Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Episode 5 - Rise from the Ashes Review by: sonicthehedgeho.. - 10/10
“If you thought this rookie attorney is finished prepare to have your mind blown to ashes”There you are as you stand at the desk in your office of the Phoenix Wright Law Offices thinking about the events that have happened this past year. Along with the thought that Maya has been gone for 2 months and that Phoenix hasn’t had a single case in those 2 months although; he was offered some he chose not to accept for some reason, until that one day in his office the day that he met a young girl by the name of Ema Skye. So prepare your mind and brush up on your attorney skills as you’ve got a case to work on and we have review to read as well!
Graphics: 9 out of 10
Since this game is basically ported from the DS to the Wii there aren’t many changes in the way of the graphics. However; they definitely are improved from the Japanese Game Boy Advance versions of this game (not this case though as it wasn’t in the original game on the GBA). One major point of this case is the ability to view your evidence from all different angles to uncover hidden clues or necessary evidence that may be hidden inside other pieces of evidence, including things you may find in the surrounding area. There was also one other selling point to this case as well and it was the ability to use aluminum powder which can be used for taking fingerprints and once you have found your print you must then analyze the fingerprint and fin a 100% match within the list of people involved in this case. When you used the fingerprinting set you would have to touch...well the touch screen (no pun intended) in which you would see the powder fall onto the screen in the game and on the DS version you would blow into the mic to blow away the powder and reveal the fingerprint
(shaking the Wii remote in the Wii version would blow the powder away). Capcom did a nice job on implementing these new gameplay elements into this new case made exclusively to the Nintendo DS and Wii Ware systems so a 9 out of 10 is what Rise From the Ashes deserves in my opinion.
Sound: 10 out of 10
While there are only a few new songs added into they really do provide a nice atmosphere to the case just like many other songs have during the duration of this game. The most infamous of this case’s newest songs has to be the SL-9 Incident music as the feeling behind it in my opinion is even darker and more painful than the DL-6 Incident song. Another noteworthy song is Damon Gant’s theme which when you hear the organ sounds during the music you know that this person is of high ranking power although you’re not sure whether to determine them as wacky or serious. If you have played through the previous 4 cases and loved their themes then you will definitely be taken away by this case as well so a perfect job in the sound department which earns this a 10 out of 10.
Addictiveness: 10 out of 10
This case has to be my personal favorite in the entire 1st game of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, yes even more than the 4th case with Manfred Von Karma. The story, music, and characters introduced here make case 5 definitely worth the 100 Wii points required to buy this game from the title screen. Just like previous games in the series this case is most certainly addictive and I promise you that you will definitely not regret spending your points on this case as it includes a lot of fun/entertaining new elements like I described in the graphics part of this review (using luminol testing fluid, aluminum powder, and viewing your evidence at all different kinds of angles). A very interesting secret or Easter egg whatever you prefer to call it is at the end of the game during the credits, if you touch the bottom screen you can spread aluminum powder around and then blow it away to reveal a drawing/artwork of the character above who is speaking. There are other Easter eggs in this case that you can find as well, like optional bloodstains (stains that are not important to the main story of the game) or even looking at the back of Phoenix’s attorney’s badge to see a short little scene with Phoenix saying that he can never loan his badge out to anyone otherwise the switch would be found out immediately, which is kind of funny considering that in Trials and Tribulations (Gyakuten Saiban 3) he actually lends his attorney’s badge to Edgeworth in order for him to take his place as the defense in a certain case. This will certainly not disappoint fans of the series or even newcomers so once again another perfect 10 out of 10 is what I’m giving the addictiveness of this case.
Story: 10+ out of 10
As I stated in the introduction you’ve denied each case you’ve been given for that past 2 months due to Maya leaving to train and become a better spirit medium, just as you think to yourself that it’s pretty pointless to come to the office now a young girl around the age of 16 who first names Phoenix as defense attorney Mia Fey but then quickly learns who he is by his last name Wright because of the murder at Gourd Lake which involved Miles Edgeworth. Just as you are about to turn down her offer completely, the young girl named Ema Skye begs Phoenix to take the case because she knows her older sister is innocent. At that moment he decides to accept the task at hand however; things don’t go so well when you meet your defendant chief prosecutor Lana Skye whom looks down on Phoenix Wright saying that he should stay out of this case and that an attorney should never trust their clients, even with those words though he decides to
continue working on the case at any costs because he can tell by Ema’s reactions that this case has a deeper meaning than anyone could imagine. But; I must digress as if I continue to talk about the story here the entire case will be ruined for your own enjoyment factor, I think this has to be one of the best and my personal favorite story in all of the ace attorney games released in North America so far and if I could give this a higher rating than a 10 I would but sadly I can’t so I’m giving this story a perfect 10 out of 10.
Depth: 9 out of 10
Along with this case having a high value of addictiveness and perfect use of its sound department, this case is also the longest in all of the ace attorney series so far both on investigation sequences and trial sequences. There are 3 investigations that take place and there are 7 trials that also take place spawning 10 chapters in this one case, Rise from the Ashes also includes the most amount of evidence held by Phoenix Wright during the series which is 4 page screens worth of evidence. This game will take a long time to beat in 1 sitting so I’d prefer playing it evened out like day by day. Other than this there isn’t much else about the depth in this game so if you want a game that takes up several amount of your time then you should play this case which means this gets a 9 out of 10 in my book.
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
Rise from the Ashes is most likely the hardest case from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban 1) because it retains the same level of difficulty as case 4 however; there will be times where if you make one slip up/mistake your case will end with a guilty verdict or you will receive the bad ending if you make a mistake at the very end of the case. Though I do find this to be a nice addition to this game’s final case as it makes you truly feel the despair and hardships of having to act as the defense as well as the prosecutor each with their own separate meanings. As the defense you have to deal with the fact that you may not be able to completely save your client and you’re even afraid you might lose this case because of all the evidence stacked up against you, although; as the prosecutor you must make sure your evidence is legal and not forged otherwise you shall be the one held responsible if it is used for any reason. Even with these additions though it still isn’t the hardest game you will play on the WiiWare/DS so this only can receive an 8 out of 10 in my own perspective.
Knowing your case as it is now are you prepared to face the challenge ahead of you as the renowned Phoenix Wright? Of course you can why do you think your name is Phoenix because just like the bird no matter how many times you are set aflame you will never give up and you will rise from the ashes yet again!
Graphics
9 Sound
10 Addictive
10 Depth
9 Story
10 Difficulty
8
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