Trial
From Ace Attorney Wiki
- Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth equivalent: Confrontation
- The gameplay articles on this wiki describe game controls in universal terms. This means that some of the controls may not be relevant to the medium through which you are playing the Ace Attorney games. Mentions of the touchscreen refer to the touchscreen functionality on the Nintendo DS and the iPhone OS. "X", "Y", "L", "R", "Select" and "Start" refer to buttons on the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. The "+" and "-" buttons refer to the small buttons in the middle of the Wii Remote.
Trial chapters are chapters in the Ace Attorney games that take place in the District Court. The defense attorney participates in a criminal bench trial, representing his or her defendant against the accusations of the prosecution. The defense attorney's main method of attack is through the cross-examination of witnesses brought forth by the prosecution. Occasionally, the defense attorney is given the opportunity to call a witness. In either case, the witness may or may not be hostile to the defense.
The first episode in each Ace Attorney game consists of one or two trial chapters and no investigation chapters.
Contents |
[edit] Process
A trial chapter works very similarly to a single scripted event from a location in an investigation chapter, except the event takes up the entire chapter. That is, the protagonist is forced to go from the defendant lobby to the courtroom and back.
The main gameplay element in a trial chapter is the cross-examination. Following every witness testimony, the defense attorney is compelled to cross-examine the witness, and the player can view any statement in the testimony by pressing "left" or "right"/"A" on the d-pad or the touchscreen to view the previous or next statement, respectively. The player can get a hint concerning the proper course of action by pressing "right" or "A" on the final statement. The player is also given two or three functions with which to act on a statement of interest.
[edit] Press
The defense attorney can "press" on a statement, interrupting the testimony and asking for more details on the statement. This is done by pressing the "Press" button or "L"/"+"; on the Nintendo DS, one can also hold "Y" and yell "Hold it!", while on the WiiWare, one can shake the Wii Remote. The result of pressing a statement varies greatly across cross-examinations; the attorney may, for example, be given a chance to "press harder" or to present evidence to support a claim. Pressing a statement can also force the witness to modify his or her testimony.
[edit] Present
The defense attorney can also present evidence or a profile from the court record to point out a contradiction in the witness's testimony or simply to prove a point based on the statement in question. This is done by pressing the "Present" button or "R"/"-", or by holding "Y" and yelling "Objection!"/"Take that!" (Nintendo DS), or by thrusting the Wii Remote toward the motion sensor as if pointing at the witness (WiiWare).
[edit] Perceive
- Main article: Bracelet
Apollo Justice has a bracelet with which he can sense tension in a witness. During a cross-examination, the bracelet icon at the top of the touchscreen will be colored and animated if Justice senses tension, and it will be grayed out if Justice does not sense tension. If the icon is activated, Justice can press it or the "X" button to focus on the witness as he or she makes the statement in question.
Phoenix Wright cannot use the bracelet.
