Great Revival ~ Firus the Hedgehog

[Firus]

Link to original post: [drupal=2666]Great Revival ~ Firus the Hedgehog[/drupal]



The title actually does make some sense, I promise.

Last winter, I finally got my hands on the first Phoenix Wright game. I was amazed by it; the combination of the music, the puzzles, and the epic feeling of success when you solve said puzzles and further the plot make it an amazing experience.

The games are amazing, but don't take that long (yet, for some reason, it doesn't really detract from the games for me), so I beat the first game within a month or so of getting it. When I was partway through Rise From the Ashes (the final case of the game), I bought the sequel, Justice For All, so I could start the next game the moment I beat the first -- which I did.

I remember a slight feeling of disappointment as I played through the first trial...something felt wrong with it. I can't say why for sure, but the lack of Maya/Ema and the different (and not as good, in my opinion) music definitely contributed. Once I beat the first trial (which took a day or so), I moved onto the second...which was okay, but it dragged on a little bit and, again, something didn't feel quite right. Of course, once I got into the final part of the trial in court, it got pretty epic -- and the closing of the case blew me away, especially since I felt sorry for the murderer, which doesn't happen often.

I beat that trial on February 8th of this year (I know this due to AIM logs, because I discussed the ending of the trial with my friends.) I had more time to play the game that night, but I decided I would start the next trial later.

I still haven't started it.

But, a few weeks back, my friend lent me Apollo Justice (the fourth game in the series) so that I could learn the mannerisms of Klavier Gavin, the main prosecutor in the game -- for the purpose of cosplaying as him. I beat the game yesterday.

Even in the very first trial of the game, it all came back to me...that epic feeling. While the game got annoying at a few points (most notably the investigation for Turnabout Corner), the game was AMAZING, to the point that it even stands up to the first game. The soundtrack is amazing, you become attached to the new characters quickly, and the plot is great.

Thus my great revival.

Of course, the relation of the title is with the two songs from Justice For All, "Great Revival ~ Miles Edgeworth", and "Great Revival ~ Franziska Von Karma". Of course, that's a little ironic considering that those are both songs from the game that caused me to forget how great the games were in the first place, and also considering that I haven't gotten far enough in Justice For All to actually hear either of these in-game.

Following this revival, I am inspired to start the next trial in Justice For All as soon as possible -- likely tomorrow, though I probably won't get very far, as I need to focus on the finishing touches of my Klavier costume.

 

[Deleted member]

So you think the 2nd game isn't as good? I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, any idea where to pick up Justice For All? I can never find it anywhere.

 

[Firus]

So you think the 2nd game isn't as good? I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, any idea where to pick up Justice For All? I can never find it anywhere.

Yeah, it's pretty hard to beat the first game as it is, but even taking that into account, the second game isn't really as good, in my opinion.

What I've gathered from my friends who've played every game in the series is that the first is the very best, Trials & Tribulations is a close second, and Justice For All is in last. Come to think of it, when I asked them, I think I forgot to include Apollo Justice. Either way, my personal opinion puts it somewhere close to the first at the moment.

As for finding Justice For All, I got it at GameStop...but pretty much ALL of the Ace Attorney games are rare. I got the original as a gift (and I believe the person who got it for me ordered it), although I have seen it a few times at GameStop since then. Justice For All...I think I've seen all of twice. The first time was about a week before I bought it. The second was when I actually bought it. I'm pretty sure it was the same game, but I technically saw it two times. Trials & Tribulations I've seen 2 or 3 times, but...not anytime recently. If it were, I'd definitely buy it. Apollo Justice I saw once early this year at Circuit City.

On one hand, it sucks...on the other hand, it says something about the games if you can't find used copies of them -- generally that they're pretty good games that people don't want to get rid of. (It's not like they're unpopular, so it's not as if they just didn't sell.)

The only thing I can really suggest is what you're likely already doing -- looking around for it every so often. It may take a while, but you'll probably stumble upon it eventually.

If push comes to shove, you may have to bite the bullet and order it off the internet. I may end up having to do that with Trials & Tribulations and Apollo Justice (even though I've beaten it, I do intend to get my own copy of the game), though I don't intend to do so until I've at least beaten Justice For All. Frankly, if I find either/both of them lying around somewhere at any point from here on out I'll probably pick them up, whether or not I'm necessarily ready to play them yet.

 

[DtJ Jungle]

These games are so good. There are very few characters in this series I don't like.

 

[Red Arremer]

The second game is the weakest in the series. It has only 4 cases, and the third is especially annoying.
But the final case of Justice for All alone is definitely worth playing through the game. I think that's one of the best cases in the whole series.
The third game, Trials and Tribulations, is the best in the Phoenix Wright arc.

I played Apollo Justice between the second and the third game, and I honestly didn't like it as much. The cases were too artificial for my liking, especially with the last one, which, in my opinion, spiralled out of control, although I liked how they linked all of them together.

 

[Firus]

The second game is the weakest in the series. It has only 4 cases, and the third is especially annoying.
But the final case of Justice for All alone is definitely worth playing through the game. I think that's one of the best cases in the whole series.
The third game, Trials and Tribulations, is the best in the Phoenix Wright arc.

Awesomely enough, I just found Trials & Tribulations at GameStop today, complete with the box and manual.

I really want to move onto Trials and Tribulations right now...but alas, I need to finish Justice For All first. Though I did play the first case of Trials & Tribulations already.

I played Apollo Justice between the second and the third game, and I honestly didn't like it as much. The cases were too artificial for my liking, especially with the last one, which, in my opinion, spiralled out of control, although I liked how they linked all of them together.

Hm, interesting. I think my one complain about Apollo Justice is the weird endings for the last two cases. They seemed a little...inconclusive. At the end of Turnabout Serenade,

Spoiler

you basically have NO conclusive proof, you don't even have an entirely certain story behind the murder, but then Apollo says "BUT WE HAVE MACHI'S TESTIMONY" and Daryan goes all lolwut with his hair

.

With Turnabout Succession,

Spoiler

it was slightly more conclusive...but it was still a situation of "YOU HAVE NO PROOF" "BUT WE DO HAVE THIS THEREFORE YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL" "LOLWUT *FREAKOUT*" I'm willing to forget that, though, given the evil genius of Kristoph...poisoning the nail polish of someone who bites their nails? Ingenious

.

 

[Red Arremer]

Awesomely enough, I just found Trials & Tribulations at GameStop today, complete with the box and manual.

I really want to move onto Trials and Tribulations right now...but alas, I need to finish Justice For All first. Though I did play the first case of Trials & Tribulations already.

Believe me, the last case is DEFINITELY worth it.
I started the series with Justice for All, so I might be a bit biased towards that game (I went 2 -> 1 -> replaying 2 -> 3 inside of the Wright arc).

The biggest problem I think JfA suffers from is actually Franziska. While her personality and remarks are a lot of fun, it's somehow not as... rewarding when you defeat her. Sure, she's von Karma's daughter and all, but alone the soundbite of hers. Her "Objection!" is the weakest in the Wright arc (I found Kristoph's objection to be the weakest overall), even being outclassed by Payne's (!). She gives up so quickly, too... I dunno, she's cool, but she's just a little girl after all.

Hm, interesting. I think my one complain about Apollo Justice is the weird endings for the last two cases. They seemed a little...inconclusive. At the end of Turnabout Serenade,

Spoiler

you basically have NO conclusive proof, you don't even have an entirely certain story behind the murder, but then Apollo says "BUT WE HAVE MACHI'S TESTIMONY" and Daryan goes all lolwut with his hair

.

With Turnabout Succession,

Spoiler

it was slightly more conclusive...but it was still a situation of "YOU HAVE NO PROOF" "BUT WE DO HAVE THIS THEREFORE YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL" "LOLWUT *FREAKOUT*" I'm willing to forget that, though, given the evil genius of Kristoph...poisoning the nail polish of someone who bites their nails? Ingenious.

Spoiler fail there, huh? I editted it in for your convenience once you change it in your original post.

Anyway, yes, I also thought that the conclusions of the cases were very confusing and pulled out of thin air. Also, as said, I found them too artificial. While the Wright cases all are so well-written that their obvious artificiality (specially in the cases involving channeling and such) is covered by the ingenious writing. And then there's those cases that "really could have happened like that".
The last case of AJ had this, too,

Spoiler

but the whole time machine stuff just was too ridiculous for my liking. How can you collect evidence in the future and present it in the past? This was far too out of control for my liking.

The only thing I liked about AJ was actually the very first case with the poker players. That was pretty cool.

I also find Apollo himself as a main character to be very weak in comparison to Phoenix.

 

[Bowser King]

Believe me, the last case is DEFINITELY worth it.
I started the series with Justice for All, so I might be a bit biased towards that game (I went 2 -> 1 -> replaying 2 -> 3 inside of the Wright arc).

The biggest problem I think JfA suffers from is actually Franziska. While her personality and remarks are a lot of fun, it's somehow not as... rewarding when you defeat her. Sure, she's von Karma's daughter and all, but alone the soundbite of hers. Her "Objection!" is the weakest in the Wright arc (I found Kristoph's objection to be the weakest overall), even being outclassed by Payne's (!). She gives up so quickly, too... I dunno, she's cool, but she's just a little girl after all.

This. The last case is amazing. Definitely one of the best cases in the whole series. There was so much to the case and the story was really interesting and I found myself wishing I could do something that I couldn't.

3rd case was alright. I found myself feeling sad for the enemy which happens only once and a while. The way the case turned was really weird. In the end it wasn't half bad.

2nd case I actually enjoyed because the story wasn't bad compared to the first case.

1st case was pretty much just a tutorial so not much to say for this one.

JfA was overall good but the worst of the 3. Not because it was bad but the other 2 were just better.

 

[Firus]

Believe me, the last case is DEFINITELY worth it.
I started the series with Justice for All, so I might be a bit biased towards that game (I went 2 -> 1 -> replaying 2 -> 3 inside of the Wright arc).

This. The last case is amazing. Definitely one of the best cases in the whole series. There was so much to the case and the story was really interesting and I found myself wishing I could do something that I couldn't.

Now I'm really intrigued...I need to get to that case now.

The biggest problem I think JfA suffers from is actually Franziska. While her personality and remarks are a lot of fun, it's somehow not as... rewarding when you defeat her. Sure, she's von Karma's daughter and all, but alone the soundbite of hers. Her "Objection!" is the weakest in the Wright arc (I found Kristoph's objection to be the weakest overall), even being outclassed by Payne's (!). She gives up so quickly, too... I dunno, she's cool, but she's just a little girl after all.

Yeah...I (obviously) haven't played very far in JFA, but Franziska seems like she has the least personality and backstory of all the prosecutors.

Payne is the introductory prosecutor of every game, being very overconfident and patronizing, despite always losing the cases, which makes him sort of a comic relief character.

Edgey has a history with Phoenix, and he has a good side to him despite aiming for a guilty verdict.

Manfred has some background with Edgey, and he's incredibly intent on getting a guilty verdict, to the extent that he is a very evil person.

Godot has...hella background (yes, I know somewhat about it despite not having beaten T&T yet, due to accidental spoiling...), and he has EPIC quotes..."All men wear masks - whether it be over their faces, or over their hearts...". 'Nuff said.

Klavier has a lot of bits to his personality, between the Gavinners, being German, etc. And most of all, he's totally interested in the truth, and is by far the most helpful prosecutor of all. Sure, he's not very much of an enemy because of it, but enemies don't always have to be totally evil. It's kind of nice to see a cool, friendly antagonist every once in a while.

Spoiler fail there, huh? I editted it in for your convenience once you change it in your original post.

...Crap. Fix'd. >_>

Anyway, yes, I also thought that the conclusions of the cases were very confusing and pulled out of thin air. Also, as said, I found them too artificial. While the Wright cases all are so well-written that their obvious artificiality (specially in the cases involving channeling and such) is covered by the ingenious writing. And then there's those cases that "really could have happened like that".
The last case of AJ had this, too,

Spoiler

but the whole time machine stuff just was too ridiculous for my liking. How can you collect evidence in the future and present it in the past? This was far too out of control for my liking.

The only thing I liked about AJ was actually the very first case with the poker players. That was pretty cool.

I can't exactly tell if

Spoiler

it's a time machine or not, actually...I thought it was something like that initially, but I recall something in the trial that made me think it was a machine that somehow let Apollo review the past from Phoenix's perspective or something, in which case it makes a little more sense

.

I also find Apollo himself as a main character to be very weak in comparison to Phoenix.

Apollo's definitely grown on me a lot since I first gathered an opinion on him (which was rather poor, because I was angry that someone replaced Phoenix), though I definitely agree Phoenix is better.

 

[Red Arremer]

JfA was overall good but the worst of the 3. Not because it was bad but the other 2 were just better.

This sums it up pretty much, yea.

Klavier has a lot of bits to his personality, between the Gavinners, being German, etc. And most of all, he's totally interested in the truth, and is by far the most helpful prosecutor of all. Sure, he's not very much of an enemy because of it, but enemies don't always have to be totally evil. It's kind of nice to see a cool, friendly antagonist every once in a while.

I agree. I liked Klavier a lot, too, since he wasn't "OMG I need to win!" or "OMG I will defeat you!" like all the other prosecutors in the Wright-arc (at least until Edgeworth became "normal", lol). He was a breeze of fresh air, thus being actually my favourite character in the game when it comes to main characters. And Kristoph was a great character, too (despite his weak "Objection", heh).

Though in general I thought AJ's villains gave up too soon. Remember Redd White in the first game? He just kinda gives up. You play into the cross examination a bit and he gives up. I found all villains in all of AJ's cases to be like that, to be honest. I guess that's why I didn't like it too. The cases are so suddenly turned around and the villain gives up just right as it turns around and everything becomes a breeze.

I can't exactly tell if

Spoiler

it's a time machine or not, actually...I thought it was something like that initially, but I recall something in the trial that made me think it was a machine that somehow let Apollo review the past from Phoenix's perspective or something, in which case it makes a little more sense

.

He still

Spoiler

presented evidence from the future to people in the past. That was very very confusing for me, and kinda disproves your theory of the viewing-the-past thing. The last case spirals out of control very much and this time-machine-thingy just adds to that.

Apollo's definitely grown on me a lot since I first gathered an opinion on him (which was rather poor, because I was angry that someone replaced Phoenix), though I definitely agree Phoenix is better.

Eh, Apollo is less charismatic, less "strong" in my opinion, seems to be waaaay weaker in court, and his sidekick Trucy is more annoying than helpful like Maya was at some points. Of course nostalgia is missing too. I just found him far less interesting and to some points annoying. *shrugs*
Personal taste I guess.

 

[Aurasmash14]

ugh. While Apollo justice was ok, Phoenix really is the better character. I went completely lolwut when i saw him in AJ. he looked a lot like a hobo lol.

besides, Phoneix's Objection is way better than apollo. the only thing Apollo has over phoenix is the awesome bracelet. i didnt really like the magatama.