PixlBit

Just a warning to anyone reading this comment, there may be some Phoenix Wright spoilers here and there.  But not for Casey, the reviewer.

I really enjoyed Spirit of Justice, but I enjoy all Ace Attorney games.  They play all the same, so I treat them like reading a book that you really like and want to find out what happens to the characters in the next novel.  

Spirit of Justice will go down in history for me as introducing a character that will probably make it on my Top Five Favorite Phoenix Wright Characters list.  Yup, right on up there with Dick Gumshoe and the Blue Badger.  And that would be Rayfa Padma Khura'in.  At first I thought she'd be annoying, but they gave her some real gradual character development that I thought was pretty cool.  

I had three problems with Spirit of Justice, though.  One is a problem I have with other games in the series, too.  It was painfully obvious who each of the culprits was in each case, which is understandable since it's been established that Columbo was one of the inspirations for the series, and in that TV show, the audience knows who the bad guy is, and watch to see how the characters come to the conclusion.  But in Phoenix Wright, since you know who did it usually, it's easy to put the cart before the horse and present information that won't work at that time, even though it makes sense.  And sometimes you have to think like the game's 'logic' which can be hard at times.  Spirit of Justice seemed especially bad at this, and making it obvious who the culprits were.  Only time I wasn't so sure was in the 4th case, because the culprit had pink hair and I have a soft spot for video game characters who have pink hair (like Ulala or Tomba).

Speaking of which, the next problem I had with the game was the 4th case.  That'll go down in history as one of my least favorite cases.  It felt like filler that had no relation to any of the other cases, and it wasn't much fun.  Plus, it was steeped so deep in Japanese culture that some of the clues were not as easy to understand.  Put in a witness with multiple personalities and you get one confusing situation.  I wouldn't have missed that case if it was omitted.

The last problem I had was it was download only.  I know, you'll have to drag me kicking and screaming into the digital age.  I'm sorry, I guess I'm just old.  It's just that this game is such a memory hog.  I wish we got a cartridge like Japan did.

I was mad at the first two DLC cases at first since they were so short, but they were funny and they also give you the option to download a 3DS theme afterwards, so that was cool.  I liked the big DLC case because it was like old times, bringing back Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, and Larry (all it needed was Gumshoe), but the DLC case from the last game, with the whales, was way better.

Phoenix Wright games are kind of the last bastion of Capcom games that I still play.  I used to play Capcom games all the time when they still made Mega Man titles as well as publishing unique games like Okami, Under The Skin, Ghost Trick, and Zack & Wiki.  But they don't do those things anymore, so Phoenix Wright is all I have left.

Too bad we may not get The Great Ace Attorney or its recently announced sequel.  Capcom says they'd like to bring them over here, but circumstances are keeping them from doing so (I think I know what they mean).  Miles Edgeworth 2 may be a lost cause by now.

Anyway, sorry for the long comment.  I don't really have anyone to discuss Phoenix Wright with anymore, so I had to let it all out here.  --Cary

I'm a little concerned about the sturdiness of the thing, but I think it's too early to make too many negative (or positive) assumptions about a 3 minute video announcement.  I don't know why they couldn't have revealed this earlier, honestly.  And the list of third parties is padded out a bit.  For example, Traveller's Tales is on the list, and they make nothing but LEGO games now.  But who publishes them?  WB Games, also on the list.  I'm looking forward to more Switch announcements, especially concerning games.  Nintendo makes most of the games that I'm interested in, so that's what will get me to buy any new console they make.    

I'm concerned about the sturdiness of the thing, but other than that, I think it's too early to be speculating too much negative stuff out of it (positive stuff too, really).  The list of third party support looks cool, but if you look at the companies carefully you can tell they padded the list.  Traveller's Tales makes the LEGO games, but who publishes them?  WB Games.  But both of them are on the list.  And that's just one example.

However, I'm looking forward to heaing more announcements, especially about new games.  Nintendo generally makes most of the games I want to play, so I usually get their consoles pretty quickly because of that.

I'm concerned about the sturdiness of the thing, but I can't wait to hear more announcements so I can find out.  Especially when they announce more games, as that's what interests me the most about new consoles.  I don't know why they couldn't have announced this earlier, though.  Oh well.

Yeah I'm a big Kirby fan, and I even like Kirby games better than Mario ones.  Any Kirby game is a day one purchase for me now, so I have played Planet Robobot.  It's very similar to Triple Deluxe, and while I like that game a little more, both are great single player handheld Kirby titles.

Kirby's Epic Yarn was a great game.  It's one of the best-selling Kirby games and one of the best-seling Wii games period.  The music is also awesome.  Did you know that it originally wasn't a Kirby game at all?  It was going to be called World of Fluff and starred the player two character, but Nintendo had them change it to a Kirby game instead.  The same folks who made that game also did Yoshi's Woolly World, so if you enjoyed Epic Yarn, you should try the other game, too.  It's also very good.  

Well I could talk your ear off about Kirby all day, so I guess I'd better stop.  But did you know that recently in Japan, they opened up a Kirby themed restaurant in Tokyo called Kirby Cafe?  I don't think I'll ever be able to, but I really want to go there!

Even when it was new and fresh, I was never reallly a fan of the first Sonic game, so if I bash on it now, it's not because it's trendy to do so.  And the only thing I liked about Sonic 2 was that Tails was in it.  The first time I was actually impressed by a Sonic game was with Sonic 3.  I actually really like that game.  Even though I'm not a big Sonic fan, I'm always willing to try whatever new Sonic game is out, because I never know if it'll be one I like or not.  Some Sonic games that I like are popular choices, like Sonic Adventure, while others are ones that I only seemingly like, such as Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3D Blast.  I guess I'm just weird.

I also actually liked Big the Cat's character, mainly because other Sonic fans hate him and I like big, stupid characters.  I also enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 2  MORE than Mario 3, but like I said, I guess I'm just weird.

I think that Sonic Mania will be a step in the right direction for Sonic.  I like it because it plays more like Sonic 3 than anything, and as mentioned earlier, that is a Sonic game I like.  I played Sonic Mania at PAX West and the music is also awesome, by the way.

I'm actually working on reviewing Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice right now.  Um, yay?  But like I said, even though I'm not a big Sonic fan, I'm always willing to try out any new Sonic titles that come along.

By the way, have you ever played Freedom Planet?  It's a lot like an old Sonic game, and I think you might like it.  But I imagine you've probably already heard about it. 

The interesting thing about the cabinet for that game is it was a sit-down one, but there was also a steering wheel behind it so someone could stand up and steer the back part of the fire truck.  I don't remember that game being very good, but I played it as a kid because it was cool to pretend to drive a fire truck.

I prefer the original Luigi's Mansion over Dark Moon, but the sequel is still pretty fun.  And the ending is just adorable.  I'm actually working on a writeup at GamerDad.com about Luigi's Mansion Arcade, which I got to play not too long ago.