Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
25 Jul 2013
All releases
25 Jul 2013 - Nintendo 3DS
07 Aug 2014 - iOS
24 Oct 2013 - Nintendo 3DS
24 Oct 2013 - Nintendo 3DS
23 Oct 2013 - iOS
14 Aug 2013 - iOS
23 May 2017 - Android
13 Aug 2014 - iOS
Tags
Dual Destinies continues the style of gameplay from previous installments, in which the player must utilize evidence and find contradictions in witness statements to prove their client innocent. Like previous installments, gameplay is split up between Investigations, in which players find evidence and question witnesses, and Trials, where they must use the evidence to expose contradictions. The game now features full 3D graphics and character models, allowing more dynamic camera angles during gameplay, such as quickly panning around the courtroom in the moments before a dramatic reveal. The 3D camera also allows investigation sequences to take place in 3D spaces, permitting greater investigative depth, such as being able to rotate around a room to look for clues.
Dual Destinies takes place roughly a year after the events of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. The legal system has entered a dark era, filled with false charges and fabricated evidence. The Wright Anything Agency, run by Phoenix Wright, who retakes the bar exam to once again become a defense attorney following the previous game, takes on a newly christened lawyer named Athena Cykes, who specialises in analytical psychology, joining his other young attorney, Apollo Justice. Working together, Apollo and Athena tackle the case of a murdered alderman, facing up against Simon Blackquill, a fierce prosecutor who is ordered to stand in court despite currently serving a murder sentence (in the game's second case). Afterwards, Athena defends her childhood friend, Juniper Woods, after she is charged with the murder of her teacher at a law school, receiving help from prosecutor Klavier Gavin (third case).
| Audio | Subtitles | Interface | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ✓ | ||
| English | ✓ |
Psike_
1
WHERE THE FUCK IS EMA?!?!?!
The game introduces yet another new rookie lawyer protagonist, Athena Cykes. However, much like AJ, instead of giving her a central place in the story, the game is split between juggling her backstory, trying to develop Apollo into his own character and ignoring everything about Phoenix Wright, that is not from the original trilogy.
This is especially apparent with the mood matrix, which is supposed to be Athena's special ability, but during those gameplay segments she acts more like a glorified secretary than anything else most of the time.
The other new characters however I felt were more succesful in their execution, those being Prosecutor Blackquil and Detective Fulbright. Fulbright's character walks a tightrope of being annoying as a first impression, but slowly winning you over with his own charm, which pays of by the end.
Other (returning) characters unfortunately were not as lucky, like Trucy who has been downgraded to glorified extra, simply spouting magic panties jokes.
The game does not take advantage of the 3D graphics and animations it introduces, which range from decent to stiff and awkward and straight up unappealing.
The game’s main problem, however, is its handholdy nature. It is constantly spoiling the deductions you were expected to make in the previous game and way to willing to connect the dots without giving the player a chance to do so first.
The game also reverses the concept of the previous games, where the (good) cases started out complex and became simpler as the player uncovered the truth. In this game, the cases start out simple and become more and more convoluted as the game progresses, adding unnecessary twists and complications that make the story less satisfying to uncover. This is especially true for the last case, which suffers for this as character simply do not mention vital information for no reason other than to have a big twist later on.
Monstrous Turnabout is up there with my least favourite cases in AA, right up there with Turnabout Big Top and Turnabout Serenade, for being so drawn out and filled with annoying characters that are not fun to interact with.
The game also unfortunately recycles some old and tired tropes from the previous games, such as misleading bloody writing and plays out the parts before the tables turn in the cases too strongly.
It does have some redeeming qualities, such as the mock trial segment in the third case, which is a fun and creative way to introduce the basic facts of that case. Investigation segments could use a lot more fun diversions like that. In general I think this game is enjoyable, just not as strong as some of the previous games.
Dual Destinies is a game that, much like AJ, is stuck between the old and the new. It tries to please fans that did not like AJ, as well as fans that did like it, while also trying to appeal to new fans. This ends up in a diluted game that does not have enough time to do all three if those things well.
btw me encantó Bobby Fulbright, aunque ese desenlace me dejó un sabor agridulce
7.5/10
Ughhh... Break berbulan bulan mainin ini akhirnya selesai juga💀💀
AADD kayaknya adalah game pertama Ace Attorney yang pakai 3D sprite untuk karakternya(Well, karena game ini rilis di 3ds). Gw suka cara mereka memanfaatkan kebebasan kamera dengan sprite 3d modelnya untuk bikin suasana courtroom yang lebih cartoony dan dynamic, walaupun emang sprite 3d nya kadang keliatan agak goofy. Gw rasa sejauh ini, AADD ini jadi game Phoenix Wright paling fan-service, karena ngehadirin kameo beberapa karakter dari game sebelumnya. Dan diantara beberapa karakter itu, memang ada yang signifikan baget ke plotnya, tapi ada juga yang imo pure fanservice. Twist-twist dan plot point di game ini juga masih sangat "Ace Attorney". Kadang predictable, atau goofy, atau dumb, tapi ya, bukan Ace Attorney namanya kalau ga begitu. Plus, dev dan writernya selalu tahu gimana cara bikin Finale dengan Climax yang peak.
Tambahan lagi, game ini punya anime cutscene dengan voice acting yang eeeuughhhhhhhhh whhyyyy😭😭😭. Terus uh imo phoenix disini writing karakternya agak kurang. Diawal-awal sih masih bagus, tapi di 2 case terakhir gw ngerasa kayak ada yang off sama writingnya phoenix. Oke, tinggal spirit of justice dan trilogy kedua AA akhirnya bisa gw selesaikan.
