Portable Game Triple Pack

In the past few months, I've completed three games for portable systems: Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (PSP), The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS), and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS).

Since they're portable titles or ports of well-beloved console versions, I found it difficult to write at length about any of these. So here's some quick takes about each.

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (PSP)
Tactical RPGs are probably my favorite genre of game for portables. Why? They're deep, but they're also turn-based, which means means it's possible to just sit the game down at some point, even during the middle of a battle, and pick it up later. So to this point, I've played several Fire Emblem games for GBA, that Advance Wars game for the DS (Days of Ruin or some such), and of course the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance series. Jonesing for some good tactical RPG goodness, I picked up a PSP and a copy of the original Tactics.

Part of the reason I got the PSP version in the first place is because of one very big problem I had with the original. Square's original efforts for the PlayStation, such as Tactics and, of course, some game called Final Fantasy VII, became instant classics. But in their rush to get the games to the North American market these games got very shoddy translations. (My favorite: "off course!" instead of "of course!" in the battle arena in the Gold Saucer, which was probably just a typo, but still.) As bad as FF7's translation was, FFT's was that much worse. Tactics features a wide cast of characters in a plot full of history and political intrigue, including people very literally getting stabbed in the back. In addition, the gameplay itself is complicated. I tried to get past all this, but without a good idea of what was going on I quickly lost interest.

So what I'm driving at is that the PSP version features an excellent localization. The only other major features of the port are a multiplayer mode (which I never tried) and very occasional animated movies for key moments in the plot. (The animations are great, but they are few and far between.) The graphics and gameplay are pretty much the same, except now it's possible to actually understand what the tutorials say.

As I said, the gameplay is pretty much unchanged. Which is great if you played the original (though, since the class names also changed with the translation, there might be a slight learning curve), but can be harder for newcomers. Many gameplay evolutions have occurred in the past 15 years for tactical RPGs, and while some may interpret this as today's games being easier, I'd say in many cases they've just had enough time to get things right. The most annoying issue I found is that I couldn't evaluate the odds and damage for attacks capable of hitting multiple targets, which made spellcasting difficult. The only other problem I had with the port also had to do with spells: the spell animations caused the software to read the UMD every time, which made them much slower than they were in the original version. (Apparently this game was released long enough ago that "installing" hadn't really been thought up yet for PSP games, as I had this option in the more recent Tactics Ogre port that I just started playing.)

These days, I probably wouldn't recommend this game as an introduction to the genre. However, it remains a classic. If you're a fan of the original, you'll probably want to pick this up just for the new translation alone. I'd also recommend it for anyone who likes tactical RPGs but hasn't played this game yet, especially if you liked the Tactics Advance games but want something with a little more depth. (Well, okay, a lot more depth.)

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
Spirit Tracks is the second Zelda game for the DS, following the lead of Phantom Hourlgass. Controls are mostly unchanged from the previous game, where the stylus is used to move Link around the screen, select/talk to NPCs, use items, etc. It was innovative the first time around, but now it's expected. The game can be said for the rest of the game. It's a direct sequel to PH (and, therefore, Wind Waker), except instead of ships, this time around the game has trains. Yes, that's right, trains. You can collect treasures to sell and use to upgrade your train's health, as various baddies will occasionally attack you as you traverse the world map. This game is fun and I would generally recommend it, but it's not going to blow your mind or anything. (Fortunately, Skyward Sword is shaping up to be very good, and I hope to finish it and write about it soon.)

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS)
The Ace Attorney games have been covered pretty extensively here, between the original series and Apollo Justice. Timeline-wise, this game takes place shortly after the events of Trials and Tribulations but several years before the core of Apollo Justice. This game is pretty much made for people who are fans of the original series. Several characters make cameos and references abound. You certainly could play this game standalone, however. As it says in the title, this game is just "investigations". While the game still features the originals' trademark cross-examination bits, the focus is on investigating crime scenes deducing exactly what happened. Nonetheless, I still missed having parts in the courtroom (as it provided a change of scenery), and for the most part the investigations aren't nearly as free roaming (as you cannot, most of the time, move between areas at will). In addition, the game doesn't feel deep enough, from a certain perspective. In the Ace Attorney games, you're fighting the prosecution and the witness, in many ways, whereas in this game that extra "side" is missing.

The biggest problem I had with this game, though, were the puzzles. There were certainly times I would be frustrated in the other games, but in this game I really felt like I had to solve things much more on the game's terms, not to mention the number of times I was a step ahead of the game (for instance, in order to present a piece of evidence I would often have to introduce another piece of evidence first, even though I had already made the connection between the two).

Basically, I would only recommend this game if you're fan of the Ace Attorney series. If you aren't yet, hunt down a copy of the original Phoenix Wright game (or download it on the Wii), and perhaps eventually you'll fit in the category of people who I'd recommend this to. Also worth noting is that a sequel to this game does exist in Japan, but Capcom currently has no plans to release it in the US. Would I buy that game if it made it over here? Probably.

For Great Justice

I've already talked once about the 'Ace Attorney' series (see this post), so a summation of this review is quite simply "more of the same". If you liked any of the previous Ace Attorney games, this one is definitely worth investing in. If you didn't, if you've never played one, or if you're still interested in what I've got to say, please, continue reading.

Ace Attorney got its start on the GBA in Japan with the Phoenix Wright series (although they don't call it that) but was never brought over to North America, presumably due to the high cost of translation and waning interest of the point and click adventure genre. With the introduction of the DS and the wave of popularity it was riding, Capcom saw fit to port the game over to the system since the touch screen capabilities basically screamed for it. When they did so they gave the game a chance in the NA market and it was such a hit that it sold out in stores after almost every shipment. This helped to revive the series and bring all 3 current games to the DS as ports, but also paved the way to 'reboot' the series and give it a new protagonist: enter Apollo Justice.

While much of the game is set in new places and introduces new characters, you'll also find your fair share of familiar faces and scenarios as you work your way through each case. While the older games are not intimately tied together (i.e. you can play Apollo Justice as your first game without fear of being lost or confused) there's a strong enough connection that I would suggest that you go play through the Phoenix Wright series first. It's not enough of a reason to highly discourage someone from playing this first, though; you'll end up having just as much fun without spoiling *too* much from the earlier games should you decide to play them later.

In the opening paragraph I mention that the game is "more of the same", and by and large this is a true statement. However, while Apollo Justice does play in the same manner as the original, the focus and difficulty is shifted enough to give each game its own unique feel even though gameplay is generally the same. The Phoenix Wright games tended to focus a large amount of time and story into the more 'detective' portions of the game, using items and information to break "Pysche-locks" on different characters who were witholding information or lying. The overall story, general investigation and plot twists largely occured around these events and set up the game to present court cases that, while they might have also included a few twists, were mostly a check to see if you could piece together the information in a (mostly) straightforward manner. You rarely 'died' in court because by the time you got there if you even linked a few things together you could put the rest in place before it required any serious commitment.

Apollo Justice, however, takes this method and flips it almost completely on its head. Apollo's power isn't in seeing Psyche-Locks, but in "perceiving" nervousness or lying. Instead of having the story play out in the investigation phases, most will play out in the courtroom as you unravel the witness's lies and the reality of the situation starts to become more clear. This makes the investigation portions much less important, so they end up acting as a sort of exposition for the case or a plot device for finding new evidence that your characters wouldn't have thought to collect on the first pass. This makes the court room portions a bit more challenging and dangerous that the rest of the game is just a narrative for. Or it would be, anyway if the game were difficult enough.

Perhaps Apollo Justice's greatest flaw* is that the game plays more like an interactive novel than it does a true point and click adventure. Since the meat of the game occurs in the courtroom - where you know you have all the evidence and all the characters in place - a large number of the "challenges" pan out to be nothing more than fairly simple deductions or, at worst, determining the improbable by removing the impossible. The 'challenge' in the Phoenix Wright series occurred during the investigation portions, where you were never really sure if you had all the information and you could always be missing a key piece of evidence or have not talked to someone thoroughly. It is true that it did suffer from the occasional frustrating or seemingly illogical conclusion you had to draw, but it is not as though we are talking about Myst here.

* I feel somewhat ill-at-ease for pointing out that it is "too easy" because this is something that is largely open to personal interpretation. Adventure games are notoriously difficult to "tune" because you either give the puzzle away in an attempt to placate a frustrated customer or you create an entire section of bald gamers who have pulled their hair out trying to solve your impossible-to-interpret-without-a-PHD riddle (i.e. the aforementioned Myst). How many hints do you give? When do you give them? Are they so big that they trivialize the puzzle or do they help them think about the problem in a different way? Different players will approach the game from different angles; some may never stumble and others might not make it past the first case. While other genres have concrete values that can be tweaked to adjust difficulty - health, damage, speed, ammo, etc - adventure games do not. What was "an interactive novel" to me might be "an interactive Sherlock Holmes novel" to someone else. Others may have been turned off by the frustrations of the first games but love the pacing and challenge level in this one. Let personal experience - and not my own - determine how difficult the game is, I'm merely noting that the game is noticeably easier than its predecessors.

Despite the change in difficulty, the game still delivers beautifully in most areas. The characters are all great and very fleshed out; even older familiar characters are given new roles or have changed significantly since the last installment. Each case is intriguing, and by the end they are all tied together in a very interesting way. The art is great and the 3d CG movies, while not amazing, are a nice touch. The writing is humorous and spot on for each character, only rarely feeling forced or uninspired. Even the gameplay itself is solid and offers a nice change of pace from the last 3 iterations. Actual use of the DS's functionality - mic, touch screen, etc - are especially welcome additions after being teased with the extra case from the first port. Of course, the game "suffers" from being one of the least replayable genres available, but it more than makes up for it by being a very solid, enjoyable first time experience.

While the game is worth playing overall, it is important to note that unless the series starts to introducing some new life into the gameplay, it might not remain fresh enough to allow for 2 more Apollo Justice games. The ending promises some interesting changes in the future, so let's hope that they can take those ideas and run with them while maintaining the high level of story quality and humor we've come to expect. The "Perfect Prosecutor" spinoff that's coming up should also help add some much needed variety to this otherwise stagnant series. That being said, Apollo Justice is a fine addition to the series and comes highly recommended for fans of the Phoenix Wright series, or fans of detective point and click adventures as a whole.