Turnabout Blog

To get the bad taste of Lufia: The Ruins of Lore out of my blog, I'll review one of my favorite games this time.

When I first heard of a game revolving around litigation, I was understandably skeptical. How could a game involving one of the most hated and suicide-inducing careers in the world be interesting, albeit fun? Capcom answered that question with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The game starts out with a bang (you'll be empathizing with characters from case 2 onwards, at least) and keeps the ball rolling through all 5 cases.
The qualities that I like in this game include interesting stories involving each case, some interwoven between each other and all containing more plot twists and guesstimation than you can shake an index finger at. You play as Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney under the tutelage of Mia Fey, a well-known and established attorney. All of your cases appear to be murder trials, and the way The system revolves around two forms of play: the Investigation, where you gather clues for a case before taking them to the Trial, where you lock intellectual horns with the prosecuting prodigy, Miles Edgeworth. While I'm sure none of the stuff you can do in this game is really within the bounds of legality for a defense attorney, you'll feel more intelligent as you play and solve harder riddles.
The difficulty curve staggers at some points, within and through cases. It's a refreshing intellectual challenge, and one that the characters and story make you want to meet. Capcom's translation team did an excellent job with localizing a lot of the cultural differences, which are important in a text based point-and-click like Phoenix Wright.
In reality, only 4 of the cases are from the actual game; since Phoenix Wright was originally a Gameboy Advance game in Japan, they upped the ante on the US version and added a preview for the next installment of the series in the form of Case 5. While this might confuse players, with the release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney recently, it all comes together.
I enjoy this series very much, but then again, I'm a sucker for a good, convoluted story. It only lasts for 3 games before handing the reigns to Apollo Justice, but it's a wild ride that gets all loose ends tied up in a neat little bow in the end.
Give it a shot. You won't be disappointed.