Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All

• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Published by: Capcom
• Developed by: Capcom
• Release Date: Q1 2007
• Genre: Adventure
• Multiplayer: No
• Online: No

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Capcom at Comic-Con 2006

-- July 26, 2006 by: Chris Remo

Capcom brought along several upcoming titles to last week's Comic-Con, though most of them have already been widely covered. Games such as Clover Studio's God Hand (PS2) and Capcom's Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins (PSP) were featured in our E3 coverage, while Capcom's Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (X360) has a demo currently available over Xbox Live. However, the company did have one surprise in the form of the upcoming Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All (NDS). Present at E3 only as a trailer, a playable demo of the anticipated sequel was avaiable at Comic-Con. I also took the opportunity to check out Capcom's upcoming Mega Man ZX (NDS), which we missed during E3.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All
Developer: Capcom; Publisher: Capcom
Nintendo DS

Capcom had something of a surprise hit on its hands when it released the courtroom drama Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for Nintendo DS late last year in North America. No doubt expecting the game to sell mainly to a niche audience interested in traditional adventure games, the company has had to issue several reprints of the game to keep up with demand. Critical reception was equally strong, painting Phoenix Wright as one of the less obvious gems of the DS' library. The game was derived from a 2001 Game Boy Advance title released only in Japan. Capcom updated it to take advantage of the increased DS screen resolution and hardware features--such as the microphone, which allows players to shout "Objection!" rather than simply pressing a button, if they so desire--and developed an extra DS-only fifth criminal case for defense attorney Phoenix Wright to solve.

Now, Capcom is localizing the next game in the series for North American audiences, under the subtitle Justice for All. The game plays much the same as its predecessor, with the player solving cases as Phoenix Wright by investigating crime scenes, collecting evidence, speaking with witnesses and suspects, and performing cross-examinations in court to establish the groundlessness in the prosecution's claims.

This time around, the game begins in the midst of Wright having an epic nightmare in which he is being condemned by the familiar judge from the first game--perhaps some kind of foreshadowing of events to come. Soon after awakening, events conspire resulting in Wright becoming stricken with amnesia, that hallowed video game affliction. This occurs right before he is scheduled to appear in court defending a member of the police force accused of murder. Fortunately for Wright, the prosecutor on the first case is Winston Payne, who players of the first game may remember as being rather more of a pushover than frequent opponent Miles Edgeworth. This setup has two purposes: for one thing, it's the basis of various humorous situations arising when the purportedly brilliant defense attorney doesn't seem to know how to defend a client--or even remember his own name--and it also serves as an excuse to give a tutorial on the gameplay mechanics for those who have not played the first game.

In all honesty, the amnesiac angle does come off as a bit overplayed in video games, it being a useful way to explain why the game would have to explain things to a player when the game character should already know them. Of course, given the quality of the plotlines in the original game, one would hope that Capcom will take advantage of the available narrative possibilities and keep things interesting. Given the reason for Wright's amnesia, which will remain unstated in this spoiler-free preview, this looks to be the case.

Though the basic gameplay has not been significantly altered, there are a few new elements that have been added to smooth out the courtroom proceedings in Justice for All. For one thing, in addition to the preexisting ability to present items from the court record as evidence, character profiles can now be presented as evidence, a feature I frequently wished was in the first game. It's not yet clear all of the possibilities that this mechanic will allow, but one early example is using the spelling of a character's name as evidence.

Also new to the game is the presence of a "health bar" in the upper right of the screen. This meter reflects the player's standing at any given time in the case. Poor evidence or crushing blows from the prosecution will cause the meter to drop. While this is somewhat similar to the first game's "five exclamation points" meter, the health bar allows for a system that is a bit more subtle. Before, it was "five strikes and you're out;" now, mistakes of differing severity reduce the meter by proportional amounts, suggesting that it may be possible to lose the case in one fell swoop with a particularly grievous transgression. The meter can also be replenished by way of "Psyche Locks," a term referring to the psychological warfare Wright uses to coax the truth out of those who are lying under oath. Unfortunately, the short demo available did not give any real idea of how this works, though Phoenix Wright players should already be familiar with the general concept of contradicting false testimony with evidence.

The E3 trailer for Justice for All along with last week's demo have revealed that a few familiar faces will make it into the new game along with the new cast of characters. Maya Fey and Detective Dick Gumshoe, along with the aforementioned Payne and likely others. will be returning. New characters named so far include Franziska von Karma, clearly related to the imposing prosecutor Manfred von Karma from the first game, and Pearl Fey, a relative of spirit mediums Mia and Maya Fey.

Given the heavily narrative nature of adventure games, it's hard to give too much useful information without overstepping the bounds of a preview, but based on what we know, Capcom appears to be preparing another successfully bizarre but engaging legal adventure.

Capcom's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All is scheduled to ship for Nintendo DS in early 2007.

Mega Man ZX
Developer: Capcom; Publisher: Capcom
Nintendo DS

Few video game franchises have seen as many entries as Capcom's long running Mega Man series. Following the first game's release in 1987 on the NES, Capcom has released dozens of games featuring the Mega Man brand, which has now been split into about half a dozen sub-series. The games remain perennial strong sellers, but many gamers have disregarded the series in recent years, citing a cash-in mentality that has made the series seem stale.

Now, Capcom is attempting a badly needed reinvention of Mega Man with Mega Man ZX, a new spinoff title that follows up on the Mega Man Zero series on Game Boy Advance but adds some significant changes into the mix. ZX is set several hundred years after the events of the Zero games. Humans and Reploids, once enemies, have taken on enough characteristics from one another that the lines between them have blurred to some extent, though race relations are still rocky. This has interesting gameplay ramifications. Mega Man ZX has two new playable characters, Vent and Alie, Alie being a rare playable female protagonist in the Mega Man series. Either character is able to to transform at will between human form and a variety of other forms made available by the "Rebirth of Crystallised Knowledge System," abbreviated R.O.C.K. This may be a nod to Mega Man's Japanese name, Rockman.

Each form has its own distinct abilities, and the player gains access to more forms over the course of the game. At the beginning of the game, only the standard X suit is available, but eventually other technologies can be merged with the X suit to create a number of other suits. Three of these were available in the portion of the game I was able to play: the Zx suit, a red getup that looks similar to that of the Mega Man Zero games and features a blade weapon and single-shot gun; the Lx suit, a blue outfit featuring a halberd weapon that can be wielded either as a blade or a staff; and the Px suit, another blue outfit, this time featuring a rapid fire gun that sprays an arc of energy blasts. When Px is equipped, the bottom screen features a radar display allowing the player to see certain things not otherwise visible. There are also known to be a number of other abilities conferred by each suit, including special moves and attacks, but in my limited hands on time I was unfortunately not able to explore these in as much depth as possible.

The new element that may be of most interest to gamers is the structure of the world. While Mega Man Zero took steps away from a strict level-based structure, Mega Man ZX steers completely clear of that design mentality. Now, the entirety of the game's world is open from the start; the player's access to various areas is a matter of having the correct equipment to reach those areas, rather than being limited by stages. Players select a mission, reminiscent of the classic Mega Man hook of selecting which boss to work towards, but instead of being placed on a linear path to the target, players must now make their own way to the enemies in question in order to complete the mission. This new design draws significantly from the pioneering open world of the Metroid series, also seen in 2D Castlevania games since Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1).

Mega Man ZX has two difficulty modes, which will be a blessing for series veterans and newcomers alike, as it allows Capcom to provide the increasingly punishingly difficult gameplay Mega Man aficionados have come to expect while still making the game accessible to the rest of the world. The platforming action is essentially what one would expect out of Mega Man: there's a much greater emphasis on the action part than the platforming part, though now exploration of course comes into play a bit more. As somebody who hasn't played much of the series in its recent incarnations, the close combat-only suits feel odd to me. I generally associate Mega Man with shooting stuff. From what I can tell, however, with the exception of the times when the specific abilities of a form are necessary to progress in the game, players will largely be able to stick to the form that most fits their preferences.

Mega Man ZX was recently released in Japan, and early reactions have been nothing if not positive. The brief time I spend with the game left me excited about a Mega Man title for the first time in--well, I can't honestly remember the last time I was actually excited about a Mega Man title, but suffice to say it wasn't in this decade. I suspect there are a lot of gamers who have become equally disenchanted with the series, so let's hope Capcom delivers.

Capcom's Mega Man ZX is scheduled to ship for Nintendo DS on September 12, 2006.

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