Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:25 pm

KHF

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So this is something I've been thinking for a while. With the way the games are heavy on plot, but simple on gameplay, does anyone else think of the Ace Attorney series more as an interactive novel series rather then a video game series? It's not a bad thing, I was just thinking that after the first one I never bought these games for their gameplay, but for their story (however it is fun to yell "Objection" in the microphone). I know this is a topic that will probably die or get locked pretty quickly, but I was just wondering if I'm the only one who thinks this. Anyone agree with me?

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:27 pm

DramaticaXIV2

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A visual novel. Considering it can have literally no difficulty if you use the "soft reset" cheating method.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:39 pm

kitty_sneeze

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i think its a bit of both... theres a lot of diologue, and the storyline is pretty important, so it kinda leans on the novel side ... then again, you have the elements of gameplay where you actually do stuff, like examine crimescenes.... although that could fall into the 'interactive' novel category.... but also there are the extra bits like fingerprint testing in 1:5 and GS4, which i would say are more of a video game thing.... so really.... i think..... um.....
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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:10 pm

squints1318

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I count it as a video game. It's just a different, unique kind of game. There's a heavy focus on storyline and characters, and there a gameplay elements like investigating crime scenes and talk to witnesses and all that good jazz.

Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:50 pm

Lisabasil1959

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squints1318 wrote:

I count it as a video game. It's just a different, unique kind of game. There's a heavy focus on storyline and characters, and there a gameplay elements like investigating crime scenes and talk to witnesses and all that good jazz.

I agree with this.

It's reminisince of Xenosaga, the story was more prominent then game play, but I think Phoenix Wright pulled this off a lot better.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:44 am

The Objector

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Yeah... interactive novel.

But...

DramaticaXIV2 wrote:

A visual novel. Considering it can have literally no difficulty if you use the "soft reset" cheating method.

What's the "soft reset" cheating method?

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:49 am

MrCheeze

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Press a bunch of buttons at once.

Wikipedia claims it is.

Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 1:08 am

Aevitas

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Well, strictly speaking, a video game, as described by Wikipedia is an "electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device." We do get visuals on a screen, and according to basic concepts of game design, there is a way to win and a way to lose. By this definition, I'd say they are video games with compelling story. You can't really define games based on how "interactive" they are, it's the fact that it has interactivity at all as well as visual feedback that makes them what they are. If it was in fact a story with pictures where the plot advances just by tapping on the screen, then I'd say it's an interactive novel.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:15 am

Shiki Tohno

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Being relatively experienced with visual novels, I'd say the Ace Attorney games qualify as such -- most games require constant attention from the player to keep their in-game avatar doing something, while by tradition, in visual novels, the only input allowed to the "player" by the system is advancing the onscreen text (sometimes helped by allegoric images, sometimes not) and making choices to advance the story.

In the most technical of senses, visual novels are a subgenre of videogames, true; however, I consider them to be more interactive, "choose your own path" digital books than true games.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:30 am

YggdrasilsSword

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Well, this is all rather silly, because in my opinion the term "video game" being used to describe interactive entertainment is as ridiculous as referring to a cinematic work as a "movie." Visual novel should win out just by being a more accurate descriptor. But I don't really feel that it is a "novel," because there is an identifiable way to lose, a certain degree of challenge, etc.

Really, I wish more games were like the Ace Attorney games, focused on giving us a way of interacting with the story, "role-playing" if you will, instead of simply "shoot stuff, and we'll make up some kind of story as we go along" philosophy. Not that I don't enjoy a good "shoot stuff" game, but I wish that they had more dynamic stories. And sadly, the more story games have, the less actual "playing" the player does. Metal Gear Solid 4, one of my favorite games of all time, had an extremely intertwined, complex, thought-out storyline, but the chief complaint of others was that scenes lasted too long, and there wasn't enough actual playtime. Myself, I was too engaged in the really impressive cutscene sequences to notice how long they were. Thus, Ace Attorney, a game with a very advanced story, cuts down on "gameplay", but it is still a game nonetheless.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:11 am

crouton

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squints1318 wrote:

I count it as a video game. It's just a different, unique kind of game. There's a heavy focus on storyline and characters, and there a gameplay elements like investigating crime scenes and talk to witnesses and all that good jazz.

This. I totally agree with this.

Even though it's a very linear game, it's still a game nonetheless, having to figure out what to do next and such.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:07 pm

Shiki Tohno

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YggdrasilsSword wrote:

Well, this is all rather silly, because in my opinion the term "video game" being used to describe interactive entertainment is as ridiculous as referring to a cinematic work as a "movie." Visual novel should win out just by being a more accurate descriptor. But I don't really feel that it is a "novel," because there is an identifiable way to lose, a certain degree of challenge, etc.

Traditionally, visual novels DO include "ways to lose"; they're called dead ends or bad ends. =p Thus, the Ace Attorney games still stick to my logic, even considering the possibilities of accidentally or purposely losing the game. =p

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:20 pm

Catgrenade

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MrCheeze wrote:

Press a bunch of buttons at once.

Wikipedia claims it is.

Actually, soft reset is L+R+START+SELECT at the same time. This works on lots of other systems too.

Staying on topic, I believe it is a game.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:45 am

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squints1318 wrote:

I count it as a video game. It's just a different, unique kind of game. There's a heavy focus on storyline and characters, and there a gameplay elements like investigating crime scenes and talk to witnesses and all that good jazz.

I agree. With the way you have to present evidence, search for clues, go to different locations ... you don't click through some text and then pick whether to go left or right. And honestly, even games with fantastic gameplay can have an awesome storyline too, but that doesn't make them interactive novels. They're just ... games with awesome storylines. =]

Ace Attorney COULD fit into the category of an interactive novel, depending on your interpretation, but I really don't feel it needs to be put in a totally different category than every other video game. Every game has something that makes it unique ... AA just happens to have lots of text and a kick ass plot.

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Re: Ace Attorney, video games or interactive novels?

Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:45 pm

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Both.

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