Guess who decided to stay at my place

Who else but Aegis of Persona 3.

(warning: I can’t take pics worth a damn)

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (A Restrospective)

I played Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All (part 2 of the series) immediately after I was done with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (part 1). A year has passed between those two games’ release. You can’t say that I was the type who was dying in anticipation to play the first game, because if I was, I would’ve bought it immediately either on the day of its release or on the day I got a DS (six months later).

After two games, after getting through 9 cases, after continuously watching courtroom antics that has no semblance to real life (the senate hearings of the Philippines come close though), I would’ve been worn out.

Yet, despite myself, I went to Ace Attorney (AA) fansites. It’s probably not the wisest decision I’ve made, since I was trying to lower my obsession, at least until my interests have waned enough that I would stop raving about AA to every person I meet. I thought, hey, I was just visiting for curiosity! Maybe if I overstuffed my brain with AA related info, I would tire of it!

So what did I find? A fan has translated the first case of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (AA3) into English. I still had this delusion of fortitude, and I defied myself to download and play through that case so as to affirm that I am, in fact, ready to take a break from the series.

The extent that I would punish myself to prove my point.

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Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All (A Retrospective)

It was really hard to predict whether or not the stateside will get the two Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney sequels that they have in Japan. No one knew if the first game would sell, and for good reasons: it is bizarre both from gameplay and design standpoint. It’s not a typical adrenaline rushy game, and if Grim Fandango’s sales (i.e. abysmal) prove anything, it’s that only a few gamers who would rush out and buy these quirky point-and-clicky games requiring more cerebral approaches to their problems than what the average gamers are used to. Plus - and I say this without intentions of being judgmental - you don’t really need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that many Americans are not into all the anime aesthetics. There’s also this thing about the jarring differences between the legal systems from the game and the real world. In fact, and while this very circumstantial, I once interacted with a woman gamer who also worked for the court of law. Guess what she thought of Phoenix Wright? Absolute baloney, and she couldn’t stand it.

Though I personally enjoyed Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (AA from here on) and think it’s clever, I didn’t think that it required continuation – and I mean this positively. I thought the story didn’t leave loose ends. Well, most of the story anyway, as there was something unresolved with Miles Edgeworth in the fifth case, which I wasn’t willing to consider canon at that time because it wasn’t in the original GBA release and was merely added in NDS to showcase various NDS gimmicks. Anyway, I would’ve been fine with AA being just one and done deal. At least, I thought that’s what I believed in. But then I all but proved irresolute when I found out that there are already 2 more sequels in Japan. Like a bondage freak who salivates at the sound of the cracking of whips, Capcom only needed to announce the sequel, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All, to get me hot and bothered about Phoenix again.

Look, that last sentence was full of awkward innuendos. I would’ve been massively embarrassed gushing all these for another series. So here’s to Capcom: screw you for reducing me into this fanboyish cheerleading yahoo. And by screw I mean curses!

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that AA sold well enough to warrant sequels (or did it really?). Sure am glad I got to play part 2 and 3 though. This post will be about Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All.

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