The verdict: great!
Seen the delivery of the game March 27 2007 we declare the following notes as honest, deep and based on multiple sessions of starting up the console and entering the game world.
Seeing that in the game you need to take on the role of a lawyer who always defends and helps his clients and you need to get a "not guilty", you'll have to explore several interesting locations and questions all kinds of fascinating characters. Especially these latter, including several known ones from the previous episode, appear to be one of the strong points of the game and the biggest reason to get dragged into the storyline.
During the game you'll have to solve four big cases including collecting and analysing information which you can then use in court where you also have to give the right info of comment to the judge at the right time. The touch-screen is an excellent means for that; on the top screen you get to see what's going on while at the bottom you can look pictures in detail, check out profiles of witnesses or accomplices, or just study all sorts of evidence.
You'll need to use your brains, especially when shouting "Objection" in your DS-microphone as since when not supporting this with evidence you'll loose a piece of your life meter. Once this gets depleted you'll have lost the case and can start over from a save-game (you can save just about everywhere). To be a good lawyer you'll therefore not only have to study everything with care but also have a sense of when the moment comes to make things known or push witnesses to the limit until the crack and tell the truth.
The cases are quite linear and know only one solution so bringing out the goods can become quite frustrating. Even if you know what's wrong, you'll have to discover by trial and error when it's the right time to bring forth your evidence. Lots of saving and loading is the message and this is quite sad.
During your career you'll have to read and point with the stylus a lot and the graphics are quite good for that. The surroundings are quite nice and the characters are brought on the screen excellently. Especially people that love manga-style cartoons will be able to appreciate the style and won't be able to resist laughing when emotions are brought forth in that typical Japanese style. In combination with well worked-out characters this is one of the game's strongest points.
There's no speech but musically you get a couple of good tunes and environment sounds which make for a very atmospheric whole that quickly immerses you.
For those reasons, Fragland judges that;
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All is a fun, immersive and well-filled adventure that at times reminds of the old PC adventures, combined with nicely created characters and a couple of excellent storylines. Gamers that have followed the previous case will experience some déjà-vu moments but newcomers can expect more of the same refreshing court cases with a sent of Japanese charm. If the reader were to choose between the first game in the series of this sequel then this court suggests to opt for the first episode.
Case closed!