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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (3DS)

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It was touch and go for a while as to whether this game would even see light of day in the West. After all, the series is not as popular as it once was, and the two “interim spin-offs” starring Edgeworth were not well received. In fact, the second of these remained Japan-only.

Thankfully, a Capcom saw sense, and even though it’s an eShop exclusive, here it is.

Capcom have done a fantastic job of updating the visuals for the 3DS. Characters are now polygonal, but drawn as if they’re flat like before. Unlike in many 2D to 3D transfers, the sprites remain true up the originals, and all the redone animation manages to feel the same as before but smooth and slick too. The same goes for backgrounds – they’re the same, only better.

The game itself plays just like the older games. Point and click “investigation” (made easier now by making it more obvious where to go, which is a good decision) followed by a courtroom showdown. I’m on case 3 at the moment, and so far have played “as” Phoenix, Apollo, and new girl Athena. Some old characters have returned, but the cast so far is mostly new. They’re all great and well written too, with ridiculous quirks and dress sense.

In all, it’s another Phoenix Wright game. And is awesome.

Game memories: F

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Feel the Magic XX-XY (DS)
Project Rub in the UK, but I got this with my imported US DS ahead of the European launch.  In many ways it was an ideal game to launch the DS with, showing many varied ideas on how the touchscreen could be used.  It didn't hang together that well, but I remember the black, white and orange colour scheme vividly.

F1 '97 (PS)
Murray Walker shouting "He's on the green stuff" over and over again; tracks being messes of pixels a little way down the road.  A great game.

F1 2010 (Xbox 360)
Far too many options and menus to wade through.  Completing a single race in the career mode took ages, since you had to go through practice sessions, qualifying and the race itself.  Ideal for people who love F1, but for me it was just a bit painful.

F1 2011 (3DS)
As with F1 2010 above, but with a third of the framerate.

F355 Challenge Passione Rossa (Dreamcast)
At the time this felt like a massive technical achievement and tales of the arcade machine using three monitors underlined the game's credentials.  I played it for about fifteen minutes before being totally overwhelmed by the options and realistic gameplay - in other words, I kept spinning off the track, couldn't work out how to switch to a behind-car view, and had better things to play instead.

Field Commander (PSP)
Like Advance Wars but with little charm, little challenge, and a rubbish online mode.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (Gamecube)
I've never completed a proper Final Fantasy game; I've never even passed the first hour of one.  This, however, was played loads at virtually every games night we held.  Kieron had a bucket on his head, I was a Selkie.  John was accomplished at ranged combat, we all could heal each other but often didn't.

Fire Emblem (GBA)
I never completed this.  I remember it getting very stressful due to the fact that if a character died in a mission, they remained dead.  I restarted missions again and again to protect my favourite characters, and as a result it grew stale and too difficult.

Floigan Brothers: Episode One (Dreamcast)
It's a shame there was no episode two - this was an amusing game which was unlike anything else, as with a lot of Sega's Dreamcast output.  It was far too short and there was a bit too much collection required as far as I recall.  I got this in Singapore and worked out pretty quickly that it was a pirate version, but bought the proper version on my return from HMV for a fiver.

Ford Racing 3 (Xbox)
I was convinced to buy this by people on RLLMUK praising the second game, the fact it was online (when there were few other online games around, and it was £10 brand new.  I think I played it online three times and offline twice, before being tempted away by other games that were just more fun to play.

F-Zero (SNES, Wii, Wii U)
F-Zero GX (Gamecube)
F-Zero X (N64)
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA, 3DS)
GX is the best.  The Mode 7 games are a bit pants now, but at the time they seemed great, particularly on the GBA where the handling was much more refined.  Replaying them now, they are just too floaty and the career mode is a bit lightweight with daft difficulty spikes.

Future Tactics: the Uprising (Gamecube)
I bought this in the US and as a result, the hassle needed to load the game meant that I played it little.  A shame, as when I did I remember it being a clever game melding a strategy turn-based game with something that felt more action-based.  I'm now able to play US games on my modded Wii; I may try this again when I find it.

Fighting Vipers (Saturn, Xbox 360)
I continue to be hopeless at fighting games that are more complicated that Street Fighter II, but Fighting Vipers has a pleasing lack of combo, super and extra EX WTF meters.  The fighting feels solid and the idea of being able to knock off armour works well.  I get the feeling that if I played this a bit more I could get quite good at it.  That's unlikely to happen.

Games I’ve been playing recently

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Another roundup! Woo!

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

I’ve played this every single day now for more than four months, and you’d think it’d have grown old by now. But no – I’m still finding new things to do. Being October I’m collecting Spooky Furniture, and this week I managed to pass Gracie’s 4th and final test so she’s now opened up a store inside newly renovated T&T’s. Excellent.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 (3DS)

Still in the Clock Tower, but have beaten a few more missions. It’s a great game, but every time I turn my 3DS on, Animal Crossing comes first!

Wonderful 101 (Wii U)

After Brothers (urgh) this was my next big console game to start. Super backlog fighter, yo. And, despite what everyone has said about it, I’m not enjoying it. Having discussed it with lots of people, I’ve come to the conclusion my copy of the game is actually broken. My main issue is that if I draw a circle, I get a red circle. Pressing A should trigger Unite Hand. 95% of the time, it doesn’t – I get a sword. Nobody else is getting this issue, and it’s easily repeatable.

Besides that, I’m struggling to fight big things, and avoid attacks. And figure out what to do half the time as the instructions don’t seem to come up when you actually need them. Ho hum.

I’ll keep trying, but I’m not sure I’m able to “fix” it.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U)

Slayed (slew?) my first Barioth in a welcome return to playing this. It’s been too long. Awesome.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 (3DS)

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It’s slow going through the Mansions. Not because I don’t like the game – quite the opposite. More the way I’m playing. Since the game is split into missions, each about 20-30 minutes long, I’ve only been doing one or two at a time. Which would still be quite quick, if it wasn’t for the fact that every time I turn my 3DS on, oh look – there’s Animal Crossing.

“Just 5 minutes” on Animal Crossing turns into “oh, no time for Luigi now”, more often than not, so the green plumber is getting a slow burn.

At the moment, I’ve just done the second mission in the Clock Factory mansion. Which isn’t really a mansion, what with being a factory. I also gave the Thrill Tower a go online, which was pretty good fun too.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies Demo: style and substance

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I said I might not buy this.  That may have been a bit of a rash thing to say, given that it came after playing through the Miles Edgeworth game which was a significant departure from the series - and given that I've just played through the demo of the next proper Ace Attorney game which looks absolutely magnificent.

Looking at past posts, I seem to have a love-hate relationship with the series.  I was pretty nonplussed to start with, but have completed all the games and found that Apollo Justice was a great character.  He seems to be back in the new game as well, though the main playable character is Phoenix.

I can't wait.