Has anyone played Capcom's famous courtroom drama games? I'm sure most people are at least aware of the various memes involving cries of OBJECTION! and such.

The series itself is a set of visual novels where you assume the role of a rookie defense attorney. Each game is divided into four or five "Cases" where you defend a client. It starts by gathering information, talking to witnesses and investigating the crime scene, gathering evidence. 

Once the investigation phase ends, court begins. Then comes the good part. Cross-examining the witnesses. You have to read their testimony carefully, and look for something that contradicts the evidence, pressing for more information if nothing stands out.

Then it happens...

That feeling when you realize what the contradiction is and you slap that evidence in the witness's face... so great. Especially when the contradiction is something really tricky and you feel so smart for figuring it out.

After a while it becomes obvious that one of the witnesses is trying to pin the crime on the defendant and their lies start to chip away. You've got them on the run so to speak, you're piecing everything together in your head and then this music starts playing. 

The other great thing about this series is it's cast of characters. Some of them can get a little annoying but for the most part they're a colorful bunch that make the series a load of fun, especially your silly, burger fiend of an assistant, Maya.

The fourth game stars a new protagonist, and there's also a spinoff starring Phoenix's rival, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

So yea, anyone who hasn't played, I urge you to give this series a try. You can find copies of the games for the DS online or at a store like Gamestop. The first three games are also available on the Wiiware service. The series is also on the iPhone I believe.

Phoenix Wright is the sole reason I have a DS. I saw footage of the game on YouTube and fell in love with it, from there I just had to have it so I bought a DS and immediately went searching for the game. Got it, played it, had a blast. I also have the second game in the series, unfortunately though I haven't been able to play the others. I want the third game but it's hard to find and cost way too much on Amazon -_-

Love Love Love this series! The characters are awesome and the cases are interesting. Sometimes you feel bad for the murders. :( 

I have beaten the first two. As for the third one I borrowed it from a friend and I lost it.. So now I have to go get her a new one to replace it. As for Apollo. I downloaded a rom I was half way through it. I need to beat it before the new game comes out. 

I really wish they would make this series into an anime.

Beaten all save for Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2. And want to play the crossover with Prof. Layton. A good series, special for its way of making you think. Every case has its own charm and traps. I'm also waiting for Dual Destinies. I miss Maya Though.

Yea Japan needs to release the second Investigations game already. 

I'm a little uneasy about having to download Dual Destinies on the E-Shop. If my 2DS breaks then that's 30 bucks gone to waste. At least with an actual copy I'd still have that.

Is it really only the eshop?

Only on the E-shop. In America that is. In Japan they get the actual cartridge but apparently the series doesn't do well enough in the U.S. 

Capcom feels that it would cost more to release it as a cartridge than it would earn money. At least they released it at all though.

Which is bull because everyone tries to look for those game! >.< I think tonight Im going up to gamestop to see if they still Trials and Tribulations. I cant find my friends copy anywhere.

They had it! Thank god! Now I can beat it and return it to my friend. Watch me find copy she gave me. XD

So I downloaded the demo for the new game. 

I think I am going to buy this game before my roadtrip in November. That way I have new game to play in the care! ^-^

So the other day after I got done Christmas shopping I had some money left over, so I went and bought Dual Destinies.

I have never had so much fun playing one of these games. I haven't been bored once at all, and I haven't been so frustrated that I ran to Gamefaqs once!

One of the most notable differences that's both good and bad is that you CANNOT examine anything that's not a crime scene. I feel like we're missing out on some hilarious dialog between the characters because of it, but it makes the investigation phases a lot easier. Another thing is there are icons when you're examining things that tell you if something is remotely worth examining, or if you've already examined it. No more guessing games.

Another neat feature is that when you select a previously completed episode, you can skip right to any chapter in said episode. Like you could start from the first testimony during the first trial phase, or start from the beginning of the second investigation phase.

I wasn't too pleased with the replacement of the voice cast, and as per Capcom tradition the voice acting is cheesy at best, but it's nothing to ruin my enjoyment of the game.

I haven't found a single character I truly dislike in this one. In fact there's a handful that I absolutely adore. I really like Athena, but I can see what people are saying about her getting waaaay too much focus. She's the only assistant character who appears in every single case, including the special DLC case.

Speaking of DLC, one of the special things you can download is Phoenix's old suit from the first three games. I have the hardest time deciding whether to use that outfit or the new one.

I have yet to buy this game. I played the demo and the game looks good. I like seeing the court case in 3D. I kind of wish they had a sample of an investigation on the demo too. My only delay in getting this game that it's eshop only. I need to buy an eshop card to get it because I dont want to put my credit info on the eshop.

I made the mistake of staying up all night beating Dual Destinies. Just as the ending credits are starting, at 7am on the dot those idiots had the nerve to call me, asking me to come into work, so I had to go in with zero sleep under my belt.

Anyway, the game itself was a fantastic addition to the series. I can't name a single thing that I'd consider a flaw (besides the Capcom voice acting). Despite Kyle Hebert being a respected voice actor for me, he did a HORRIBLE job voicing Edgeworth. He sounds so deep and british... like Buzz Killington from Family Guy. Phoenix sounds like a whiny teenager.

Funny thing that Athena is voiced by the same person as Haruhi Suzumiya's dub considering.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkxhyrhmn5A

I will say though that this was definitely the easiest in the series. I usually feel like a complete moron when I play these games, running to Gamefaqs at least three or four times per game. Not this time. There weren't even any majorly tricky cross-examinations like when you have to press a later statement, then press an earlier one, which causes the player to point out a contradiction between the two statements.

The characters also tend to ruin any feeling of smartness I have by giving overly strong hints about what evidence you need to present when not cross-examining testimony.

The investigation phases are also loads easier thanks to several factors including...
-A check-list to run through, telling you what you need to do. If you haven't completely questioned someone, it'll say you still need to talk to them.
-A changing cursor when you examine the crime scene. If your pointer has a red circle around it, that's something that won't get a "There's nothing interesting here" response. If your pointer has an X, that means you've already checked that area.
-And finally, you CANNOT examine anything that's not a crime scene. While this makes things loads easier, it also takes away a lot of amusing dialog, like the ladder vs. stepladder running gag.

One thing that kinda bummed me out is that they removed the DS features. You can no longer spin a piece of evidence around and examine it from all sides. They also took out the forensics gameplay such as dusting for fingerprints.

Another great thing about this game, it's longer than Longcat! The investigation phases may be shorter, but the trials? Long to the point that I got a little exasperated after a while.

Characters? Phoenix is back to being the lovable, sarcastic everyman we all know. Apollo gets some significant focus and development, making him stand out in his own right, unlike in his own game where Phoenix was running the show and Apollo was just a utility.

Athena? I really do like it. I got a wee bit tired of her. The focus in this game is like... 

25% Phoenix
25% Apollo
50% Athena.

She's pretty brash and reckless and prone to letting her anger get the best of her. But one thing I had failed to realize was that she's not just your perky teen-girl assistant. She's a protagonist in her own right. Maya, Pearl, Trucy and Kay were largely there for support, Athena is a different story. 

Of course being a rookie attorney working for the agency is kind of a red flag that she'll be more than just your comic relief co-council. In fact aside from Simon calling her a dullard and his hawk attacking her a couple times, she doesn't suffer from the rampant buttmonkey syndrome that usually plagues those who stand at the defense bench. She's also a lot more competent than Maya and Trucy ever were. I'd say she'd be rather insufferable if she didn't have a real story going on. But she did, and by the end of the game I grew to really like her.

Anyway, all in all a fantastic game that really deserved a physical release, but as long as my 2DS doesn't break, I'm content that we even got it.

I'm going to buy this probably after my next pay check. I got 20 dollars for the eshop for Christmas so I will go buy another card for 20. How long does it take to download? I'm still using the SD card that came with the system.

So it seems the next new game is in the works and it's looking like a weird one right off the bat.

Set in the Meiji era of Japan and starring a sword wielding Phoenix look-alike with a much weaker eyebrow game. I have no idea what to think about this, but who knows, it might be interesting.