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

OK, first thing to do is play the first one so the return characters make sense. The leads are explained, but one of the gems about this series is its weird populace - and a healthy dose from the first game are thrown back in with little backstory.
Now, if you played the first, you should like this one. Its more of the same (the graphics have'nt changed, some reused music and similiar court crimes), but a few new things thrown in, such as the new life bar, new admission conversation tool, and new music and characters.
I must say, the second and fourth case in this are the standouts. I thought the last (4th) case was a better plot than the final drama from the first game, which to be honest, really just went on for too long. Unfortunately, there is no DS-esque case for this installment, and that is a letdown. You can still use the mike in the courtroom, but there is no 'evidence gathering' with it like in case 5 of game 1.
The new music is actually pretty lame, which came as a surprise. Fortunately some good songs are rehashed to keep me from muting this game. An overused whip sound in particular got to be really annoying.
Humor is ramped up in this game, it seems wittier than the first. I saw a trend with chatterbox characters auto-scrolling the screen with their nonsense, kind of irritating.
The first new addition is the court life bar... which takes off different chunks when you present evidence.. is not even a big deal since you can save anytime. Trivial.
The second is the 'Psyche Locke' which is basically making a courtroom confessional (complete with life loss) take place in the rather ho-hum evidence gathering stage. This I had problems with, as many times you are given several people who hide these secrets, and trial and error as to which one you are supposed to unlock first and progress the story.
All in all, this does the job, but the new expansions seem to do nothing to improve the game.