GENRE
	Adventure
	DEVELOPER
	Capcom
	PUBLISHER
	Capcom
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	No
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	No
	MICROPHONE
	Yes
	BUY NOW AT

The first Phoenix Wright DS title, released locally and in Japan late 2005, was a surprise hit for Capcom. Initially, the publisher printed a conservative number of copies for the franchise's North American debut. This limited supply may have suggested Capcom was unsure how well a four year old GBA port of a judicial adventure game would sell, even though the series had been very popular in Japan and this port included new touch functionality and a lengthy, bonus fifth mystery. Yet the charming, theatrical characters and complex mysteries proved a big hit, encouraging Capcom to publish many more copies as well as localize the 2002 GBA sequel, Justice for All, in 2007.

Justice for All measures up to its predecessor with four intricate mysteries, a great localized script and another highly likable cast of both new and old faces. However, unlike the prequel, Justice for All includes neither a brand new mystery (all four mysteries are from the original GBA sequel) nor some of the more exciting and novel touch functionality that was used in the first game's bonus mystery. Fortunately, the franchise is fresh enough, and this iteration's stories and characters novel enough, to let Justice for All remain a solid recommendation for DS adventure game fans.

visuals

Phoenix Wright's animé-styled character designs are as attractive, zany and appealing as ever, often presenting more variety in their designs and subtle animations than many major Japanese television animés. Granted, there is a high number of reused character illustrations and backgrounds from the first game, making Justice seem more like a by-the-numbers Street Fighter sequel (a Capcom series well known for reusing years-old sprites), but this familiarity is tempered with new characters and settings. Further, using so many of the prequel's characters goes a long way in perpetuating the continuity and Phoenix's world. The only thing absent in the visuals are the 3D pieces of evidence that were used exclusively in the fifth mystery of the previous game.

audio

Only a few phrases-- "objection," "take that" and "hold it"-- are digitized for the soundtrack. The rest of the audio is another pleasing, emotional and varied score that includes a few themes from the first title. Overall, the music seems more melancholy or mysterious over its predecessor-- the increasingly climactic sets of courtroom songs sound more like Cirque du Soleil than the "urgent breaking news" synth-mash that was used in Ace Attorney.

gameplay

Justice for All takes Phoenix through another four murder mysteries as a defense attorney. Even with near-damning evidence at the on-set, Phoenix can find a linear, single path to clear each client of guilt via clever logic, an extremely loose "judicial system," and, best of all, supernatural aid. The first Phoenix title made surprising and engaging use of the supernatural, giving what would have been a dryer courtroom experience an X-Files twist. Justice thankfully continues that with characters being channeled from the dead to offer advice in the heat of the moment, and a mystic amulet new to the series allows Phoenix to see actual padlocks ("psyche locks") securing an interviewee's deep, dark secrets.

To progress through all this, Phoenix typically alternates between investigations of the crime scene and possible suspects and actual court room testimonies and cross-examinations. While at a crime scene or location germane to the trial, the touch screen can be pinpoint-tapped to search for clues or evidence within the game's watercolor backgrounds. Yet more than anything the touch screen's primary purpose is incessant tap-tap-tapping to advance every one to two lines of speech being given by a game character whether in or out of court. In lieu of actual voice acting, Capcom tries to make the large amounts of speech (this is an adventure game, after all) more lively by alternating the speed the words are displayed in an imitation of how a character may literally pause or drag out certain thoughts whilst trying to misdirect Phoenix.

During on-the-scene investigations, the touch screen allows selection of conversation topics or lines of questioning. If a particular topic is revealed to have a "psyche lock," the aforementioned mystic amulet can be used to put the interviewee into a mode just like a cross examination during trial. Phoenix basically has to present evidence, or, new in this sequel, profiles of other game characters, to get through the mental padlocks and force the interviewee to reveal critical information.

In both the psyche lock mode and court room trials, a life bar new to the series pops up whenever Phoenix needs to present evidence or a profile to identify an innacuracy or lie within another character's speech. For each incorrectly chosen piece of evidence, the life bar depletes, ultimately resulting in either the psyche lock mode ending or the trial being prematurely decided against Phoenix's favor. Fortunately, the game can be saved at nearly any spot, and while losses in the life bar will persist throughout an entire trial, creating a slimmer chance of progression as things wear on, Phoenix can refill the life bar via successful pscyhe lock breaks outside of the court room.

Sadly missing are the novel touch screen ideas that came up in the first game's bonus mystery. In that case, 3D evidence could be rotated, zoomed and examined for further clues, bloodstain-revealing spray could be applied to a crime scene, or fingerprints could be dusted for. As a straight-up GBA port, those fancier elements aren't present here, but even with one less mystery there's still plenty of story, characters and evidence to chew through.

In fact, especially with an adventure game, the story and characters of Justice for All truly determine its merit. Like its predecessor, the game's writers have delivered, and the localization team has done an incredible translation job by keeping the stories understandable and peppered with plenty of humor and character. There are occasional, significant logic gaps and the requirements of stretching a trial out sometimes results in ridiculously false testimonies, but the mysteries remain extremely compelling, even if the true criminal is transparently obvious at the start. How the real murderer gets caught is always a fun puzzle to solve, though once everything's solved, there's little reason to play through this linear title a second time. Regardless, the game remains great fun over the many hours it takes to complete.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

There's one more GBA Phoenix Wright title (and Japan gets a brand new, DS-exclusive fourth title on April 12, 2007) that could be localized for the U.S., dependent upon how well Justice for All sells. While missing the bonuses the original port had, Justice for All should be another retail success thanks to having more of the top-notch design, localization and story that made the first fun. While by no means an accurate simulation of legal process, there's no denying the soapy dramatics, rich and endearing characters, and delightful wordplay puzzles make this a winner.

7.7/10