Tag: nintendo switch

Untitled Goose Game – My Cousin Is Afraid of Geese and Now I Know Why:

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I’ve never been a fan of geese. Then again, I don’t think anyone on the planet is particularly fond of them. They are known as the douchebags of the avian world, with their terrifying spiky tongues and tendency to harass anyone that even glances at them. Thankfully, I’ve only really been chased by geese rather than outright attacked but both my cousin and my sister have felt the sharp nip of their beaks. When we were all younger, we used to go feed the ducks and play by the riverside. Every so often we’d see a swan glide past or a group of geese honking at one another. Whilst feeding a duck some seeds, a goose snuck up on my cousin and started honking aggressively, flapping its wings and hissing like the big jerk it was. Being a six-year-old at the time, my cousin burst into tears and froze on the spot, triggering the goose to bite her and cause her to drop her little bag of seeds. My aunt chased it off, but my cousin still hates geese to this day and she’s twenty-two!

Although utter jerks, geese are a part of nature and I get a great sense of peace from watching the birds on the canals near where I live. It’s a calming moment amongst some of the darker times that the real world likes to burden us with. Video games seem to follow this trend recently, with a lot of recent releases being rather gritty, hard-hitting games that reveal some of the darker features of human nature. Games strive to show us a part of ourselves that we refuse to admit is there, highlighting important issues and teaching us lessons that can’t always be taught in school. However, considering how dark the real world can get sometimes, turning to a video game that is just as dark, can seem a tad depressing. Which is why silly games like Mount Your Friends or Quiplash are so important in bringing joy back to our lives. One game that takes this concept and runs headlong into the village with it, is the Untitled Goose Game.

Time to listen to BBC Radio HONK!

If you’ve been hiding in a cave without an internet connection, then I’ll quickly explain the premise of the game in the words of the developers – “It’s a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose.” As the goose, who I have lovingly named Flerken (thumbs up if you get that reference), your job is to roam around the village causing all sorts of chaos. From stealing the gardener’s rake and throwing it into the lake, locking the shopkeeper in the garage, stealing a man’s shoes off his feet and making another trip over, there’s no end to the potential hilarity of this game.

At its core, it’s a puzzle game. To progress, you must complete a series of tasks on your to-do list in order to unlock the next area. Some tasks require a bit more planning than others but no matter what task you complete, you get a great deal of satisfaction when that item gets crossed off your list. I think House House, the developers behind the game, have managed to create a game that brings childlike delight to all who play it, as well as providing a series of complex tasks that feed into the concept of reward motivation. Whether that reward is progressing the game, getting to see the hilarious consequences of your actions or simply the pleasure of crossing an item off your list, House House encourages it’s players to keep trying – after all, when we know there’s a reward at the end, we are more determined to get there.

Don’t hire the goose as a waiter, he has a fowl mouth.

There are two things that I feel we as humans should do on a regular basis. The first is to cry – just sob and let all your emotions pour out of you. We can’t hold it all in forever, eventually, we will explode, and I’d rather explode in the private of my own home rather than lashing out at those I love by accident. The other is to laugh. Not to snigger or laugh politely at a bad joke, but a proper laugh. One that shakes your shoulders and leaves you gasping for air, where your stomach aches and your cheeks hurt from smiling. When you laugh like that, it leaves a grin on your face for the rest of the day and makes everything seem that bit lighter. Running around as a goose, annoying people and honking like a maniac manage to bring me those moments of laughter.

It’s a game that appeals to the troublemaker in each of us. Growing up, we are told not to cause trouble as it upsets and frustrates those around us but a little part of us finds it funny. House House taps into this vein of mischief with a charming little game that apparently started as a joke that snowballed into a gaming phenomenon that even the most cynical of people can crack a smile at. Even in games where you are given the choice to act like a jerk, we often choose to be kind because most of us inherently want to be good people. So, a game that is based around being a gigantic jerk to the various humans and causing as much chaos as possible to this sleepy little village, is a delightful time for the devils that sit on our shoulders.

FEAR ME TIMMY! I AM THE GOOSE!

There’s an incredible amount of detail that has gone into this game, with each “level” providing you with more opportunities to wreak havoc than you could ever imagine. The villagers wandering around the level all respond to the goose differently, some actively encouraging you and others chasing you away with a broom, so you have to adapt your approach to solving each objective dependent on whether you’re going to be chased after by a big burly man. Little thought bubbles pop up above the villager’s heads in response to various events, such as what they are going to do next or what item has magically disappeared from the garden and ended up in the lake (it wasn’t me I swear), which provide good clues to the player for those slightly trickier objectives.

From replayability to speedrunning, the game has a great deal of potential for sticking around as a darling indie games that are beloved by all. Undertale, Super Meat Boy, Cuphead and The Stanley Parable are all examples of this, and I hope more than anything that this delightful chaos causing goose becomes a staple in the gaming community for decades to come. Its art style won’t have to worry about graphical updates making it look bad in comparison, and what’s not to love about being a goose? HONK! I can agree, that this game was definitely worth the wait and although I’ve already finished all the objectives and claimed my little goose crown, I will be replaying it time and time again, for that sense of pure joy that it provides even when my mental health decides that it’s time to suffer. HONK HONK!

Well, well, well, what do we have here.

Anyways, depending on how much free time I get this week, I’m going to try and finish off Prey and write about it! The mimics will probably be the focus of the article as the concept of things not being what they appear is a big problem that those with mental health issues have to combat in everyday life. Until then, like, leave a comment and follow the site, plus my Twitter to keep up to date with everything @OurMindGames!

Till next time,

CaitlinRC.

GRIS – So Beautiful It Should Be Illegal:

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So, a few days ago, I had hit a bit of a writer’s block. I wasn’t sure what game I wanted to talk about, so I reached out on Twitter to you guys (@OurMindGames) for any suggestions. Out of the many awesome suggestions I got from you guys, one really grabbed my attention. It was a game called GRIS, an artistic platformer that had been on my radar for a little while. People have spoken very highly of its visuals, soundtrack and powerful message – so needless to say, it seemed right up my alley. As I’m currently prepping to go back to university for my final year, I have some free time on my hands, so I decided to dedicate an afternoon to trying out GRIS. That afternoon quickly morphed into the rest of the day, until around 9 PM that evening when the credits rolled, and I sat back in my chair – stunned into silence.

The story of GRIS isn’t clearly laid out to the player. It’s told through imagery, visualization, and symbolism that will leave you pondering it’s meaning hours after you put it down. At its core, it’s a puzzle platformer. The further you progress through the game, the more abilities you unlock, which allows you to progress to new areas. It’s a fairly linear experience so you don’t worry too much about getting lost, however, the game does encourage you to explore each area to its fullest – with the key to moving on often being tucked away in a hidden cave or up a series of complex jumps. It’s a game that rewards you for taking your time and looking around, which as a completionist is a very satisfying experience.

This is your protagonist. Though you could argue, you are the real protagonist.

When the game starts, you see a young girl lying in the hand of a statue – seemingly asleep. She awakes and begins to sing, gradually rising into the air when suddenly her voice just stops. Without her voice, the statue crumbles and you are powerless to watch as she plummets to the ground, a seemingly desolate place devoid of the beautiful colours of the sky above. To start with, she can barely walk without crumpling to the ground, gradually regaining her strength and abilities as the game goes on. You collect tiny stars that form little constellations, allowing you to cross gaps and restore colour to the world around you. Each colour you restore opens another section – e.g. unlocking blue restores water to the world, enabling underwater exploration.

Honestly, you could fill an art museum with screenshots of this game, and nobody would question it, as this game is visually stunning. The artists behind this game manage to make even the simplest of colour schemes and landscapes beautiful. When you combine that with the haunting soundtrack, this game is best experienced in a room by yourself, on a big screen. I played it on my switch but honestly, it deserves a fully equipped cinema with surround sound and a ginormous screen to truly appreciate every titbit of detail and love that has gone into crafting this game. The game itself is not very long, it took me about 4 hours on and off to finish a playthrough, including a twenty-minute puzzle section that I was just too dumb to realize the simple solution to.

How is possible to be this gorgeous a game, I’m just saying!

What I really want to talk about though, is what I feel the story behind this game is. As there are only a few little cutscenes and the closest we get to any exposition from the character herself is through song, it’s mostly about how you choose to interpret it. The achievements list gives you a hint towards the game’s true meaning – specifically those related to each “Stage” or chapter of the game. I didn’t notice this until the final chapter when I popped an achievement called “Stage 5 – Acceptance”. This achievement and its counterparts all refer to stages from the Kubler-Ross model, which talks about the five stages we go through when we are grieving. Let me explain each stage and its corresponding achievement in GRIS:

Stage 1: Denial – Often our first reaction is to deny that anything is wrong as if pretending it doesn’t exist will reduce the pain later. In the first chapter of GRIS, you start out barely able to walk – collapsing to your knees frequently and struggling to stand up again. Most players will get GRIS to stand back up, but if you leave the controller and let her stand up again on her own – this stage of the model will be fulfilled, as she herself denies that anything is wrong.

Devoid of colour and life, the world seems to be crumbling around you.

Stage 2: Anger – When we are upset, often we internalize that pain and instead lash out at others. When you are hurting, sometimes you feel like that nobody understands the pain you are in and that the only way to lessen the pain you are in is to inflict it upon others. During the second chapter of GRIS, you gain the “heavy” ability which allows you to smash through unstable objects and destroy various statues/pots scattered around the world. This ability is a clear manifestation of that second stage of grief, which the achievement emphasizes as when you destroy three specific statues, you get the “anger” popup.

When the world tries to knock you down, keep pushing on through.

Stage 3: Bargaining – “Don’t you think after all this time, and everything I have ever done, that I am owed this one?” – The Doctor in the Snowmen, Season 7 of Doctor Who. This quote sums up the bargaining stage of grief for me. We feel that we are owed something, that we deserve better than our current situation presents. That maybe, just maybe, the world will take pity on us and provide that little bit of hope. We beg for it, trying to barter with chips that have no real worth anymore, even though we know deep down that it won’t work. In GRIS’s case, this is seen when you come across a statue in the forest chapter. Her first reaction to it when you try to interact is to sing to it, despite her voice still being gone. She is trying to barter with something that isn’t there anymore.

If you don’t learn to accept things, it’ll weigh you down forever.

Stage 4: Depression – I think the use of the underwater section for this stage is remarkably clever. Often, we describe depression as sinking under the waves, falling further and further from the light that we so desperately try to cling to. In my case, it often feels like a heavyweight is attached to my ankle, slowly tugging me downwards no matter how hard I resist it.  In order to get this achievement in GRIS, you must seek out the statue hidden in the darkness. This section is pitch black and finding this hidden cavern is not easy, as its surroundings are full of creeping darkness that threatens to consume you. That statue is of a woman, seemingly sinking down into the inky depths, like how you fell from the sky at the beginning of the game.

We all sink into the darkness sometimes. We just need to keep pushing back to the light.

Stage 5: Acceptance – After retrieving your voice and escaping the shrouding darkness, you come across a tomb on the remains of the land. In this tomb is a statue, lying down, still and quiet. If you sing to it, the acceptance achievement pops. Although it doesn’t seem like much at the time, to me it reminds me of the songs you sing at funerals. In those moments, you can hear the whirling mix of emotions in everyone’s voices – grief, joy, longing and hope all mingling together as one. It’s a haunting yet powerful experience to be a part of, whether they were your close family, a good friend or just an acquaintance.

To me, this game is a tale of grief and loss. Now, this is just my interpretation, but I think that our young protagonist has just lost her mother. To me, the start of the game seems to be the moment that the loss truly hits her and her whole world crumbles around it, losing all the joy, colour and structure that her mother brought to it. Often when we lose someone, we feel like a part of ourselves has been ripped from us, like a missing limb or a hole in your once full heart. In GRIS’s case, this manifests as the loss of her abilities. She struggles to walk, to move through the world on her own, to begin with. Her voice, which can restore life to the world and heal the cracks in it, has been stripped from her. Every time she opens her mouth, nothing comes out – as if she is on one side of a one-way mirror, slamming her hands against it but getting no response.

Every colour she restores to the world, every demon she faces (looking at you, giant creepy eel thing), brings her one step closer to overcoming the grief that is threatening to consume her. The darkness and demons chasing her, seem to indicate depression and anxiety – the way they appear and disappear, how they creep up on her and force her to flee. She can’t fight it, only try to outrun it. The same is in life, you can’t outright fight mental illness. It’s always there and it always comes back. You learn to coexist with it, to lessen its hold on you, to accept it as part of you. The end of the game leans towards this, with her seemingly moving on – her voice spiraling up into the sky, harmonizing with her mother’s, shattering the remaining darkness and restoring colour to the world. It’s a powerful ending to a powerful game.

Light and darkness cannot exist without one another.

This is probably the most moving game I’ve played in the last year. Having recently lost my grandfather, it spoke to me on an incredibly personal level. Even if you can’t afford it right now, watch a playthrough of it, or even listen to the game’s soundtrack. It is, hauntingly beautiful and something I think we all understand on a primal level. Grief and loss are a part of life, yet I hadn’t played a game that really summed up that experience until I played GRIS.

I hope you all have a great week, next up is Little Nightmares! If you enjoyed this piece, remember to like it, follow the site and comment below any feedback or suggestions for future articles!

Much love,

CaitlinRC

Dragon Quest Builders – We Built This City on Monster Bits:

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First things first – if you didn’t sing the title of this article, I’m disappointed. Second, since Dragon Quest Builders 2 was released last month, I’m going to talk about the original instead because I refuse to follow the bandwagon and also I have basically no knowledge of the sequel, whilst I spent a ridiculous number of hours playing the original. So, if I was to describe the Dragon Quest Builder games, the most appropriate description would be where Minecraft, Dragon Quest, and Harvest Moon had a weird love child that nobody expected to be as good as it was. Although I’ve only actually played one Dragon Quest game from the main series, it’s a game that I frequently come back to and replay, so when I spotted this spinoff in the Nintendo Switch store, I was intrigued.

The game splits itself across several “chapters” that have you traveling across the realm, helping fight off monsters and rebuilding the society that has been consumed by darkness. The evil Dragon Lord has conquered the world and taken away the resident’s ability to build and create. This means that it is up to you, the hero, to rebuild their cities, dispel the darkness and eventually defeat the Dragon Lord once and for all. This mostly results in you doing various tasks for the villagers, painstakingly recreating blueprints and hoarding every resource that you can get your hands on. The characters you help are remarkably likable (except Rollo, screw that guy) so the tasks feel less like fetch quests and more as if you are actively improving these people’s lives.

ROLLO, OVER MY DEAD BODY WILL YOU BE MAYOR.

The game has a good balance of resource gathering, construction, and combat. Alongside the main questline, each island has a series of optional objectives available to you. Some of them involve battling dragons, others have you helping a friendly mob build a garden. Although they are not revealed to you until you complete the chapter for the first time, it adds a nice layer of replayability to each set of islands, as well as ensuring you pay more attention to the next chapter, now that you know roughly what to look for. Some of the combat encounters are tougher than others but running away like a coward is always an option (except boss fights). One of the first things the game teaches you is how to craft health items and food, which ensures that you don’t die a horrible death in the wilderness.

Like any Dragon Quest game, you can equip armor, weapons, and tools to help you along your way, although in this case, you must craft them using gathered materials at specific stations. For example, you couldn’t smelt metal on a workbench, so you better get to building that furnace! The further into the game you get, the more complex the stations you’ll require to complete your tasks – don’t fret though, the game never gives you more than you can handle and you can always view exactly what you need for the recipe. Rarer resources can be crafted into stronger armor or different weapons that can be used to take down specific enemies, really nothing you haven’t seen before.

I’m just saying, this would all go a lot faster if people would chip in.

Dragon Quest Builders is a remarkably calming game, an experience that you can actively lose yourself in for hours at a time. I didn’t quite realize it until I looked up from my Switch once to realize that it was 2 am and I’d been playing for four hours straight. I am particularly fond of building up my little town in each chapter to perfection. Depending on what you build in the town, you gain “points” and your town can level up. It doesn’t have a major impact on your game but there is something very satisfactory about having well-constructed rooms and defenses to keep out the various critters that like to attack you in droves. Plus, it does make completing the main storyline easier as you can skip any “level up the town quests” and finding space to build a new room is a lot simpler.

Like many games in the “building” genre, it has a creative mode. This allows you to build and travel to the various islands you’ve visited during the story, as well as craft all the items and rooms you unlocked. The more of the story and the side quests you complete, the more is available to you to play around within the creative mode, which really encourages you to get the most out of each world. Now, I’m no master builder like those who build to-scale recreations of various world landmarks in Minecraft, but I do enjoy putting my own twist on more simplistic creations such as a house or a garden. This game allows me to do that, alongside stabbing the occasional monster and blowing up various bits of the landscapes with my homemade bombs. Although I’ve never fully completed the game itself, I have sunk a lot of time into it, and I’m genuinely excited to get my hands on the sequel.

One day I will be able to build something this good.

Any game that brings that element of calmness to you is a good one in my opinion. Often sections in games can be stressful and tense, requiring you to step away for a while to calm yourself and fully appreciate what you just experienced. I love those moments but sometimes, I just want a game that I can throw myself into and just relax with, rather than stressing about the anxieties in the virtual world as well as my real one. I think Dragon Quest Builders fits that, with its cute art style and enjoyable gameplay mechanics making it a worthwhile experience, especially if you have a Switch. It’s the perfect game for on the go and doesn’t require much thought to be put into enjoying it, so you can play for a bit on the train and walk away without worrying about forgetting crucial clues or plot points.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little piece on Dragon Quest Builders. Up next, the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise and how the lore behind it brought together a community. Remember to follow the site, like the posts and comment below any suggestions – or tweet them to me @OurMindGames

Until next time,

CaitlinRC

Super Mario Odyssey – Over The Moon For Moons:

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When we think of video games and their well-known mascots, 99% of people’s minds will go to the infamous plumber, Mario. Whether he’s flying through space or adventuring through Bowser’s internal organs, this moustachioed man can be found everywhere. I didn’t really have much experience with the Mario games personally. My main experience with them was Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS and even then, I mostly used it to play the awesome minigames with my cousins and my sister whenever we were together (just saying, I normally won). Mario games always felt a little bit lacking in the story department and repetitive with its mechanics. So, apart from the Mario & Luigi games which took a leaf out of Mario RPG’s book, and Mario Galaxy (because space is cool), my focus wasn’t on the red plumber.

When I got my Switch, I realised that I could get it cheaper if I got Mario Odyssey as well. So, I decided to go for it, thinking if anything, I’d have a fun time playing it even if I never came back to it. Plus, I was curious what it would be like to possess the minds of living creatures and make them dance to my will like puppets on strings. Plus, each possessed creature gets a version of Mario’s moustache, which is far too funny an opportunity to pass up. So, I booted up the game for the first time and was greeted by Mario’s goofy face, though thankfully in a slightly more appealing way than Super Mario 64 because that loading screen was bloody terrifying.

First things first, Mario Odyssey basically every commendation it receives and if you get the chance, it is a Mario game worth playing. It works as a good entry point into the series and really shows off the capabilities of the console, making use of the motion controls of the Joy-Cons which are a major upgrade from the controls of the Nintendo Wii. It’s charming, with an awesome soundtrack and a series of stunning levels that rewards players for thinking outside the box. Plus, with so many Moons to collect, there’s a strong urge to search every single nook and cranny of each level to ensure you haven’t missed anything. Especially when that level is so stuffed full of collectables that I guarantee it’ll burst if you put anything else in there.

Not sure anyone wanted to see this but… thanks Nintendo?

What a slightly smaller subset of people will have noticed, is the strong parallels between Nintendo’s Mario Odyssey and that of another famous Odyssey – written by Homer, the legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. These two epics follow the story of the Greek hero, Odysseus, through his actions in the Trojan war and his journey home after the war ended, with victory going to the Greek’s, after the infamous Trojan horse incident. However, like any good story, the journey home was not smooth sailing and it took him ten long years to return to his wife and son, who he had left behind on the island of Ithaca. If you’ve never read these two great epics and have even a slight interest in mythology, go read it because you gain a deeper understanding about the word “odyssey” and it’s meaning in modern life.

It’s clear that Nintendo’s creation takes a few pages out of Homer’s writings, with some tweaks of their own. The entire main story of Mario Odyssey has you travelling around the world, chasing after Bowser and Peach, who always seems just one step away from you. Much like Odysseus, you travel from land to land, having to resolve the resident’s various issues and killing the occasional monstrosity as you go. Every time you think you’ve reached the end of your journey; another minor inconvenience occurs like a cyclops, being shot out of the sky by a giant cannon or a furious god of the sea drowning most of your crew members. Both Odysseus and Mario continue their journey, not for fame or glory, but to see their loved ones again, even if it means travelling to the underworld, fighting a giant dragon or disguising themselves as a hunk of meat? (What even Nintendo, what even.)

One thing that I truly love about both Homer’s Odyssey and Nintendo’s game, is that it allows you to envision travelling the world in someone else’s shoes, without ever having to leave your home. A lot of people will be saying, why don’t you go travel the world then if you love it so much? The answer to that, like the answer to many of my issues, is that of mental health. I can’t think of a single mental health condition that wouldn’t hinder you in some way from enjoying your travels. Be it having an anxiety attack in an airport, not having your support network with you when you have a depressive episode, facing your phobias by yourself or not being able to eat because to you and your mind, it is inedible. We don’t think about these things until they are suddenly blocking our path but it’s something every person with a mental health condition or a physical ailment must consider, every time they go outside.

Friendly reminder, Cappy can render you unable to control your body as you are forced to watch it be controlled by a maniac plumber.

A good explanation of this is my thought process when I go to a coffee shop to study. My anxiety demands I take the same, safe route that I have committed to memory. As I walk, I wear my noise-cancelling headphones to block out the overwhelming stimuli around me, be that passing conversation, traffic or just some very angry seagulls. Once I get there, I order, retrieve my coffee and go sit upstairs in a corner, where I can see everyone who is going up or down the stairs. I am, what you would call, naturally paranoid. Tiny changes in the environment, be it a chair moving or a conversation suddenly falling silent, can set off my anxiety. That anxiety leads to self-loathing which leads to depression which leads to flashbacks and nightmares, which sets off my PTS. It’s a cycle of damage that if I don’t take precautions with, could ruin my afternoon or even the rest of the month for me. Now, imagine that level of thought, having to be applied to travelling abroad. It’s a terrifying overload of information, is it not?

Games that incorporate travel and exploration as a big part of their narrative can be a major boon to those of us who might never be able to experience that for ourselves. In Mario’s case, the simplistic nature of the game also makes it more accessible. There’s a two-player mode for those with young children or those who struggle to use the Joy Con’s tiny controllers due to physical ailments  (trust me they can be a nightmare), though the game does punish you slightly for using the two-player mode, since it refuses to let you take part in various minigames, blocking off a lot of the game’s content which is a bummer.

This whole sequence was traumatic if I’m honest.

Anyways, I’ve rambled on long enough about this and if we’re not careful, I’ll be talking about mythology for the next 10,000 articles on this blog. Considering talking about card games or the Drawn To Life series from the Nintendo DS (yes I did just finish both games over the course of a four day weekend, no you should get a life). Let me know any suggestions down below and remember to comment, like and follow the site to keep up to date on all my posts!

Till next week,

CaitlinRC.

The Phoenix Wright Trilogy – Object to Everything

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There are many game concepts that you never really think would make a successful gaming franchise. From farming to banking, the world of video games has a remarkable ability to make the dull seem fascinating. A lot of children are started on lifelong career paths through the medium of gaming – though I’d recommend not following in Agent 47’s footsteps… One such vocation is that of a defence attorney. The idea of pouring over files and obsessing over every tiny detail of an eyewitness statement is many people’s idea of hell. So, basing a gaming series around it seems to be a bit of a “Marmite” situation.

My only real experience with the Phoenix Wright games was through the various memes related to it. I knew that you screamed objection and that for some weird reason there was an orca as a witness in one of the later games? When the crossover game between Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright came out, I was enthralled by the characters and the court system (though I did fail a lot to begin with). So, when I heard the original trilogy was being remastered and brought to the Nintendo Switch, I was more than excited. Analytical thinking and finding logical solutions to problems have always been my strong suit, so it was nice to have another game series that I could throw myself into.

The Phoenix Wright games are extremely text-based, with the most interaction required being analysing a scene or rewinding a security type to spot an issue. So, if you don’t have the patience for that style of game, then this series probably isn’t for you – go watch a playthrough of it online instead! However, as a lover of story-driven games and deep characters, I admit that I have fallen hopelessly in love with the series and am plotting to get the other games in the series (eventually, after all I am a student).

True friendship is screaming at each other across a courtroom.

The main aspect of Phoenix Wright that speaks to people, is the interactions between the characters. Whether you are watching Phoenix and Edgeworth battle it out in the courtroom, Maya encouraging them from the side or Gumshoe having his salary cut, you are constantly rooting for the characters (or their redemption in some more whip happy prosecutors). This, combined with the intriguing storylines, creates a game series and a universe that has kept a loyal fanbase all these years. Coming into it so late, I can see the passion and creativity that has been poured into every detail of this game series, and I’ve only played the original trilogy!

What I found most interesting about the games is the fact that they play with your expectations. Obviously, as a game about being a defence attorney, your aim in each case is to successfully defend your client and prove them innocent. However, there are quite a lot of moments where you aren’t sure about whether you’ll succeed or even if you are meant to succeed. This is especially true of the second game in the trilogy which challenges you to make a choice in the final case, that you are terrified of the outcome of. If you haven’t experienced it and don’t want to be spoiled, skip this next paragraph!

My whip happy child who needs anger management lessons.

 (SPOILERS):

Phoenix and the gang are at a hotel watching an awards show when a murder occurs. Soon, you realise that Maya has gone missing. You are forced to take on the case of Matt Engarde, otherwise Maya’s life will be forfeit. The entire case revolves around trying to find Maya as well as proving Matt Engarde’s innocence. However. After investigating, you realise that your client is guilty of the murder. He hired a hitman to take out his rival, the same hitman that is holding Maya hostage to ensure you cooperate. You are faced with the choice of gambling on a rescue attempt by the police or letting a cruel psychopath roam free. Depending on how the case ends, you receive either the “Good” or the “Bad” ending.

(END OF SPOILERS):

In these kinds of story driven games, you don’t expect something so dramatic to happen. Despite the serious tones of the cases, there are elements of humour and general ridiculousness (looking at you Polly) throughout the game, so having a case turn into such a tense and fearful affair for all involved was a dramatic yet welcome experience for the player. Considering I’d purchased the trilogy, I knew roughly what the outcome would be and was certain that my choices wouldn’t have much of an impact but the steady fear and increasing suspense throughout those darker cases are what makes Phoenix Wright shine.

This is a game series that I recommend you experience for yourself. It has remarkable storytelling, a great cast of characters and a gorgeous visual style, as well as all the court cases. There are dozens of dedicated walkthroughs for the more complex aspects of the cases (looking at you Blue Badger security footage), meaning that you don’t need to spend two days banging your head against a wall because you presented the wrong piece of evidence. Each game has an initial case that acts as a tutorial into how the mechanics will work, so you don’t need any experience with these games to enjoy them.

I object to EVERYTHING

Honestly, it was a game series that I’m going to go back to soon. I don’t often replay games but this world that has been built by Capcom, is amazing and I’m genuinely excited to find out more about it. The sheer joy and satisfaction from successfully pressing a witness or spotting a contradiction, is ridiculously enjoyable.

Apologies this one is a bit shorter, I’m a very busy bean! Breath Of The Wild is next week’s article!

– CaitlinRC