I always find transitioning from one season to the next really exciting. When we shift from the heat of summer days to the cool nights of crisp autumn, I see it as an opportunity to get cozy and stay in more. Things start to wind down and there’s less of a need to be out to take advantage of the sunnier days. Finishing the entire catalog of Ace Attorney games to have been released in North America from 2005-2008 with Apollo Justice last month, it was time to make a shift from the old to the relatively new. As September is the month for transitions, the next video game for my challenge is a perfect fit.
Since I’m not quite ready to set aside my handheld system just yet to go back to playing console games on the Wii or Xbox, it makes sense not to take a break from the Ace Attorney series yet either. While the newest game in the Ace Attorney series, Spirit of Justice, is set to release later this week, there’s still one more game I need to play before I set my sights on that one. This month’s video game challenge has the pleasure of going to Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies.
The release of Dual Destinies back in 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS is really the game to revive the Ace Attorney series when, at the time, Apollo Justice seemed to be the final game fans would ever see of the series. Dual Destinies is a pleasant surprise for gamers who love the series and brings the return of our favorite spiky haired defense attorney Phoenix Wright. Set a year after the events of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, players have the pleasure of playing three defense attorneys in this entry: Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice, and newcomer Athena Cykes.
I don’t know much about the larger story or what’s different about the gameplay in Dual Destinies. I’m approaching the game as a bit of a blank slate. The tiny bit I did play after finishing Apollo Justice and taking a mini-break from gaming before tackling this new challenge, I immediately noticed a slight change in structure compared to past Ace Attorney games. Dual Destinies has anime style cutscenes with voice acting and the graphics are largely updated to take advantage of the 3D capabilities of the 3DS. It’s still the same old Ace Attorney we know and love, but a lot shinier and with a massive upgrade to improve the game without necessarily changing too much of what makes this series popular and so beloved.
I already like the new character Athena and I look forward to seeing what her special talents are in the courtroom. The most I know about her ability is she senses people’s emotions. How this gets worked into the cases you play will be exciting to discover the more I play. Everyone else may be playing Spirit of Justice while I play Dual Destinies, but being a game behind isn’t so bad. I’m going at my own pace with these games and there’s no need to rush when the whole point of enjoying an Ace Attorney game is for the story and characters.
Check back with me towards the end of the month to see if I have a better shot at finishing this game in a month compared to my past challenges with this series!
simpleek 