Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - Gameplay

Gameplay

Justice For All plays similarly to the first Ace Attorney game as a virtual novel game. While the game has been adapted from the GBA version to use the DS touch screen, none of the special investigation techniques introduced in the "Rise from the Ashes" case from the first game reappear.

A small but significant change is that a player can now present the profiles of people involved with the case, in addition to the evidence in the Court Record. The player can present them either during the court room or investigative phases. For example, the player can present a profile to ask a person about that person.

Justice for All features a new gameplay concept called Psyche-Lock. Phoenix Wright has to unlock several locks that have been placed over a witness' heart in order to reveal the truth. The Psyche-Lock occurs only during the Investigation phase, and is observed when trying to follow a line of questioning with a person involved in the case. When it is revealed that the person has one or more Psyche-Locks, the player can then initiate breaking of those locks. Typically, the player will be asked to point out evidence or a location to complete a question being asked; if the correct evidence is used, it is likely one Psyche-Lock will be broken or may lead to an additional question. If the incorrect choice is made, the player takes health damage (described below). However, unlike courtroom questioning, the player can cancel the breaking attempt if he feels he doesn't have the right piece of evidence without any penalty; all of the locks will reappear the next time the breaking attempt is made, though these will break in exactly the same manner as previously discovered. Also, a certain amount of health is restored on successfully unlocking all the Psyche-Locks of a person. Breaking all the Psyche-Locks of a person will allow the player to question that person further on more details.

In the first game, the player had five marks of health; if he or she made a mistake during the courtroom proceedings, the judge took one off, and losing all five resulted in a guilty verdict for the client. Justice for All changes these marks into a life bar; when the bar is completely depleted, the game ends and the player's client receives a guilty verdict. The amount of health lost will vary depending on the magnitude of the error; a mistake in a serious area may result in the loss of the whole life bar.