Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations is the third game in the series. It was originally for the Game Boy Advance but was only released in Japan. It was ported to the Nintendo DS and translated into English. Naturally, this means that the graphics aren’t going to be the cutting edge 3D graphics the DS was capable of at the time. Instead, it relies on highly detailed 2D sprites and the game still looks great. The game is primarily a visual novel. An annoying part is how you cannot change the speed of the text until you have already read it (thus useless for first time players). Since the text of the speed varies, if you read it fast, it can be annoying waiting for it. There are no new gameplay elements added compared to the second game. However, this also means that there are no additional gimmicks just to say that they had added something new. The story is the main draw card of the Ace Attorney games anyway, and Trials and Tribulations continue the strong story writing.
The gameplay sequence has you perform investigative elements such as finding clues in the crime scenes, and gathering testimony from witnesses. Then when you turn up to court, you listen to the witnesses and counter the prosecutor’s arguments with your own. You refute the witness’s testimony with evidence, or you can press them harder to reveal that there are contradictions and thus they are lying. There is a health bar which will deplete if you push too far or use the wrong evidence. There are also various points where if you select the wrong option you will lose and have to restart from a checkpoint. There will be times where you will not know how to advance and it takes a bit of trial and error. Once you have found it and the game explains its logic, it makes sense.
A feature of the game is the highly exaggerated characters, who have weird mannerisms and quirks, that would not fly in a real court. The judge is always the clueless, easily led old guy, and the prosecutors that Phoenix faces against are supposed to be strong, but they end up being some of the weirdest characters around. The theme of the game has to do with the past. There are five cases in total. The first case is set in the past and gives us more of a backstory involving Phoenix Wright and his mentor, Mia Fey. It is an unexpected turn of events surrounding a murder and it introduces an obviously important character who will turn up later on. Being the tutorial case, it is fairly easy and short. There are no investigative elements and it only takes 1.5 hours to complete. In that short amount of time, it manages to set the tone and personalities of the various characters.
The second case involves the thief of a priceless artifact. It starts off with predictable elements such as an overconfident and arrogant character, and a client who is definitely not guilty. However, the series always likes to play around with your expectations and then defy them and this is exactly what happens here. It has various plot twists that completely flip the meaning and motivation of each character’s actions. It also continues the theme of referencing events from previous games. The third case is the first one to really start to feel lengthy, taking around 3-5 hours to complete. While there are not as many twists and turns as the previous episode, it is a great murder mystery that manages to hide how the true killer executed their plan. A returning character is charged for murder. In the story, it involves a fake Phoenix Wright, inconsistent testimony of events between the accused and all other witnesses, and wacky characters even by the series’ standard. It takes a while for it to build up momentum but it has a good and satisfying story with its structure and chain of events.
The fourth case is yet another surprise in terms of jumping back into the past and revealing a bit more about a particular character. In a way, it is an extension of the first case, and we are thrown immediately into the court section without a chance to investigate. It takes around an hour and a half to finish but reveals so much about the characters. The fifth and last case, as you can expect, is the longest case in the game, taking around 5-7 hours to complete. It is very complex but unlike some of the long cases in previous games, it manages to keep its focus on the murder that had happened. This game was also initially planned as the last featuring Phoenix Wright, so it aimed to close his story and you can feel that in this case. It manages to wrap up the story around Phoenix’s history from previous games, as well as the earlier cases in this game, and complete it in a fulfilling manner. Twists and turns were expected and they were delivered, and it leads to a satisfying ending.
Overall, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations has a great story and is a great game. While there are no new game mechanics, the gameplay was solid enough already and the most important aspect is the story anyway. The cases that took place in the past may be a tad bit annoying at times but it was worth it in the end when the final case helped close a chapter in Phoenix Wright’s story.
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