When I was young, I remember playing all text adventures on the Commodore 64. They drove me crazy, and I absolutely hated them for forcing me to use my imagination. A few years ago, Capcom started a new series of games called Phoenix Wright, which is basically a linear text based game following a young attorney and his budding law practice. It sounds incredibly boring, which is what I thought, but after finally trying it out, I love this game and consider it a must try for any DS owner. Let me try to articulate why.
The game follows Phoenix Wright, the attorney, through a bunch of cases where he serves as the defense lawyer trying to get an innocent suspect acquitted. Each case follows the same formula, Wright searches for clues and evidence, interviews witnesses, and then goes to trial (sometimes multiple times in the course of a three “day” trial). What’s great about the game is its characters – they are funny, they all have unique personalities, and they all are incredibly charming. It’s almost like you are watching a television drama unfold, except you get to take part in it and you feel the same connection to the characters as you might in a long running program that you enjoy.
My favorite part by far of the game are the trials, where you cross examine witnesses by trying to use clues and testimony you have heard to discredit their testimony. In that sense, the game is a bit of a puzzler, you need to use logic to figure out what evidence discredits what statements, and the game is funny when you choose the wrong bit of logic. All in all, this game reminds me why I love the DS: I can take it in bite size chunks but I always end up playing more than I bargained. It’s the kind of game that makes you look forward to taking the train. I hear the sequels for the most part are not as strong, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking them up anyway.
