Gamespot score:7.0(good)
my score:7.8
(+)Pros:-Drastically improved visuals and presentation,-cases still overall provide satisfatction for those who successfully solve them,-music is still great as ever,-new characters make the game all the more interesting,-3D item inspection is back,- has the best opening case for all the ace attorney games so far
(-)cons:-Disappointing final case,-Cases take abit too much time to warm up before becoming interesting,-new characters pack far less personality than older characters
gameplay time:20-30 hours( Average)
Ready for more objections? The era of the court for phoenix is over, and a new man takes his place. Behold, apollo justice! The new face (kinda) for ace attorney. Being the sequel to the phoenix trilogy, apollo justice is a continutation to the all so fabulous story of ace attorney, with the same old gameplay with a little bit new tweaks here and there. Now lets get this damn courtroom show on the roll! (Forgive the pun,Im a little high today).
Apollo justice's game is same as phoenix's games, the game revolves around its own individual cases. BUT like in T&T, apollo justice's 3rd and 4th case are connected in a way, though its not as impactful as T&T's 1st,4th and 5th case connection, you have to play 3 to fully understand 4. In the game which takes place 7 years after the end of the phoenix trilogy, you play as apollo justice, a rookie attorney who gets his lucky 1st case to defend the unexpected. Thats right, he gets to defend none other than the famous Mr wright. Knowing that wright would never commit a crime, Apollo's mentor,kristoph gavin, gets apollo on a request to defend Wright, only to have the case take a turn for the unexpected and have things flip around in a way that no one would expect.
Though the ace attorney title got anew change and a new leading man, the gameplay however remains unchanged. You are to solve murder cases, 4 specifically in this game. During these cases you go around to gather evidence, then later present them in court, to help defend your client, who is supposed to be innocent. Evidence gaining on the field is tedious, but when using the evidence later in court it will be incredibly satisfying. You get to search secluded spots, interview weird people for clues or leads, and now, you can also inspect items you find in a 3D grid. This is a cool new addition, though it should have been in long ago, since its been missing for like 2 games.
In the mighty courtroom lays the immortal unaging judge, apollo himself, and the opposing prosecutor. Sadly though this game lacks prosecutors, it only has an older looking payne, and the main rival of apollo,klavier gavin. Though klavier spots some serious good looks and shares plenty of similarities to ol'edgeworth, hes nothing like the cold prosecutor we all know. Anyway, gameplay in the courtroom is where things heat up in this game. In the courtroom apollo and the opposing prosecutor will exchange fire with words, each figthing for his own right. While the prosecutor calls out his own witnesses to hold testimonies(which are mostly lies) against your client, you are to press the witness and look for contradictions, then present the corresspending evidence to make the witnesses shit thier pants. Music in the courtroom is impressive, and it makes you feel like you are on a roll. Also, while phoenix had his magmata in the previous games, apollo too has his own magical device, his bracelet. This allow him to perceive habits of testifying witnesses and exploit them as a weakness for the witness. Though looking for this habits can be tedious, its a cool new feature that allows you to search your witnesses in more detail.
While apollo justice sounds like a perfect improvement from the phoenix games, it actually is not. Unlike previous phoenix games where cases get real and heated up pretty quick, apollo's cases take a little long to start up. Finding ramen stalls, lost panties and watching live performances of your rivaling prosecutor are some of the many things the game likes to pit you to do before getting "on scene". Another step back for the cases is that they arent as twisting and suprising as before, especially the 2nd case. Even the 3rd case had too much of a clue too who the bad guy would be. Finally, the new characters of the game severly lack personality compared to the old characters. The only characters with decent personality are maybe the older ema skye and trucy.
Happy gaming.
