Apollo Justice Impressions

Just when I thought that I would spend the weekend doing not much and lazing around I remembered that I had Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney on my DS. Shame on me for not remembering! I'm about 75% through the game, so here is my impressions so far.

First recap, I've played the last 3 Ace Attorney games and was struck by the wit and charm that it displayed. It was an awesome series and when I first heard that a new main character will be added to Ace Attorney 4(AA4), I was skeptical. Gamers will remember Metal Gear Solid 2 and Halo 2 when you diverged from playing the "main" character to another "main character".

So far I'm having a good time, as some old characters do return. The main character Apollo Justice feels a bit too much like Phoenix Wright. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, he's not as good as Phoenix Wright in terms of characterisation. This is something AA4 suffers from a little bit. The new characters weren't as funky as the old characters. They all seem a bit weak. However, the writing is still excellent, full of charm and jokes and is as good or even better than the old AA games.

The gameplay is similar to old AA games and that is a bit of a shame. In the DS port of the GBA AA1, there was an extra chapter only for the DS which showcased some new techniques, like examining and rotating evidence. The new AA4 was built ground up for the DS and that does show in stuff like character animation and detail, but the new gameplay elements aren't used enough to take advantage to the DS capabilities. It is almost as if the developers were a bit hesitant in changing the old gameplay too much. Of course, the music retains is usual high standard.

All in all, AA4 is good game and a worthy addition to the AA series. However, it doesn't seem to shine as much as it's predecessors and it is a letdown that the developers didn't take more advantage of the DS capabilities. Still, if you've played that last 3 AA games, you'll enjoy Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.