| Phoenix Wright, Gyakuten Saiban Mask Vision Murder review |
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In Japan, Gyakuten Saiban (translated as Reversal Judgement) is a well-established series. Originally surfacing on the Game Boy Advance in 2001, it offered a completely new spin on the adventure game genre by throwing the player into the shoes of rookie defence lawyer Ryuichi Naruhodo, and taking them through four varied cases with just one task – to get their client off the hook. While every case is a self-contained chapter of the story, a very loose storyline wraps everything together.
Good sales led to a couple of sequels, but Capcom denied the possibility of bringing any part of the trilogy to Western shores. Until now. Gyakuten Saiban: Mask Vision Murder Case is a DS remake of the original GBA title, with added DS functionality, an extra court case to tackle and full Japanese or English options. The main purpose for the re-release is evident; to bring the series to the attention of overseas audiences (which has been re-branded as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney).
The game itself is divided into two sections: the investigation, and the courtroom. The investigation side of things runs like a cross between an adventure game and a point 'n' click. Players talk to suspects and witnesses, with multiple choice prompts on the subject matter guiding them through the conversation, as well as examine crime scenes and clues to derive as much evidence as possible. The two also tie together, as clues found can yield extra confessions from other dodgy characters somehow involved in the case. The much more exciting - and main - part of the proceedings is in the courtroom, where the prosecution’s witnesses give testimony and are cross-examined by the player, who simply has to break down the witness by pointing out contradictions and inaccuracies and showing evidence that would point to the defendant’s innocence. During the trial, the player is only allowed to make five mistakes (classed as presenting the wrong evidence, or asking an irrelevant question) - botch that many times and the client is automatically found guilty, and the game is over. These “lives” are restored at the end of the day’s proceedings.
Gyakuten Saiban’s courtroom battles are engaging, and it won’t be long before investigation gets in the way of the back-and-forth skirmish between the prosecution and defence. The proceedings of the game can be likened to watching a close bout between two Virtua Fighter masters – when the defence exploits the first chink in a witness's testimony, bigger and more blatant weaknesses will appear. Capitalising on these gradually builds momentum for the defence, but the prosecution will always come back with alternative evidence or an explanation for the confusion. The further into a testimony the player gets, the more exciting it gets – “Objections” fly about between the two characters, as streams of highly over-the-top energised text bring about a real intensity that demands a few extra minutes of play to discover the reason that a witness lied or to see if the judge intends to delay the judgement of the case for another day.
The satisfaction of cracking what would seem like solid testimony is one of the finer things in gaming. All of the testimonies and puzzles presented are perfectly logical with a little common sense, and even the tougher testimonies can be figured out by closely analysing the evidence. The game isn’t stretched to the extremes that some LucasArts titles demanded, but it’s certainly not a breeze. The balance is perfect, and it’s refreshing for a game of this nature to always have a solution in mind. The dialogue adds to this; when the player is pressing the witness for further information, or has them on the ropes, the tone changes to something more forceful accordingly. At the other end of the scale, the use of light humour is pushed at exactly the right time to break up the constant questioning.
The presentation adds greatly to the action. The game is mostly in 2D (bar a few pieces of evidence), and forms its own very unique style. The courtroom looks modern and bright, and is a perfect setting for the stories told within. All of the characters have very particular designs, with expressions of satisfaction, fear, and defeat all present and accounted for. Every single person involved in a case varies dramatically in their personality and there are no identikit copouts throughout.
Even the minor things show how accomplished the game is in both design and execution. For example, the blur during a simple camera pan between the defence and prosecution, or the oversized speech bubbles that explode on the screen when an objection is called underline themselves as the little extra touches that boost the feel of the game.
The quality of the presentation is visible throughout, although sadly the gameplay does trip itself up during the investigational stages of the game. Although it is true that the entire game is linear – there is only one path that will lead you through each case, and it’s just a matter of logically connecting the relevant evidence and questions - the investigation section is a case of looking at every object onscreen and letting the characters do the rest of the work. They don’t offer the same tension or entertainment as the trials do, and their inclusion breaks up the atmosphere and pace somewhat. These sections are admittedly relatively short in comparison to the courtroom sections, but it does seem at times that they are merely there to add extra filler.
Nonetheless, this is a GBA port and with all the goodwill in the world, the quality of the gameplay and presentation can’t hide some clearly dated use of the technology. The music, although well scored, is directly ported from the GBA without any change to the composition, and given the DS’s ability to produce much better audio (look at the licensed music in Ouendan and Madden NFL 2006), it’s a bit of a shame that an opportunity to produce more updated versions of the tunes has been passed up. On top of that, the use of the DS doesn’t really come into play until the DS-exclusive case where evidence can be investigated in full 3D. While you can stab at the bottom screen to review court evidence and cycle through text, it's nothing that couldn't be done on a single screen (although the ability to shout "OBJECTION!", "HOLD IT!" and "TAKE THAT!" into the microphone is certainly novel). This case also doesn’t seem to be up to the same standard as the rest of the game.
Of special merit is the English translation. This is not a halfhearted Engrish revision – this is the entire version of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and it’s very impressive too. The script has been translated accurately, and edited where necessary to keep the little in-jokes in that give the series a certain element of its charm. On top of that, some of the less important visuals have undergone minor tweaks – for example, the passport found early in the game has had its cover changed to mirror a US passport. Bar a few minor annoyances in places, it’s further confirmation that Capcom have put incredible care into the port. It may well be the most import-friendly game of all time.
When renovating a genre, it’s important to ensure that the final product is both fresh and fun to play. By both accounts, Gyakuten Saiban passes this test with flying colours. The minor issues are nowhere near big enough to take away from a game that sucks the player in with its originality and keeps them well and truly locked in until the judgement is made in the final case. Simply put, it’s brilliant.
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System: Nintendo DS
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Capcom Studio 4
Publisher: Capcom
Players: 1
Version: Japan
Reviewed: Oct 2005
Writer: Rob Bowker
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Pros:
- Exciting and unique courtroom battles
- Polished presentation
- Import friendly
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Cons:
- GBA-quality music
- Investigations can get tedious
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