I hope to become an ace attorney one day. Until that day, I’ll just live vicariously through Phoenix.

The original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was one of my favorite DS games. I enjoyed the crazy characters and the “puzzles.” Maybe it’s because I am a young attorney myself… or because I have a mancrush on Miles Edgeworth, but I could not get enough of the it. However because of the nature of the game, Ace Attorney’s replay value is next to nill. That’s why I was really excited when I heard a sequel was being ported.

I mean, same gameplay with more great puzzles?! Sounds great right? Justice For All builds on the solid game system from the first and adds a few new mechanics. However these new mechanics don’t add much to the game. For example, take Psylocks. No, not the barely dressed mutant who shoots butterflies… just something that sounds great in theory but ends up being very frustrating. Sometimes characters will lie and they only way to get them to tell the truth is to breack their “locks,” which usually involves a lot of back tracking and random guessing. In fact, I’d have to say that there are a lot more instances in this game where I just randomly presented items or evidence because what you had to do next was so unintuitive. It was like, present one item, if right move on, if not, reset. Repeat over and over and over.

Also, Ace Attorney gave us a brilliant 5th scenario which made use of the special features of the DS. Unfortunately Justice For All doesn’t. I know I’m whining a lot today, but dammit, I was really hoping for a made-for-DS turnabout. The game is divided into 4 scenarios which are LONG. Serious. I must have pumped at least 15 hours into this game. Probably because I am not that bright and will never be an ace attorney. Boo hoo hoo.

All of the bad stuff aside, the best thing about this series, in my humble opinion, are the characters in the game. This is one department in which Justice For All does just as well as it’s predecessor. I don’t want to ruin the game, but I really liked the guy you meet in the hospital. If you’ve played the game… you know who I am talking about. He reminds me a lot of the posters at kontona.

Ho ho ho! I kid I kid. You know I love you konton posters.

Overall, I would say that this is an enjoyable game. I had such high expectations for it that I shouldn’t be surprised that I am somewhat let down. I would still recommend fans of the original to check this one out.

Score: 7.5

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