Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

Of all the series that Capcom has in their stable, Ace Attorney is one of the most unlikely titles to have found any semblance of success in the West. While it’s true that court and detective dramas are one of the most popular genres in the US, Ace Attorney’s distinctively Japanese flair should have turned off most consumers but in 2005, the stars aligned and a miracle occurred. The success of such a niche title like Phoenix Wright opened the floodgates; the DS enjoyed a plethora of graphic adventure titles like Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton and 999. The West continued to get the Phoenix Wright sequels until 2010, when the series suddenly went dark. It appeared to gamers that Capcom had little interest in supporting the series in the West. That was, until, the launch trailer for the long-awaited Ace Attorney 5 debuted and with it, a confirmation of a Western launch. Capcom was giving the series another chance; this was perhaps the last opportunity that Ace Attorney would have to prove itself to the Western market. Was Dual Destinies worth the nearly 5-year wait?

            In addition to reintroducing Phoenix Wright to the courtroom, Dual Destinies also brings in new defense attorney, Athena Cykes who also serves as the game’s trademark teenage-girl sidekick. Unlike past sidekicks, Cykes takes a more active role in the game’s story and while past sidekicks were never exactly “damsels”, Cykes brings a whole new level of competence to the character archetype. She’s a wonderful addition who perfectly fits in with series mainstays like Phoenix and Apollo. She does come across as a bit of a “Mary Sue” at points but she’s no more annoying or unrealistically brilliant than any of the other characters in the series. The other new main characters are equally well-done including an overachieving, bumbling detective in constant pursuit of justice and a prosecutor who follows a samurai code.

            Cykes also brings in a new gimmick to the series, this gimmick allows you to detect conflicting emotions in a witness’s testimony and while it’s an interesting idea (with plenty of cool visuals to spice things up), its execution leaves something to be desired. Because there’s no penalty for incorrectly guessing the wrong emotion, there is absolutely no tension. On top of that, the game will continually drop not so subtle hints about what’s off about the testimony which is both demeaning and irritating. Past Ace Attorney titles would give you a little push here and there but Dual Destinies basically tells you everything and then gives an exaggerated wink afterwards. This new system is a neat idea though and I’d love to see it to return in future games but with a few adjustments regarding the difficulty.

            Dual Destinies has a serious problem with hand-holding, some of it is certainly appreciated but much of the actual gameplay is spelled out for you. For example, the game added a “Notes” section which details what you’re supposed to be doing next. This is actually a wonderful addition and a feature which I turned to more than a few times during my playthrough. However, Dual Destinies is so linear, even more so that past Ace Attorneys, that this notes section is only useful in specific occurrences. Compare that with Hotel Dusk which had a similar concept but used to much greater effect. It just feels like Capcom didn’t trust the players to use their brains and considering that this game got slapped with an (undeserved, might I add) “M” rating, I almost feel insulted.

            Dual Destines also nixes the ability to explore non-relevant areas. Now, it’s true that this cuts down on the amount of time you’ll waste exploring unimportant areas but it also cuts out some of the goofy flavor text that gave the series so much personality. It’s an unfortunate exemption and one that I suspect was due more to budget constraints than an actual attempt to streamline the game. It’s an unfortunate exclusion and the greater focus on exploring the crime scene does little to numb the pain. Extra camera angles are a poor replacement for flavor text.

            It’s not all bad though, Dual Destinies’ testimonies are rarely ever held up by some kind of insane logic or glaring oversight, a flaw which did pop up in previous titles. Psyche Locks and Apollo’s Bracelet both make brief returns and while both could have been utilized a bit more, their brief appearances are well done and they don’t feel unnecessary or tedious. An improved UI that doesn’t force you to backtrack through several different areas just to make your way back to a certain place is also an incredibly welcome addition.

            The new 3D models and backgrounds also look great. I was initially worried that the switch to 3D wouldn’t capture the distinct visual style of the Ace Attorney series but Capcom nailed it. The series is known for its colorful backgrounds, unique characters and hilarious animations and Dual Destinies continues those traditions. Some characters (mostly returning characters) look a little awkward in 3D but I got used to their slightly-off movements in no time. The new cut-scenes are also a nice, little addition. The animation isn’t super-impressive, it’s your typical anime cut-scene but it’s been a request of mine for some time so I’m happy to see them finally included. And while I don’t normally comment on this, Ace Attorney 5 has some really cool 3D effects. It’s not anything super-inventive, just throwing things at the screen and the like, but it all pops like 3D should.

            The Ace Attorney series is responsible for some of the best soundtracks on the Nintendo DS and Ace Attorney 5 doesn’t quite hit the mark set by its predecessors. It’s by no means a bad soundtrack, in fact it’s a solid soundtrack but compared to the high standards of the previous titles, it doesn’t measure up. Make no mistake, the new arrangements of the Objection theme, Cross-Examination Theme and Turnabout Sisters theme sound great but some of the original songs are wholly unremarkable. You won’t be finding any new favorites in this one, unfortunately.

            Dual Destinies is also the first Ace Attorney title with voice acting beyond second-long voice clips. It’s also the first AA game to use professional voice actors instead of Capcom staff. The final result is nothing to write home about and honestly a little underwhelming. Part of the problem is that the voice actors have very little to work with since the cut-scenes are generally under 30 seconds long. Virtue’s Last Reward this is not. That being said, Phoenix, Apollo, Athena and the rest all have well-done voices but the script fails them. It’s also disappointing that many of the side characters like witnesses do not have voice clips even though they do have voices in cut-scenes.

            Dual Destinies is the first main series game without series creator, Shu Takumi on board. Mr. Takumi also had nothing to do with the Ace Attorney Investigation spin-offs so the current writers weren’t exactly an enigma. Fans of the series knew they were capable of telling great mysteries and writing fun and memorable characters just like Takumi and his team were. And not to worry, they didn’t drop the ball here. Dual Destinies still has mind-bending plot twists, hilarious dry humor and oddball characters just like past installments. The cases in this game all interlock for the most part which allows for events in one case to explain a certain line or event that happened in a previous case. It’s an interesting way to approach the story and one that had previously been experimented with in Ace Attorney Investigations.

            I’m happy to say that every case from beginning to end is at least above-average. Unlike past titles, which generally had one notable weak case, I genuinely enjoyed my time with each and every one of the cases. I didn’t feel like any of them really dragged their feet and even the pre-requisite tutorial case was interesting and different enough that it didn’t feel like a massive waste of time. Some of the plot twists are among the best in the series since they play on audience expectations. As a veteran of the series, I had thought I knew every trick the game could possibly throw at me but it still threw me for a loop every now and then.

            The game’s translation is also wickedly funny. The jokes range from legitimately funny to subtle jabs to pandering references, there’s some great variety in the game. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that the game will elicit some kind of laughs from even the most stone-faced player. The biggest problem with the translation is the bevy of typos. It’s never anything major, generally just a missing letter, improper punctuation or (weirdly enough) an added letter but it’ll absolutely bug those who find poor grammar to be equal to war crimes in severity.

            Ace Attorney 5 is also very newcomer friendly despite being the fifth entry (technically seventh) in the series. There are a lot of nods to past games that might go over a new player’s heads and some cameos and appearances may not have quite the same impact that they would on a veteran but Dual Destinies is not a game that requires knowledge of the past games in order to enjoy it.

            Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies is the triumphant return that fans of the series have been waiting for. It’s by no means the best game in the series as the streamlined investigation segments make the game feel shallow and the hand-holding is just a bit ridiculous but it’s a great follow-up to Apollo Justice. For all its flaws and hang-ups, Dual Destinies still has it where it counts. The writing and characters are still excellent and the switch to 3D is nearly flawless. Dual Destinies is one of the best graphic adventures on the 3DS and a title that deserves your attention. 

FINAL SCORE: 7.0