You guys probably know that I love the Phoenix Wright series, it’s some of the best characters and stories I’ve ever seen in games. But the music is also a big part of that. Iwadare (who did the music for Grandia II, remember) came on to do the music starting with the third game. Since then he’s become the main composer for the series, and he does a fantastic job. His style is flamboyant and gives the games even more personality than what they already have. Dual Destinies is my favorite soundtrack of the entire series. It’s legendary. Here are some of my favorites.
Pressing Pursuit—Keep Pressing On
This is probably my favorite song in the whole OST. How can you not love it? It’s so upbeat and exciting! The trumpets accent the action as the strings take off with the melody, but then the electric guitar takes the melody for a brief moment before the strings take it back. What’s neat is at the end just before the song loops the strings do a final climax. It’s such a fun song, and it plays in the courtroom when you’re pinning down a lying witness, making the moment even more exciting.
Apollo Justice—I’m Fine!
Apollo’s theme was first introduced in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (DS, 2008), and here Iwadare does a rendition of that theme in a smooth jazz style. The piano, strings, and drums come together to make a very savvy song. At 43 seconds the song becomes emotional with a feeling of hope. It makes you feel good. The song is a bit melancholy, so those moments of hopefulness are very welcome.
Reminiscence—Wandering Heart
Once again Iwadare shows us that he can do very slow and sad songs too (although they’re not as fun). Here we have a very sad song that has to do with Athena’s past. The instruments come together to create a haunting tune. There’s a creepy feeling in the sounds too. The second half of the song becomes a bit hopeful and more full. It’s a beautiful song.
Athena Cykes—Bringer of Revolution
Speaking of Athena, this is her theme, but it’s remixed into an exciting version that plays during a courtroom battle. Wow, this song is good! It’s plenty exciting at first, but then it picks up steam and builds to a climax where the strings carry the melody and the trumpets blast out some accents in the background. I also love that piano, which comes in to also accent the song throughout, and listen for all the details, there’s quite a few, and they all fit together to make a really fun song.
Announce the Truth
This one’s a bit more reserved, but still great. This song plays when you point out a really crucial truth. Notice how intense it is, giving a feeling of “it’s now or never.” The organ that plays also helps to make the song sound very important, and you might notice some regal sounds (harpsichord, I think)—once again, all the little details come together to make something pretty great.
I love the Phoenix Wright series, too! I'm currently plugging away at the second set of cases in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. And when I checked My Nintendo 3DS Memories, Dual Destinies was my third most played game (right under StreetPass and Animal Crossing). I'm surprised Capcom was able to craft such good stories with these, since normally they can't write their way out of a paper bag!
To me, the first three games had the most memorable music, thanks to the chiptune sounding quality of most of them. But all the games have good tunes. I swear the same composer of the Phoenix Wright games must've been the same composer of the Mega Man Battle Network games because a lot of the songs sounds familiar. I remember one time Jeff heard me playing Apollo Justice and he said, "Huh, did Apollo just go into a NetNavi battle?"
The Last Ninja
02/18/2022 at 10:11 AM
Yeah, you can tell a big difference from the music of Apollow Justice on DS from the original trilogy, and then the music sounds really good starting with DD. It's impressive that the stories for PW5 and 6 are as good as they are since Shu Takumi didn't do the stories. Clearly the team had picked up on his writing prowess. Also the localizations for the games are fantastic.
KnightDriver
02/19/2022 at 11:24 AM
This sounds to me similar to the Etrian Odyssey music. Maybe it's just a similar overall tone due to it being composed for 3DS.
There is a Phoenix Wright game on Xbox right now. I've been looking at it, maybe will try it .
The Last Ninja
02/20/2022 at 01:27 AM
That's the Phoenix Wright Trilogy. You should absolutely try it! If you like murder mysteries, you will enjoy, it's so good.
KnightDriver
02/20/2022 at 10:57 AM
I will look into it next "weekend" which is Thurs/Fri for me right now.
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