playing Phoenix Wright

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

I just go a DSI and the PW games ( 4 of them) and I have read reviews and watched videos on the series. My question is, even watching the reviews and gameplay, I really dont understand what is going on. how is the game actually played? i got them because they look interesting but can i get some heads up on what to expect.

[Gameguy]

They're adventure games, more specifically Visual Novels. You play the games mostly through menus, choosing where to go, what to interact with, what to say, what inventory objects to use, and when to do all these things. You can play through everything at your own pace.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

They're also chronologically related visual novels, like chapters in a book. Play them in order to have any idea what's going on. The order is:

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (1)
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (2)
Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations (3)
Miles Edgeworth: Investigations (spin off taking place between 3 and 4)
Apollo Justice (4)
Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2 (Japan only)
Phoenix Wright 5 on 3DS TBA (5)

[Gameguy]

Apollo Justice came out before Miles Edgeworth, you can play them in the order they were originally released and they'll still make sense. I find it's usually best to play games in the order that they're released.

[PapaStu]

Bump to Modern Gaming

[theclaw]

Play for things like the story, music, and humor.

They are very linear. Little bonus content or alternate routes. No penalty for cheating either.

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

awesome.....I was wondering what order they went in and if it made any diff in what order they were played....

[Satoshi_Matrix]

yes, absolutely. as I said, they're like books in a series. If you pick up the second book you won't know who any of the characters are or understand their relationships. Make sure you play Phoenix Wright 1 from start to finish before moving on. It won't take you all that long (the original game was a near launch title for the GameBoy Advance in Japan) so they're all worth checking out. Unfortunate, while they're all good, the series has a somewhat uneven range in quality. The second game - Justice for All - is the low point of the series. Not because it's BAD, but because it doesn't really bring much new to the table. It feels like Phoenix Wright's expansion pack rather than a new entry. The others all improved on that.

[Sailorneorune]

Phoenix Wright thread!

As has been said before, play the games in order. If you get Investigations, play that either before or after Apollo. It doesn't really matter. Investigations 2 makes an awesome paperweight if you're not fluent in Japanese.

The uneven quality in the games mainly comes from their respective 3rd cases, which are almost always filler. The first game's third case is fun, because it fleshes Maya out a little more as a Steel Samurai fangirl. The second, third, and fourth game (and Investigations 1)'s third cases made me want to bang my head against a wall repeatedly.

I love the Phoenix Wright games (Apollo Justice not so much), but the third cases in all the games after the first make me agree with the comment about uneven quality in the series. I challenge Eshiro & friends to give us a third case in AA5 that doesn't suck. It's been a while.

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

i cant wait till they all get here. Im hoping they arent too difficult or confusing for me to pick up on.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Oh no, not at all. As long as you're paying attention and use common sense, the cases are rather easy. All you really have to do is sit back and enjoy the awesome future anime court drama. The gameplay consists of three modes:

1. Investigation - this plays like a traditional point and click adventure game. Your goal here is to talk to those involved (police, the suspect, witnesses, etc) and visit the crime scene to gather evidence.

2. Pressing the witnesses in court for more detail in their testimony.

3. Pointing out a hole in the witness' statement by presenting a piece of evidence that contradicts witness testimony. For example, if someone claims they herd a disturbance of 2 pm, you press them on how they knew what time it was so exactly, and then see if you have any evidence to prove they couldn't have known what the time was or something like that. In the first game, you are allowed five mistakes before the judge will rule in favor of the prosecution causing you to lose the case (game over).

In addition, since the game only autosaves at junctions, you can abuse the system by guessing and being wrong, then turn off your DS and turn it back on again. You'll resume BEFORE you guessed and thus not take a penalty for guessing wrong.

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

awwww man, this game is awesome. so far, its the only game i have ever spent this amount of time on. it really forces you to pay attention to all the characters and what they are saying. so far its just right, are there any things in the game that get really hard and more confusing? im on the part where im just showing April May the photo of the guy she came with.