note: I played the Nintendo Switch version of this game on the trilogy collection, though I am logging it as this since I am exclusively talking about this second title
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All is a mouthful of a title, but one hell of a video game. Compared to the first game, I believe this game gets the second place trophy- however, that is far from something to be ashamed of given the bar that the game set. Justice For All is a fantastic game, a fantastic follow up, and a game that I loved thoroughly and dearly.
For the most part, it took everything that made the first game good and simply did it again- some might interpret that as unambitious, but I think it was a great choice. When talking about it in a spoiler free manner, however, it mostly lends itself to echoing the same points as before. Because of that, I will redirect your attention to my review of the first game, and then here I will highlight elements of it that I liked or disliked exclusive to this title. The link for the previously mentioned review can be found here,
https://www.backloggd.com/u/brende/review/1275065/
For what this game new or differently,
My favorite thing that JFA brought to the table that the first game didn’t have are the new characters. I praised the original title for its incredibly strong characters, and the ones introduced here are just as wonderful. Pearl/s/y is such a fun character and the dynamic she brings to the game is wonderful. Von Karma has an incredibly strong presence and is equally intimidating as she is goofy. The list goes on. The recurring characters get plenty of time to shine too, it is an excellent blend and I loved it all.
I also really enjoyed the gameplay additions here, notably the psyche-lock system. This was such a fun concept both conceptually and mechanically. I thought the silliness of the supernatural added a layer to the world of Ace Attorney that made it even goofier, and exploring that idea in the gameplay just extended the fun that brought. On a gameplay front, I loved that it allowed for more use of the evidence-presentation previously only found in the courtroom, and it made the investigations more engaging because of such. My only criticism is that I don’t really get why it takes away from your penalty meter in court- I don’t get why completely unrelated investigations impact that(?). Mostly just a nitpick but I thought it was a little odd.
Without spoiling anything, I will also put it here that the second and final cases of this game are outstanding, and as I am closing up on the original trilogy I think both stand as some of my top tier chapters in it all.
Where the game falls a bit for me are mostly in the other two cases. The first case in the game is about as baseline ‘pretty good’ an Ace Attorney case has been thus far, nothing about it was particularly interesting aside from really liking the defendant character. The third case is also not bad by any means but it is stuffed with red herrings to the point where the resolution of it isn’t very satisfying and it feels more time-wastey, even if it had plenty of charms during it all. Probably the weakest case of the original trilogy thus far. The game also has a fairly hefty handful of moments that require some bizarre leaps of logic that lack some of the polish I think the first game had. Experience will be different for everyone and it might just be me, sure, but there were plenty of points where the needed evidence didn’t match my line of thinking and got a little frustrating.
I wrote quite a bit here about things that I thought were points against this game, but the reality is they are tiny dents on a game that is otherwise a pretty amazingly well done sequel to a game that I think is already a masterpiece. From what I have played of Trials and Tribulations, this will likely be the ‘bottom’ of the three games for me, and yet I found it just as fun and addictive. Sign of a great trilogy, in my eyes at least. Fantastic game.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All is a mouthful of a title, but one hell of a video game. Compared to the first game, I believe this game gets the second place trophy- however, that is far from something to be ashamed of given the bar that the game set. Justice For All is a fantastic game, a fantastic follow up, and a game that I loved thoroughly and dearly.
For the most part, it took everything that made the first game good and simply did it again- some might interpret that as unambitious, but I think it was a great choice. When talking about it in a spoiler free manner, however, it mostly lends itself to echoing the same points as before. Because of that, I will redirect your attention to my review of the first game, and then here I will highlight elements of it that I liked or disliked exclusive to this title. The link for the previously mentioned review can be found here,
https://www.backloggd.com/u/brende/review/1275065/
For what this game new or differently,
My favorite thing that JFA brought to the table that the first game didn’t have are the new characters. I praised the original title for its incredibly strong characters, and the ones introduced here are just as wonderful. Pearl/s/y is such a fun character and the dynamic she brings to the game is wonderful. Von Karma has an incredibly strong presence and is equally intimidating as she is goofy. The list goes on. The recurring characters get plenty of time to shine too, it is an excellent blend and I loved it all.
I also really enjoyed the gameplay additions here, notably the psyche-lock system. This was such a fun concept both conceptually and mechanically. I thought the silliness of the supernatural added a layer to the world of Ace Attorney that made it even goofier, and exploring that idea in the gameplay just extended the fun that brought. On a gameplay front, I loved that it allowed for more use of the evidence-presentation previously only found in the courtroom, and it made the investigations more engaging because of such. My only criticism is that I don’t really get why it takes away from your penalty meter in court- I don’t get why completely unrelated investigations impact that(?). Mostly just a nitpick but I thought it was a little odd.
Without spoiling anything, I will also put it here that the second and final cases of this game are outstanding, and as I am closing up on the original trilogy I think both stand as some of my top tier chapters in it all.
Where the game falls a bit for me are mostly in the other two cases. The first case in the game is about as baseline ‘pretty good’ an Ace Attorney case has been thus far, nothing about it was particularly interesting aside from really liking the defendant character. The third case is also not bad by any means but it is stuffed with red herrings to the point where the resolution of it isn’t very satisfying and it feels more time-wastey, even if it had plenty of charms during it all. Probably the weakest case of the original trilogy thus far. The game also has a fairly hefty handful of moments that require some bizarre leaps of logic that lack some of the polish I think the first game had. Experience will be different for everyone and it might just be me, sure, but there were plenty of points where the needed evidence didn’t match my line of thinking and got a little frustrating.
I wrote quite a bit here about things that I thought were points against this game, but the reality is they are tiny dents on a game that is otherwise a pretty amazingly well done sequel to a game that I think is already a masterpiece. From what I have played of Trials and Tribulations, this will likely be the ‘bottom’ of the three games for me, and yet I found it just as fun and addictive. Sign of a great trilogy, in my eyes at least. Fantastic game.