Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations / Gyakuten Saiban 3 (2004) - Gameboy Advance / Nintendo DS / PC


American Cover

Artwork

Gyakuten Saiban 3

The third Ace Attorney title is slightly longer than the other GBA games, although two of the cases are relatively short and lack any detective scenes.

Case 1 - The Turnabout of Memories

Trials and Tribulations opens with a flashback to Mia's second case. Two young men get in a small scuffle over a girl. One of them ends up dead, having been electrocuted. It's been six months since Mia last appeared in court, having been devastated by her first case. Can she trust her client this time?

Phoenix Wright
Yup, our favorite hero is accused of murder in the first case. He's still in college, studying art before deciding to study law seriously. He has a cold, which accounts for the face mask. Yes, his sweater is goofy, but it's from his girlfriend, whom he is madly in love with.

Dahlia Hawthorne / Chinami Miyanagi
A sweet, innocent (HA!) young woman who is Phoenix's girlfriend. Everyone is enamored by her charming demeanor - except for Mia, who can see right through her.

Case 2 - The Stolen Turnabout

Unlike most of the other cases, Case 2 begins with the theft of the Kurain Pot, an artifact from Maya's family. The apparent burglar is the Kamen Mask (a thoroughly ridiculous name - "kamen" is Japanese for "mask") and translated in the English version as "Mask DeMasque", who seeks to swindle valuable treasures. But who is the person behind the mask, and more importantly, what is their true purpose?

Godot
The hard-boiled prosecutor of Gyakuten Saiban 3. Godot wears a red visor and waxes philosophically about coffee, often speaking in thoroughly ridiculous metaphors. He seems to carry a grudge against Phoenix and constantly refers to him by the wrong name ("Maruhodou", or "Mr. Trite").

Ron DeLite / Yuusaku Amasugi
Claims to be the Kamen Mask, although he seems to be a kid with an exaggerated sense of hero worship and a loose grip on reality.

Luke Atmey / Hoshiidake Aiga
An ace detective who is fanatically devoted to foiling the Kamen Mask. Actually kind of a pompous jerk with a magnifying glass for a monocle. "Ai ga hoshii dake" means "I only want love". "Luke Atmey" is a pun on "look at me".

Desiree DeLite / Mareka Amasugi
Yuusaku's wife. She loves him dearly, even though he seems to act like a big child.

Case 3 - Recipe for Turnabout

"Lawyer Wright loses a case!" declares a local magazine. "He behaved like an amateur!" This is news to Phoenix and company - they don't recall any of this. Maybe there's an imposter around? Phoenix determines to set things right and demands a retrial. We learn that a young man in a quiet corner cafe drinks a poisoned cup of coffee. In his hands is a winning lottery ticket. The accused killer is none other than Mako Suzuki, the policewoman from the second game, who is once again having a bad turn of luck.

Jean Armstrong / Kaoru Hondobou
The flamboyant owner of the Tres Bien restaurant, which is an incredibly overpriced establishment with awful food. As a result, he has a fairly large debt. Not gay at all.

Victor Kudo / Shouhei Igarashi
A crazy old man who seems to have a fetish for those waitress uniforms. Tends to call people "Admiral".

Furio "The Tiger" Tigre / Toranosuke Shibakuzou
This guy could possibly bear a slight resemblance to Phoenix. In reality, he's a shifty loan shark with a ferocious demeanor. His Japanese nickname is "Zenitora" - "zenny" being the common currency in Capcom games, and "tora" meaning "tiger". Don't piss him off.

Case 4 - Origins of Turnabout

Case 4 is another flashback which jumps further back in time, focusing on Mia's first case ever. The defendant is an escaped convict, who is accused of killing the woman who put him in the slammer. It seems simple enough - if it weren't the appearance of certain familiar face. This case details the origins of many characters, including the first appearance of Edgeworth as a prosecutor.

Terry Fawles / Michiru Onamida
An escaped convict. He was sentenced to the death penalty after kidnapping and murdering a fourteen year old girl. However, he claims to been framed, and really just wants to set things right.

Case 5 - The Beautiful Turnabout

Maya and Harumi suggest checking out the Hazakura Temple, a spiritual training ground deep in the mountains. While staying overnight, an author named Ellis Deauxnim is murdered in the middle of the night. What's worse is that Phoenix has been injured, leaving Edgeworth to take on the role of the defense attorney.

Bikini
A nun from the Hazakurain Monastery who witnessed the crime. Her name suggests something far sexier than the reality.

Iris / Ayame
She certainly looks familiar. However, Iris proclaims to have lived her entire life training at the Hazakura Temple. She is accused of murdering Elise Deauxnim. She also appears to know Phoenix, which is an even bigger mystery.

Trials and Tribulations is often regarded as the best of the original trilogy. Why? It's really all about the characters - Dahlia is one of the most devious villains in the series, and her shocking mean streak is the focal point of the entire game. That, and Godot is just ridiculously cool, delivering some of the best lines in anything ever ("Filled to the brim with darkness deeper than night, with bitterness hotter than the depths of hell - that's coffee." and "The weak get swept up by the currents of fate, while the strong drink it up...Today, my fate is bitter as well.") He's kind of like Max Payne, except even more melodramatic. Capcom also ditched the regular sound guys and put veteran musician Noriyuki Iwadare in charge. His style fits in well with the series, and it's about as good as the original, even if the "objection" theme is a bit too jazzy.

MP3s

Examination - Moderate 2004
Examination - Allegro 2004
Investigation - Cross Examining - Variation
Inform the Truth 2004

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