants me to do.

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

and... this

Now this makes me think of a quote from a certain character in San Andreas I encountered the other day. A typical Northerner from Salford by the name of Maccer.

"Bouncy, wobbling, massive, great tits!"

I still haven't finished the first Phoenix Wright yet, but I'm getting there. I still have soooo much left to experience what with the other games in the series I've yet to play. But I agree with everyone about the last case being too long. My thoughts exactly. But I only want it to end so I can start the sequel. And I agree about the characters, the art style, the stories, plot twists, and the humor - simply great! One thing no one else seems to have mentioned is the music. True, the tunes are simple and repetitive, but I find them catchy and they remind me of other games at times. Some remind me of the classic Megadrive Sonic games ;p.

Trouble is, because the games are linear, I'd probably have to leave them for quite some time before giving them a replay.

[Origami]

"Trouble is, because the games are linear, I'd probably have to leave them for quite some time before giving them a replay."

What I do when I replay a Phoenix Wright game is put it on a different language. I have steadily been learning and improving my french.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by TerminusEst

None of this is necessarily criticism of the game - it is entirely possible that I am not playing it with the right mindset. Maybe I should take it as casual entertainment that I pick up for 20 minutes here and there and not necessarily as a police procedural (albeit heavily stylized). Anybody care to elaborate on the way they perceive the game/series?

I don't think it's meant to be seen as a police procedural because the entire court system of the games is complete rubbish. Given that it takes place in Japan and somewhere in the near future (2016-2019, IIRC) should mean that it's not to be taken too seriously.

Personally I think the Ace Attorney series are some of the funniest games ever made, and I really love the "friendly rivalry" (something that's quite common in anime) between Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth.
Plus you gotta love the crazy characters in it. From the constant banter Phoenix Wright has to endure, to Franziska's whip, to the antics of Larry Butz, the screw-ups of Detective Gumshoe, the world's most clueless judge, Pearl's over-romanticized view of Phoenix' relationship with Maya, and the quirky traits of Wendy Oldbag...
Over-emotional reactions are a given, and the freakouts are used to hilarious effect. I just love these...

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

I'm currently doing a Phoenix Wright replay marathon (I finished the second case of game 3 a few minutes ago). I love these games. I love how they somehow manage to blend together over-the-top craziness and epic moments that get your heart racing, as well as strong emotional moments with characters you really care about and... this. And I also enjoy the gameplay and think that most of the cases are really clever and unpredictable, even if the way the game is constantly forcing you to approach things in a certain way can be frustrating at times.

I completely agree with everything here.

I completely understand how people could not like the games. As I said above, they blend lots of elements that are tonally completely different. I think it (magically) works, but I can see why somebody else would disagree with that.

Japanese games tend to make these different elements blend in a way that totally works. While they're making you laugh at all the characters, they're also making you like them. If they then add a sudden "serious" twist, they can instantly go from laugh-out-loud funny to extremely emotional (up to the point where if you're not crying, you're not human)...

They don't evolve much. The third one is definitely the best, but only because lots of story threads from previous cases converge there, leading to a huge emotional pay-off. But at heart it's still the same style. If you didn't like the first game, then you should just move on to something else. There's no point in forcing yourself to play games you don't enjoy.

I agree, too. The first four games are very similar with only minor gameplay elements that change. The addition of DS functionality for the final case of Phoenix Wright 1, the Psyche-Locks in Phoenix Wright 2 & 3 and the tell-spotting in Apollo Justice, are about all that's different.
Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations is the only one that does something different with the gameplay, and to be honest, it wasn't all that much of an improvement anyway.

These games are played for the story, the humour, the great characters, and the constant plot twists. If you don't like those in the first game, then don't bother with any of the rest...

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

The addition of DS functionality for the final case of Phoenix Wright 1...

I like these. The thorough item examination confused me at first but it's a great addition to the gameplay. It's a shame it doesn't make a return in the sequel.

The one mechanic that took me by surprise the most was blowing into the mic after dusting for fingerprints. Love it. Genius.

Oh. And I agree with everything else you said.