Phoenix Wright - UI and Gameplay

Phoenix Wright, originally designed for the GBA in Japan and moved over to the DS with its first English release, is a relatively simple game in terms of gameplay mechanics and graphical style. The Phoenix Wright main series covers four games, with a couple of spinoff games already published or in the works. The bottom screen is dedicated to UI functions, movement and other commands while the top screen is used almost entirely for conversations.

On the top screen, you can see character dialogue (the blue, bracketed text indicates internal thought) and on the bottom screen is the character's court record. This record holds evidence and profiles for the various people involved within the case. The player can tap specific pieces of evidence in order to view more information regarding them.

As can be seen below, the user can also cycle between profiles and evidence by tapping the button in the top right corner.

This setup allows the player to examine evidence and profiles against whatever is happening in the top screen, useful when attempting to find inconsistencies and lies within witness testimony. Generally, the player looks between these  two screens at all times when participating in court trials.

Out of the courtroom, the interface changes slightly. While evidence and profiles are still available via the court record button, the player is also given a set of commands that they can perform on any given screen.

This is very similar to the old point and click menus featured in games like Deja Vu, Portopia, and Simon the Sorcerer. However, in Phoenix Wright, the player does not move, talk or present to the background environment. Talk and present are relevant only to whichever character is on screen at the time. Examine allows the player to look at objects in the background, and the player need only tap each object to interact with it. The move command allows the player to select an area out of a list of discovered places in order to travel to it.

When examining, the bottom screen becomes searchable.

Introduced in the last case of the first game was a special examine evidence feature, put into place on the English translation of the game in order to show off the touch screen on the DS (the original Japanese edition was on the GBA, and didn't have these features). This examine evidence feature was not heavily expanded upon in later games.

The player was able to take a piece of evidence out on the lower screen and twist and turn it around in order to find less obvious clues. The player could also use fingerprint powder and luminol in order to find further clues.

All of these features are convenient and help with the player's engrossment in the game, giving them the freedom to look over the evidence and people involved with a case in a way that does not break immersion and keeps the player in character.

It's worth noting that the style of the main series means that the player is not given free roam movement. While this likely started out as a way to compensate for hardware limitations of the GBA, it eventually became a signature style for the series. However, one of the spin-off series for the franchise breaks away from this formula. Based on one of the main characters (who becomes a reoccuring character in subsequent games) of the main game, it focuses entirely on out-of-court witnesses and evidence gathering. The game features fully animated models in a 2D environment, and, unlike the original game, allows the player to view the action instead of just reading the text that accompanies it. In the original games, actions were generally dictated by sound effects and character reactions before, after and during. In the spin offs, the player was able to witness movements around the screen and limited amounts of animated interactions between models. They were also able to move the main character and his partner around directly.

Much of the original game is still visible in the spin off, including the text and dialog style. While not shown above, the usual character portraits are still regularly used when characters are speaking to each other. The character art on these portraits has been updated, though, and two often appear on screen at the same time during conversations. Also worth noting is that the main character is regularly seen on screen, as is shown below. This is interesting as in the main game, Phoenix (the MC) is only ever shown in the courtroom phases and never makes an appearance during any other section of the game.

  

 Movement around the game no longer relies on move menus. Instead, the player can freely steer their character around the crime scene, and must place him at the relevant location in order to examine something.

The player moves the character around through dragging the stylus along the floor map featured on the bottom screen. The MC will then move relevant to where the stylus is being dragged on the top screen. This movement system is similar to the one in Hotel Dusk, with enhancements.

Also worth noting is the game's use of colour and art relevant to the tone and genre of the narrative. While the game deals with murder and the criminals involved, the dialog within the game and the overall humor is very lighthearted. The game has some emotionally touching moments, but overall the series is very much known for its puns, lively characters and pop culture references. This is reflected in the use of bright colours and cartoony art.