| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
The ESRB Says:
Blood: GamerDad saw still murder scenes with some visible blood, as well as blood on items in the court record and mentions of blood in the text. Mild Violence While you don't see any violence taking place, these cases are all about murder and you can see the after effects. Plus one of the prosecuting attorneys uses a whip. Suggestive Themes There's that aforementioned prosecutor with the whip, anime styled busty women characters, and innuendos in the text. Lawyers: fighters for justice, the butt of many jokes, characters in popular TV court dramas, heroes in...video games? That's right, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is back in this sequel to the popular Nintendo DS court adventure. In Justice for All, help Phoenix prove his clients innocent of murder in four different cases, each with multiple trials. The game is like a cross between a point and click adventure game and a digital comic book. There are two different phases of the game. The first is investigative. Point and click your way using the stylus and touch screen around various locations, including the crime scene, police headquarters, even your office. Visit the Detention Center to talk to your client, chew the fat with witnesses, police investigators, and a host of other colorful characters, both old and new. Gather clues and information that can help you in court. New to the investigative phase in the sequel is the Psy-Lock system. Phoenix's partner is a psychic medium who gives him a special charm that lets Phoenix know when witnesses are lying or hiding a secret. By using the necklace and providing evidence to back up your claims, convince your witness to spill the beans and give you even more useful information for the trial. But be careful. Present the wrong information and a meter will deplenish. Lose it all and it's game over. This new Psy-Lock system makes the investigative phase much more challenging than in the original game. The next phase is the trial. Here you listen to witness' testimonies. When it is your turn to cross-examine the witness, press them to add more detail to their accounts of the murders. Catch the witness in a lie by presenting collected evidence that contradicts his or her statements. Do this enough times and you'll reveal new evidence that can either extend the trial by a day to gather more clues, or reveal the real murderer in the case! Like in the investigative phase, you lose if you present too much evidence that doesn't contradict a witnesses' statement or prove anything wrong. Visuals are pretty much like the first gameļ¾anime styled still shots of characters you talk to. If you've never played the first game, jumping into the second is just as easy since play control is so simple to learn. But while returning characters are introduced as if you had no prior knowledge of them, familiarity with the first game is still helpful. So if you haven't played the original Phoenix Wright, go pick it up now. It's a slightly better game anyway. Phoenix Wright games are certainly not like real court dramas, as the rules of the legal system are a bit skewed here. A court that considers people guilty until proven innocent, not to mention picking up evidence from a crime scene would make any law student cringe. But it works here because the characters and stories are so charming that fans are willing to suspend disbelief. And since there is only one solution to each mystery in the game, sometimes you have to play by the game's logic, not yours, which sometimes makes presenting evidence a guessing game. Luckily you can save at any point in the game, even in mid-sentence. But there is only one save file, which makes sharing difficult. Justice for All doesn't have a lot of replay value after you finish the game, but if you loved the first Phoenix Wright, you'll love the sequel, too.  
Each case revolves around a murder, so of course there is violence, but at least you're not committing any of it. Some of the crime scenes and flashbacks do show still pictures of people getting shot, stabbed, or hung, and there is blood. Some light cursing graces the text, but it is used sparingly. Some of the female characters have rather large chests and the text makes some sexual innuendos from time to time. The new female prosecuting attorney even uses a whip! References to spiritual mediums and charms may make some families uncomfortable, too.
Because of all this, Phoenix Wright is best suited for teens 14 and up, but some mature preteens who enjoy detective stories and solving mysteries may be OK playing video game lawyer. The game may even be considered somewhat educational. Now, nobody who plays Justice for All will be able to pass the bar exam. Heck, they wouldn't even be able to pass a 3rd Grade social studies test on the judicial system after playing this. But there is a high level of reading comprehension required to solve the court cases. Players must examine facts carefully and find the sentences where witnesses screw up and tell lies, and that takes a lot of critical thinking, reasoning, and reading. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
