Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials & Tribulations review

Oct 22, 2007

Phoenix Wright, you stand before us today accused of gross negligence in light of past criticisms. Twice have you stood before this court and twice have you ignored us.

Your twists and turns dash rationality to pieces like a logic piñata and yet, for all your snakelike judicial journeys, you are just as guilty of showing your hand too early, forcing us to take ludicrous routes to an answer we spotted from minute one. You punish perceptive players - surely those most likely to invest in a text adventure - with nonsensical hoop jumping. What wouldn’t we do for a stenographer to tidy up your courtroom mess?

Irksome mechanics? Guilty as charged, but we call for a dismissal on grounds of entertainment.  Phoenix Wright is the greatest television show never made, and in this, his third and final season, we see all threads converge.

Fans can expect a parade of recognisable faces through the witness stand, and cases that tie up loose ends from the first two games with dazzling ingenuity. Whether it’s dipping into Wright’s past - he’s a rather lovelorn defendant in the opening case - or letting you play as other characters (we won’t spoil it) it’s as if Capcom tapped into the collective fan mind so to craft the perfect payoff for franchise loyalty.