backtothis
06-05-2010, 11:10 PM
iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phoenix-wright/id372166015?mt=8
Main Thread: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=55590&highlight=phoenix+wright
PHOENIX WRIGHT: Ace Attorney
Can you say:
OBJECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!
Prologue:
Ok, I first heard about this game a while ago when TA did their thing and I was like, 'wright?'..is that some lame thing for 'right'? Forgot what those are called ahhh! But yeah, really, I'm skeptical about games like these 'storybook adventures'.
Well anyways, here's my review! You should know they're quite long by now, but have fun reading? Heh, for the lazy people, or if you just don't have time, there's a short summary included at the end. This review will follow my usual format, covering visuals, sound, gameplay, and controls.
Once again, this review comes from a 'hater' of reading games and text adventures, which should boost my ethical appeal..right.
P.S. This is a crime solving/mystery game, where you're an attorney. You defend the innocence of others, and even yourself.
Graphics:
Ok, I don't know about you, but I don't really consider any of the gamebook adventures to have what we call 'amazing visuals', and this definitely applies to PW. The cartoonish/anime graphics in this game do it justice and are perfectly suiting for how this game is layed out. The animations of the characters during the game are very repetitive, with each character only possessing only a few different ones, but once again, they do the game justice. After all, this game doesn't draw you to concentrate on its visuals, but on the case at hand, if you will.
Sound:
This will be the shortest section. I actually found the lack of fx and bgm to be quite detrimental to the game. I'm not sure if you can even play your own music either. But anyways, the only sounds effects I've noticed in 10 hours are the beeping of the text as it gets 'spoken' by each character and 'clashing' sounds during trials or moments of emotion. There is no background music whatsoever. Like I said, this is very, very disappointing. Some more sounds and music would have done a much better job at setting the mood.
Major edit: It's been brought to my attention that there is in fact bgm throughout PW, and that only my game has some type of bug in it. This case has never had any other occurrences. My apologies then.
Controls:
Since this is a gamebook/text adventure, I don't know what kind of amazing analog controls you're expecting xD. Heh, you get a 'play' button during conversations, to allow the speaker to proceed, check the the screenshots. Besides that, you are given a little menu that allows you to: examine, move, talk, or present evidence, when you are not in a conversation with anyone, but just at one of the many venues in the game where you are expected to figure out what you need to do. I'm pretty sure the four commands that are selectable here are very clear as to what they mean in a crime solving/court game. Hm...yea that's about it! You're also allowed a little menu during court sessions where you can present evidence or press the witness, but that's also self-explanatory
Gameplay:
AKA the core, the long passage, the paragraph you might not want to read.
Somehow after rereading what I've already typed, my view on this game doesn't quite seem like it would appear to be a positive one for readers, so here's where all the POSITIVES come in!
There's five cases in this game, yes only five. Too short you say? No, it really isn't. The first case is basically a very, very long tutorial that takes one freaking hour to complete, and it already draws you into the game, since it is honestly not just a tutorial, but the beginning of the plot. The other 4 cases should add up to about 20 hours of gametime. How's that for short? Imagine how much room there is for captivating turn of events, shocking surprises, comical conversation, and epic defending this provides time for. After all, this is a text adventure.
I can't tell you much honestly about how the game works without giving away storyline, and that's something I most definitely don't want to do. I guess this leads to one other detrimental point: once you finish the game, I don't see why or how you would ever want to play it again. Some books may ask that you read it multiple times, but it doesn't feel like that is the case for such idevice games. However, I would think you get your 4.99 money's worth by even playing half of this game, as I have now, finally having finished the third case. They actually get progressively longer. The fifth is said to take 8 HOURS ALONE. But yeah, the intensity of the game most definitely is worth any doubts you are having due to pricing.
The game PW is divided into two parts: the role of being the detective in various venues, and the other of course being the novice attorney in the courtroom. Finding evidence is to me that hard part, and the less fun of the two. You go around many locations talking, examining, detecting, etc, in order to find evidence you can use in court. This is often very difficult, since you really have to think sometimes as what to do, or where to go. But the game is really about thinking, so I do enjoy it however
The courtroom part involves listening to the prosecution, listening to witness accounts, then of course cross examining the witness, attempting to find any flaw in their confessions. You do this by pressing them first, in many points, as their account is divided by the game into many sections, and try to get more clues out of them first. Next, you review what you've learned, and try to present evidence where you think may be appropriate, securing your legitimacy in the courtroom, and successfully defending your client.
The game derives its core from the excitement and extreme interactions that occur throughout the game, and your ability to ponder and really think. You will, with no doubt, get stuck in various places, and take quite a while to figure out what to do, but that's all part of the fun.
Final Score and Rating:
4.5 OUT OF 5 for: its ability to draw in the player with its intense scenes and occurences, its easy playability for any audience, and its ever-lasting demand for the player to continue, yet it is hindered from the 5 star rating by its lack of replayability completely.
Thanks once again for reading friends. Now that it's summer, I'll probably be writing review alot more often for TA. PM me if you have any concerns or questions.
Cheers!
Main Thread: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=55590&highlight=phoenix+wright
PHOENIX WRIGHT: Ace Attorney
Can you say:
OBJECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!
Prologue:
Ok, I first heard about this game a while ago when TA did their thing and I was like, 'wright?'..is that some lame thing for 'right'? Forgot what those are called ahhh! But yeah, really, I'm skeptical about games like these 'storybook adventures'.
Well anyways, here's my review! You should know they're quite long by now, but have fun reading? Heh, for the lazy people, or if you just don't have time, there's a short summary included at the end. This review will follow my usual format, covering visuals, sound, gameplay, and controls.
Once again, this review comes from a 'hater' of reading games and text adventures, which should boost my ethical appeal..right.
P.S. This is a crime solving/mystery game, where you're an attorney. You defend the innocence of others, and even yourself.
Graphics:
Ok, I don't know about you, but I don't really consider any of the gamebook adventures to have what we call 'amazing visuals', and this definitely applies to PW. The cartoonish/anime graphics in this game do it justice and are perfectly suiting for how this game is layed out. The animations of the characters during the game are very repetitive, with each character only possessing only a few different ones, but once again, they do the game justice. After all, this game doesn't draw you to concentrate on its visuals, but on the case at hand, if you will.
Sound:
This will be the shortest section. I actually found the lack of fx and bgm to be quite detrimental to the game. I'm not sure if you can even play your own music either. But anyways, the only sounds effects I've noticed in 10 hours are the beeping of the text as it gets 'spoken' by each character and 'clashing' sounds during trials or moments of emotion. There is no background music whatsoever. Like I said, this is very, very disappointing. Some more sounds and music would have done a much better job at setting the mood.
Major edit: It's been brought to my attention that there is in fact bgm throughout PW, and that only my game has some type of bug in it. This case has never had any other occurrences. My apologies then.
Controls:
Since this is a gamebook/text adventure, I don't know what kind of amazing analog controls you're expecting xD. Heh, you get a 'play' button during conversations, to allow the speaker to proceed, check the the screenshots. Besides that, you are given a little menu that allows you to: examine, move, talk, or present evidence, when you are not in a conversation with anyone, but just at one of the many venues in the game where you are expected to figure out what you need to do. I'm pretty sure the four commands that are selectable here are very clear as to what they mean in a crime solving/court game. Hm...yea that's about it! You're also allowed a little menu during court sessions where you can present evidence or press the witness, but that's also self-explanatory
Gameplay:
AKA the core, the long passage, the paragraph you might not want to read.
Somehow after rereading what I've already typed, my view on this game doesn't quite seem like it would appear to be a positive one for readers, so here's where all the POSITIVES come in!
There's five cases in this game, yes only five. Too short you say? No, it really isn't. The first case is basically a very, very long tutorial that takes one freaking hour to complete, and it already draws you into the game, since it is honestly not just a tutorial, but the beginning of the plot. The other 4 cases should add up to about 20 hours of gametime. How's that for short? Imagine how much room there is for captivating turn of events, shocking surprises, comical conversation, and epic defending this provides time for. After all, this is a text adventure.
I can't tell you much honestly about how the game works without giving away storyline, and that's something I most definitely don't want to do. I guess this leads to one other detrimental point: once you finish the game, I don't see why or how you would ever want to play it again. Some books may ask that you read it multiple times, but it doesn't feel like that is the case for such idevice games. However, I would think you get your 4.99 money's worth by even playing half of this game, as I have now, finally having finished the third case. They actually get progressively longer. The fifth is said to take 8 HOURS ALONE. But yeah, the intensity of the game most definitely is worth any doubts you are having due to pricing.
The game PW is divided into two parts: the role of being the detective in various venues, and the other of course being the novice attorney in the courtroom. Finding evidence is to me that hard part, and the less fun of the two. You go around many locations talking, examining, detecting, etc, in order to find evidence you can use in court. This is often very difficult, since you really have to think sometimes as what to do, or where to go. But the game is really about thinking, so I do enjoy it however
The courtroom part involves listening to the prosecution, listening to witness accounts, then of course cross examining the witness, attempting to find any flaw in their confessions. You do this by pressing them first, in many points, as their account is divided by the game into many sections, and try to get more clues out of them first. Next, you review what you've learned, and try to present evidence where you think may be appropriate, securing your legitimacy in the courtroom, and successfully defending your client.
The game derives its core from the excitement and extreme interactions that occur throughout the game, and your ability to ponder and really think. You will, with no doubt, get stuck in various places, and take quite a while to figure out what to do, but that's all part of the fun.
Final Score and Rating:
4.5 OUT OF 5 for: its ability to draw in the player with its intense scenes and occurences, its easy playability for any audience, and its ever-lasting demand for the player to continue, yet it is hindered from the 5 star rating by its lack of replayability completely.
Thanks once again for reading friends. Now that it's summer, I'll probably be writing review alot more often for TA. PM me if you have any concerns or questions.
Cheers!