Miles Edgeworth to star in spin-off title

Miles Edgeworth the prosecutor extraordinary of the Gyakuten Saiban series, is finally getting his own spin-off game. About time! Gyakuten Kenji (codenamed as New Gyakuten, Not Saiban)will apparently be a law adventure game and so far the two main characters confirmed are Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe. Gumshoe as our bumbling sidekick? Even more awesome. The game will feature a sprite-based third person gameplay with a new point & click search and deduction system.

(spoilers for GS3-less Europeans - just import the damn game)

That is great news. Ever since we were given the chance to play as Edgeworth in GS3, I have been itching for Capcom to create a game that solely revolves around him.

(spoiler ends)

Hell, back when I first played the first Ace Attorney I've already started hoping for an Edgeworth spin-off. Now if only Capcom get of their arses and confirm Franziska von Karma and Godot's own spin-offs. Especially von Karma. Because playing as a hot prosecutor with her own whip is made of win.

via GAF

Updated with scans!

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney review

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban 4), is the fourth in the Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney series of point and click adventure/graphic novel games. This is also the first game in the series to be developed from the ground-up for the Nintendo DS (previous games were released on the Game Boy Advance platform before being ported to the DS), and is also the first game without Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo) as the main protagonist (a reboot of sort). This review may contain some spoilers (but nothing major - I swear!).

This time around the story centres around a set of new heroes - rookie defence lawyer Apollo Justice, whose first case came to a rather sticky end despite winning the case, and Trucy a 15 year old magician in training. Rest assured, despite this you will be meeting some old friends such as Phoenix Wright himself. There is a total of four cases available, each growing in both length and ridiculousness as the story progresses - and as expected ties together rather nicely through the end. The first case also happens to be a tutorial case (though you can skip the tutorial bits if you wish), where you defend the legendary Phoenix Wright himself, though its importance is far greater than the first two games first cases. New gameplay mechanisms are introduced slowly throughout the four cases.

The new storyline requires some getting used to. For GS veterans who has played the previous three games, it may be hard to play a game that does not feature Maya Fey, Miles Edgeworth and the many other main characters whom we have grown up to enjoy our pixelated company with. At times it seemed that the charm of the previous games has been lost. Phoenix for example, is portrayed here as a little bit more cynical with the legal system, and whose character has undergone much personality change since the explosive final events of Gyakuten Saiban 3/Trials & Tribulation. In fact Pheonix's determination to keep his past seven years as vague as possible proves to be an appealing centrepiece in Apollo Justice as his secrets unravel near the end which provides a Fight Club level of twist. Case 4 is almost nearly as epic as GS3-5.

Visually the game has undergone significant changes. While the UI remains the same, Capcom has redrawn most of the sprites completely, no thanks to new set of characters as well as time period. Despite that the art style remained the same. Background environments however receive the bulk of the changes, with what looks like pre-rendered 3D environments. It is certainly cleaner, though I have to admit I do not really like the new "glossier" look. The game also features FMV sequences as well as polygonal renders for recreating crime scenes. And like the bonus chapter of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, most evidence under the court records can now be examined in more detail. The soundtrack has been updated with new themes for the new characters. Sound plays a very important part, at least in one case, so this isn't a deft friendly title.

Gameplay in Apollo Justice remains more or less unchanged. There are a couple of new gameplay mechanism designed to take advantage of the DS's hardware. Some of you may remember the bonus fifth case from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney remake. Well that served as a 'testing ground' for some of the new gameplay. For example we see the return of fingerprint dusting where one taps the screen to spread white powder around a fingerprint and then blowing at the DS microphone to reveal the fingerprint. One example of a new forensic technique is creating a footprint cast and trying to match it with the shoes of the witnesses and/or perpetrator.

It wouldn't be an Ace Attorney game if it didn't involve some supernatural gimmick. In Gyakuten Saiban 2, Psyche-Lock was introduced as means to suppress mental barriers created by unhelpful witnesses during the investigation part of the game. In Apollo Justice the protagonist, through his mysterious bracelet, has a talent of being able to concentrate on a witness and study their behaviour. This allows Apollo to expose their nervousness through their body language. The new gameplay is known as the Perceive System, which requires the usage of the touchscreen to zoom in on the witness while he or she is testifying. Speaking of touchscreen, I am glad that for the majority of the game is playable via the hardware buttons.

The localisation was handled by one Alexander O. Smith, a veteran in translating such fine Japanese games like Final Fantasy XII and Vagrant Story, as well as the first Ace Attorney game. Thankfully like the first three localisation, any Japanese cultural reference were redone to match the different humour enjoyed in the west. However I did find some of the puns to be very terribly predictable, and dare I say it, bland. Despite that the quality of the writing is equally on par with the first three games (yes! I loved the localisation of GS2 and GS3 despite the many spelling errors - the writing was remarkable) and the dialogues are humorous as before.

Apollo Justice is actually easier than the previous games, and I meant that as a compliment. In the past a small portion of the testimony contradictions and puzzles weren't as obvious and requires the use of time wasting process of elimination. Here the evidence in your disposal is significantly less than in past cases (for example case 5 of Phoenix Wright remake), and most contradictions are very obvious that presenting evidence is a doodle. Some may view this is as detrimental to the gameplay but in a genre like this the story matters much more than the gameplay - at least that is what I believe.

If you are an ardent fan of the series, I am sure you are already playing this, or at least planning to. If you haven't played any, there is no better time to start now that all four games already localised into English. Apollo Justice may be too formulaic, but the story is still refreshing enough to please both newcomers and series veterans. One final thing: while it isn't a requirement to play the first three games to enjoy Apollo Justice, some of the back story would be better explained if you actually played the first three games.

8/10

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, GS1, GS2 and GS3 are all available on Play-Asia, and Amazon UK.

Handheld heaven week

This week sees the EU release of Patapon and North America's release of Gyakuten Saiban 4's English translated version Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice. The EU release of GS4 is in April, a month after GS3 hits here, so make sure to order from your favourite online import store if you want to play it before everyone else (outside Japan). And don't forget to download the Patapon demo to get the Spear of Protection weapon first.

Gyakuten Saiban 3 / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations mini-review

Is there really a point to reviewing another Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney here in the west) game? The gameplay mechanics are alike as the first two GBA to DS ports (you should read a review somewhere). But what you get in the final Phoenix Wright outing is more cases to solve (yay!) and closure too (boo!).

Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations) opens with a glimpse to the protagonist's past and how he came to meet his mentor Mia Fey. It is sort of a tutorial case similar to the first cases in the previous two cases though it is much longer than those two. The case is also more challenging to solve than its previous equivalent cases from the other two games, signalling that the writers has opened up to new imaginations. Other cases are also similarly more challenging and present more twists than 100 David Fincher films.

Then we have out new prosecutor Godot, who in my opinion is the highlight of GS3. Suffice to say I won't ruin it for you but his involvement in Gyakuten Saiban 3 is deeper than previous two main prosecutors from the first two games combined (don't worry we will have a prosecutor reunion in this game). You will also find that with the cast of new characters, beloved old ones makes a hearty and significant return. The much derided Psyche-Lock mechanism that bring trial like solutions during investigations is also back for this game. This may annoy some folks but it does increase the amount of challenge within the investigations part of the game.

The localisation effort is impeccable with plenty of reference to modern popular culture. There are hilarity abound that will delight fans of comedy (such as a very nice dig at Microsoft's blue screen of death), and rival that of other comedy point and click adventure games such as Sam & Max and Monkey Island. As with any text heavy adventure games there are bound to be elementary English mistakes (mainly typos, some grammar etc.), and they do exist. But these are so rare that they are negligible. However if you are the kind of people who are easily distracted by such minute details then you will be pleased to know that Capcom has promised to improve on the localisation for the western release. That and you shouldn't be reading this English challenged blog.

The game isn't without its problem though. The soundtrack by Sega's Noriyuki Iwadare, while awesome, is plagued by what seems to be of a lesser audio quality output compared to the first Gyakuten Saiban DS port, especially when playing through a headphone. You can easily hear the artefacts due to poor audio compression or maybe though the non-optimisation by Capcom.

You will also find that in the final case (where you play a previous prosecution attorney in a defence role) rather than redrawing his/her sprites, the developers merely flipped the stocks of sprites, complete with his/her typical persecution attire. While it is understandable since they have already spent so much time redrawing the same person's sprites (and others too!), it just doesn't look as right as non-flipped sprites. You will also encounter a rookie prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (the main prosecutor from the first game) in one of the case and may find that the sprites aren't as detailed.

Despite the minor annoyance, the game is filled with awesomeness. GS3 is a fitting end to the law career of Phoenix Wright. It delves into Phoenix and other main characters past as well as tying up lose end. The fifth and final case for example is a major one, worthy of Hollywood proportion that ties all three titles together. And it delivers an emotional ending for this reviewer.

Does it take three glowing review to entice you to purchase a Gyakuten Saiban game? I hope not. It is easily the best Gyakuten Saiban game of the Phoenix Wright arc trilogy, though I would well to recommend that you buy and play the games chronologically. Go order it now. I will now weep and wish a Haitian remove any Gyakuten Saiban from my memory so I can play it again.

9/10

Related posts: Gyakuten Saiban, Gyakuten Saiban 2

Upcoming DS games

My copy of Gyakuten Saiban 3 DS is due here soon and I can't wait to battle prosecutor Godot. Expect a review sometime next week, maybe. While waiting you can read my impressions on GS1 and GS2.

With Heroes of Mana, Atlus' sRPG Luminous Arc and a proper DS Harvest Moon Rune Factory, this summer games draught is finally coming to an end (what an awful summer).

UK games draught continues though, unless you do the right thing by importing.

Gyakuten Saiban 3

My copy of Gyakuten Saiban 3 DS is due here soon and I can't wait to battle prosecutor Godot. Expect a review sometime next week, maybe. While waiting you can read my thoughts on GS1 and GS2.

With Heroes of Mana, Atlus' sRPG Luminous Arc and a proper DS Harvest Moon Rune Factory, this summer games draught is finally coming to an end (what an awful summer).

UK games draught continues though.

Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney 3 dated!

Capcom has finally confirmed that Gyakuten Saiban 3 would be released in its localised state as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations this September. Finally! Gyakuten Saiban 3 has always been stated as the best game in the point and click adventure/law sim series, especially with the plot surrounding Godot - the new cocky prosecutor, and the secrets of Ryuichi Naruhodo's (Phoenix Wright) past girlfriend Chinami Miyanagi (to be known as Dahlia, although she is more well known as Dolores in a fan translated version of GS3). Having played the first case of GS3 on the GBA and found it to be fantastic, I believe September can't come soon enough. Hurry up with the localisation of Gyakuten Saiban 4 too!


If you haven't played any Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney games, make sure to read my reviews here and here. You can buy them from any good importers (make sure you grab a coupon here) or game stores.

Ema Skye in Gyakuten Saiban 4

There are GS fans out there who did not want to believe that the bonus case from Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) was canonical material. Well it is. Here is the proof. Sweet Ema Skye who appeared in the bonus case is now all grown up and will appear in GS4. Now a detective, her inclusion in Gyakuten Saiban 4 will indicate that the GS (Ace Attorney) series will expand to include more interactive detective stuff rather than just the usual court logic debate. Yay.

You see, lawyers do not know shit when it comes to crime scene investigations, which is why the inclusion of Ema Skye (Akane Houzuki) in GS4 is very important. In the first three Gyakuten Saiban games, there is very little to do during the investigations apart from tapping on objects, figuring out logic and chatting with tons of people. But for the bonus case (Rises from the Ashes) in the DS remake of the first GS, Capcom decided to experiment with the new features of the DS a little bit to see whether any new gameplay can be gained when moving the series (starting with GS4) to the new platform. Enter Ema Skye, whose detective skills gave us more things to do, like blowing into the mic to reveal fingerprints (the gameplay will return in GS4 as indicated in the screenshot below) and looking for blood stains.



More screenshots here and here (source: Court Records)

Gyakuten Saiban 4 first case (flash demo) impressions

Those who read my blog would probably know that I am a massive fan of the point and click Gyakuten Saiban series (localised in the UK as part of the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney series). Capcom Japan has decided to host the part of the first case from the new Gyakuten Saiban 4 online as part of a flash game. Because the game is in Japanese (and I am crap at the language), I didn't attempt to play the whole game, least to avoid getting a migraine. But it is there for you guys to peruse if you fancy.

>> spoilers below <<

A quick play (with a dictionary) through reveals some returning characters including lame prosecutor Winston Payne. The judge doesn't seem to have aged despite GS4 looking exactly the same as he was back in GS1. You will role-play as the new protagonist, 22 year old rookie player Housuke Odoroki, with a new mentor Kirihito Garyuu (the long-haired blonde). The mysterious hobo defendant happens to be Naruhodou Ryuuchi (Phoenix Wright - the protagonist of the first three GS games), who is makes a living as a pianist in a Russian restaurant. He is accused of murder (not his first).

Gameplay wise GS4 (at least the first case) is again based on the DS remake of the first Gyakuten Saiban game (released here as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney). Conversation (and most likely investigation) takes place on the top screen whereas the touchscreen houses the GUI (and the occasional item examining). Tap the top right button to access the inventory. Once there you can tap on the items to view them in more detail. You can view character informations, again through tapping the upper right button. It is very simple and intuitive. I myself actually prefer to play using the face and shoulder buttons.

Graphically it is still 2D. The new game sports new background sprites such as the court house, which now has a much more cleaner and detailed look. The new character sprites seems to be more detailed than before and better animated too. Soundtrack wise, it sounds fantastic. It could even match or surpass the standard set by GS3.

Gyakuten Saiban 4 is due out this April in Japan. Let's hope, as with the first two DS remakes, Capcom includes an English translation.

Screenshots:

New protagonist Housuke Odoroki:



Your new mentor, the effeminate Kirihito Garyuu:



Cross examining Phoenix. Notice the life bar that was introduced in GS2:

Gyakuten Saiban 2 DS / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All review

I finally got hold of the DS remake to goofy lawyer adventure Gyakuten Saiban 2 (forthwith known as GS2 in this review)! And let me tell you, so far I am having a blast! Sweet sweet Maya, it is finally great to have you back! I was so excited I actually considered yelling "Objection" and "Take that" while playing the game on the Tube.

Out of respect to the initial concerns voiced by fans, I can confirm that the translation is great. Okay, I have only been through the first two cases, but so far I have only encountered the rare and frankly pretty minor grammatical mistakes. I have seen more mistakes in dedicated Western releases, so kudos to Capcom Japan for getting it (mostly) right. The same standard of humour found in the first DS remake is repeated here - retailored to suit English speaking cultures.

It is a pity the game, unlike GS1 DS, would not feature a bonus fifth case (although I can't confirm since I am still on case 2). Even then the first two GS2 cases are much longer than their equalvalent cases in the first game - hence my happy mood. Some may find the new soundtrack to be initially disorientating (which I did) but you will soon get the hang of it. It suits the 'darker' themes.

Despite the confirmation by British Courts that importers like us are apparently in cahoots with 'criminals', you really should import this. Hell, since this title is a 'Best Price' budget title (it is a remake of a GBA game after all), you can get this on the cheap. Play-Asia has this for £16. Sixteen bloody quid for a legit new factory sealed game with Japanese/English option - that you can play now, or the £30 jack-up price that our good retailers will attempt to con UK consumers 4-5 months from now? You decide.

Now Capcom, start working on that GS3 translation!

8/10

Buy now from Play-Asia or Amazon UK

-

With this, Contact, Seiken Densetsu: Children of Mana and Final Fantasy III, I believe it is finally time to switch off my mobile, pull the telly plug and kiss goodbye my social life for the whole month of November!

2006 Nintendo DS games assault

Edit (11/05): You can download Nintendo's press pack from their E3 press site.
Username: media Password: E32006

Looking through Nintendo's E3 press pack, you will find galores of info on new DS releases for 2006, as well as the US release of DS Lite. Omitted from this blogger's list are crappy and generic titles published by the likes of Disney and THQ - you know games based on IPs like SpongeBob, Chicken Little etc. all of which are only bought by parents who doesn't like their own children).

Highlighted are the games that I really really want. I am happy to see Gyakuten Saiban 4 in the press pack in its supposed English title (Phoenix Wright 2). This means Capcom will be porting the game to English. Huzzah! And of course the breaking news of Hideo Kojima's first DS title, Lunar Knights (Boktai) makes things a wii bit more interesting.



Update: Apparently Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All will be the official title and will be a port of Gyakuten Saiban 2 GBA (not the new Gyakuten Saiban 4) with a projected US release in Q1 2007. Confusing and weird of course, but I guess this is to keep the storyline intact for the Western market. Jumping from Gyakuten Saiban 1 to Gyakuten Saiban 4 wouldn't make much sense to the storyline. In any case I hope they will finally release/port the rest of Gyakuten Saiban series as Phoenix Wright games.

Update 2: Yes, the screenshots above pretty much confirms that Phoenix Wright 2 will be a port of Gyakuten Saiban 2 GBA.

Big Brain Academy (Nintendo Software Technology, USA) 5 June 2006
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Konami, Japan) Fall 2006
Chibi Robo Park Petrol (Skip, Japan) TBA
Children of Mana (Square Enix, Japan) Q4 2006
Clubhouse Games (Agenda) Q4 2006
Contact (Atlus, Japan) July 2006
Cooking Mama (Majesco, Japan) Q4 2006
Custom Robo Arena (Noise) Q4 2006
Deep Labyrinth (Atlus, Japan) Q4 2006
Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo, Japan) Q4 2006
Dino Master (Majesco) May 2006
DK King of Swing (Paon) TBA
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (Square Enix, Japan) Sept 2006
DS Air (Nintendo, Japan) Q4 2006
Elite Beat Agent (iNiS, Japan) Q4 2006
Final Fantasy III (Square Enix, Japan) Sept 2006
Freedom Wings (Natsume, Japan) July 2006
Harvest Moon DS (Natsume, Japan) June 2006
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Cing, Japan) Q4 2006
Kirby - temporary title (HAL, Japan) TBA
Lunar Knights: Vampire Hunters (Kojima Productions, Japan) Nov 2006
Magical Vacation (Brownie Brown) Q4 2006
Magnetica (Mitchell Corp) 5 June 2006
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (Square Enix, Japan) 11 Sept 2006
Mario Vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (Nintendo Software Technology, USA) 25 Sept 2006
Mech Assault: Phantom War (Majesco) TBA 2006
Mega Man ZX (Capcom, Japan) Sept 2006
New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, Japan) 15 May 2006
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All (Capcom, Japan) Oct 2006 Q1 2007
Point Blank (Namco, Japan) June 2006
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Chun Soft) 18 Sept 2006
Star Fox DS (Q-Games/Nintendo, Japan) 28 Aug 2006
Steel Horizon (Konami, Japan) Fall 2006
Sudoku Gridmaster (Hudson, Japan) 26 June 2006
Rayman (Ubisoft) Nov 2006
Tenchu: Dark Secret (FromSoftware) 21 Aug 2006
Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos) Sept 2006
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Vicarious, USA) Q4 2006
Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer (Konami, Japan) Fall 2006
Xiaolin Showdown (Konami, Japan) November 2006
Yoshi Island 2 (Nintendo, Japan) Q4 2006
The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo EAD, Japan) Q4 2006

Phew. Nintendo isn't kidding when they said that the DS would be getting plenty of softwares by year's end.

Also in the press pack are a bunch of screenshots of the DS Opera Browser in action. Here is one I thought was quite interesting.



Not sure which handwriting technology Nintendo has licensed (may be Decuma's), but hopefully all future DS games uses some kind of handwriting interface. I am so sick of tapping the QWERTY keyboard in Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Technorati tags: E3 Nintendo Nintendo DS Opera DS Phoenix Wright Gyakuten Saiban

Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney mini-review

One of the best time of my life was when I played this game a few months ago. Three days of non-stop playing, occasionally stopping for food and drink and other of life's essentials - and I finally 'beaten' the game in the early hours of a Sunday morning. It's like reading four detective books. Your eyes will bleed but it doesn't matter because you will want to get to the bottom of the truth.

You will become a recluse as you are sucked into the world where Phoenix, Maya, Ema and Edgeworth lives. When you finish, it's like something good has been taken away. You will understand the frustration that is felt by Harry Potter fans who has to wait for the next book like forever. You may even weep as you try to enjoy it all over again. But it will never be the same as the first time. Same goes with Gyakuten Saiban. It is that good.

Also known as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in the western world, Gyakuten Saiban DS is a remake of the original Gameboy Advance game where you play as rookie lawyer Phoenix Wright. It is easy and yet sometimes frustrating. It is the only world where you are allowed 'five lives' in the court (don't worry you can save). A world that nothing makes sense but when it dawns on you, you will be thinking "duh!". The DS version also contains a bonus case which is almost as long as two normal cases put together. Perfect for investigative adventure game fans, especially for those who remember the days of Monkey Island and Sam & Max.

Any objections?

9/10

Buy now from Play-Asia or Amazon UK