Rejoin Phoenix Wright as he takes on his most difficult cases yet
Franchise based sequels are a difficult thing to produce, since you have to keep fans of previous games happy while trying to add something new and evolve the characters and settings, sometimes this can be done excellently and others dont turn out as well, and its unfortunate that Justice for all falls into this latter section.
Phoenix Wright and friends return for another round of courtroom action, introducing several new characters and some returning faces from the first game. Set just a few months after the events of the first game, the first case is a slick tutorial that reintroduces you to the mechanics that have carried over from the first game and how to go about solving the case at hand.
While this introduction is nicely done and hooks well into the story, it does prove that playing the two games straight after each other will mean that the only real difference for you is the story and characters that are new to the series. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but for people wanting more in terms of gameplay, it really isnt enough.
There are four cases in total (including the first) and they play out exactly the same as those in the first game, so a murder is commited, you decide to defend the accused and must therefore explore the crime scene, talk to witnesses and detetives and try to figure out what really happened on those fateful nights. However, that is it, there is nothing new apart from the addition of the psyche-lock, an ability given to you during the second case.
Psyche-lock's appear as chains and locks (see what they did there?), and you must uncover what that person is hiding to break the locks and obtain the truth. This is done in exactly the same way as a witness testimony from the trial section of the game, and adds very little to the gameplay.
Justice for all will live and die by weather you played the first game or not. If you did that you may find this to be a decent story but not really advancing the series and therefore a disappointment. However if this is your first Phoenix Wright game, then it is a fine starting point and you dont really need to play the first game for the story. Anybody who tried the first game and found it not to thier tastes will not be swayed by the series' second outing.
Justice for all is a great game, and the story provides some memorable twists and turns, but ultimately, this adds very little to the series and even rehashes sounds, animation and characters from the first game, fans of the that game may well be disappointed, especially since the 3D evidence investigation is no where to be found and should have been expanded instead.
A great game let down by not having anything new.
