Phoenix Wright: Justice For All (DS)

I am writing this review for two reasons the first being that I realise my review of the first game was a bit limited and the second is that I believe this series to be one of the best games on DS. First things first, for those that don't know Phoenix Wright its a 'Courtroom sim'. Okay that last statement isn't strictly true as no courtroom in the universe behaves as the court in this game does. This believe it or not is a good thing as it allows the wrighters(see what I did there) to take liberties which allows for a number of strange and funny encounters.

The game plays out in two stages, investigating and courtroom battles. Battles I hear you say, surely it doesn't get that intense and that would be where your wrong, the courtroom encounters seem are truely a marvel to behold they seem to have a lot in common with japanese action animes. The parts of the game that deal with the trial involve cross examining witnesses and presenting evidence. This is made all the more fun by the shouting of 'Objection', 'Hold it' and 'Take That'. The fun doesn't end there either, lets just say the voice recognition isn't all that great so you can get away with saying various other comments.

The second part of the game is investigation and this is a bit like games such as sam and max. The investigating involves everything from chasing a monkey to questioning a puppet. There also some small puzzles but nothing as extensive as what was shown in ace attorneys final chapter.

The storylines are the best part of this series as the characters are so well developed, which makes them incredibly memorable. If you leave this game not laughing everytime you even here the mention of detective Gumshoe theres something wrong with you and you should seek help immediatley. If you can guess who the bad guy is by the end of day 1 in the circus trial then you maybe as psychic as mystic Maya, the cases aren't predictable at all. Detective shows on tv should gaze up in awe at the writing involved in the phoenix wright series.

The music in the original game was nominated for best soundtrack, this game reuses old tunes as well as adding some new ones to the mix. This means that it still has one of the best soundtracks on the DS. The graphics are the same as the previous entry but for this type of game they don't matter to much. They artwork though really does give the characters so much personality that many games would die for.

Now I get to the differences between the sequel and its predecessor. The first thing anyone will notice is the limit of five mistakes has disappeared in favor of a health bar. The second difference is that a new system refered to as psyche lockes has appeared this allows phoenix to cross examine people outside of court to reveal hidden information. The third difference is that there are only four trials in this game compared to ace attorneys 5. To be fair the last trial in ace attorney was not really included in the original series. The fourth difference is the difficulty the sequel is definetley a step up in the difficulty stakes. Great story.
Great characters.
Great use of DS features.
You get to shout objection....among other things.
Great Soundtrack.
A story with samurais, ninjas, monkeys and assassins what more do you want. Not quite as good as its predecessor.
Certain characters seem to undergo personality changes inbetween games.
Not as many cases as predecessor.
One of the best games on DS, need I say more, get both phoenix wrights they are both incredible games. If your only gonna get one get ace attorney as it edges the sequel.