Gyakuten Saiban 5 [Limited Edition]

I've only been waiting for the 5th game since I finished played Apollo Justice: Justice for All about 5 years ago. When Capcom announced that there they were *finally* going to be releasing the 5th instalment, I just about died and went to heaven. I didn't even think twice about pre ordering the limited edition version even though my understanding of Japanese is very limited.

The figure is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I can't stop staring at it. Right now I have Pheenie pointing at nothing but once I get around to reorganizing my figurines, I'll probably come up with something interesting.

The alternate jackets are so pretty. I love having all 4 possible jackets to switch between whenever I look at the box. The stickers are adorable. I will have to find something to stick them on soon. XO

If I were to have one complaint, it would be the special case. The case is HUGE. I would've preferred a case that fit the 3DSXL pretty snuggly. The case is big enough to hold all of your basic 3DSXL accessories. (By that I mean the charger and the cards) It isn't big enough though to hold a card case. I haven't tried putting in an XL that has a circle pad equipped yet.

Finally, I get to the most important part of this review, the game. I was seriously having heart palpitations as I pulled out my 3DS to try out the game. As it loaded up, I found myself thinking "WHY WON'T THIS THING HURRY UP!?" The icon on the main 3DS screen is completely adorable. When I finally started the game, I was not disappointed. If you've checked out videos of PL vs AA, then GS5 has the same quality of graphics. Playing the game on 3D was also extremely easy on the eyes. I rarely play games with 3D turned on, but I found that GS5 looked better in 3D than 2D. Though I couldn't get far due to my mediocre japanese, what I understood has left me wishing that the english version was out already.

I highly, highly recommend this game.

6 years has passed since the last true entry of the Ace Attorney serie (Gyakuten Saiban 4/Apollo Justice) and the long-awaited sequel finally make his debut on the Nintendo 3DS. Producer Eshiro and Scenario director Yamazaki did a marvelous job with Dual destinies because it feels like an Ace Attorney game even if the game had to evolve to today’s standards (i.e. transition between sprites to 3D animations) and truly live to Takumi’s legacy with the original trilogy.

Dual destinies saw the return of our beloved spiky defense attorney Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo) on the bench with Apollo Justice (Hosuke Odoroki) and a new assistant, rookie attorney Athena Cykes (Kokone Kizuki). The story is set 8 years after Trial and Tribulations (around a year after Ace Attorney 4) and begins with the murder of a detective and bombing in Courtroom #4 where Phoenix came back in this dark age of law to defend a law student and Athena’s childhood friend Juniper Woods (Shinobu Morizumi). The game followed the traditional style of an Ace Attorney game with more or less 25 to 30 hours of gameplay (much like Trial and Tribulations) but all cases are connected to the main storyline à la Ace Attorney Investigations versus the original games where the Fey family’s plot wasn’t always involved. Dual destinies is very friendly to pick for the newcomers of the Ace Attorney world since past games references are minor to fully understand the storyline. It is still a very emotional game and Capcom answer with some fan services by bringing back classic characters but long-time fans may find it less emotional than the original trilogy.

You’ll experience the story through the eyes of the three main characters with the same good old Investigation/Trial formula but with the new Mood Matrix (Heart Scope) system where you need to point contradictions between their testimony and theirs feelings when evidence are not enough to bring the truth to light. This is a great addition very welcome and surprisingly good and this is the newness that make Dual destinies a quality game. One major problem the other games had was the recycled characters/lack of locations, the fan wants more content and that’s what he get with Dual destinies. The variety of characters is amazing, the settings where you will investigate are beautiful and unexpected (i.e. a space center, a japanese village). There is also the return of the famous Psyche-Lock, the Perceive system and a Logic-like system.

…and the soundtrack, one of the best VG OST of all times that goes along with the original trilogy.

Without a doubt, one of the greatest game the Nintendo 3DS has to offer and if you never try an Ace Attorney game, it’s time. If you’re a long-time fan, it’s a must-have.