I just got to play (and finish!) Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright - Dual Destinies, thanks to a generous friend and his 3DS. Whooooooooooo~
For the clueless, you play as a lawyer in the Ace Attorney series, and you are to defend your clients in court. No, you don't have to memorise laws and statutes and treaties and nonsense and... *shudder*
No, the game's pretty much a puzzle game, played in the styles of a visual novel. You go around asking people questions and gathering evidences, all in order to unravel the mysteries behind each case. It's a really fun process too, especially when you know what's going to happen before the game guides you there. I feel like a professional investigator or detective everytime that happens. Heh.
Like its predecessors, Dual Destinies has a main storyline and accompanying cases which reveal bits and pieces of the story, until you reach the final case that gives you closure.
New mechanics and animated cutscenes are introduced. Crime scenes are now in a three-dimensional layout, so camera rotations are involved when investigating the scene. Characters' animations are now more... animated. These are not the things that make the Ace Attorney series great.
If you are seated down on a lazy Saturday afternoon with naught to do, and you feel like reading a book, play this game. The stories you find in this series are all fairly simple, with twists or turns you might, or might not expect in tales. Yet, the pacing of the game paired with the dialogues between the characters create this somewhat immersive story, which, frankly speaking, is a rare sight in the gaming scene nowadays. Not even AAA RPG titles deliver on that anymore! (Final Fantasy, I'm looking at you).
Down-to-earth and simple, without even attempting to be pretentious. Well, whacky maybe.
As you progress through the game, the missing links between events are filled in with evidences and it is up to you to point them out. It really is a puzzle game. Think jigsaw puzzle.
You start off the case with your client being accused, and as you defend him/her, the whole story behind how the victim was murdered, the motive behind the murder and the relationships between characters get clearer with each passing moment. You are basically reading a book, or better, you are an active participant in the book.
*sigh* I really love the series and it's silly to go on talking so highly of it. Go and buy it. I think it is a game which most people, if not everyone, will enjoy.
Now, on a personal note, where is my Turnabout Theme?! I love the sound of the new theme but I miss the old one too! GAH!
P.S: I find it tedious to write in a manner as though I am doing an official review of the game, which passed off as pretentious and unnecessary to me. I will just write what I feel like writing from now on. Hue.
