Review — Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Phoenix Wright making a hearsay objection (or objecting to something).

This week Capcom released Phoenix Wright:  Ace Attorney for the iPhone.  Siouxsie Law just purchased the app.

In Phoenix Wright you play a newly minted attorney in Japanese anime form who investigates and tries cases.   Not surprising, the game is not realistic.  In fact, it borders on the absurd.  Phoenix Wright’s first case is a murder trial and his best friend is the defendant.  Phoenix Wright not only must prove that his client is innocent, he must also prove who the real killer is.  Apparently, the game’s creators have not heard of reasonable doubt or presumption of innocence.  (Maybe this is how Japanese courtrooms work?  Siouxsie doesn’t know.)

Playing this game will not make you an “Ace Attorney” or earn you any CLE credits.  And it has nothing to do with how the criminal justice system works in America.

If you can get past all of this though, it is definitely worth playing through once.  The graphics are great.  And the over-the-top characters and strange plots are the games best features.  Not to mention that it is easily worth five dollars just to have a video game that stars an anime-inspired attorney.

Siouxsie give this game 4 out of 5 tiny top hats.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is available in the App Store for $4.99.  Have fun.

~ by siouxsielaw on May 27, 2010.