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Revision as of 15:12, 17 October 2006 by Masem (talk | contribs) (→Cultural references)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 2005 video game| Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | |
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| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Composer(s) |
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| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release |  September 15, 2005 October 11, 2005 March 31, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure/Action |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (known in Japan as Turnabout Courtroom: Revival Turnabout (逆転裁判 蘇る逆転, Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten), is a point-and-click adventure video game developed by Capcom for the Nintendo DS in 2005.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a remake of the Game Boy Advance video game Gyakuten Saiban (originally released October 11, 2001), which was never released outside of Japan. The Nintendo DS version adds touch screen and microphone support and a new fifth episode called Rise from the Ashes. Rise from the Ashes is much longer than the game's other four episodes and uses the Nintendo DS' touch screen, microphone and 3D rendering hardware more extensively than the other episodes.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was very hard to find in stores shortly after its release because of a shortage due to unexpectedly high demand. Capcom eventually made the decision to ship more units to stores in March 2006. They later issued a new shipment in June 2006, which sold out in a week's time. An August 2006 shipment was announced and, as of this writing, copies from this shipment have sold out as well. Capcom has since sent out one or more shipments.
The sequel to Gyakuten Saiban titled Gyakuten Saiban 2 for the Game Boy Advance (also only in Japan) is set to be remade for the Nintendo DS under the title Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All. It is due to be released in Japan in October 26, 2006 and in North America and Europe in the first quarter of 2007.
Gameplay
In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the player takes on the role of Phoenix Wright, who must do various tasks, some being standard operation for a defense attorney and some having nothing to do with the profession.
Controls
There are two ways to control the game. The first was taken from the original Gyakuten Saiban and uses a more standard control scheme to control the flow of the game. The new controls take advantage of the Nintendo DS's touch screen. Using the touch screen, players can advance dialogue by pushing a prominent "Play" button located in the middle of the screen, enter the game's inventory system with a "Court Record" button, interrogate witnesses with a "Press" button and present evidence that shows a contradiction to testimony with a "Present" button. In addition to these two control schemes, optionally, the player can speak into the microphone three different phrases - "Objection", "Hold It" and "Take That" at certain points in order to invoke the "Present" and "Press" functions. The new episode introduced in Phoenix Wright (Episode 5) takes advantage of the DS's features at several points, such as spraying luminol with the touch screen to locate blood stains at crime scenes, dust for fingerprints, or examining a 3-dimensional view of various items of evidence in order to find new clues.
The game has a total of 5 trials. In the game's setting, the justice system has moved to a process in that after a suspect is arrested for a crime, a trial lasting no more than 3 days is held to attempt to prove that person's innocence. A failure to find the suspect "not guilty" will cause the suspect to be tried in a higher, much tougher court, and thus it is in the player's best interest (as Phoenix) to find his client not guilty within those 3 days, or the game will be over.
Except for the first case, the game cycles between two phases: Investigation, and Courtroom Sessions. At most, there will be 3 Investigation periods and 3 Courtroom Sessions for each trial, though the courtroom session may be divided into two or three parts during the last trial.
Investigation
During the investigation phase (generally taking place in the afternoon), the player can move between several areas related to the crime, talk with people present in those areas or present them with court record information to try to get more information out of them, or investigate the areas for evidence and other clues. These sections are mostly linear - once a key piece of information is heard or obtained, a new line of dialog may be opened, or a new area can be investigated, or a new character can be questioned, with usually a key sequence of steps that have to be done before the investigation phase is completed. By the end of the investigation phase, the player will have sufficience evidence in the Court Record to use for the trail.
The first case does not have an investigation phase; the player already starts with several items in the Court Record as the Courtroom Session begins.
Courtroom Sessions
During the Courtroom Session (always starting in the morning), the player generally must listen to the prosecution's witnesses' testimony, and then perform a cross-examination of the witness. During cross examination, the player can "press" the witness for each line in the testimony, which may reveal a flaw in the witness's testimony or additional information that was not revealed before; in the latter case, the testimony may be updated to reflect this new information. Also during cross-examination, the player can attempt to produce evidence from the Court Record that contradicts the current statement in the witness's testimony. When the contradiction is correctly pointed out, this may lead to a new line of testimony from the witness or a new witness being brought to the stand, in which case the same process continues, or closure of the case for either further investigation or for finding the suspect not guilty. However, if the wrong evidence is used, or evidence is presented at the wrong time, the player will be punished with a strike against them. If the player accumulates 5 such strikes during a Courtroom Session, the case is automatically closed, and the suspect found Guilty and thus ending the game, though the player can restart from the start of that present Courtroom Session. There are also times during Courtroom Sessions that the player can selection an option (such as deciding whether to press a witness further on a statement or to let it slide), or will be required to produce evidence supporting a claim. In some cases of these, selecting the wrong option will also punish the player with a strike.
There is generally only one right "path" through the Courtroom Sessions, in that for every cross examination, there is only one correct piece of evidence that has to be used at the correct time to contradict the witness and to progress the game forward.
The player at any time can investigate the items and the persons listed in the Court Record during both the Investigation and the Courtroom Session phases.
Characters
Phoenix Wright - Naruhodou Ryuuichi (成歩堂 龍一) Age 24
The protagonist, who is known for his spiky hairdo. He has only been an attorney for three months when he went into his first trial (episode 1). He is a very bright attorney but very inexperienced, causing him to often win a trial by the skin of his teeth. His nickname is "Nick", which is used by his friends, and also was called "porcupine head" once by his opponents. Phoenix is generally cynical, yet clumsy.
Mia Fey - Ayasato Chihiro (綾里 千尋) Age 27
A highly competent lawyer and Phoenix's boss and mentor. Her first meeting with him was in her second case. He was impressed with her constant belief in his innocence, and vowed to work hard to become a defense attorney for her sake. She tragically meets her end in the second case of the game. Even after death, however, she continues to provide assistance to Phoenix, by channeling her spirit through her little sister, Maya. Her mother, Misty Fey, was double-crossed by Redd White in a case many years ago, and Mia became an attorney with the sole intention of one day putting White behind bars. She is extremely professional and calculating, but friendly and warm towards Phoenix. She often saves Phoenix at the eleventh hour, though on rare occasions even she gets stumped.
Maya Fey - Ayasato Mayoi (綾里 真宵) Age 17
Mia's little sister, Wright's assistant and a medium-in-training. She can channel her big sister's spirit into her body for a limited amount of time, via a method similar to possession, but can only do so in desperate situations. Otherwises, she is like any teenage girl and is fan of Tokusatsu shows and films, particularly the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess. Maya is usually kind and sweet, though she has a tendency to overreact and has a strong love of food, often saying she has a "second stomach" for foods she likes. She seems to treat Phoenix in the same way as she did with her older sister.
Detective Dick Gumshoe - Itonokogiri Keisuke (糸鋸圭介 ) Age 30
Dick Gumshoe is a police detective from the homicide division. Hot-headed and overzealous at times, he is often known to make wrongful arrests. He holds a deep respect for Miles Edgeworth, almost to the point of hero worship. Gumshoe also has a habit of interrupting conversations at inappropriate moments. He tends to be gullible, brash and definitely isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he means well.
Miles Edgeworth - Mitsurugi Reiji (御剣 怜侍) Age 24
Wright's rival, he became a prosecutor at the age of twenty and has been called a "genius" by many. Cold and calculating, he will use any means necessary to get a guilty verdict, and has rumors surrounding him regarding the use of forged evidence and tampered testimonies. He, Phoenix, and Larry Butz were once friends in grade school. Edgeworth is the prosecutor in Chapters 2, 3, and 5. He is the defendant in Chapter 4.
Larry Butz - Yahari Masashi (矢張政志) Age 23
Larry has been Phoenix's friend ever since they were in elementary school. A born troublemaker, ("If something smells, it's usually the Butz.") and the defendant in "The First Turnabout", as well as a witness in "Turnabout Goodbyes". Not much is known about him, however, he's generally quite emotional, and somehow manages to date models, even if they don't seem to think much of him.
Setting
The original Japanese version of the game is set in Japan (although many of the characters and themes sport obvious nods to cliches often seen in American and European cinema). The English version has localized many of the catch phrases, puns, and colloquialisms to make it seem as though the game might be set in a North American locale.
Since this game is a courtroom drama, one might expect the differences in the Japanese and American legal systems to come into play. This is not entirely the case, however, as the game is discreetly set in the year 2016, allowing Capcom to improvise a little with the setting's legal customs.
There are no significant visual differences between the game's setting and actual present day, but the dialog refers to several major (but fictional) laws that were passed during that chronological gap. For instance, all trials in the game are limited to a duration of 3 days, which provides an additional sense of urgency that runs counter to the drawn-out courtroom proceedings we often see in real life. Furthermore, being set in the near future allows for the game to include some major political dealings that affect the trials in various ways.
Storyline
The story focuses on five separate trials. The main character, Phoenix Wright, is a rookie defense attorney who works at a small law office headed by the experienced Mia Fey. The word "Turnabout" in the titles of trials 1-4 refers to the game's Japanese name, which can be translated as "Turnabout Court" or "Comeback Court". The name most likely refers to Phoenix Wright's habit of making sudden comebacks in the face of impossible odds during trials.
The First Turnabout
(はじめての逆転)
Larry Butz is accused of killing his girlfriend Cindy Stone. His longtime friend, Phoenix Wright, takes the case.
Frank Sahwit (the actual murderer) appears as a witness and claims he saw Butz leaving the apartment and looked inside to find a woman lying dead on the floor. However, his testimony has clear contradictions, including a mistaken time of death and hearing the television despite a power outage, which Phoenix uses to expose his guilt. Butz is proclaimed not guilty and gives Mia Fey another statue similar to the one used to murder his girlfriend in thanks (despite Wright being the one mostly reponsible for clearing his name).
Turnabout Sisters
(逆転姉妹)
Phoenix’s mentor Mia Fey is killed and her sister, Maya, is implicated as the murderer. The night of the murder, Mia had arranged to meet Maya at the Fey & Co. offices. However, before they meet, Mia is murdered and Maya arrives to find her body. A woman named April May in the hotel opposite the Fey & Co. offices, the Gatewater Hotel (a reference to the Watergate Hotel), screams and calls the police, who arrive to arrest Maya.
The next day, Phoenix sets out to prove Maya's innocence. During the trial, it is revealed that a man may have been present in April May's room at the time of the murder. Phoenix investigates and discovers that the man, Redd White, had built a business around blackmailing prominent and powerful people, and that Mia Fey had been working to expose him.
When confronted, White agrees to testify in an attempt to finger Phoenix as the murderer. Phoenix must defend himself in court against a man who has apparently influenced both the judge and the prosecuting attorney with his "information gathering". Though Phoenix manages to find many contradictions in White's testimony, Edgeworth unexpectedly gets White to incriminate himself on a lesser charge, which seemingly solves the contradictions and leaves Phoenix on the verge of being declared guilty. At the last minute, Mia Fey appears, channeling herself through Maya and aids Phoenix in foiling White's plans. White is found to be the murderer and both Maya and Phoenix are cleared of charges.
After the trial, Phoenix takes over Fey & Co. and renames it Wright & Co., and Maya decides to join as Phoenix's assistant.
Turnabout Samurai
(逆転のトノサマン)
Will Powers, the star of the popular kids’ television show “The Steel Samurai” is suspected of killing his co-star, Jack Hammer. Maya, an enthusiastic fan of the show, "convinces" Phoenix to defend Powers.
Powers claims that he slept through the whole ordeal, but the security guard Wendy Oldbag says she saw him, dressed in The Steel Samurai costume, limping towards the studio prior to the murder. Further questioning of Oldbag reveals that a few other people were present at the studio the day of the murder: Sal Manella, the creator and director of The Steel Samurai; Dee Vasquez, the producer; and Cody Hackins, a young fan of the show who had snuck unto the studio grounds.
Cody Hackins testifies that he saw The Steel Samurai defeated at the hands of an unknown person at studio two rather than studio one, where the body was found. Phoenix finds out that five years earlier, Jack Hammer had unintentionally killed a man while shooting a film, and Vasquez had been blackmailing him ever since. The pieces slowly fall into place, and during the final phase of the trial Phoenix discovers that Powers had been drugged by Hammer, who stole his costume and went to studio two to kill Dee Vasquez. Vasquez ended up killing Hammer in self defense, after which she moved the body to studio one to prevent her blackmail from being found out by framing Powers for the murder.
However, Phoenix cannot take all the credit for winning the trial. On the final day, Edgeworth objects to his own witness (Vasquez) and forces her to testify when Phoenix has given up. Phoenix is able to solve the case but is left wondering, why would Edgeworth do such a thing?
Turnabout Goodbyes
(逆転, そしてサヨナラ)
Miles Edgeworth’s past comes back to haunt him when Robert Hammond, the defense attorney involved in his father’s (Gregory Edgeworth) murder case, is himself murdered, and Edgeworth is the only suspect. Initially, Edgeworth is reluctant to take on Phoenix as his defense attorney, but after Phoenix uncovers many clues in the case, Edgeworth accepts his representation. The prosecutor, Manfred von Karma, was Edgeworth's mentor and has a perfect 40-year court record -- except for being penalized once in a trial where Gregory Edgeworth was the defense attorney.
Phoenix discovers that an old man, Yanni Yogi, had shot Hammond and then took on his identity to meet Edgeworth and set him up as the murderer. Yanni Yogi had held a grudge against Hammond because Hammond, as his defense attorney years before, forced Yogi to feign insanity in order to be cleared of charges for the murder of Edgeworth's father. Yogi blames Edgeworth for the murder, and by extension for ruining his life by causing Yogi to be accused. As it turns out, von Karma had killed Gregory Edgeworth and had orchestrated the whole thing in a neurotic attempt to tie up all the loose ends. The morning after Phoenix solves the case, Maya leaves to train further as a spirit medium.
Rise from the Ashes
(蘇る逆転)
It's been two months since Phoenix's last case and he hasn't taken on any others since Maya left. However, a young girl named Ema Skye comes to him asking for his help. The defendant is her sister, Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye, who is alleged to be the murderer of Bruce Goodman, a police detective assigned to the infamous SL-9 case two years ago. Incidentaly, the chief of police claims that Bruce Goodman was murdered in the evidence room of the police station at the exact same time. This case encompasses much more than the murder of Bruce Goodman, however, as it deals heavily in the SL-9 incident as well. The SL-9 incident, or "The Darke Killings" happened two years prior to the current case. A serial murderer was excecuted on false evidence. It is later revealed that this fabricated evidence was planted by the chief of police, Damon Gant. You learn that it was not, in fact, Goodman who was attacked in the evidence room, but rather Jake Marshall, an eccentric patrolman who thinks he is a cowboy, who dressed up as Goodman to gain access to his evidence locker. Marshall's brother, Neil, was the last victim of Joe Darke, according to the case file, but you later learn that it was, in fact, Damon Gant who killed Neil Marshall, then tried to pin the crime on Joe Darke. As insurance, Gant set up evidence that would suggest Neil Marshall's death was Ema Skye's fault, but Phoenix sees through his tricks.
Trivia
- The Japanese version of the game includes both English and Japanese translations, which can be toggled at the main menu. The English translation is the exact same as what is used in the American version.
- The English version translation credits Alexander O. Smith, translator of Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy XII.
Cultural references
- In episode 8 of the anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Phoenix Wright's, Miles Edgeworth's, and Maya Fey's poses are mirrored by the title character of the anime and two other characters.
- Bo-Bobo, Don Patch, and Gaoh imitate Phoenix in an issue of Shinsetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo.
- MAD Magazine featured a slight parody of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in a recent issue.
- Phoenix is shown (unsuccessfully) defending Leonardo in a VGCats comic.
References
External links
- Gyakuten Saiban official Japanese website
- Phoenix Wright official English website
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney at MobyGames
- IGN DS preview, as well as a plethora of media
- Court Records - Phoenix Wright fansite, with information spanning all games in the series.
- Template:Fr Premier site français sur la série Phoenix Wright / Gyakuten Saiban
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