Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

That's not much of a title, but it's the most true thing I can say in this review: If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. Feel free to stop reading.

I'm going to write this review operating under the assumption that you have PLAYED the first one, because if you haven't, you should play that one first, anyway. (Yes, I do mean that - the game is DEFINATLY not as enjoyable without knowing the characters from the first game.)

What's different? Well, a few things.

One, the music. Wow, it sucks this time around! Phoenix Wright 1 had one of the best soundtracks, and this one just doesn't. Remember those great momenets when Phoenix found out something really important in trial, and the music was so intense? Well, yeah, it's been replaced by something lame.

On the other hand, the investigations have been vastly improved. In PW1 you felt like you were wandering around. In this one, it feels much more like you're being a detective while evenets around you unfold. Also, "psyche-locks", a new thing in PW2, are great. Remember the Feys? Well, using a jewel of theirs, you can see when people lie. So you try to gety the truth out of them like you might get the truth by cross-examining in court. As a result of those two things, investigations don't feel like filler anymore.

The third and pretty much final difference in this game is the fact that you can present profiles as well as evidence. This is good in investigations, because you can get a feel of what other people feel about different characters.

There's a new prosecutor in most of the cases. She's not as cool as the others from the previous game, but she gets the job done, and she's funny to boot.

One of the best things about this game is the fourth case. It'll blow your mind, I swear. Which is good after the "meh" third one. Complete with a really great twist and EXCELLENT character development for Phoenix, you're sure to love every second of it.

All in all, the first is better, but this one rocks. GET IT!

I was skeptical about the first game. I heard how good it was, but couldn't imagine how a game where you're a defense attorney could be interesting. Boy am I glad I tried that one. And Justice for All is better in most ways, semi-lackluster in others. All in all, the game must have been at least 20 hours, though I wasn't keeping track. There were only 4 cases, including the teaching trial (he had amnesia. lame) but at times, it seemed like I was solving 3 different cases at once. They also seemed more difficult than in the first game, though definitely solveable, even to someone without an attorneys' badge of their own. Just be ready for some trial and error n.n;

The new addition of the Psyche-Lock earned some points in my book. Remember in the first one when someone was hiding something, and you just had to show them something and they fell apart? Don't expect to see that anymore. This time around, you might have to show them 3 or 4 different things to get them to spill the beans. Though it tells you when you need to break a lock, so that makes it less difficult.

Another new feature I enjoyed was the life bar. Instead of giving you 3 check marks and knocking one off with every mistake, you have a life bar, with some screw-ups more painful than others, at times late in the game, they may even cost you the entire bar.

Overall, this is an outsnading game. The addition of new characters and features, and the welcome return of some of our favorites. It's not a necessity to have played the first game (they included a teaching trial for you newbies) I'd reccommend it, so you can understand some of the underlying stories. And so you'll know who the second prosecutor you face is.