Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten (逆転裁判蘇る逆転) or "Turnabout Courtroom: Revival Turnabout" in Japan) is an adventure game developed by Capcom in 2005, released exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a remake of the Game Boy Advance video game Gyakuten Saiban (which was released in 2001, but only in Japan). The Nintendo DS version includes touch screen support and microphone support, and adds a fifth episode that was not featured in the Game Boy Advance version. Episode 5 is the only episode to take full advantage of the touch screen and microphone support. It is rumored that Capcom has stopped production of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in North America while other rumors point to shortages being due to high demand.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is the first game in the Gyakuten Saiban series, which has been exclusive to Japan until the release of Phoenix Wright. The series consists of four titles - Gyakuten Saiban, Gyakuten Saiban 2, Gyakuten Saiban 3 (all for the Game Boy Advance) and Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten (a port of the first game with an added chapter, and released in North America as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney). There is a fourth game in the series, titled Gyakuten Saiban 4, which will be released on the Nintendo DS in TBA 2006. The three Game Boy Advance titles are slated for release on the PC, only in Japan. Official English localizations of Gyakuten Saiban 2, Gyakuten Saiban 3 or Gyakuten Saiban 4 has not been confirmed, although a [[1]] fan translation of the third game is underway.

Storyline

The storyline focuses on five different trials. The main character is Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney, who works under the Chief of the law offices that he works at, Mia Fey.

The First Turnabout

(はじめての逆転)

Larry Butz is wrongfully accused for his "girlfriend’s" murder and only his longtime friend, rookie attorney Phoenix Wright, can save him.

Turnabout Sisters

(逆転姉妹)

Phoenix’s mentor Mia Fey is murdered in their offices and her sister, Maya, is implicated as the murderer.

Turnabout Samurai

(逆転のトノサマン)

The star of the popular kids’ show “Steel Samurai” is suspected of killing his costar.

Turnabout Goodbyes

(逆転, そしてサヨナラ)

Miles Edgeworth’s past comes back to haunt him when an attorney involved in his father’s murder case is himself murdered… and Edgeworth is the only suspect.

Rise from the Ashes

(蘇る逆転)

Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye is alleged to be the murderer of a police detective assigned to a case the two worked on two years ago.

Gameplay

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
	File:Phoenix wright boxart.jpg
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Composer(s)	Masakazu Sugimori ;
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release	October 11, 2005 (NA); September 15, 2005 (JP)
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player

Template:Spoilers

In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the user takes control of Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney. In the game, you take on various tasks, some being standard operation for a defense attorney and some having nothing to do with the profession.

Controls

There are two ways to control this game. The first is more true to the gameplay found in Gyakuten Saiban, where L was to Press, R was to Present/examine the Court Record, A was to select and B was to cancel, with the d-pad used for navigating the menu and moving the cursor in the investigative scenes. The new controls take advantage of the features included with the Nintendo DS, mainly the touch screen. Using the touch screen, you can skip through text by pushing the large "Play" button in the middle of the screen and press various other buttons that appear on the screen, such as Court Record, Press and Present. Another feature that they took advantage of was the microphone. It was not a big aspect of the game, but by holding down Y, the player can speak into the microphone three different phrases - "Objection", "Hold It" and "Take That" at certain points. A new episode- Episode 5 introduced in Phoenix Wright takes advantage of the DS' features at several points, such as spraying luminol with the touch screen, or applying aluminum powder with the touch screen and blowing off the excess with the microphone.

Court Battles

The main aspect of the gameplay are the court battles. In these court battles, Phoenix Wright must defend his client for murder, all the while battling against the prosecutor. In Episode 1 (The First Turnabout), the murderer is revealed nearly instantly for the player to know. Phoenix must defend his friend, Larry Butz (comically referred to Harry Butz by many people), who is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Cindy Stone. Phoenix is an understudy to Mia Fey, the Chief of the law office he works at, and the prosecutor is Winston Payne. The prosecution calls a witness to the stand, who had apparently witnessed Larry leave the apartment Cindy was staying in, whose name is Frank Sahwit (a pun on "saw it").

Frank Sahwit will give his testimony as to what happened on the day of the murder, amd Phoenix must cross examine this testimony. Phoenix will have to press various statements if they seem contradictory, or present evidence showing a contradiction. For example, Frank says that he discovered the body at 1:00 PM, but the autopsy report says that she died at 4:00 PM. So, you must present this. However, Frank will get around it, and change his testimony to explain why he thought that it was 1:00 PM. Other evidence available to Phoenix continues to reveal contradictions in the testimony. The game is very heavy on reading, and throughout the court battle, you'll spend most of it reading, pressing and presenting evidence.

Episode 1 is somewhat of a tutorial, being purposely easier than all of the other Episodes for the sake of educating the player of how to play.

Investigation

From Episode 2 (Turnabout Sisters) onwards, there is an alternate phase of gameplay which plays out before each day in court for the rest of the game. The player, as Phoenix, is able to visit locations outside of court, examine areas with the touch screen, gather information about the case, and talk to important people. After a vital piece of information is found or there is a major progression in the story, the game will automatically move on to the court phase, where the major parts of the game take place. The areas in each episode are navigated via a simple touch screen menu accessible at any time in the Investigation phase.

Characters

Defense Attorneys

Phoenix Wright - Naruhodou Ryuuichi (成歩堂龍一)

Age 24. Our protagonist. He has only been an attorney for three months, and until now has never been in court. He is bright but very inexperienced. Known for his trademark spiky hairdo. His nickname to some of his friends is "Nick", and sometimes "porpucine head" by his enemies. In Gyakuten Saiban 3, Godot calls him "Maruhodou" as a way of mocking him. It is only at the end of the game that he acknowledges him and calls him Naruhodo. Phoenix is generally cynical but easily swayed by what Mia says. In a flashback scenario, we see that when Phoenix was in University studying to be a lawyer, he was very devoted to a woman he considered his "soulmate", even acting rashly a number of times to defend her.

Mia Fey - Ayasato Chihiro (綾里千尋)

Age 27. A highly competent lawyer and Phoenix's boss and mentor; her first meeting with him was as her second case acting as his defense lawyer, with him being on trial for murder. He was impressed with her constant belief in his innocence, and vowed to work hard for her sake. Even after death, she continues to provide help and guidance to Phoenix, by channeling her spirit through her sister Maya. Her mother, Misty Fey, was double-crossed by Redd White in a case many years ago. Mia became an attorney with the sole intention of one day putting White behind bars. She is extremely professional and calculating, though she is very friendly and warm towards Phoenix, and often saves him at the eleventh hour, though on rare occaisions even she gets stumped.

Side Characters

Maya Fey - Ayasato Mayoi (綾里真宵)

Age 17. Mia's little sister and Wright's assistant. A medium-in-training. She can channel her big sister's spirit into her body for a limited amount of time, via a method similar to possession, but can only do so in desperate situations. Otherwises, she is like any teenage girl and is fan of Tokusatsu shows and films, particularly the Steel Samurai. Maya is very kind and sweet usually, even though she has a tendency to overreact sometimes and has a strong love of food, often saying she has a second stomach for foods she likes. She seems to treat Phoenix in the same way as she did with her older sister, even though he gets freaked out by her sometimes.

Ema Skye - Houzuki Akane (宝月茜)

Age 16. Ema is a high school junior and Phoenix's assistant during "Rise from the Ashes". She is the younger sister of Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye and has hopes of becoming a scientific investigator.

Prosecuting Attorneys

Winston Payne - Auchi Takefumi (亜内武文)

Age 52. He is the prosecutor only in "The First Turnabout". Though he is known in legal circles as "The Rookie Crusher", Payne is mild-mannered, becomes easily flustered, and lacks the mercilessness of later prosecutors. However, he also is arrogant and highly condecending to "rookie" defense attorneys, which often comes back to haunt him in one way or another.

Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth - Mitsurugi Reiji (御剣怜侍)

Age 24. Wright's rival. He became a prosecutor at the age of twenty and has been called by many as "The Genius Prosecutor". Cold and calculating, he will use any means necessary to get the guilty verdict, and has a reputation for using forged evidence and tampered testimonies (although it is later revealed that he might not have been aware of this fact). He, Phoenix, and Larry Butz were once friends in grade school. Edgeworth is the prosecutor in Chapters 2, 3, and 5.

Manfred von Karma - Karuma Gou (狩魔豪 )

Edgeworth's old mentor, Karma is at least ten times more ruthless and deranged than Edgeworth himself. The prosecutor in "Turnabout Goodbyes". His true insanity is revealed later, when he pulls a taser on Phoenix and Maya after being shown proof that he masterminded the murder of Richard Hammond and set it so that Edgeworth would be the scapegoat. Karma has been awarded the "King of Prosecutors" award several times (as revealed in "Rise from the Ashes").

External links