And now for the good parts..

Just kidding. Now it's time to talk about all I things that went oh so wrong while I was playing Apollo Justice. While the characters and plots were exciting and hilarious, I must admit that the interface wasn't what I would have chosen for a lawyer game where you also have to be a private investigator, body guard, and babysitter. I would think that the manual interface for something like that could be Gamecube or PS3. I say this because the DS does not work particularly well for games that require hours of extensive evidence investigation. I would personally be more comfortable sitting in front of my TV to figure these cases out. But that's just me. I like to play the quick and easy games on my portable handheld consols.

Speaking of handhelds, the DS touch screen was barely utilized for anything of importance. Getting the fingerprints and footprints and analyzing evidence would have been just as easy had I only had one screen and controls to mash. Reminds me of my latest favorite game (also for the DS): Pokemon Platinum. The touch screen is for lame applications that you could probably access and use without a dual screen.

Apollo Justice is a weird genre. It's not RP, because there's hardly any management over characters. It's similar to adventure, I suppose. But I wish this were a little more well defined. I can't control what Apollo says or does inthe situations I put him in. The story plays out like a novel, and the levels I get through act like keys to access the next page in the story. I would have enjoyed a little more choice in what I communicate to other characters. Presenting specific evidence in court does not account for the fact that there are many logical things I could be getting Apollo to understand.

Level design- the environment is not elaborate enough to be murder scenes. There are NEVER police, and there's just too much comedy. Unrealistic settings make for unrealistic actions needed to be done to finish the level and get one to the court case. The anime-like atmosphere and jokes may compliment the characters a bit, but certainly not the topic of the game. A courtroom is serious business. Why they let witnesses and potential walk in with knives and rotting fish...well it just doesn't make sesne for the game. I understand the comedy the developers were aiming for...but no. Just no.

It's strange how the characters and the plot can somehow still be okay despite the interface and other issues. One wold think that all of those things would need to compliment each other. There were so many unnessesary activities that the poor defense lawyer had to do (while being followed around by Phoenix Wright's dangerously annoying daughter I might add)...one such activity being fingerprinting. Since when does a defense lawyer have to go to the scene of the crime and do the police's job? Plus, there's really no strategy or skill involved in taking a fingerprint. I'm waiting for the game where Apollo gains x-ray vision from an ankle bracelet and suddenly can see into the minds of the witnesses. And of course, he'd get to ask all the questions. I would have to sit back and wach the novel play out.