amphibious_ReViews

I was at a work cookout when this localization was announced via a Nintendo Direct. Being who I am, I had to have a single earbud in so I could listen to the live presentation as we sat at the picnic tables waiting for the food. I've been known to have some giddy reactions to Nintendo Direct announcements before ( Xenoblade Chronicles 3 comes to mind), but that was always in the privacy of my own home. If it weren't for this cookout, I would have been working remote and my response to this announcement would have likely gone unnoticed by anyone but my cats. Instead, I had to explain to my boss why the official translation of a thirteen year old Japanese-only DS game prompted an audible yelp amidst the picnic table banter. Now, a few years after that embarrassing moment, I've finally beaten the game that many consider one of the best in the Ace Attorney franchise. When the official localization to English was announced, I already had the fan translation of the D...

It's been a long time coming but I'm finally starting the last canonical Ace Attorney games I have yet to play. I knew a little bit about what to expect going into Ace Attorney Investigations, but nothing concrete. In fact, my only exposure to the games has been screenshots on digital storefronts and the announcement trailer for the collection. After having been focused on the 3D entries in the series for the past few years, it was fun to return to the 2D era again. Although, with the HD sprites enabled, this certainly doesn't feel like a DS game anymore. While not as poignant as the Great Ace Attorney games, not as loaded with twists as the Phoenix Wright stories, Miles Edgeworth has an excellent first entry into this spin-off duology. As the name implies, Ace Attorney Investigations fleshes out the investigation side of the mainline games, entirely forgoing the courtroom. While it makes sense, I was honestly baffled when I finished the first chapter and hadn't done an...

When I reviewed the first Great Ace Attorney game , I said it had a story to rival the finale games from both mainline trilogies. While that remains true, it pales in comparison to Resolve. While a bit soapy, this game was a roller coaster from start to finish. The twists and revelations often left me flabbergasted, but led into a conclusion that pulled together all the threads from both games, capping off an incredible duology. Now I know for sure that this will be the starting place I recommend for anyone curious about the Ace Attorney franchise.  Once again playing as Ryunosuke (and Susato, for a chapter), you'll be tackling more court cases and correcting more of Sholmes' investigations. However, there's a greater significance to everything you do in this game, even if it isn't obvious at first. Where most Ace Attorney games have at least one filler case that lacks pertinence to the overarching plot, The Great Ace Attorney 2 maintains its focus from start to finish....

I was a little worried when starting The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures. I expected to enjoy it, but I had grown so attached to the characters in the mainline series that I was worried about starting with a brand new batch. Thankfully, the game quickly squashed my concerns. The entire cast in this game is excellent and the story blew me away. The third games in each mainline Ace Attorney trilogy have some of my favorites narratives in the whole medium, thanks in no small part to the foundations established by their preceding entries. This is only the first game in a spinoff series, yet I frequently found myself thinking it could rival those incredible titles. Playing as Phoenix Wright's ancestor, Ryunosuke Naruhodo, you'll investigate crimes and defend your clients in court, just like you'd expect from the Ace Attorney series. Taking place close to the turn of the 20th century in both Japan and England, there are some notable differences to both major phases of gameplay com...

Concluding the second trilogy of mainline Ace Attorney games, Spirit of Justice is exactly what I expected Dual Destinies to be and more. The story focuses heavily on Apollo and Phoenix's intertwining stories, brings focus back on the plot set up in Apollo's first game , and builds upon the gameplay established in the previous titles. While Trials and Tribulations is still my favorite game in the series, Spirit of Justice absolutely gave it a run for its money and is easily the best in the sequel trilogy. Splitting time between Phoenix visiting Maya in the spirit medium kingdom of Khura'in and Apollo holding down the fort at the Wright Anything Agency, the story starts out a bit disjointed. Even the court cases are handled differently between the two settings, with Khura'inese trials introducing the ability to see a murder victim's last moments through their eyes. This discrepancy isn't bad though. In fact, I think it helped keep the game engaging because ever...

As the direct follow-up to Apollo Justice's breakout title , with a name like "Dual Destinies" that highlights the two major attorneys, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into. It didn't take long for me to realize how wrong I was. Even though the previous game served as a soft reboot for the series by introducing new features and beginning the next major story arc, it seemed like Dual Destinies was attempting the reboot route too. This is seen most obviously with the introduction of Athena Cykes, another novice defense attorney who becomes the main focus of the game's story.   I knew that Athena was going to be in this game based on all of the artwork and promotional material, but I figured she was going to be in more of a supporting role, like Maya or Trucy. It quickly became clear that she was actually a third main character alongside Phoenix and Apollo. In fact, she was so central to the story that any major advancements in the narrative from the prev...

After finishing the stellar Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy, I was skeptical that a follow-up could actually do the series justice (no pun intended). I failed to see how a quasi-reboot could manage to bring back the magic of the original series, especially with some rando as the new protagonist, but I was more than pleasantly surprised. Apollo Justice managed both to bring back the trademark humor of the original trilogy and to bring new life to the gameplay, resulting in a worthy successor, rather than a cheap imitator, of the Ace Attorney legacy. The story follows newbie attorney, Apollo Justice , who just wants to make a name for himself but instead finds his career sidelined by a surprising betrayal and has to drastically adjust his trajectory. What follows is a pretty standard affair for an Ace Attorney game - chapter-based visual-novel-style gameplay stuffed with wacky characters, clever twists, and an overarching plot that neatly ties everything together. It even relies...

Trials and Tribulations is easily the best game in the original Ace Attorney  trilogy. In addition to restructuring the formula established in the first two titles, this game brought back the overarching plot that Justice for All   was sorely lacking. Trials and Tribulations managed not only to have its own fantastic, self-contained story but also to unify all three games with a concluding chapter that completely blew me away. It was because of that story that I got sucked into this game, and sucked in quickly. Now you likely aren't, and shouldn't be, playing this before you have played its two predecessors, so you should be pretty familiar with the mechanics the moment you pick it up. Nothing new has been added since Justice for All , and the investigating, court battling, and psych-lock breaking feels the same as it always did. It's the story where Trials and Tribulations really shakes things up. Where the previous games were chronologically linear, this one actually b...

The best video game sequels introduce new and exciting gameplay elements while still maintaining the feel of the original. Justice for All doesn't add much in the way of new features, but it does maintain the engaging investigation-and-defense gameplay that made the first game so fun. As players are already familiar with the game's main characters, Justice for All was really able to shine by skipping time-consuming introductions and diving straight into the development of characters' personalities, convictions, and relationships. The first Ace Attorney game made it clear that its unique characters are the heart of the franchise, and its sequel proves that many times over. If you've played Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney , then you'll feel right at home in Justice for All . If you haven't, you should absolutely play that first. Playing the Ace Attorney series in order is necessary to properly enjoy it, as this title picks up where the previous title left off. In...

  Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a murder-mystery visual novel. The game's linear structure may leave some people frustrated, but, I found that the combination of intriguing mysteries and over-the-top characters was enough to keep me happily engaged the whole way through. The game did a great job of making me feel like I was the one making smart deductions and groundbreaking discoveries, even though they were all inevitable pieces of the main story, and I definitely consider that smart game design. I didn't find the whole game to be perfect, and the final episode suffers from a serious lack of cohesion, but that was far from enough to sour a game this good. Playing as an amateur defense attorney who seems to think he's also a detective, you are tasked with trying to protect your innocent clients from conviction, despite insurmountable odds. The only way this is possible is by finding every little contradiction in witness testimonies while in court, and interrogating the h...

With Minish Cap being the only full-size original Zelda game on the Gameboy Advance , Capcom had their work cut out for them. Based on my experience, they were absolutely ready for the challenge. A common theme in Zelda games is the traversal between two parallel worlds, as introduced by A Link to the Past 's dark world. However, I would have never considered how cute, clever, and enjoyable an experience I would have if those worlds were only separated by the hero's size. The Minish Cap  has gameplay that is almost immediately recognizable for anyone who has played a 2d Zelda  game, and it feels very comfortable to jump into. However, additions like Kinstones (allowing players to open up new secrets in the world by matching collectibles with NPC's) and the ability to shrink to the size of a bug help this entry to stand apart. The developers were able to create dungeons that seamlessly combined the abilities of both full-size and mini Link, making the mechanic feel like...