Time for another look inside the world of amateur game-reviewing — this time through the lens of a review of a game about Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. And now that you’ve waded through a sea of prepositions, enjoy the show.
Oh, This week, I’m going to try streamlining the format somewhat. Essentially, it’ll be in the same order as the review itself, but with a little twist. Tell me if you like it.
10:07 PM: As soon as I happened upon my review’s published form, I noticed something was amiss. After much analysis, I confirmed what I already knew to be the truth before the analysis: my intro paragraph had been altered. First, the Worthplaying version:
“Given some of Capcom’s long-standing franchises — Breath of Fire, Devil May Cry, Mega Man, Onimusha and Resident Evil — one could say that Capcom likes its sequels. Sometimes, as with Resident Evil 4, Capcom graces us with a radical step forward that not only serves the series well but also advances the genre as a whole. Not every fourth game can be RE4, but Devil May Cry 4 is dumb, action-packed fun that definitely hearkens back to the DMCs of yore, only with a new cast of characters and an emotionally fueled story. That’s essentially what you’re getting with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: Apollo and company take Phoenix’s spotlight, just as Nero did Dante. Fortunately, just as Nero was a worthy successor to Dante’s wild legacy, Apollo is a fine addition to the now-legendary Wright & Co. Law Office. Too bad it’s not exactly what Apollo was expecting ….”
And here’s its long-standing rival, my original version:
Mega Man, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Breath of Fire, and Onimusha – if you think I’m listing excellent Capcom series, you’re only half-right. Each of those franchises has another, somewhat obscure commonality when matched with its brethren: the number four. See, Capcom likes its sequels, and could even be accused of succumbing to sequelitis, but only up to a point. That point tends to be the fourth sequel in a series; Capcom then re-invents said series with surprisingly consistent quality. Beyond that, however, these “oddball” sequels are all over the place. Sometimes, Capcom graces us with a radical step forward for not only their series, but for a whole genre – ala Resident Evil 4. Sadly, not every (fourth) game can be RE4, but hey, Devil May Cry 4 is dumb, action-packed fun, right? And it definitely harkens back to the DMCs of yore, but with a new cast of characters and an emotionally-fueled story. With Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, that’s essentially what you’re getting; Apollo and company take Phoenix’s spotlight, just as Nero did Dante. Fortunately, just as Nero was a worthy successor to Dante’s wild legacy, Apollo is a fine addition to the now-legendary Wright & Co. Law Office. Too bad it’s not exactly what Apollo was expecting…
The WP version is obviously streamlined, but once you hit the “Not every fourth” line, things get a little messy. In my opinion, without all my talk of fours, that line seems abrupt and unexpected. If “Not every fourth” was changed to “Not every sequel,” it would be better, but I actually like my original here. Surprise, surprise.
Friday, March 7, 11:08 PM: It seems I’m slowly descending into review reviewing madness, and it’s causing a flashback. See, when I first began to contemplate this review, I wanted to do something different. Quite frankly, the traditional review format is boring — each time I write a review about “graphics, gameplay, story, etc,” it’s like I’m constructing a new sand castle with the same bucket I used on all the other sand castles. Sure, the castle can have its own arrangement and size, but eventually, all of the castles begin to look the same. Thus, I fooled with the idea of adding a little New Games Journalism to the sand and water in the form of a “Capcom Meter”. The plan was to judge each aspect of the game in comparison with Capcom’s other fourth iterations in certain series. After realizing how redundant — and pointless — that idea was, I converted my giant-brained thoughts on the subject into the DMC4-Apollo Justice comparison now present in the intro.
10:140/4: “After an opening court case that will have you sweating, thanks to the story revelations and unusually high difficulty level, Apollo becomes the official defense attorney of Wright & Co. Yep, Phoenix Wright is no longer a lawyer. Like any good detective story, Apollo dangles juicy info about why Phoenix abandoned his calling right in front of you, but snatches it away just before the moment of revelation. Luckily, you’ll be far too wrapped up in the stories of ramen peddlers who wear their merchandise, socially responsible Yakuza families, and prosecutors who are literally rock stars (Who needs dramatic finger-pointing when you have an air guitar?) to be infuriated.”
This slice of paragraph two presents a few issues. First of all, in my original, I called Wright & Co. “Wright & Co. Anything Agency.” This is because that’s what it’s called in the game. Since Phoenix hung up his brightly colored tights trademark blue suit, his daughter took over the law firm and turned it into a talent agency — thus, “Anything.”
Second, my penchant for (sometimes overwrought) descriptive language went unappreciated. Look at this portion of the original and you’ll see what I mean:
“And like any good detective story, Apollo dangles juicy info about why Phoenix abandoned his calling right in front of your nose, but snatches it away just as you reach the edge of the figurative treadmill. Luckily, you’ll be far too wrapped-up in the stories of ramen peddlers who wear their merchandise, socially responsible Yakuza families, and prosecutors who are literally rock stars (who needs dramatic finger-pointing when you have an air guitar?) to be infuriated when the game yanks the steak right out of your mouth.”
I miss my steak analogy.
“12:00” –The VCR: I’m glad WP kept my movie-textbook analogy, but in the planning stages, it looked something like this:
“Because court battles are the post-op ice cream to investigations’ tonsillectomy – in other words, court battles are infinitely more enjoyable than investigations.”
I was going for the idea that court cases are the fun part after the “pain” of an investigation. Then I realized it didn’t make much sense and also exaggerated a fairly minor issue, so I shelved it.
Stardate: Omnivorous Tangerine: In the original version, I sort of took a rage dump on the investigation scenes with this line: “Good job, now go back to the scene of the crime and pray that something happens; if not, turn off the game and get some sun.” I’m glad it was removed, as the investigation scenes really aren’t so devious that you’d want to expose your pristine skin to the sun’s harsh rays. Remember kids, Vitamin D comes from both sunlight and supplements, but instant, unprovoked skin cancer only comes from one of the two. Can you guess which?
?????????????????: I heaped ample praise on the court cases, but I’m not completely satisfied with that section. Really, the court cases are brain-teasers, and thus, I wanted to compare them to brain-training games, which flow from DS developers like bad one-liners from a tired writer. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t make it fit, so I opted against the comparison altogether. And while I’m glad that I emphasized the pacing of Apollo’s court battles, I failed to mention Apollo’s ability to “perceive” when his opponents are lying. It’s a minor feature in the grand scheme of things, but it’s new to Apollo Justice, so potential buyers have a right to know about it.
Epilogue: I approve of this review more than I initially thought I would. During its construction phases, I was feeling sort of down on my writing ability, so my prose lacked its normal spark. The review still turned-out well, however, so all is well. Additionally, WP’s edits were extremely light and, for the most part, they improved my review. Two thumbs-up.
Vahn16's Weblog
Director’s Commentary: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
March 11, 2008 at 10:27 pm (Director's Commentary)
Time for another look inside the world of amateur game-reviewing — this time through the lens of a review of a game about Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. And now that you’ve waded through a sea of prepositions, enjoy the show.
Oh, This week, I’m going to try streamlining the format somewhat. Essentially, it’ll be in the same order as the review itself, but with a little twist. Tell me if you like it.
10:07 PM: As soon as I happened upon my review’s published form, I noticed something was amiss. After much analysis, I confirmed what I already knew to be the truth before the analysis: my intro paragraph had been altered. First, the Worthplaying version:
“Given some of Capcom’s long-standing franchises — Breath of Fire, Devil May Cry, Mega Man, Onimusha and Resident Evil — one could say that Capcom likes its sequels. Sometimes, as with Resident Evil 4, Capcom graces us with a radical step forward that not only serves the series well but also advances the genre as a whole. Not every fourth game can be RE4, but Devil May Cry 4 is dumb, action-packed fun that definitely hearkens back to the DMCs of yore, only with a new cast of characters and an emotionally fueled story. That’s essentially what you’re getting with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: Apollo and company take Phoenix’s spotlight, just as Nero did Dante. Fortunately, just as Nero was a worthy successor to Dante’s wild legacy, Apollo is a fine addition to the now-legendary Wright & Co. Law Office. Too bad it’s not exactly what Apollo was expecting ….”
And here’s its long-standing rival, my original version:
Mega Man, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Breath of Fire, and Onimusha – if you think I’m listing excellent Capcom series, you’re only half-right. Each of those franchises has another, somewhat obscure commonality when matched with its brethren: the number four. See, Capcom likes its sequels, and could even be accused of succumbing to sequelitis, but only up to a point. That point tends to be the fourth sequel in a series; Capcom then re-invents said series with surprisingly consistent quality. Beyond that, however, these “oddball” sequels are all over the place. Sometimes, Capcom graces us with a radical step forward for not only their series, but for a whole genre – ala Resident Evil 4. Sadly, not every (fourth) game can be RE4, but hey, Devil May Cry 4 is dumb, action-packed fun, right? And it definitely harkens back to the DMCs of yore, but with a new cast of characters and an emotionally-fueled story. With Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, that’s essentially what you’re getting; Apollo and company take Phoenix’s spotlight, just as Nero did Dante. Fortunately, just as Nero was a worthy successor to Dante’s wild legacy, Apollo is a fine addition to the now-legendary Wright & Co. Law Office. Too bad it’s not exactly what Apollo was expecting…
The WP version is obviously streamlined, but once you hit the “Not every fourth” line, things get a little messy. In my opinion, without all my talk of fours, that line seems abrupt and unexpected. If “Not every fourth” was changed to “Not every sequel,” it would be better, but I actually like my original here. Surprise, surprise.
Friday, March 7, 11:08 PM: It seems I’m slowly descending into review reviewing madness, and it’s causing a flashback. See, when I first began to contemplate this review, I wanted to do something different. Quite frankly, the traditional review format is boring — each time I write a review about “graphics, gameplay, story, etc,” it’s like I’m constructing a new sand castle with the same bucket I used on all the other sand castles. Sure, the castle can have its own arrangement and size, but eventually, all of the castles begin to look the same. Thus, I fooled with the idea of adding a little New Games Journalism to the sand and water in the form of a “Capcom Meter”. The plan was to judge each aspect of the game in comparison with Capcom’s other fourth iterations in certain series. After realizing how redundant — and pointless — that idea was, I converted my giant-brained thoughts on the subject into the DMC4-Apollo Justice comparison now present in the intro.
10:140/4: “After an opening court case that will have you sweating, thanks to the story revelations and unusually high difficulty level, Apollo becomes the official defense attorney of Wright & Co. Yep, Phoenix Wright is no longer a lawyer. Like any good detective story, Apollo dangles juicy info about why Phoenix abandoned his calling right in front of you, but snatches it away just before the moment of revelation. Luckily, you’ll be far too wrapped up in the stories of ramen peddlers who wear their merchandise, socially responsible Yakuza families, and prosecutors who are literally rock stars (Who needs dramatic finger-pointing when you have an air guitar?) to be infuriated.”
This slice of paragraph two presents a few issues. First of all, in my original, I called Wright & Co. “Wright & Co. Anything Agency.” This is because that’s what it’s called in the game. Since Phoenix hung up his
brightly colored tightstrademark blue suit, his daughter took over the law firm and turned it into a talent agency — thus, “Anything.”Second, my penchant for (sometimes overwrought) descriptive language went unappreciated. Look at this portion of the original and you’ll see what I mean:
“And like any good detective story, Apollo dangles juicy info about why Phoenix abandoned his calling right in front of your nose, but snatches it away just as you reach the edge of the figurative treadmill. Luckily, you’ll be far too wrapped-up in the stories of ramen peddlers who wear their merchandise, socially responsible Yakuza families, and prosecutors who are literally rock stars (who needs dramatic finger-pointing when you have an air guitar?) to be infuriated when the game yanks the steak right out of your mouth.”
I miss my steak analogy.
“12:00” –The VCR: I’m glad WP kept my movie-textbook analogy, but in the planning stages, it looked something like this:
“Because court battles are the post-op ice cream to investigations’ tonsillectomy – in other words, court battles are infinitely more enjoyable than investigations.”
I was going for the idea that court cases are the fun part after the “pain” of an investigation. Then I realized it didn’t make much sense and also exaggerated a fairly minor issue, so I shelved it.
Stardate: Omnivorous Tangerine: In the original version, I sort of took a rage dump on the investigation scenes with this line: “Good job, now go back to the scene of the crime and pray that something happens; if not, turn off the game and get some sun.” I’m glad it was removed, as the investigation scenes really aren’t so devious that you’d want to expose your pristine skin to the sun’s harsh rays. Remember kids, Vitamin D comes from both sunlight and supplements, but instant, unprovoked skin cancer only comes from one of the two. Can you guess which?
?????????????????: I heaped ample praise on the court cases, but I’m not completely satisfied with that section. Really, the court cases are brain-teasers, and thus, I wanted to compare them to brain-training games, which flow from DS developers like bad one-liners from a tired writer. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t make it fit, so I opted against the comparison altogether. And while I’m glad that I emphasized the pacing of Apollo’s court battles, I failed to mention Apollo’s ability to “perceive” when his opponents are lying. It’s a minor feature in the grand scheme of things, but it’s new to Apollo Justice, so potential buyers have a right to know about it.
Epilogue: I approve of this review more than I initially thought I would. During its construction phases, I was feeling sort of down on my writing ability, so my prose lacked its normal spark. The review still turned-out well, however, so all is well. Additionally, WP’s edits were extremely light and, for the most part, they improved my review. Two thumbs-up.
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