Audio is as important to Apollo Justice's atmosphere as any other game. While the audio is not essential to the plot, it does add to the overall enjoyment. The only spoken dialogue comes about when Apollo or Klavier shout "OBJECTION!" "TAKE THAT!" or "HOLD IT!". This had basically been a staple of all four Ace Attorney games. The voice even changes depending on the character. These voiceovers are not exactly used for any narration or dialogue, and are used more for sound effect purposes. I did notice, however, that when Phoenix shouted "OBJECTION!" during the first case where he was the defendent, my heart almost skipped a beat as I recognized his voice from the previos games. Phoenix was known to shout "OBJECTION!" at pretty much anything that moved. When he yelled it instead of Apollo during the first trial, I was immediately nostalgic, as an Ace Attorney fan.
The music is all in MIDI format, with semi-okay quality. I've played other DS games with better music. This music is fitting of Gameboy Advanced games instead of DS. Because of this, I feel like I can group together the four games and talk about all of their audio at the same time. The sound effects in the Ace Attorney games are few and far between, and only subtely add to the atmosphere. Effects include when the judge's gavel hits, when Apollo's slams his fists down on the table in court, when ink or powder needs to be used in fingerprinting, or when a gunshot is fired during a cut scene. Without these effects, and without the background noise during exploration, I would definitely notice a change. Music plays throughout the entire game, and changes depending on mood. If the player finds themselves suddenly wrapped up in a mysterious event while investigating, the music will change to fit the dramatic mood.
The soundtrack for Apollo Justice is similar in atmospheric feel to that of the previous Ace Attorney games. The epic chiming music that always plays when entering the courtroom makes me laugh, reminding me that a court battle can have something in common with a Pokemon battle after all. All the music is score and it always loops (which is good, considering there are not time limits), not songs. I don't know if the DS has any games with songs that have vocals or well-known artists. But then again, I don't play very many DS games.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
More Gameplay, Level
My images are not working right now, so for now just bear with me guys ><.
There's only one winner in Apollo Justice, unless of course you count the defendant as a winner along with you as the attorney. The game's victory conditions are mostly based on Apollo being competent enough at defending to get a Not Guilty verdict. In a way, there are four victories- one for case that the player must get through, each having basically the same condition. I wish there were multiple victory conditions, but the story doesn't really work any other way than defending someone in court. Implicit loss conditions are the same, of course: you lose if you get the Guilty verdict.
Game theory applied to the types of conflicts that exist in a game, and hoe the player responds to the conflicts. Apollo has more challenges in the game than one might think. For the most part, the challenges are "zero-sum", which means that it is impossible for both sides to ulitimately get what they want. However, the night is still young. I have not played the final case yet, but I wonder if Apollo may end up helping the prosecutor somehow. In previous games, Phoenix would win a case against Edgeworth for the sole purpose of helping Edgeworth get the not guilty verdict on a case he was forced to participate in. Challenges are based mostly on the story, but there it really no strategy involved in order to get past these challenges-the player will always figure out what to do eventually, without having to worry about any other players standing in their way. I found these specific challenges in Apollo Justice: Advancement to reach a the second day of each trial; puzzle-solving when figuring out codes for safes and footprint analysis; exploration of each area that might include evidence or people to talk to; conflict between the two sides in court; and outwit, which uses knowledge to defeat the opponent (Apollo has to do a great deal of this last one).
Types of challenges relate to the genre, and I can say with ease that no part of Apollo Justice seems innapropriate for the adventure-visual novel-comedy genre combo. Apollo is provided with a lot of imperfect information. It's all part of the challenge of being a defense attorney- he gets evidence that he doesn't fully understand, and then must make the best desicision he can with this evidence in court. Imperfect information like the evidence allows the player to feel more engaged in participating in the world of Apollo Justice. It's almost like a mystery, as you don't know what evidence is going to prove what until a witness triggors Apollo's thought process. Sometimes the player themselves doesn't even know how Apollo is going to explain the evidence. However, extrinsic knowledge can be of great assistence to the player, especially when it comes to understanding the evidence. The court system in Apollo Justice is not exactly a mirror image of ANY real court system, so the extrinsic knowledge can only go so far to meet the challenges of the game.
Apollo Justice does incorporate level into the gameplay. Different environments, differerent days of investigation and trial, different missions that must be accomplished before trial begins...these are all part of level design. The levels help structure the game mostly, dividing two investigation days and two trial days. The objective of the investigation levels are to explore each area and find every piece of evidence and get all information from people you meet. Only then will the game allow you to advance to trial. Think of the mess you'd be in if you went to trial without all the proper evidence! Actually, that might make the game a little more challenging to play...but also much more tedious. The investigation days have a particular flow: Apollo is prevented from gaining new information from a certain area until he picks up the right evidence from another area. If he doesn't find those lost medical forms in the safe, there's no way he can get medical information from the retired doctor who's helping with the case. Some of these objectives are self-explanitory, and some the player really has to think about. Like, how was I supposed to know that the slippers I found in the garbage can would unlock a new piece of information if I present them to the police detective?
As far as progression is concerned, the game doesn't exactly get more difficult with each level. However, each of the four cases are more difficult than the first. They build on Apollo's skill and confidence that he gains in the prior cases. Other than this, difficulty is mostly flat. The player will not find the fourth case horrifyingly difficult compared to the first, although the unfolding murder story in the fourth case may require investigation methods that differ from the methods of other cases.
The concept of time depends on the flow. Passage of time is a game characteristic- the date and time change with each level, but do not change until the player has found all evidence. The trial day, on the other hand, only changes when Apollo can prove that the case has enough evidence to extend the trial. Time does not pass until all goals are met...so there isn't a time limit (thank god!)
As I mentioned in previous entries, the POV changes: the player sees through Apollo's eyes during investigation, and the player follows the trials in third person in order to see Apollo's reactions in court (which are ALWAYS hilarious). The POV is related to the perspective, or how the player views the game environment. The view is mostly just side-scrolling- but each exploration area is mostly viewable completely in just one screen. The camera doesn't move a whole lot, as technically the only way you can move Apollo is if you leave an area and go to the next one. The boundaries of the game limit the player to about a dozen investigation screens per case. Scale is never distorted- the size of the space is not much of an issue when looking through Apollo's eyes. He could be standing at virtually any distance. The evidence can be analyzed by zooming in using the menu options.
There's only one winner in Apollo Justice, unless of course you count the defendant as a winner along with you as the attorney. The game's victory conditions are mostly based on Apollo being competent enough at defending to get a Not Guilty verdict. In a way, there are four victories- one for case that the player must get through, each having basically the same condition. I wish there were multiple victory conditions, but the story doesn't really work any other way than defending someone in court. Implicit loss conditions are the same, of course: you lose if you get the Guilty verdict.
Game theory applied to the types of conflicts that exist in a game, and hoe the player responds to the conflicts. Apollo has more challenges in the game than one might think. For the most part, the challenges are "zero-sum", which means that it is impossible for both sides to ulitimately get what they want. However, the night is still young. I have not played the final case yet, but I wonder if Apollo may end up helping the prosecutor somehow. In previous games, Phoenix would win a case against Edgeworth for the sole purpose of helping Edgeworth get the not guilty verdict on a case he was forced to participate in. Challenges are based mostly on the story, but there it really no strategy involved in order to get past these challenges-the player will always figure out what to do eventually, without having to worry about any other players standing in their way. I found these specific challenges in Apollo Justice: Advancement to reach a the second day of each trial; puzzle-solving when figuring out codes for safes and footprint analysis; exploration of each area that might include evidence or people to talk to; conflict between the two sides in court; and outwit, which uses knowledge to defeat the opponent (Apollo has to do a great deal of this last one).
Types of challenges relate to the genre, and I can say with ease that no part of Apollo Justice seems innapropriate for the adventure-visual novel-comedy genre combo. Apollo is provided with a lot of imperfect information. It's all part of the challenge of being a defense attorney- he gets evidence that he doesn't fully understand, and then must make the best desicision he can with this evidence in court. Imperfect information like the evidence allows the player to feel more engaged in participating in the world of Apollo Justice. It's almost like a mystery, as you don't know what evidence is going to prove what until a witness triggors Apollo's thought process. Sometimes the player themselves doesn't even know how Apollo is going to explain the evidence. However, extrinsic knowledge can be of great assistence to the player, especially when it comes to understanding the evidence. The court system in Apollo Justice is not exactly a mirror image of ANY real court system, so the extrinsic knowledge can only go so far to meet the challenges of the game.
Apollo Justice does incorporate level into the gameplay. Different environments, differerent days of investigation and trial, different missions that must be accomplished before trial begins...these are all part of level design. The levels help structure the game mostly, dividing two investigation days and two trial days. The objective of the investigation levels are to explore each area and find every piece of evidence and get all information from people you meet. Only then will the game allow you to advance to trial. Think of the mess you'd be in if you went to trial without all the proper evidence! Actually, that might make the game a little more challenging to play...but also much more tedious. The investigation days have a particular flow: Apollo is prevented from gaining new information from a certain area until he picks up the right evidence from another area. If he doesn't find those lost medical forms in the safe, there's no way he can get medical information from the retired doctor who's helping with the case. Some of these objectives are self-explanitory, and some the player really has to think about. Like, how was I supposed to know that the slippers I found in the garbage can would unlock a new piece of information if I present them to the police detective?
As far as progression is concerned, the game doesn't exactly get more difficult with each level. However, each of the four cases are more difficult than the first. They build on Apollo's skill and confidence that he gains in the prior cases. Other than this, difficulty is mostly flat. The player will not find the fourth case horrifyingly difficult compared to the first, although the unfolding murder story in the fourth case may require investigation methods that differ from the methods of other cases.
The concept of time depends on the flow. Passage of time is a game characteristic- the date and time change with each level, but do not change until the player has found all evidence. The trial day, on the other hand, only changes when Apollo can prove that the case has enough evidence to extend the trial. Time does not pass until all goals are met...so there isn't a time limit (thank god!)
As I mentioned in previous entries, the POV changes: the player sees through Apollo's eyes during investigation, and the player follows the trials in third person in order to see Apollo's reactions in court (which are ALWAYS hilarious). The POV is related to the perspective, or how the player views the game environment. The view is mostly just side-scrolling- but each exploration area is mostly viewable completely in just one screen. The camera doesn't move a whole lot, as technically the only way you can move Apollo is if you leave an area and go to the next one. The boundaries of the game limit the player to about a dozen investigation screens per case. Scale is never distorted- the size of the space is not much of an issue when looking through Apollo's eyes. He could be standing at virtually any distance. The evidence can be analyzed by zooming in using the menu options.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Creative titles escape me...but this is a post on interface ><
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is, as I've mentioned before, not a quick game to play. The player has to invest a lot of time and patience and thought in order to get through the endless supply of witness testimonies and Ema's annoying banter. The courtroom sessions are the worst, especially if you're the type of person who wants to use their handheld console for quick and easy games. If they could have made Apollo Justice a computer game, I think at least then it would serve the right audience: those who have the time to sit in front of their computers for hours on end. The good part about all this is the saving interface. No matter how crazy the debate gets over saving a video game, that doesn't apply AT ALL for this one. The player is allowed to save an infinite amount of times to a single save slot on the game cartridge. There are so few ways to lose the game or do anything wrong, as I mentioned in my slightly bitter post from last week, that it doesn't seem like a problem to be able to save whenever I feel like it.
As far as the other active interface is concerned, the menu system allows for saving options, new game options, and (if you've finished previous cases) a chance to replay cases. Your inventory, expertise, and courtroom status bar does not carry over to each case. This allows for pretty much anyone to pick up your DS, play a case you've already beaten in pretty much the exact same way you did, and hand it back to you having not changed anything in the unplayed parts of the game. Heh, okay that doesn't really make sense. Basically, there is only one way to play the game, and everyone plays it the exact same way and needs to find the exact same evidence. Like I said, it's a novel disguised as a video game. And it's not exactly one of those cute "choose your own adventure" novels.
A lot of the active, manipulatable interface in Apollo Justice might be considered dysfunctional to anyone who's never played a visual novel type game before. The controls (such as the footprinting and analysis) can be pretty cryptic and seem to be an utterly useless way of adding DS touchscreen features to a game that REALLY does not need two screens.
In real life, you don't have the footprints of every single person you meet.
Nothing is customizable, and the tasks are defined. BUT! As an adventure type game, it does offer a few of the best types of interface for adventurers: inventory, navigation control (sort of), point-and-click, etc. The player does have a minimal amount of input, choices, and means on communication. I'm very happy that at least when you are talking to people, the game gives you choices of how you want to get the information out of them:
Apollo Justice offers some platform-specific features, but many I feel could be used with just one screen as well. However, the game does allow you to watch the action taking place, the areas being investigated, and the people talking, while also being able to check inventory and profiles at the same time. The options are always on the bottom touchscreen, while the action takes place on the top screen. Apollo Justice is the first Ace Attorney game to be originally created for the DS (the first three games were made for Gameboy Advance and then later adapted to the DS). This offer some new and interesting ways to use the touchscreen, such as the "perceive" function. This allows you to slow down the witnesses' testimony and zoom in on their appearance in order to watch their nervous habits while they lie to you on the witness stand. The zooming in is certainly not something a player could do without a touchscreen, although I suppose it's possible. I'm pretty sure that horrid footprinting business could be done on one screen as well.
Drugs, Apollo. LSD is what's going on.
Hmm, decisions, decisions.
I the passive interface in Apollo Justice is everything that player's cannot interact with or change. Although you can examine the evidence, you cannot alter your evidence or inventory. Locations can only be manipulated when you take evidence from the scene, and the Apollo's abilities will always be the same three things: "Take That!", "Hold It!", and "Objection!". Trucy, however, seems to be gaining more magical ability as the game progresses. Too bad she's not a psychic spirit medium like my assistant was in the previous Ace Attorney games.
Fighting-style splitscreen animation: because no courtroom is complete without a Pokemon battle.
You can't key this guy's car, but at least you get to analyze his girly cell phone. A mixture of active and passive interface.
Overall, the usability of Apollo Justice, based on the interface, is simplistic in spite of the long, drawn out storyline. The game would probably take FOREVER if the player was given more options and controls...and tampering with more than this game currently allows you t would probably not result in anything fitting to the storyline or characters. I am playing as a lawyer after all. Don't want to seem like I'm cheating too much.
As far as the other active interface is concerned, the menu system allows for saving options, new game options, and (if you've finished previous cases) a chance to replay cases. Your inventory, expertise, and courtroom status bar does not carry over to each case. This allows for pretty much anyone to pick up your DS, play a case you've already beaten in pretty much the exact same way you did, and hand it back to you having not changed anything in the unplayed parts of the game. Heh, okay that doesn't really make sense. Basically, there is only one way to play the game, and everyone plays it the exact same way and needs to find the exact same evidence. Like I said, it's a novel disguised as a video game. And it's not exactly one of those cute "choose your own adventure" novels.
A lot of the active, manipulatable interface in Apollo Justice might be considered dysfunctional to anyone who's never played a visual novel type game before. The controls (such as the footprinting and analysis) can be pretty cryptic and seem to be an utterly useless way of adding DS touchscreen features to a game that REALLY does not need two screens.
In real life, you don't have the footprints of every single person you meet.
Nothing is customizable, and the tasks are defined. BUT! As an adventure type game, it does offer a few of the best types of interface for adventurers: inventory, navigation control (sort of), point-and-click, etc. The player does have a minimal amount of input, choices, and means on communication. I'm very happy that at least when you are talking to people, the game gives you choices of how you want to get the information out of them:
Apollo Justice offers some platform-specific features, but many I feel could be used with just one screen as well. However, the game does allow you to watch the action taking place, the areas being investigated, and the people talking, while also being able to check inventory and profiles at the same time. The options are always on the bottom touchscreen, while the action takes place on the top screen. Apollo Justice is the first Ace Attorney game to be originally created for the DS (the first three games were made for Gameboy Advance and then later adapted to the DS). This offer some new and interesting ways to use the touchscreen, such as the "perceive" function. This allows you to slow down the witnesses' testimony and zoom in on their appearance in order to watch their nervous habits while they lie to you on the witness stand. The zooming in is certainly not something a player could do without a touchscreen, although I suppose it's possible. I'm pretty sure that horrid footprinting business could be done on one screen as well.
Drugs, Apollo. LSD is what's going on.
Hmm, decisions, decisions.
I the passive interface in Apollo Justice is everything that player's cannot interact with or change. Although you can examine the evidence, you cannot alter your evidence or inventory. Locations can only be manipulated when you take evidence from the scene, and the Apollo's abilities will always be the same three things: "Take That!", "Hold It!", and "Objection!". Trucy, however, seems to be gaining more magical ability as the game progresses. Too bad she's not a psychic spirit medium like my assistant was in the previous Ace Attorney games.
Fighting-style splitscreen animation: because no courtroom is complete without a Pokemon battle.
You can't key this guy's car, but at least you get to analyze his girly cell phone. A mixture of active and passive interface.
Overall, the usability of Apollo Justice, based on the interface, is simplistic in spite of the long, drawn out storyline. The game would probably take FOREVER if the player was given more options and controls...and tampering with more than this game currently allows you t would probably not result in anything fitting to the storyline or characters. I am playing as a lawyer after all. Don't want to seem like I'm cheating too much.
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