Reddish
1987
this game sucks
Dual Destinies by itself is not a terrible game, however as a follow up to Apollo Justice it falls completely flat onto its face. Several of the returning characters in this entry have been butchered and flanderized (Phoenix being the prime example), and characters that could've been expanded on better were left in the dust (Apollo and Trucy). The game tries to be deep and philosophical about how broken the universe's law system is, but due to the overall childishness of the game, it leaves no effect and once again fails when compared to AJ. Some of the newer characters are fun, such as Athena and Blackquill, however these two are never expanded upon in the next entry.
In terms of general case quality, this game is pretty decent all things considered. The first 2 cases are kinda lame if I were to be honest, but the last 3 cases and the DLC chapter are all good and classic Ace Attorney fun, 5-3 and 5-5 being my favorites. So, if anything, the game itself is still a good time if you take away comparisons to it's predecessor.
The general gameplay feels much more limited here, as now certain areas cannot be examined for extra dialogue to read, and in general the game will just automatically take you places instead of letting you do it yourself, which is annoying. The new added gameplay feature, "Mood Matrix", is fine. Compared to the mechanics introduced in JFA and AJ however it's kinda weak.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Dual Destinies is not a bad game, nor is it the least quality entry in the franchise. While it nails a few aspects, alot of things about the game have a very rushed feel to it, as if the development team wasn't given enough time. Especially when the game's writer Takeshi Yamazaki, had JUST came off of writing Gyakuten Kenji 2 (A very solid entry in the franchise in my opinion). Taking the big flaws away, I still had a decent time. 3.5/5
In terms of general case quality, this game is pretty decent all things considered. The first 2 cases are kinda lame if I were to be honest, but the last 3 cases and the DLC chapter are all good and classic Ace Attorney fun, 5-3 and 5-5 being my favorites. So, if anything, the game itself is still a good time if you take away comparisons to it's predecessor.
The general gameplay feels much more limited here, as now certain areas cannot be examined for extra dialogue to read, and in general the game will just automatically take you places instead of letting you do it yourself, which is annoying. The new added gameplay feature, "Mood Matrix", is fine. Compared to the mechanics introduced in JFA and AJ however it's kinda weak.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Dual Destinies is not a bad game, nor is it the least quality entry in the franchise. While it nails a few aspects, alot of things about the game have a very rushed feel to it, as if the development team wasn't given enough time. Especially when the game's writer Takeshi Yamazaki, had JUST came off of writing Gyakuten Kenji 2 (A very solid entry in the franchise in my opinion). Taking the big flaws away, I still had a decent time. 3.5/5
1989
if Megaman 2 is so good then why isn't there a Megaman 2 2
fun but someone asked me to kiss them or something
Sakura my beloved
2003
STOP POSTING ABOUT MEGAMAN X7. I’M TIRED OF SEEING IT. MY FRIENDS ON YOUTUBE SEND ME MEMES, ON DISCORD IT’S FREAKIN’ MEMES. I WAS IN A SERVER, RIGHT? AND AAAALL OF THE CHANNELS WERE MEGAMAN X7 STUFF. I-I SAW A CAMPFIRE GOING ON IN THE WOODS, I NUDGED MY GIRLFRIEND AND I SAID “REMINDS ME OF MEGAMAN X7 HAHA BURN BURN BURN BURN BURN BURN TO THE GROUND!” I FREAKIN’ LOOKED AT A TRASH CAN I SAID “MEGAMAN X7 BELONGS IN THERE”, I LOOKED AT THE FLAME SWORD FROM MEGAMAN 8, IT REMINDED ME OF THE KOMBINAT STAGE AND I WENT “FLAME SWORD? MORE LIKE FLAME HYENARD!” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
2000
Megaman X5 is a game I have a very mixed relationship with. There are many things this game does right, but plenty of problems can hinder the experience. In this review I am going to do my best to cover things I both love and hate about this X title. Hold onto your seats guys, this is gonna be a bit of a longer review. (Light spoilers but no story spoilers for the game btw)
The Positives.
I. Gameplay Improvements. Megaman X5 adds a few albeit very minor new gameplay mechanics when it comes to general movement. The duck has been added which is a nice way to take on enemies that are smaller or have a specific hitbox. A grapple move has also been added as well, essentially being a neat platforming tool you’ll see in a few stages. Both are implemented well and don’t overstay their welcome, and it’s a shame that both of these moves would be removed X7 onward.
II. Armors. Two new armor sets are introduced in this title; the Falcon and Gaea Armor. The Fourth armor and Ultimate armor, both from X4 also return as well, meaning if you play your cards right, X has a total of 4 armors to choose from. The Falcon armor is an awesome platforming tool as it lets you temporarily fly, although as a consequence the charge shot is much weaker. The design of the Falcon armor is also one of my favorites in the series. The Gaea armor doesn’t let you use special weapons but in turn has a powerful charge shot, invulnerability to spikes, and dashing can move special blocks used for item collecting. However, movement with the Gaea armor is atrocious and I end up only using it a few times throughout the game, mainly as a collectible tool. The returning Fourth armor has been nerfed slightly but is still very great and one of the best armor sets in the series. Ultimate armor is identical to X4 not counting color scheme, basically being the fourth armor with an unlimited nova strike.
III. General Level Design. X5 overall has good or ok level design. Stages such as Grizzly Slash and Izzy Glow are a great time. Squid Adler’s stage has an annoying ride chaser segment but the rest of that stage is very fun. Apart from one exception, all of the main 8 stages are good and entertaining. The final stages range from pretty bad to ok, however. Zero stage 1 is one of the worst levels in the franchise, being a crappy recreation of Quick Man’s stage from Megaman 2, arguably the worst stage in said game. Because of how X5’s camera works, it makes an already bad stage even worse. Luckily all of the stages afterward are passable enough.
IV: New Characters And Character Design. A bit of a smaller thing, but I appreciate 4 of the new characters introduced in X5 (Not including the main 8 bosses): Alia, Douglas (or Doglas according to the US intro T_T), Signas, and Dynamo. Alia is a bit of a chatterbox in X5, but would later be expanded upon in X6 and X8, and I enjoy her alot more in said entries. Douglas is essentially the X series’ Auto, and it’s a shame he was dropped from existence after X6. Signas has a cool design, I like his hat, that’s pretty much it (I just wanted to mention his hat). And Dynamo is an interesting idea for a villain, once again being absent after X6 sadly. Overall great additions to the cast that would be underutilized after X5, not counting Alia.
X5 has the same character artist as X4, Haruki Suetsugu, who has done some of my favorite pieces of art in the franchise. Artwork for characters both old and new are incredible pieces that I like to just look at occasionally. Not really relevant to the game itself, but I thought I’d mention it.
V. Soundtrack. It’s a Megaman OST, what did you expect? Awesome tunes to listen to, with my favorites being both the Beta and Final versions of Duff Mcwhalen’s theme, Dynamo’s theme, the Zero Stage themes, and of freakin’ course, the X vs Zero theme. Great OST overall, and I wouldn’t mind listening to it during free time.
The Negatives.
I. Translation and Text Boxes. Alright, we’ve gotten to a big part about X5 everybody complains about, and for good reason. The constant. Dialogue. Every one of the 8 main stages has Alia constantly interrupt you for the most obvious things about almost anything. Most of the time, you could figure out what is happening in a stage by just… you know, playing the level! I shouldn’t be literally told by Alia to be aware of these falling platforms when I can see them myself, there’s no reason for the flow of gameplay to be ruined like this. Cutscenes are unskippable too, unlike X4 and later X6, which is SO tedious on repeat playthroughs. And there’s no option to turn the Alia dialogue, you just have to mash through it every. Single. Playthrough. And the dialogue itself? It’s an early 2000’s Capcom game, what do you expect? Boring and basic as hell dialogue probably ridden with spelling errors like always. Not even really interesting to note about the general interactions, other then some neat callbacks to the series that I won’t mention for spoilers’ sake. The only notable thing about X5’s english translation is the changed Boss names, as they were named after the members of Guns N’ Roses. Some names I actually quite like but these were all changed in future releases. RIP Duff Mcwhalen.
II. Collectables and The Parts System. If you hated Megaman X3 for it’s backtracking, then stay far away from Megaman X5. This game has so much backtracking just to get the basic collectables. The prime example is Duff Mcwhalen’s stage, which is already one of the worst stages in the game as it’s an autoscroller that you HAVE to experience every single time you play the stage. And thanks to this game’s design, you’ll be visiting this stage 3 times, meaning you gotta do that first autoscroller section a total of 3 TIMES. And as X, there is no workaround, you MUST enter the stage 3 times for the falcon armor part which is required to get the Gaea armor which is required for the heart tank. I feel this is the best way to explain X5’s collectables. Too much backtracking even if you TRIED the best route.
Next In this section I wanna mention the parts system. This is really complicated so I’ll try and explain it the best way possible. Megaman X5 has a clock system, you start with 16 hours after the intro stage. On Normal or Hard difficulties, boss levels will increase as less time is on the clock. If there are... I think about 10 or less hours on the clock when you beat a boss, they will be high level enough for you to be rewarded with parts. Each part can help you in some way (i.e. always firing a charge shot or higher jumping). However, this feels too convoluted and a first time player would never be able to understand this without a guide! Luckily, X6 of all things improved on this system. Playing on easy mode, however, removes this feature entirely as bosses don’t level up in that difficulty.
Lastly, I’d like to address how armor sets are handled in X5. Unlike X1-X4, you must obtain all four parts of the armor set to use it, which feels like it breaks the progression you feel in the previous games when getting armor parts. Not only that, but the Head Part for the Gaea armor actually does nothing and only exists so the armor set was 4 pieces, unlike the last games where each part of the armor actually did something. Great job, guys.
III: RNG. DEPENDENT. ENDINGS. Video games over the years have gained a structure when it comes to endings, i.e making certain choices, getting 100% completion, or beating the game in a certain amount of time. Megaman X5 has 3 endings, and all 3 are completely dependent on RNG (Randomly Number Generated) scenarios in the game. The first instance is if the Enigma cannon will fire or not. It’s basically guaranteed to fail. However, if you get really, REALLY, lucky, it will work and you may proceed to the final stages. BUT if the cannon fails, you must try to get the shuttle to succeed in destroying the space colony. The shuttle is more likely to work, and if it doesn’t… well I’ll get to that in the last section. But what I’m trying to say is that having important moments in the game (ESPECIALLY ONE THAT COULD BE EXTREMELY CRUCIAL TO YOUR PLAYTHROUGH) based on dumb luck is bad design. Which leads to the last issue I’ll address…
IV: Zero and his Unfair Disadvantage in Game Balance. Almost every negative I’ve mentioned in this review so far affects Zero in a huge way, this is the big one. Zero was first fully implemented as a playable character in X4 (and not an underused mechanic like in X3), and it was integrated into the game’s design pretty damn well. It gave a fresh new approach to how you view levels due to his short range options, and was almost like a “hard mode” for the game.
Zero in X5 feels almost like a complete opposite in how he was handled here. First, I want to address the beginning of the game. Before starting the opening stage, you can pick between X and Zero as your starting character, and choosing either will give them a special ability for the rest of the game. The one you don’t pick will LOSE their special ability in turn. As X, you get the slightly nerfed fourth armor, and as for Zero? You get his pathetic Z buster that is extremely weak and situational. I HIGHLY recommend you choose X regardless of who you prefer for reasons I’ll explain later.
Zero is also negatively affected when it comes to collectables. Not only does he not get armor upgrades like X, but two of the heart tanks are IMPOSSIBLE to obtain as Zero, with some heart tanks being locked off unless you have the required parts to do so. Which of course, you can miss these parts if the required boss to get them isn’t high level enough… Do you see where I’m going here? X and Zero don’t share heart tanks they collect by the way (but subtanks and special weapons are shared thank god). And if you play as Zero you are gonna want to obtain as many heart tanks as possible because unless you wanna swap with X, the Shadow Devil is near impossible or would require godlike patience with Zero due to his short range and Shadow Devil’s horrendous contact damage.
And the last point I want to address. THIS is the big one. A crappy design decision so bad it can kill your entire run. Remember the RNG endings I mentioned? Well, if you get crappy enough luck for the shuttle to fail, you LOSE Zero. For the rest of the game. So let’s say, hypothetically, you decided to pick Zero at the beginning of the game, removing access to the fourth armor, give ALL of the possible heart tanks and upgrades to Zero, and the shuttle fails. THAT means you’re stuck with X who has no fourth armor or any other upgrades except for the two heart tanks Zero can’t pick up. THIS IS BAD DESIGN. Regardless of if Zero being lost was RNG or not, this is blatantly unfair and terrible game design that I cannot excuse.
It’s a shame Zero’s side of the game was messed up so badly, not only considering how great he was in X4 but also how big his involvement in the story is. I want to enjoy playing as Zero, I really do, but the improper balance and godawful RNG mechanic just makes me skip playing as him entirely.
Well, this is the end of my review of X5. I want to make it clear that I do not hate Megaman X5. I think it is a perfectly passable entry in the series when you look at what it did right. But the things it did wrong… are huge gaping holes in the game’s design. Now, there is a Megaman X5 improvement ROM hack out there which looks awesome and I hope to check out, but this review was covering X5 based on it’s current, officially endorsed by Capcom form. As an intended final entry in the series, Megaman X5 would have been an ok way to say goodbye and move to the Megaman Zero series. But of course, it didn’t end, and I’ll review those games eventually. If you like Megaman X1-4, give this game a shot. I can’t guarantee that you’ll enjoy it, but I’m sure you can pull something worthwhile out of the experience. 3.5/5
The Positives.
I. Gameplay Improvements. Megaman X5 adds a few albeit very minor new gameplay mechanics when it comes to general movement. The duck has been added which is a nice way to take on enemies that are smaller or have a specific hitbox. A grapple move has also been added as well, essentially being a neat platforming tool you’ll see in a few stages. Both are implemented well and don’t overstay their welcome, and it’s a shame that both of these moves would be removed X7 onward.
II. Armors. Two new armor sets are introduced in this title; the Falcon and Gaea Armor. The Fourth armor and Ultimate armor, both from X4 also return as well, meaning if you play your cards right, X has a total of 4 armors to choose from. The Falcon armor is an awesome platforming tool as it lets you temporarily fly, although as a consequence the charge shot is much weaker. The design of the Falcon armor is also one of my favorites in the series. The Gaea armor doesn’t let you use special weapons but in turn has a powerful charge shot, invulnerability to spikes, and dashing can move special blocks used for item collecting. However, movement with the Gaea armor is atrocious and I end up only using it a few times throughout the game, mainly as a collectible tool. The returning Fourth armor has been nerfed slightly but is still very great and one of the best armor sets in the series. Ultimate armor is identical to X4 not counting color scheme, basically being the fourth armor with an unlimited nova strike.
III. General Level Design. X5 overall has good or ok level design. Stages such as Grizzly Slash and Izzy Glow are a great time. Squid Adler’s stage has an annoying ride chaser segment but the rest of that stage is very fun. Apart from one exception, all of the main 8 stages are good and entertaining. The final stages range from pretty bad to ok, however. Zero stage 1 is one of the worst levels in the franchise, being a crappy recreation of Quick Man’s stage from Megaman 2, arguably the worst stage in said game. Because of how X5’s camera works, it makes an already bad stage even worse. Luckily all of the stages afterward are passable enough.
IV: New Characters And Character Design. A bit of a smaller thing, but I appreciate 4 of the new characters introduced in X5 (Not including the main 8 bosses): Alia, Douglas (or Doglas according to the US intro T_T), Signas, and Dynamo. Alia is a bit of a chatterbox in X5, but would later be expanded upon in X6 and X8, and I enjoy her alot more in said entries. Douglas is essentially the X series’ Auto, and it’s a shame he was dropped from existence after X6. Signas has a cool design, I like his hat, that’s pretty much it (I just wanted to mention his hat). And Dynamo is an interesting idea for a villain, once again being absent after X6 sadly. Overall great additions to the cast that would be underutilized after X5, not counting Alia.
X5 has the same character artist as X4, Haruki Suetsugu, who has done some of my favorite pieces of art in the franchise. Artwork for characters both old and new are incredible pieces that I like to just look at occasionally. Not really relevant to the game itself, but I thought I’d mention it.
V. Soundtrack. It’s a Megaman OST, what did you expect? Awesome tunes to listen to, with my favorites being both the Beta and Final versions of Duff Mcwhalen’s theme, Dynamo’s theme, the Zero Stage themes, and of freakin’ course, the X vs Zero theme. Great OST overall, and I wouldn’t mind listening to it during free time.
The Negatives.
I. Translation and Text Boxes. Alright, we’ve gotten to a big part about X5 everybody complains about, and for good reason. The constant. Dialogue. Every one of the 8 main stages has Alia constantly interrupt you for the most obvious things about almost anything. Most of the time, you could figure out what is happening in a stage by just… you know, playing the level! I shouldn’t be literally told by Alia to be aware of these falling platforms when I can see them myself, there’s no reason for the flow of gameplay to be ruined like this. Cutscenes are unskippable too, unlike X4 and later X6, which is SO tedious on repeat playthroughs. And there’s no option to turn the Alia dialogue, you just have to mash through it every. Single. Playthrough. And the dialogue itself? It’s an early 2000’s Capcom game, what do you expect? Boring and basic as hell dialogue probably ridden with spelling errors like always. Not even really interesting to note about the general interactions, other then some neat callbacks to the series that I won’t mention for spoilers’ sake. The only notable thing about X5’s english translation is the changed Boss names, as they were named after the members of Guns N’ Roses. Some names I actually quite like but these were all changed in future releases. RIP Duff Mcwhalen.
II. Collectables and The Parts System. If you hated Megaman X3 for it’s backtracking, then stay far away from Megaman X5. This game has so much backtracking just to get the basic collectables. The prime example is Duff Mcwhalen’s stage, which is already one of the worst stages in the game as it’s an autoscroller that you HAVE to experience every single time you play the stage. And thanks to this game’s design, you’ll be visiting this stage 3 times, meaning you gotta do that first autoscroller section a total of 3 TIMES. And as X, there is no workaround, you MUST enter the stage 3 times for the falcon armor part which is required to get the Gaea armor which is required for the heart tank. I feel this is the best way to explain X5’s collectables. Too much backtracking even if you TRIED the best route.
Next In this section I wanna mention the parts system. This is really complicated so I’ll try and explain it the best way possible. Megaman X5 has a clock system, you start with 16 hours after the intro stage. On Normal or Hard difficulties, boss levels will increase as less time is on the clock. If there are... I think about 10 or less hours on the clock when you beat a boss, they will be high level enough for you to be rewarded with parts. Each part can help you in some way (i.e. always firing a charge shot or higher jumping). However, this feels too convoluted and a first time player would never be able to understand this without a guide! Luckily, X6 of all things improved on this system. Playing on easy mode, however, removes this feature entirely as bosses don’t level up in that difficulty.
Lastly, I’d like to address how armor sets are handled in X5. Unlike X1-X4, you must obtain all four parts of the armor set to use it, which feels like it breaks the progression you feel in the previous games when getting armor parts. Not only that, but the Head Part for the Gaea armor actually does nothing and only exists so the armor set was 4 pieces, unlike the last games where each part of the armor actually did something. Great job, guys.
III: RNG. DEPENDENT. ENDINGS. Video games over the years have gained a structure when it comes to endings, i.e making certain choices, getting 100% completion, or beating the game in a certain amount of time. Megaman X5 has 3 endings, and all 3 are completely dependent on RNG (Randomly Number Generated) scenarios in the game. The first instance is if the Enigma cannon will fire or not. It’s basically guaranteed to fail. However, if you get really, REALLY, lucky, it will work and you may proceed to the final stages. BUT if the cannon fails, you must try to get the shuttle to succeed in destroying the space colony. The shuttle is more likely to work, and if it doesn’t… well I’ll get to that in the last section. But what I’m trying to say is that having important moments in the game (ESPECIALLY ONE THAT COULD BE EXTREMELY CRUCIAL TO YOUR PLAYTHROUGH) based on dumb luck is bad design. Which leads to the last issue I’ll address…
IV: Zero and his Unfair Disadvantage in Game Balance. Almost every negative I’ve mentioned in this review so far affects Zero in a huge way, this is the big one. Zero was first fully implemented as a playable character in X4 (and not an underused mechanic like in X3), and it was integrated into the game’s design pretty damn well. It gave a fresh new approach to how you view levels due to his short range options, and was almost like a “hard mode” for the game.
Zero in X5 feels almost like a complete opposite in how he was handled here. First, I want to address the beginning of the game. Before starting the opening stage, you can pick between X and Zero as your starting character, and choosing either will give them a special ability for the rest of the game. The one you don’t pick will LOSE their special ability in turn. As X, you get the slightly nerfed fourth armor, and as for Zero? You get his pathetic Z buster that is extremely weak and situational. I HIGHLY recommend you choose X regardless of who you prefer for reasons I’ll explain later.
Zero is also negatively affected when it comes to collectables. Not only does he not get armor upgrades like X, but two of the heart tanks are IMPOSSIBLE to obtain as Zero, with some heart tanks being locked off unless you have the required parts to do so. Which of course, you can miss these parts if the required boss to get them isn’t high level enough… Do you see where I’m going here? X and Zero don’t share heart tanks they collect by the way (but subtanks and special weapons are shared thank god). And if you play as Zero you are gonna want to obtain as many heart tanks as possible because unless you wanna swap with X, the Shadow Devil is near impossible or would require godlike patience with Zero due to his short range and Shadow Devil’s horrendous contact damage.
And the last point I want to address. THIS is the big one. A crappy design decision so bad it can kill your entire run. Remember the RNG endings I mentioned? Well, if you get crappy enough luck for the shuttle to fail, you LOSE Zero. For the rest of the game. So let’s say, hypothetically, you decided to pick Zero at the beginning of the game, removing access to the fourth armor, give ALL of the possible heart tanks and upgrades to Zero, and the shuttle fails. THAT means you’re stuck with X who has no fourth armor or any other upgrades except for the two heart tanks Zero can’t pick up. THIS IS BAD DESIGN. Regardless of if Zero being lost was RNG or not, this is blatantly unfair and terrible game design that I cannot excuse.
It’s a shame Zero’s side of the game was messed up so badly, not only considering how great he was in X4 but also how big his involvement in the story is. I want to enjoy playing as Zero, I really do, but the improper balance and godawful RNG mechanic just makes me skip playing as him entirely.
Well, this is the end of my review of X5. I want to make it clear that I do not hate Megaman X5. I think it is a perfectly passable entry in the series when you look at what it did right. But the things it did wrong… are huge gaping holes in the game’s design. Now, there is a Megaman X5 improvement ROM hack out there which looks awesome and I hope to check out, but this review was covering X5 based on it’s current, officially endorsed by Capcom form. As an intended final entry in the series, Megaman X5 would have been an ok way to say goodbye and move to the Megaman Zero series. But of course, it didn’t end, and I’ll review those games eventually. If you like Megaman X1-4, give this game a shot. I can’t guarantee that you’ll enjoy it, but I’m sure you can pull something worthwhile out of the experience. 3.5/5
(Played through the 2017 3DS port)
Apollo Justice is a game that seems to have has a revival by the fanbase in recent years, and more people have began to favor this entry the older this game gets. And in my opinion, it is getting the credit it deserves.
Apollo Justice plays the same as the first 3 games in the series, being a half visual novel/half courtroom simulator game. This entry does add a new minigame however, called "perception". Perception is finding the phrase of testimony that makes the witness tick, and while it can take a while to find with how slowly the dialogue scrolls, it's an ok replacement for AA2/3's magatama.
(Spoiler free Case reviews below)
Turnabout Trump is probably the greatest opening case in the series. Not only is this case good at introducing you to the general feel of the courtroom gameplay for newcomers, but it's also good at being a fun and challenging one too. The case is longer then say, the first Turnabout (from AA1), but isn't as obnoxiously long as The Foreign Turnabout (From AA6). Overall, a great opening case and one of my favorites in the series.
Turnabout Corner is another great case from this game. We get our proper introductions to Trucy and Klavier, (My favorites in the series when it comes to the Assistant and Prosecutor roles respectively), some fun banter with our new characters, and some nice twists and turns along the way.
Turnabout Serenade is often known as the worst case in the game, and the criticism is fair. While I don't find it to be a "bad" case particularly, it is for certain the weakest and most ridiculous chapter in this game's story.
Turnabout Succession is a case that is somewhat good at wrapping up AJ's overarching plot, and is one of the few times a video game made me audibly gasp in surprise. This chapter has a lot of content to go through and has some really awesome events unfold that I will let you blind players see for yourself. While being one of the weakest final cases in the series, I can't help myself for liking this one.
Apollo Justice is also the winner when it comes to soundtrack, definitely the best OST the series has to offer. Nearly every track I could listen to multiple times and never get tired of, it's that good. One of my favorite things to listen to during my free time.
Overall, Apollo Justice is a game you can either hate or love to death. If my score (and review) hasn't said enough, I'm someone who is the latter. Apollo Justice was a game I had a genuinely great time playing and I love revisiting this one from time to time. 4.5/5
Apollo Justice is a game that seems to have has a revival by the fanbase in recent years, and more people have began to favor this entry the older this game gets. And in my opinion, it is getting the credit it deserves.
Apollo Justice plays the same as the first 3 games in the series, being a half visual novel/half courtroom simulator game. This entry does add a new minigame however, called "perception". Perception is finding the phrase of testimony that makes the witness tick, and while it can take a while to find with how slowly the dialogue scrolls, it's an ok replacement for AA2/3's magatama.
(Spoiler free Case reviews below)
Turnabout Trump is probably the greatest opening case in the series. Not only is this case good at introducing you to the general feel of the courtroom gameplay for newcomers, but it's also good at being a fun and challenging one too. The case is longer then say, the first Turnabout (from AA1), but isn't as obnoxiously long as The Foreign Turnabout (From AA6). Overall, a great opening case and one of my favorites in the series.
Turnabout Corner is another great case from this game. We get our proper introductions to Trucy and Klavier, (My favorites in the series when it comes to the Assistant and Prosecutor roles respectively), some fun banter with our new characters, and some nice twists and turns along the way.
Turnabout Serenade is often known as the worst case in the game, and the criticism is fair. While I don't find it to be a "bad" case particularly, it is for certain the weakest and most ridiculous chapter in this game's story.
Turnabout Succession is a case that is somewhat good at wrapping up AJ's overarching plot, and is one of the few times a video game made me audibly gasp in surprise. This chapter has a lot of content to go through and has some really awesome events unfold that I will let you blind players see for yourself. While being one of the weakest final cases in the series, I can't help myself for liking this one.
Apollo Justice is also the winner when it comes to soundtrack, definitely the best OST the series has to offer. Nearly every track I could listen to multiple times and never get tired of, it's that good. One of my favorite things to listen to during my free time.
Overall, Apollo Justice is a game you can either hate or love to death. If my score (and review) hasn't said enough, I'm someone who is the latter. Apollo Justice was a game I had a genuinely great time playing and I love revisiting this one from time to time. 4.5/5
(This game was played through the recent 2019 "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy" collection)
Ace Attorney is probably the winner when it comes to a franchise that instantly captivated me, and now has become one of my favorite series of all time.
The game is designed where finding contradictions as well as new evidence from the crime scenes are events where fun are to be had. The witty and timeless dialogue never gets old either. The characters aren't the deepest thing in the world here, but they are improved upon tremendously in future entries, overall having a super memorable and fun cast.
Case 1 of this game is (in my opinion) an extremely easy opening case, especially compared to later entries. A little too easy, perhaps, as it makes the second case feel like a difficulty spike. However, the case is good enough at giving you a feel for how the courtroom gameplay is.
The Second case is much harder then the first one, however it is able to still be fair and not too difficult. This case also introduces us to Maya and Edgeworth, two extremely pivotal characters to the overall narrative. For a second case this one is solid.
Case 3 falls under an unfortunate growing pain of the series, where the third case is overall the most filler and uninteresting case in it's respective title. This isn't a bad case per se, but probably the second weakest in the game.
Case 4 wraps up the main story in a nice bow, finishing up some character development and delivering a satisfying end to this chapter of the series. Definitely the second best case this title has to offer.
With the first English release of Gyakuten Saiban (or Ace Attorney as we all know it), an additional fifth case was added, to show off the DS's new features. This case in my opinion is the strongest one this game has, and is able to have a great entirely new narrative without being several chapters long. Most fans argue that this case is too long, and I have to disagree. This case feels like a nice final challenge to players of the first four cases, and has an extremely nice and satisfying end to it when you finally put the case to rest. For sure one of my favorite cases in the whole franchise.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a phenomenal first entry in the series, and I can say that this is the perfect starting point for the series. If you are a fan of the visual novel genre, please give this one a shot. 4.5/5
Ace Attorney is probably the winner when it comes to a franchise that instantly captivated me, and now has become one of my favorite series of all time.
The game is designed where finding contradictions as well as new evidence from the crime scenes are events where fun are to be had. The witty and timeless dialogue never gets old either. The characters aren't the deepest thing in the world here, but they are improved upon tremendously in future entries, overall having a super memorable and fun cast.
Case 1 of this game is (in my opinion) an extremely easy opening case, especially compared to later entries. A little too easy, perhaps, as it makes the second case feel like a difficulty spike. However, the case is good enough at giving you a feel for how the courtroom gameplay is.
The Second case is much harder then the first one, however it is able to still be fair and not too difficult. This case also introduces us to Maya and Edgeworth, two extremely pivotal characters to the overall narrative. For a second case this one is solid.
Case 3 falls under an unfortunate growing pain of the series, where the third case is overall the most filler and uninteresting case in it's respective title. This isn't a bad case per se, but probably the second weakest in the game.
Case 4 wraps up the main story in a nice bow, finishing up some character development and delivering a satisfying end to this chapter of the series. Definitely the second best case this title has to offer.
With the first English release of Gyakuten Saiban (or Ace Attorney as we all know it), an additional fifth case was added, to show off the DS's new features. This case in my opinion is the strongest one this game has, and is able to have a great entirely new narrative without being several chapters long. Most fans argue that this case is too long, and I have to disagree. This case feels like a nice final challenge to players of the first four cases, and has an extremely nice and satisfying end to it when you finally put the case to rest. For sure one of my favorite cases in the whole franchise.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a phenomenal first entry in the series, and I can say that this is the perfect starting point for the series. If you are a fan of the visual novel genre, please give this one a shot. 4.5/5