Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
Encyclopedia
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All, released in Japan as , is a visual novel
adventure
video game developed and published by Capcom
for the Nintendo DS
video game console
. It is the first sequel to 2005's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
. It was released in Japan
on October 26, 2006 and in North America
on January 16, 2007. The game was also released in Europe
on March 16, 2007 and in Australia
on September 6, 2007. The Japanese release features a Japanese/English language toggle at the main menu.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All is an updated port of the Game Boy Advance
game Gyakuten Saiban 2. Like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, it features touch screen, microphone, and dual screen support, but does not have any new cases.
A PC
version under the title Gyakuten Saiban 2 PC was released by the Japanese company SourceNext on March 31, 2006. Similar to the PC port of the first game, this is an emulation of the original Game Boy Advance version to be played on Windows
based PCs, rather than an enhanced remake like the one that was released afterwards for the Nintendo DS. Again, it was only released in Japan.
A Wii
port of the game was released in Japan on January 26, 2010, via the WiiWare
system, according to the November 2009 issue of Famitsu
. It saw a release in North America on February 15, 2010 and in the PAL region on February 19, 2010.
as a virtual novel game. While the game has been adapted from the GBA
version to use the DS touch screen, none of the special investigation techniques introduced in the "Rise from the Ashes" case from the first game reappear.
A small but significant change is that a player can now present the profiles of people involved with the case, in addition to the evidence in the Court Record. The player can present them either during the court room or investigative phases. For example, the player can present a profile to ask a person about that person.
Justice for All features a new gameplay concept called Psyche-Lock. Phoenix Wright has to unlock several locks that have been placed over a witness' heart in order to reveal the truth. The Psyche-Lock occurs only during the Investigation phase, and is observed when trying to following a line of questioning with a person involved in the case. When it is revealed that the person has one or more Psyche-Locks, the player can then initiate breaking of those locks. Typically, the player will be asked to point out evidence or a location to complete a question being asked; if the correct evidence is used, it is likely one Psyche-Lock will be broken or may lead to an additional question. If the incorrect choice is made, the player takes health damage (described below). However, unlike courtroom questioning, the player can cancel the breaking attempt if he feels he doesn't have the right piece of evidence without any penalty; all of the locks will reappear the next time the breaking attempt is made, though these will break in exactly the same manner as previously discovered. Also, a certain amount of health is restored on successfully unlocking all the Psyche-Locks of a person. Breaking all the Psyche-Locks of a person will allow the player to question that person further on more details.
In the first game, the player had five marks of health; if he or she made a mistake during the courtroom proceedings, the judge took one off, and losing all five resulted in a guilty verdict for the client. Justice for All changes these marks into a life bar; when the bar is completely depleted, the game ends and the player's client receives a guilty verdict. The amount of health lost will vary depending on the magnitude of the error; a mistake in a serious area may result in the loss of the whole life bar.
, California
in the English localization. The player controls the protagonist of its predecessor, Phoenix Wright, as he defends clients in four court trials. Primary characters from the predecessor that appear in this title include Maya Fey, Miles Edgeworth, Mia Fey, and Dick Gumshoe. Two new primary characters include Pearl Fey and Franziska von Karma. Characters from the first title have supporting roles in this title, including Lotta Hart, Will Powers, and Wendy Oldbag.
In the second trial, set before the first trial, Phoenix goes with a man named Dr. Turner Grey looking to request a spirit channeling from Maya Fey, Phoenix's friend, former assistant, and spiritual medium, at the Kurain Village. However, the doctor is murdered during the spirit channeling, and Maya is arrested on suspicion of murder. While defending her, Phoenix faces the prosecutor Franziska von Karma, the daughter of Manfred von Karma, who has never lost a case and has come to America to defeat Phoenix in court. Phoenix discovers that the doctor's death was plotted by a nurse who once worked under him and Maya's aunt, Morgan Fey, who sought to displace Maya as the Master of Kurain Village to allow her own 8-year old daughter, Pearl Fey, to take the title instead. After the case, Maya and Phoenix watch over Pearl.
During the third case, a popular magician of the Berry Big Circus who can named Maximillion Galactica is charged with the ringmaster's murder. During the investiagion, Phoenix encounters some unusual witnesses, such as a clown who has difficulty making people laugh, a ventriloquist whose puppet bosses him around, and the daughter of the ringmaster, who seems to live in her own little world. Phoenix successfully defends Max against Franziska von Karma.
In the fourth trial, Maya is kidnapped after a huge TV star, Matt Engarde, is suspected of murdering his media rival, Juan Corrida, and the kidnapper, the infamous Shelly de Killer, promises to let Maya go if Phoenix can get a complete acquittal for Engarde. As Phoenix investigates, he finds that Engarde, Corrida, and their managers had a complicated romantic relationship, and Engarde, a man with a secret dark side, has hired de Killer to force Phoenix to defend him in court. During the case, de Killer shoots Franziska, wounding her and forcing a new prosecutor in the case to step in: Miles Edgeworth, who had just returned to the country in time. Miles picks up on Phoenix's unusual behavior in court and recognizes that Maya is in trouble, and helps to extend the case to give the police more time to rescue Maya. When Phoenix reveals to de Killer that Engarde has blackmail evidence on de Killer's actions, de Killer reneges his loyalty to Engarde, promising to kill him next. Maya is freed and reunited with Phoenix and Pearl, while Franziska, recovering from her wounds, decides to return home now that Miles has returned. If the player presents the wrong evidence towards the end of the trial, an alternate ending
will ensue. In this ending Matt Engarde was freed and Adrian Andrews is later tried and convicted of Juan's murder. This causes Phoenix Wright to run out of the courtroom in shame. Maya is released unharmed, but he never sees her again. Wright believed that it would have taken a miracle to convict Engarde, but realizes that the miracle did not exist in the first place.
as Gyakuten Saiban 2. It was released on October 22, 2002, in Japan
only. It uses the same engine as its predecessor, Gyakuten Saiban.
as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All using the same engine as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
. It was released on October 26, 2006 in Japan
. It was later released in other countries, including North America
on January 16, 2007, Europe
on March 16, 2007, and Australia
on September 6, 2007. The localization in this release remains almost unchanged from the previous release, which contains some errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and word usage. These have generated complaints in some reviews. The English translation of the game includes many references to TV shows, movies, other video games, and pop culture references, placed in the dialog by the localization team.
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
adventure
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
video game developed and published by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It is the first sequel to 2005's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, released in Japan as , is an adventure video game published and developed by Capcom in Japan, North America, and Europe, and published by Nintendo in Australia...
. It was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on October 26, 2006 and in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on January 16, 2007. The game was also released in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on March 16, 2007 and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on September 6, 2007. The Japanese release features a Japanese/English language toggle at the main menu.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All is an updated port of the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
game Gyakuten Saiban 2. Like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, it features touch screen, microphone, and dual screen support, but does not have any new cases.
A PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
version under the title Gyakuten Saiban 2 PC was released by the Japanese company SourceNext on March 31, 2006. Similar to the PC port of the first game, this is an emulation of the original Game Boy Advance version to be played on Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
based PCs, rather than an enhanced remake like the one that was released afterwards for the Nintendo DS. Again, it was only released in Japan.
A Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
port of the game was released in Japan on January 26, 2010, via the WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
system, according to the November 2009 issue of Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
. It saw a release in North America on February 15, 2010 and in the PAL region on February 19, 2010.
Gameplay
Justice For All plays similarly to the first Ace Attorney gamePhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, released in Japan as , is an adventure video game published and developed by Capcom in Japan, North America, and Europe, and published by Nintendo in Australia...
as a virtual novel game. While the game has been adapted from the GBA
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
version to use the DS touch screen, none of the special investigation techniques introduced in the "Rise from the Ashes" case from the first game reappear.
A small but significant change is that a player can now present the profiles of people involved with the case, in addition to the evidence in the Court Record. The player can present them either during the court room or investigative phases. For example, the player can present a profile to ask a person about that person.
Justice for All features a new gameplay concept called Psyche-Lock. Phoenix Wright has to unlock several locks that have been placed over a witness' heart in order to reveal the truth. The Psyche-Lock occurs only during the Investigation phase, and is observed when trying to following a line of questioning with a person involved in the case. When it is revealed that the person has one or more Psyche-Locks, the player can then initiate breaking of those locks. Typically, the player will be asked to point out evidence or a location to complete a question being asked; if the correct evidence is used, it is likely one Psyche-Lock will be broken or may lead to an additional question. If the incorrect choice is made, the player takes health damage (described below). However, unlike courtroom questioning, the player can cancel the breaking attempt if he feels he doesn't have the right piece of evidence without any penalty; all of the locks will reappear the next time the breaking attempt is made, though these will break in exactly the same manner as previously discovered. Also, a certain amount of health is restored on successfully unlocking all the Psyche-Locks of a person. Breaking all the Psyche-Locks of a person will allow the player to question that person further on more details.
In the first game, the player had five marks of health; if he or she made a mistake during the courtroom proceedings, the judge took one off, and losing all five resulted in a guilty verdict for the client. Justice for All changes these marks into a life bar; when the bar is completely depleted, the game ends and the player's client receives a guilty verdict. The amount of health lost will vary depending on the magnitude of the error; a mistake in a serious area may result in the loss of the whole life bar.
Setting
The setting for the game takes place roughly one year after the events of the first game (based on the ages of the returning characters), and again in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the English localization. The player controls the protagonist of its predecessor, Phoenix Wright, as he defends clients in four court trials. Primary characters from the predecessor that appear in this title include Maya Fey, Miles Edgeworth, Mia Fey, and Dick Gumshoe. Two new primary characters include Pearl Fey and Franziska von Karma. Characters from the first title have supporting roles in this title, including Lotta Hart, Will Powers, and Wendy Oldbag.
Story
The first trial of the game involves Phoenix gaining amnesia after being hit on the head by the trial's witness, Richard Wellington. Thus, he is forced to defend Maggey Byrde, a policewoman who has been accused of murdering her lover, with no memory of the case. However, with help from Byrde, and later Maya Fey, Phoenix regains his memory and deduces that Wellington is the true murderer.In the second trial, set before the first trial, Phoenix goes with a man named Dr. Turner Grey looking to request a spirit channeling from Maya Fey, Phoenix's friend, former assistant, and spiritual medium, at the Kurain Village. However, the doctor is murdered during the spirit channeling, and Maya is arrested on suspicion of murder. While defending her, Phoenix faces the prosecutor Franziska von Karma, the daughter of Manfred von Karma, who has never lost a case and has come to America to defeat Phoenix in court. Phoenix discovers that the doctor's death was plotted by a nurse who once worked under him and Maya's aunt, Morgan Fey, who sought to displace Maya as the Master of Kurain Village to allow her own 8-year old daughter, Pearl Fey, to take the title instead. After the case, Maya and Phoenix watch over Pearl.
During the third case, a popular magician of the Berry Big Circus who can named Maximillion Galactica is charged with the ringmaster's murder. During the investiagion, Phoenix encounters some unusual witnesses, such as a clown who has difficulty making people laugh, a ventriloquist whose puppet bosses him around, and the daughter of the ringmaster, who seems to live in her own little world. Phoenix successfully defends Max against Franziska von Karma.
In the fourth trial, Maya is kidnapped after a huge TV star, Matt Engarde, is suspected of murdering his media rival, Juan Corrida, and the kidnapper, the infamous Shelly de Killer, promises to let Maya go if Phoenix can get a complete acquittal for Engarde. As Phoenix investigates, he finds that Engarde, Corrida, and their managers had a complicated romantic relationship, and Engarde, a man with a secret dark side, has hired de Killer to force Phoenix to defend him in court. During the case, de Killer shoots Franziska, wounding her and forcing a new prosecutor in the case to step in: Miles Edgeworth, who had just returned to the country in time. Miles picks up on Phoenix's unusual behavior in court and recognizes that Maya is in trouble, and helps to extend the case to give the police more time to rescue Maya. When Phoenix reveals to de Killer that Engarde has blackmail evidence on de Killer's actions, de Killer reneges his loyalty to Engarde, promising to kill him next. Maya is freed and reunited with Phoenix and Pearl, while Franziska, recovering from her wounds, decides to return home now that Miles has returned. If the player presents the wrong evidence towards the end of the trial, an alternate ending
Alternate ending
Alternate ending is a term used to describe the ending of a story that was planned or debated but ultimately unused in favor of the actual ending. Generally, alternate endings are considered to have no bearing on the canonical narrative...
will ensue. In this ending Matt Engarde was freed and Adrian Andrews is later tried and convicted of Juan's murder. This causes Phoenix Wright to run out of the courtroom in shame. Maya is released unharmed, but he never sees her again. Wright believed that it would have taken a miracle to convict Engarde, but realizes that the miracle did not exist in the first place.
Game Boy Advance version
Justice for All was originally released for the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
as Gyakuten Saiban 2. It was released on October 22, 2002, in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
only. It uses the same engine as its predecessor, Gyakuten Saiban.
Nintendo DS version
Gyakuten Saiban 2 was remade for the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All using the same engine as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, released in Japan as , is an adventure video game published and developed by Capcom in Japan, North America, and Europe, and published by Nintendo in Australia...
. It was released on October 26, 2006 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It was later released in other countries, including North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on January 16, 2007, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on March 16, 2007, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on September 6, 2007. The localization in this release remains almost unchanged from the previous release, which contains some errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and word usage. These have generated complaints in some reviews. The English translation of the game includes many references to TV shows, movies, other video games, and pop culture references, placed in the dialog by the localization team.