Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies Review

Title: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Format: Digital Download via Nintendo eShop, cartridge for Nintendo 3DS

Release Date: October 24, 2013

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Original MSRP: $39.99 US

MSRB Rating: M

*Author’s note: Due to the heavy amount of story that takes place in this game, I will only discuss events that take place between cases 1 and 2, to refrain from any huge spoilers.

All the Fun of Being a Lawyer, Without the Lawsuits!

                I want to open this review by saying that I am a big fan of the Phoenix Wright series. I picked up Ace Attorney about a year ago, and have been running through them off and on for about a year. I finally got around to the newest game in the series, and I felt right at home.

Game play: If you’ve never played a Phoenix Wright game before, this one may come as a bit of a shock. Here’s a quick synopsis to give you an idea: you play as Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney for the Wright and Co. law offices. Your job it to prove, through investigation and questioning of suspects and persons of interest, that your client is innocent. Each case typically consists of two parts: investigation (in which you gather information and clues as to who the real perpetrator is), and the trial (in which you use your evidence gathered to prove your client innocent). These games are HEAVILY story driven and require the player to pay attention to the actions that take place, with Dual Destinies taking no exception to this rule. With this being the fifth game in the main Ace Attorney series, it’s almost expected.

The Phoenix Wright series takes its influences from the old “point-and-click” genera, where you have to find specific pieces of information that are relevant to the case at hand. The games are quite challenging, forcing you to think outside the box multiple times in a section. You will have some help, though. In the newest game, you team up with Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes to help you out. Apollo is a rising attorney in your firm, and Athena is your partner for most of the trials. Athena specializes in analytical psychology, and her power to pull out the full story of a witness’ testimony. Confused? Don’t worry: the game lays everything out in an easy to understand way, teaching you as the story progresses.

Apart from a new partner and a new ability to use, not much else is new in the way of game play. You are still going around and figuring out the mysteries as to why your client was found guilty. It is a very rudimentary method, but it works. Although there’s not much new in the vein of game play, the narratives are spectacular. After the first five minutes I was locked in, spending several nights staying up late to finish off a trial so I could see what happens next. If you really need to sleep, there is an option to save your game at any time.

Visuals: With this being the first game on the 3DS, the visuals have gotten an immediate face-lift. Although the 3DS’s screen isn’t something to brag about, the guys at Capcom do their best to make the characters look as good as possible. Visual animations of every character are unique, the scenery has improved, all new locations (and improvements on older ones) look sharp, and there’s now animated cut-scenes at the beginning and end of most every case. Considering the power limitations of the 3DS, the game looks great. The 3D isn’t half-bad either. I could stand having it on for most of the game, but there were still moments where I needed to take a break because it was too much of a strain on my eyes.

Apart from the visual upgrades, the character models have improved significantly. No longer are they pixel-animated characters like in the past games. These new models have a much more fluid movement. You can tell the animators took a lot of time on the new models, as there is an actual transition from face-to-face, wherein the past everything was its own separate animation, similar to a bad .gif file or a glitching program.

Audio: The Phoenix Wright games have always had a good soundtrack, and Dual Destinies is, once again, no exception. The courtroom music is catchy and inspires vigor when your assumptions and accusations are correct. You end up looking forward to certain situations just to listen to the conviction music, as well as the song that plays when you may be in trouble. The music is composed by Noriyuki Iwadare, who has worked on the previous Phoenix Wright games, as well as the newest Kid Icarus game for the 3DS. If I were to put the soundtrack into a specific musical genre, it would have to be classical techno pop. It’s so damn catchy.

Online/Multiplayer: There is no online multiplayer for Dual Destinies, but you can StreetPass with other players. There is also DLC content available for download. It is an additional case that retails for $6.99 on the Nintendo eShop.

Conclusion: Go buy this game. Seriously, if you have a 3DS and like problem solving games, quirky Japanese acting, or story-based games, pick this one up. If you’re unsure about the price point, you can find the other four Phoenix Wright games pretty cheap for the Nintendo DS. The only real gripes I have about this game would be the inside jokes that are mildly common, some of the pixel hunting that takes place isn’t quite perfect yet, and the inability to speed up the text when I want. Apart from that, this game is perfect. Go buy this game.

Final Score: 9.25/10

Next week: Strider for PS3/PS4/Xbox360/Xbox1

Don’t agree with the review? Have a game you want me to look at? Want to throw a bottle of ketchup at me? Let me know on Twitter @AdHocMan. I’m also on Google+, but I still don’t know how to Google+ yet.

Review written by Zachary Hockin

Review: Outlast for PS4

Title: Outlast

Format: Digital Download via PlayStation Network (4.3 GB)

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Publisher: Red Barrels                                                                                                       

Developer: Red Barrels

Original MSRP: $19.99

ESRB Rating: M

Note: Outlast is also available on Steam for $19.99. The PS4 version was used for this review

Outlast – Bring Some Underwear

Gameplay: Outlast is a game that was produced by Red Barrels, a team well versed in game development. The group members have worked on Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, Uncharted 3, Army of Two, and many other respectable AAA games over the past fifteen years, and frankly, it shows in a great way. Outlast is a first-person survival-horror game in which you have no weapons and can’t fight. However, you do have a video camera with night vision, and the ability to maneuver around fairly well. Your goal is simple: survive.

Outlast opens up with a quiet drive down what looks like an abandoned road, and into what appears to be an abandoned insane asylum. Although it’s a classic trope, the setting feels right. The player soon finds out that they will be playing as Miles Upshur, an investigative reporter, who has been sent to Mount Massive Asylum to figure out what has been going on. After an anonymous tip was given to him regarding strange happenings at the asylum, Miles takes it upon himself to figure out the mystery. Speaking of tropes, the front door is locked, another way must be found inside, and most of the power has been turned off. Now, it’s up to Miles to figure out the mystery behind the asylum.

You didn’t think it’d be easy, did you? Apparently, there are three warring groups within the asylum: Father Martin, a religious nut who is trying to be bigger than God, Dr. Richard Trager, who makes Deadpool look sane, and the main boss of the game, who I won’t explain for spoiler reasons.

Gameplay is fairly basic. You really only have seven commands: jump, walk, run, use your camera, hide, pick up item, and crouch. Jumping isn’t always as fluid as you would hope. In the later levels, it becomes a critical element to the game, and it’s frustrating when there’s clearly enough room for you to jump between you and a monster, and the game says: “Nah, I’m not gonna let you do that. Sorry bro.” When the jumping mechanics do work, the game turns into Mirrors Edge with a haunted house vibe. For a reporter, you sure are athletic. I complain, but the open areas and jumping mechanics work really well when the game says you’re going to need them. Running around is smooth, the opening door animation is fluid, and a strong sense of accomplishment is had when you successfully outrun a monster and scramble into an air duct.

Visuals: As you would expect from a horror game, there’s a lot of darkness to be found. As soon as you walk up to the asylum, you’re greeted with a strong feeling that a lot of care was put into the design of this asylum. Rooms are laid out correctly, almost everything loads in real time (save for a few important locations), and the shadowing effects are really quite impressive. The place looks haunted.

Like all haunted mental asylums, the place is dark. To counteract this, your video camera has night vision. In order to keep it going, you need batteries which are fairly easy to find. Night vision and the dark add a couple clever tricks into your arsenal when hiding from monsters. 

The game’s environments really do portray a sense of helplessness and fear when you’re exploring the asylum. Dark corners, mangled body parts and hideous monsters are par for the game and Outlast does a fantastic job at making you think twice about what may be around the next corner.

Audio: Many of the NPCs have clever lines of dialogue that add to the dismal atmosphere. Although, don’t expect much in the way of Skyrim-like dialogue trees. Most characters, aside from the main ones, have fewer than two or three lines of dialogue. Although creepy, the phrase: “it’s not safe” (and several variants on it) were said fairly often. I do understand that these characters have been through a lot and that the trauma was, from what I learned through character interactions, horrible, a few extra lines would have helped with the immersion process.

Aside from that, the main characters’ voice actors do a fantastic job at providing an exceptionally eerie vibe, fitting well with the setting the designers are trying to create. Madness, desperation, and insanity are all executed perfectly by the main voice actors. The background music also adds to the dread by not being too overpowering, unless you are caught in conflict with the monsters. After being spotted, the “battle music” starts, and a Metal Gear-like escape sequence starts where you have to lie low until the monsters resume their path. You can usually place where they are coming from with character monologues, rattling chains, and by how loud/intense the music is.

Online/Multiplayer: There’s no online multiplayer, however you can stream your gameplay to UStream or Twitch and broadcast to other people via the PS4

Conclusion: Outlast, as a horror game, is a nice change of pace. There’s a lot of depth to the game, areas to explore, and back story that can be added through case notes and files scattered through the game. There’s a constant feeling of despair to be had and the controls are fairly tight. However, the game has little to no replay value. Once you run through the game once, you’re not going to see too much new content. There is some DLC slated for the future, but it seems like it will be more of the same. It is free for PS+ members through February, so you may as well pick it up.  If you’re in the mood for a good scare that may or may not give you nightmares, Outlast is your game.

Final Score: 7.0/10

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Next Week - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies for Nintendo 3DS

Octodad: Dadliest Catch on Steam

Title: Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Format: Steam download

Release Date: January 30, 2014

Publisher: Young Horses

Developer: Young Horses

Original MSRP: $14.99

ESRB Rating: RP

                     Nothing Says “Romantic” Like an Octopus in a Suit

It’s February, and that means love is in the air. At least, it’s in the air until the 14^th. What better to celebrate this than with a game involving a loving suburban family and tentacles?

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a 3^rd person puzzle game by Wild Horses, in which you are the father of a suburban family and have to deal with the day-to-day activities of any normal family, but as an octopus. The game opens up on Octodad’s wedding day. His bride to be is awaiting his presence on the altar, and our protagonist is nowhere to be found. Luckily, he is found by a member of the church’s staff who alerts Octodad that his Bride-to-be is growing worried, and completely overlooks the fact that he is staring at an octopus standing on his tentacles and getting ready. Here’s where the game takes off.

The game is intentionally tough. It trains you to think about how an octopus would walk on land if it could. In some sense, it’s quite similar to the classic Flash game: QWOP. However, instead of running on a track, you’re running away from a villainous sushi chef through the back room of the local grocery store.

 Story: When playing Octodad for the first time, subtitles are automatically turned on, as they are core to some of the jokes the writers add into the game. 

Several of the jokes and one-liners come from Octodad himself whenever he feels someone, or something, is trying to wreck the pleasant life he has set up. After his wedding day, we flash forward about five years and find that Octodad has two kids (they’re human) and a calm life. Only after doing some quick chores around the house do we discover that he’s being hunted by a mad French chef who is out for blood. The whole game, apart from two flashbacks, takes place over a day, leading to an interesting ending.

Gameplay: Your first objective in the game introduces you to the awkward, yet intuitive controls of Octodad. Regardless of whether or not you use a controller, the mechanics are practically the same: you’re shown that you will be moving in a 3D space through the game. The left mouse button controls your left leg, the right button controls the right leg, and the middle mouse button switches you from movement mode to selection mode. For a controller, movement is designated to the triggers and the “A” button (or “cross” for PlayStation controllers). The first level shows you everything you will need to know to beat the game within five minutes, and only holds your hand through the very beginning of the tutorial. I’m not a huge fan of tutorials in games; however I can make an exception here due to the control scheme being unique. 

Octodad is charming, but there are a few minor problems with it. First and foremost: there are moments where Octodad will glitch through a wall or two with no way to get out. There were a few points in the supermarket level where, as I’m attempting to grab a 2-liter of Mango Soda for my son, my legs would get caught in the walls I had been climbing on. Although that can be fixed by reloading the last save, it did happen enough to cause a mild amount of frustration. To compliment that, the checkpoints are fairly close together, which does make the issue of wall glitching easier to cope with. 

Apart from that, the game is quite short, especially for having 11 levels. All together, the game took about 5 hours. There are collectables that can be found in the levels, and there is achievement support for the game, but once I beat it, the only reason I would go back to it would to show a friend what the game is like. There are a few comical ties available like the Dragon Fire tie, the Yin and Yang tie and the Hen tie, but for me the appeal was not strong enough to get all 30 available.

Visuals: Like many PC games, the visuals can easily be altered. I played this on two different platforms: a normal laptop that didn’t have any real power behind it, and a high-end gaming laptop. On the high-end laptop, the game looks pretty good. All of the screenshots were taken from that laptop, and although the characters are a bit angled during a cut scene, it doesn’t take away from the game itself. However, in a strange way, it fits the game in a fantastic way. As for the standard laptop, there is some frame rate issues that caused the came to freeze (especially near the end of the game) when there were a lot of objects on screen that needed to be rendered. Even after toning down the graphics and the size of the window, the frame rate struggled. However, if you have a decent graphics card and a fairly strong processor, you should not have to worry.

Audio: Most of the music in this game is ambient noise, which is not a bad thing at all. For example, when exploring the later parts of the aquarium levels, there’s a serene, yet cautious feeling as you wander the halls, trying to find your family. The reason I say mostly is because after the first level, one of the catchiest theme songs in a video game starts to play. I found myself unconsciously humming the song throughout the day. It’s just that good. As for the voices of the characters, there are maybe one or two lines that I thought were read a little weird. However, it wasn’t nearly enough to derail the experience.

Multiplayer: There’s no online multiplayer for Octodad, however to really get the most out of this game, bring a friend over and watch them struggle to grasp the controls. There’s ample opportunity to chide your friend for not being able to climb up a set of escalators, with both of you enjoying yourselves along the way.

Octodad may not be the perfect game, but he may be the most perfect octopus-husband the gaming world has seen. With a charming narrative, clever controls, and a novel concept, Octodad is an interesting game that is definitely worth the price.

Final Score: 8.25/10

Next Week: Outlast on PS4/Steam

You can follow me on Twitter: @AdHocMan