TwiddleGeek

Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations is not very different from its predecessor. While you do get the chance to play as several characters this time around, that doesn’t change the witness questioning, evidence presenting, crime scene investigating, psyche-lock breaking gameplay. So what is noteworthy about it? I for one enjoyed the interweaving of characters and stories through three out of the five trials - it gave the game more cohesion than “Justice for All,” where the cases were largely self-contained and episodic. It was additionally engaging that these cases involved the backstories and tangled relationships of several major characters; one of PW’s strengths is its characters - Phoenix, Maya and a handful of lovable prosecutors new and old are all present and accounted for.

It’s also worth pointing out that whereas I often find localization of games and anime to be too contrived when they try to add cultural references and jokes, these games handle the job with style (”Special Password Admin-Restricted Data Access? That’s madness!” “No Maya, that’s SPARDA.”). Although the Japanese name puns are lost completely, I feel this is no big loss (puns seem to be highly appreciated in Japanese humor, while in English they’re the last resort before you get the hook).

In short, if you liked the previous two PW titles and you’re craving more, Trials & Tribulations does not disappoint.

At this point I almost hate this game. Dying during a boss fight and having to restart from the last save checkpoint is an experience that makes me wish games had emotions — so I could hurt them with my insults. Prime 2 isn’t just aggravating, it’s an experience that only calling its mother a whore* can possibly help to abate the frustration that it creates.

So why am I still playing? Because this is war. Not war on the Ing, oh hell no. I couldn’t care less about this game’s pathetic attempt at a plot. Let the giant moth men die for all I care. No, it’s a war against the developers who were sadistic enough to actually develop this perverse mutation of Prime 1 and then morally unsound enough to let it be published. I will beat their little creation, oh yes… I will.

I admit that there are bits and pieces of the game which, under the right circumstances (such as alcohol), one might find enjoyable. Especially fans of the series. But overall, I just want this game to end so I can go about playing the much better titles in my backlog… like Superman 64. (Buuuuurn!) There’s just something to be said for completing the experience though, and it’s that above all else that keeps me playing.

Another two weeks down, but not very much new speak of. I’ve been tightening my belt as much as possible, trying to cut down on extraneous expenses and saving every penny possible for moving to San Diego come spring. It’s not exactly happy-fun-time here in the Midwest these days with winter looming ever closer, job hunting every day, and now pinching pennies… but the payoff in moving should be huge. In the mean time, there’s some great entertainment coming.

Still looking forward to Mario Galaxy, which is now less than two weeks away. Every bit of media I’ve seen on this game makes it look fairly epic, the kind of thing worth owning a Wii for. Along with Prime 3, Smash Bros Brawl, and Mario Kart, of course. I’d have played Prime 3 already, but I’m still trying to push my way through Prime 2, and getting rather bored with it. Prime 2 is just a technically sound game that should have worked, but fails due to lackluster execution. Prime 3 seems, by all reports, far better.

Thankfully this holiday is full of epic game releases on pretty much every system, making for good time killers between the more dreary tasks of job hunting and so forth. The time between now and May should be filled with some great game releases, not to mention the currently stellar season 2 of Heroes airing, and Battlestar Galactica finally returning. Heroes, despite the awful ending to season 1, has completely redeemed itself in season 2 by bringing back everything that made it so good. I can only assume the final season of BSG will be equally epic to the ones that have come before it, starting with the upcoming movie event.

Finished up Phantom Hourglass this week and I must say I really enjoyed the experience. Things really came together in the end to form a creative, imaginative, and humorous adventure that fans of the series really shouldn’t miss. Sure, the plot of Tetra getting sucked in by the ghost ship yet again is kind of weak, but the adventure itself more than makes up for it.

One thing that took me by surprise was how creative and fun to use the various items are this time around. Most every item has been reworked to not only incorporate stylus use, but to improve upon the base functions. The bow for instance is shot with a tap of the screen, making aiming rather simple. Complete with an addictive target shooting mini-game, it remains a handy and oft used weapon. Bigger improvements are seen in the boomerang, with which you can draw a path for it to follow, and in the grappling hook, which operates more like a versatile hookshot.

Overall I’d say they not only nailed the stylus controls, but also the DS hardware in general. The use of both screens, 3D boss fights, and drawing on the map was just spot on. The encouragement to take notes at any time lent the game the freedom to use more difficult puzzles than most, requiring the player to put more pieces together rather than having the solution tied to each puzzle area. Surprisingly, Phantom Hourglass has a pretty solid storyline to boot. While it’s no epic, it’s both humorous enough and interesting enough to keep watching for what happens next.

If you get the chance to play it, do so. The sailing still isn’t all that much fun, and it still takes longer than it should, but it’s nothing game breaking like it threatened to be in Wind Waker. Difficulty is still low, but not so low as to spoil the fun, and imaginative puzzles and good exploration add much to the experience. If you’re not put off by the somewhat short length, which is comparable to most DS titles, Phantom Hourglass is well worth the purchase.