Never played, should I?

[DJ Rocket X]

I've always been a fan of the ace attorney game play and story, plus I enjoy the soundtrack and the artwork no matter if it's the GBA sprites or the HD drawn graphics. However, I've never played any of the games. Would it be worth the price point for someone who's only game similar was Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog?

[Tonepoet]

As much as I liked The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog for its casual entertainment value and quality art, it is pretty mediocre overall. The Phoenix Wright games are much better experiences, and the main similarity between the two games, besides being Visual Novels are the way you search for and present evidence to progress the story.

However, in Phoenix Wright, you have many more locations to search and many more pieces of evidence to present, and there are other gameplay mechanics, such as pressing statements in trial, and point 'n click adventure elements too. The characterization is also much stronger, even if you only count the guest characters.

That is not to say that the characterization in the Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is bad, mind you. It's serviceable enough for what it aims to accomplish. However,, if the Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is Micheal Keaton's Batman, then the Phoenix Wright games are Kevin Conroy's.

How with, with that having been said, these are very rigidly linear story-driven games games and much of the entertainment value you will get out of them is experiencing the cases for the first time. There are some very impactful moments in these games, but if you have already immersed yourself in Ace Attorney, you probably had many of the more iconic moments spoiled for you, and it might not hit the same way as if you were coming in as a blank slate.

Still though, something to keep in mind is that if you've gotten so much enjoyment out of the games already, then you might just want to purchase it as a show of appreciation to Capcom.

The only thing that really makes me weary in terms of a value proposition is that Disgaea P.C. sometimes goes as low as the $3 on sale, and offers a similar storytelling experience with some good turn based strategy on the side. It's not on sale right now though. It's not on discount now though.

Anyway, I don't know if the discussion forum here is quite so active if you feel like you need a second opinion, but I remember having a little interaction with Devman's Comet about the matter of buying the game, and to make a story short, he called the series incredible. If we go by his estimate of 25 hours per game on average, then there are about 75 hours worth of entertainment to enjoy, which matches up with the upper end of the range in the How Long to Beat estimate[howlongtobeat.com]. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog only takes 2-4 hours to beat.

However, in Phoenix Wright, you have many pieces of evidence to present and there are other gameplay mechanics, such as pressing statements in trial, and point 'n click adventure elements too.

However, with that having been said, these are very rigidly linear story-driven games games and much of the entertainment value you will get out of them is experiencing the cases for the first time. If you've immersed yourself in Ace Attorney, you probably had many of the more iconic plot points spoiled for you, and it might not hit the same way as if you were coming in fresh.

Overall, I think it's worthwhile.