Well I just purchased the game and I thought it'd be fun to give my review as I go through the game. Somehow, against all hopes, I've been pretty much unspoiled except for the fact that Phoenix Wright has an awesome daughter I want to kidnap to cuddle and spoil forever. Plus, Phoenix dresses really really really bad. Though I stopped hating the hat as soon as I saw the "Papa" on it. At that point, it made sense. So I'm going to review each case as I finish them and share my thoughts.

I think it'll be fun. Please, no spoilers.

Well, yes, we open with Apollo Justice: Ace Doofus. I've heard some fans were disappointed with Apollo Justice and I can understand why. Apollo is a wonderfully Phoenix Wright character but he's not a very good player proxy. Some of the biggest problems from video game developers is they seem to fail to realize that author proxies should be cool to some extent. Hence why people disliked Snake being replaced with Raiden and later Nero replacing Dante from Devil May Cry.

I like Apollo Justice though. Oddly enough, he comes off as more like a real Attorney than Phoenix Wright in that I am actually reminded of my friends who all became Lawyers (I became a failing author----Oh God, I'm the Larry Butz). Phoenix is a guy I have difficulty having actually attended 4 years of law school and my personal fancon is that he got his degree through correspondance course. Apollo, at least in the first case, comes off as one of those poor poor poor fools who went through all the Hell of getting their licensee. I have no real evidence of this claim but its personally Apollo has a heavier personality.

Unfortunately, Apollo comes off as way too much like my friends in that they don't know anything of the court system and are overly enthusiastic. First Court days are usually a disaster but Apollo starts off looking like he's reasonably lucky. Kristoph Glavin, aside from looking like Char Aznable, seems like the kind of mentor you'd really want for a developing lawyer. I really didn't see the betrayal coming and thought he'd be a Mia style character. He lacks a lot of Phoenix's affiable charm in that he's clearly going to make a mockery of himself.

Some of the genuine drama in the game came from the fact that I could actually feel for Apollo's plight. Seriously, the first PW case is the opposite of Phoenix Wright's own. In the first game, you have Phoenix save his friend from a false murder charge while establishing his lawyer credentials. In this case, Apollo is forced to sabotage his own career in a manner that will leave it radioactive for 1,000 years.

Really, Phoenix is a much darker character in this storyline. Effortlessly, he destroys Kristoph Gavin but he also brings Apollo down with him. It's understandable given that Kristoph, for whatever reason, was attempting to frame Phoenix (and I've already guessed that Trucy is the daughter of the victim by the banner that shows them together on this website). However, Apollo is apparently lucky enough to get in a prestigious law firm but he's going to be known forever after as the guy who got his own boss convicted of murder after they brought him on. He makes that sacrifice for justice but he's really just a pawn caught between the two men.

It's difficult to imagine what would turn Phoenix into a manipulator with this kind of cold and ruthless revenge but it's oddly very Count of Monte Cristo-esque. I get that Apollo will be helped by Phoenix in the future but its a feeling that leaves me deeply uncomfortable about what Phoenix has turned into. Becoming a Piano Player and Card Shark is not exactly a wonderful fate for our hero, even if I suspect he will "Rise from the Ashes." Really, Apollo gets our sympathy rather than a desire to be him.

BTW, this is something I was surprised at. Apollo is a really buff guy and looks like he could kick Phoenix's ass. I thought at first Apollo was going to be very young but he's actually a fairly formidable design even if he's got a ridiculous haircut.

We don't get to see much of Trucy in this stage but I do love her appearance. She's absolutely adorable and I immediately want to pair her up with someone other than Apollo (weirdly, they give off the exact same vibes as Maya and Phoenix do to me. I.e. never in his wildest dreams would he touch this girl). Her girlish behavior and Phoenix's status as her parent also helps highlight her youth unlike with Maya.

So, overall, I have high marks for this adventure even if I suspect that I'm not going to like Apollo as much as Phoenix. He's a little too earnest and he strikes me as the type of guy whose caught up in circumstances beyond his control. Really, Phoenix is only using him as a tool of his revenge here and he's not in control of his own destiny. I have a bad feeling this will continue to be the case.

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Don't worry man, I was very disappointed with 4-1, too.

Everything will be explained, and you will like Phoenix by 4-4.

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I actually really enjoyed 4-1 as a case. I don't much care for Apollo Justice by comparison to Phoenix Wright but given the fact that its still recognizably Phoenix Wright style gaming, it's enjoyable enough to play. I really enjoyed some elements of the trial. Olga Orrly is just a wonderfully hilarious character and I actually love the pun on her name. We need more Irish Card Dealers and Con Women.

"I'm not cute, I'm bad!"

and while 4-1 wasn't nearly as "fun" as the other games, it was packed with drama.

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Actually, 4-1 is the worst case in the entire series in my opinion.
Of course it wasn't BAD, but this was the one I enjoyed the least.
4-3 is gonna be really fun, and 4-4 is the most serious case ever, and it's great.

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I actually rank 4-1 over a few other cases in the Phoenix Wright series. Here's a short list of games that I enjoyed less.

The Lost Turnabout
Turnabout Big Top

And I have just finished 4-2, which I disliked tremendously for its game-play more than anything else.

What didn't you like about 4-1?

Again, I don't share your dislike of it at all. Turnabout Big Top was the only one that I genuinely disliked playing.

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Actually, I didn't really dislike it. It was just that I played it right after 3-5 (the most amazing case ever).
What bothered me?
- Apollo did almost nothing.
- We didn't get to know the motive, and the ending was very unsatisfying.
- Everything felt so random. Like what, a 4th person? Who is coincidentally standing right next to you? And what, a secret passage? I didn't feel like logically solving the case.
Yes, it is an important part of the story, but definitely the least fun chapter.

I mean, 2-1 wasn't too great either. It had plot holes, the amnesia is a silly excuse, and it was insanely hard for a tutorial, but it had many great jokes.

2-3, I actually liked. The investigation parts were tedious and hard, and Trilo was a pain in the ass (Moe was annoying, too), but the good things in it overwhelmed the bad things.
In 4-1, there weren't many more good things than bad things.

About 4-2, the first part, I disliked it for being so silly, boring and random, but from the first trial it picked up. Well, not that much, I liked 2-3 more than 4-2 for ex, but it was a fun case.

4-3 and 4-4, however, are both great.

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Aww, I think Apollo is cool. You've got to admit, the way he categorically tells Kristoph that he's going to hear the testimony regardless of whether or not it may damage his mentor is pretty awesome.

Yeah, Apollo is established as an honorable lawyer very well. He knows exactly what he's giving up and does so anyway.

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Tch. Apollo ain't buff, he's scrawny! He's got no biceps or anything like that (his arms are the only really visible parts) and his shoulders are pretty narrow. Now, I'm not saying Phoenix is buff, but he has wider shoulders and looks overall a bit more muscular than Apollo. (2-1 prolly the best reference for this) Plus, we know Phoenix has a ton of stamina from 4-2.

Phoenix > Apollo any day :P


Now, onto the actual case...

WARNING: 4-4 SPOILERS


Long story short (but still minor spoilers):

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I'll hold off on any spoilers until I'm done with the game, thanks.

I don't think Phoenix is a villain, I'm just saying he's very manipulative in this game.

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You may not outright say "Phoenix is an evil villain" but you use almost exclusively words and phrases with negative connotations when talking about him.



I know, I know. I just wanted to write it down now.

It's so hard to talk about Phoenix in AJ like this since 4-1 (and 4-2 and 4-3) provide such an incomplete picture =\

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Last edited by Bad Player on Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

I really love your comment of this case Charles Phipps. I have almost the same felling but I can never express it so perfectly as you did. Thank you!

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Only if you equate manipulative and Machiavellian with evil.

I don't think Phoenix is being evil because he destroys Kristoph Gavin, whom clearly is a person who deserves to be behind bars. I don't approve of the way he goes about doing it, using Apollo and lying to him. However, it's not a case where he's actively harming anybody but a bad person (and Apollo to a certain extent). Apollo, also, clearly chooses justice over personal advancement as well.

Phoenix is very cold in the game and calculating but that doesn't make him a bad guy.

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I felt the same way, playing this game. There were times I could see Phoenix acting clueless while Apollo quickly figured things out.


Phoenix seemed extrely Puppet Master-like in this game. Any time Apollo figured something out, Phoenix would go "Lol, I already knew that", making you feel like you accomplished nothing.

He also didn't care at all about blatently forging evidence.

4-1, like Klavier, has always felt like Capcom was saying "PLEEEEEEEEEASE THINK OF THIS AS COOL". Despite being a tutorial case, you put Apollo's mentor, who you know absoultely nothing about, in jail. It seemed like they wrote part of the case, realized they didn't have an actual murderer and picked someone at random (I feel the same way about 3-5 actually >>). This time poor Kristoph faced the mighty writer's wrath

The biggest problem with Apollo Justice's first case for me, was the fact that it failed on two levels while succeeding on most other levels.

The two levels it failed are...

* As an introduction to the world.

* As a tutorial.

The problem with this case in the first point is the fact that Apollo Justice, fun doofus that he is, is dropped into a case where he's completely clueless as to what's going on. Most of the emotional power of the case comes from the fact that we know who is, even though we've never met before. It's sort of like we've been bumped to 5 rather than 4. At some point, it being like we've got a new partner at the PW law firm that we're supposed to feel an emotional connection to. Without ever meeting before, there's no real emotional impact to the idea that he's a murderer and betrayed Phoenix.

While I suspect I'll have to finish 4-4 to get the background on the case, I would have much preferred it being spelled up front. Either that or have 4-1 be the 2nd case of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and the first case could have had a very short trial with there being 5 trials like in the American release of PW.

Ironically, I was able to appreciate it because I had so much experience with PW! but the irony is that I also was bored with the game because so much of it was familiar.

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IMO 4-1 was one of the best starter cases (if not THE best starter) of the whole series. It had so much drama.
It didnt feel like a starter case to me, it had all the tension and drama of a finale.
However Charles does make a very good point, since we dont know anything about Kristoph and have only just met him, theres not much emotional impact to the reveal that he's a villain. In that case 4-1 should have been a different case.
However, isnt the twist rather like Dahlia (3-1)? We've never met her and its similar.

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Well, best starter case =/= best starter case.
But yes, it did have so much drama.
In all the starter cases, the killer is someone we've just met. So that point is really moot. However, you do realize that it's pretty neat having your assisstant being the killer--that's new (at least it's kool and new if you haven't played PW before). Plus, Kristoph is very calm and cool, not someone you'd expect to be the murderer. Finally, this is different than all other cases because in 1-1, 2-1, and 3-1 the witness is the murderer. Here, Olga, the witness, isn't.
(I'm sure most ppl used to the formulaic opening case just went thru, "Okay, it's Olga, let's prove she did it already...." Then when we see it's Kristoph we get "ZOMG plot twist!" and just that makes up for the emotional stuff of not really knowing him :D)

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Or maybe the reason we thought Olga was the killer is because Apollo kept saying it...

I really thought Olga was the murderer too (at first). You are right about the witness being the killer in the other cases, BadPlayer.
What do you mean by =/= (as in best starter case =/= best starter case) BTW?

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=/= is the closest you can get to a "Not equal sign" using normal characters.

That doesn't really make sense though, unless you bold it.
Best starter case =/= Best starter case. Since people are generally turned off by tutorials, they made it more meaty, but that made it less tutorialy.

Anyway, since this is the Beginning of Apollo's story, we get first impressions. And the First impressions of Nick are pretty bleak. XD If you didn't know him, you'd be chilled. I think that as Polly gets to know him more, his Nick-ness comes out more. Just like how we are in real life really.

TLDR version: It's more believable to me this way.

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Heh, that was a typo

Meant:

Best starter case =/= best case

(that makes a bit more sense, doesn't it?)

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Thanks :) It's certainly one of the best cases, 3-5 and 2-4 are up there too.
IMO its the best STARTER case.

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