Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All

February 22, 2007

The [i]Phoenix Wright[/i] series has been popular for some time on the Game Boy Advance in Japan (under the name [i]Gyakuten Saiban[/i]), but it wasn’t until late 2005 that the United States took an interest in the series. Capcom was apparently so unsure of [i]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney[/i]’s success that they produced very few copies, not prepared to meet the huge demand later. Given the large appeal for the first title, Capcom has now repackaged the second game in the series onto the Nintendo DS in the form of [i]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All[/i]. For the people who enjoyed the first title, [i]Justice for All[/i] will bring more of the deep, investigative courtroom drama to the table, but it may be a bit difficult to get past the recycled nature of the game.

[i]Justice for All[/i] continues the storyline from the first Phoenix Wright. As the ace attorney himself, you’ll go through four different cases, battling in the familiar courtroom setting as well as investigating the scene of the crime for clues and evidence. In the first case, you are introduced to the courtroom mechanics as Phoenix comes down with a case of amnesia, but after the first case, we can see the story picking up a year after the events of the fourth case from the first game. Maya makes a return, Edgeworth makes a mysterious disappearance, and new prosecutors aim to take Phoenix down in the ever popular attempt to maintain their perfect win record. For the most part, the story is very similar in nature to the first [i]Phoenix Wright[/i] and contains some of the same, if not tired, plot twists and fake-outs.

Things also play exactly like the first title. In fact, you’ll probably get a sense of dA

Score: 2/5

Questions? Check out our review guide.