Apollo Justice is one of those games where you will either love it, or hate it. If you are new to the series of Phoenix Wright, this is a game where you play as a defense attorney, collecting evidence and doing trials where you find the lies in the testimonies of criminals while trying to find the truth. The series up to now has been a rather fun ride, and lets see how this comes out.
The gameplay is what was expected. You are presented with a cut scene where the crime is committed, and will eventually get pulled into the case where you do some investigating followed by the engaging courtroom element of the game. You will use the touch screen a lot in this game (the D-Pad is still there, but the touch is easier), in the investigation periods you will use it to examine objects, go through text, and present evidence to people. In the court, it is used for shifting through text, finding nervous ticks, and presenting evidence. If you wish to really get into the action, there is a voice recognition system where you hit a button and yell “Hold it!” or “Objection!”. An important part of the game is the “Perceive System, where you will carefully look over witnesses on the stand, find their nervous “tic”, and but them for a lie or holding back information. This has proven to be a challenge for me in one or two occasions, as some of them can get to be really minute tics. Overall, I liked the new additions to the game play, and enjoyed seeing the old one return.
The story was really good, I was surprised with the first case and how it tied in with things. Actually, all the cases except two had something to contribute to the overall ending, and I enjoyed how it all tied together. The last case had a very nice surprise, although it may have been there for fan service, it was my favorite part of the game. Overall, I would say that the story was very well done, good job.
Now for the sound part of the game; the music is exactly what you would expect from a Phoenix Wright game. Even though it wasn't as good as previous games, it still was a good. The blips that people make when they speak can kind of get on your nerves at first, but you will get used to it as the game progresses. The little voice segments of “Objection!” and whatnot are the same as always, so that wasn't really improved upon. The music is still polyphonic, no real music yet. Overall, I would say that the sound quality is fine, but the music is lacking when compared to the previous games.
The graphics were a HUGE step above the last game, the transition from being made for the GBA to DS went very well. The textures are a lot smoother and have a lot more detail than what they were before. This is very good, and can be quite a shock at first if you have played any of the previous games. For instance, what used to be just a flat, brown desk now has some designs on it. Also, what would a DS game be without some 3D graphics now? A 3D layout of the crime-scene makes appearances in some of the cases, like where you track a bullet into the side of someone's head. This was a very, very, nice addition to the game, and I hope to see it in the next one. 3D cutscenes made an appearance as well, and those are something else I would like to see again too. Also, the frame rate is better, making motions a lot more fluent. The graphic transition to the DS was very well done.
After all of this, I would love to say “This was a perfect addition to the franchise”, but there is one BIG complaint I have. With a good story, decent music, really good graphics and gameplay, they almost couldn't have gone wrong, but they messed up with the characters. They look fine, nothing is wrong with them on how they look, but it is their personas and how they act in the game. They were really just hollow replicas of previous games. Apollo Justice himself made me so disappointed while playing this game. I found his character to be one of the more self-absorbed characters in the game. He is more focused on saying “Objection!” more than actually solving the case (which is something he very seldom does on his own, even the prosecution helps him.) Speaking of the prosecution, although he was not as deep as Edgeworth or Godot or even the Von Karmas, Gavin was my favorite character in the game. He was the one character with influence who was actually trying to find “The truth” in the case, even if it was a disadvantage to him. Well done with him, and Phoenix, but I can't really speak a lot of Phoenix without spoilers, so I am going to avoid that. The replacement Maya was far too cartoonish, and even though it is a game, I like the past ones for having some, even if a little trace of realism, in their characters. So what I have to say about the character is that it was like a friend who you haven't seen since childhood coming back after seven years, only to backhand you across the face and make you cry. Poor form here Capcom, poor form.
As for the game overall, I would say that it is definitely worth a buy if you can get over the characters. Veterans like myself will be disappointed at the replacements, but give it a shot. You will like it.
