Date Acquired: 2006 sometime
Date Completed: 6.30.2010
Thoughts: Well that was close. It's been my goal to Complete at least one game every month. Yes, I finished 3 in May, but that doesn't carry over into June. Finishing 3 games in May left me with a lot of games to start, not to finish. I did play several games in June, but as the month drew to a close it was becoming clear that I wasn't going to be finished with any of them by the end of the month. So the night of the 29th, I began combing through my games looking for something I could finish by the end of the following day. I considered Mad World, one of a large number in my collection of partially finished games. And then I found Phoenix Wright. I remembered leaving off on the fifth and final case. It's portable nature would allow me to work on it while at work. It was perfect.
I can't remember why I stopped playing Phoenix Wright. But I stop playing most of the games I start so that's to be expected. I can say it's not because I was stuck in the game. I wasn't even at the investigation phase of the game, I was in the court room, which really is where this game shines. The investigating and looking for evidence can be somewhat tedious. But in the courtroom you get to see the personalities of the crazy characters flourish. There's a lot of hilarious moments and antics.
It likely comes as no surprise that the game takes liberties with the legal system and it's procedures. As in, it outright ignores them. What we would call purgery, the game considers to be case exposition. Characters lie under oath with impunity. Cops plant evidence or destroy it, and nobody gets in trouble unless they kill somebody. But plenty of people do die, and it's your job to figure out whodoneit by listening to testomonies, catching contradictions and figuring out what pieces of evidence you hold can prove it. It's simple at first, Officer Marshall will tell you he never set foot in that room, and then you'll look in your evidence pile and see something called 'Marshall's handprint' smeared in blood in that very room. But it doesn't stay that simple, and if you get the wrong answer too many times, the judge ends your game and you have to start over at your last save point. It can be trial and error at times, when the answer isn't obvious, with this type of game that really can't be helped without the game being too simple.
The great thing about this game is it's uniqueness. It's nothing like any other game you've played before. Unless you've played any of the 5 DS games released in the US alone, more of which are available in Japan. All of which play exactly the same. I'm not sure it's a gametype that can really sustain multiple identical sequals like other franchises. It's a good experience, a fun game, but I can't say that I plan to seek out the sequal. Maybe in a year or so if I see one of the titles suitably cheap, I will pick it up on an impulse. But Upon finishing it, I don't feel the need to play another game like it anytime soon.
To Do: Nothing with this game. It has no replay value to speak of. I suppose the next step would be one of the sequals some day down the road. Maybe.
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