1. ExpEchoX5

   10

   I bought this game on a whim and instantly fell in love with the series. I was familiar with Capcom from their games on the NES and SNES, but had not played much else by them at that point. I really enjoyed the refreshing anime style for the story, characters, and humor of the game. The game combines puzzle solving into the investigations and courtroom battles of the stories in a smooth, accessible way. Case 1 was a great tutorial to the game-play. Instead of an endless progression of textboxes explaining what to do, the game teaches you how to play through having you press and present in the courtroom for the player’s (and Phoenix’s) first case as a defense attorney. I enjoyed that there were two types of stories being told, the story of the current case and a deeper story that ties many characters and cases together. Most of the cases last for more than one day, meaning that there are multiple investigation and courtroom sessions to complete. Case 4, which was the original final case of the game, resolved some of the deeper story mysteries, but not all of them. I felt it was an excellent finale to the first game. Case 5 was created for the US release of the game on the DS (the first 3 games were originally released on the GBA). It is an impressive side-story that definitely feels right for the Ace Attorney universe. That case had new concepts using the touchscreen (ex. spraying for blood on objects) and introduced new characters that would re-appear in future games, especially Apollo Justice (AA4). This is a game that has aged very well, and I still recommend it for fans of mystery games and fans of dynamic stories.… Expand

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2. KlassicKritic

   10

   I'm going to be honest. This game is a masterpiece. I don't care if the game does half of the thinking for you, but the fact that with increasing difficulty and requirements to be able to think beyond a simple contradiction to shove some evidence up the prosecutor's throat makes the game beyond fun. This game just won't let me shut the DS off, of course until I get to a save point.… Expand

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3. Warren

   4

   The writing of Phoenix Wright is pretty much on-par with every-other anime you've ever seen. I don't hate anime, not at all, but unlike a lot of anime fans I realize a lot of it is just plain cliched, and Phoenix Wright's writing is on that very level. But of course this is a game, so the writing isn't everything. If the gameplay is challenging and interesting it's all good, but unfortunately PW doesn't have that going for it either. The game is far, far too lenient on you. For example, you can't go to court unless you have all the evidence, (meaning you can't accidentally miss evidence, which would be more interesting because then cases could be easier/harder/have different verdicts depending on your detective work), if the judge or someone else asks you a question the answer is either extremely obvious or if you pick the wrong one you just get another chance to choose, and when things get dire the game will sometimes toss a deus ex machina factor at you to save the day; you see where I'm going with this? If the game wants to do so much for me, why am I even playing? Sometimes it's a bit difficult to find evidence when you're out investigating, and sometimes it's puzzling as to what evidence you should be presenting during a cross-examination, but that's as challenging as the game gets. Also, once you beat Phoenix Wright you've done everything there is to do, even fans of the game often admit this. Zero replay value. So ultimately, you're playing a generic anime that you can easily get through just by paying a bit of attention with maybe some guesswork thrown in, then you'll probably never touch it again. But at the very least Phoenix Wright is not painful to play. Often boring, but not painful. It can even be mildly entertaining at times and is generally likable. It's just not good, is what I'm saying. If you're a huge anime/niche games/general Japanophile you'll probably enjoy this game. If not, at best I'd say borrow it and see for yourself, but do not pay money for this game. A 4 for barely even being a game, but at least not making me want to kill myself.… Expand

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