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Ace Attorney life meters

RaydereRaydere
edited 2014-01-01 06:12:11 in Media
My arms are falling off!

Objection!


As anyone who has played an Ace Attorney game knows, there is often a lifebar while playing the game. Empty it out from mistakes, and it's a game over.


At the same time, the games allow you to create save points and simply savescum your way to victory if your life meter empties out. So in that case...


(desk slam, followed by speed lines close-up)


What's the entire point of having a lifebar then? You may as well give the player no penalty for missing, or a game over for a single mistake!

Comments

  • KrakenKraken

    Every game needs a failstate. If it doesn't have a failstate, it's not a game.

  • NyktosNyktos
    edited 2014-01-01 12:00:34
    a little muffled

    I sorta didn't mind when I at least had to actually create save points, but Dual Destinies just lets you reset to just before you "died" with a full bar. There is truly no point anymore.

  • NoimportaNoimporta

    It's an incentive to try hard, in order to not lose the dramatic timing.

  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    edited 2014-01-01 18:26:45
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    Yeah, it seems the point of these games is more the drama value rather than the "make you work for your victory" value.  (Not that this is a bad thing.)  Though I haven't played them so I'm not sure.

  • NyktosNyktos
    edited 2014-01-01 18:36:20
    a little muffled

    If you don't savescum the original trilogy is (at times) actually pretty hard. (Dual Destinies, not so much, which makes the fact that it's so incredibly forgiving really dumb.) But yeah, I doubt many people are really playing them for the gameplay first and foremost...

  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    Aren't they basically visual novels?

  • LaiLai

    Pretty much.

  • RaydereRaydere
    My arms are falling off!

    The lifebars would make sense if this was an action game of sorts. You can watch a replay of a Touhou no-continue clear 50 times, and you still probably won't be able to complete the game without burning through your stock of lives without practice.


    In AA, once you've screwed up a court phase (or investigation phase in AAI), you already know the necessary answers, so even if you restarted the chapter it's much easier than the first time around.


    And yeah in DD you can just restart the last cross-examination with a refilled bar, which makes it even sillier.

  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled
    @ gmh: They have VN elements, but they're really adventure games. Search rooms for items, show the right items to the right people to advance. The courtroom scenes are more linear but they still have too much gameplay to really be VNs.
  • BeeBee
    edited 2014-01-02 17:00:39

    They're an excuse for hilarious writing.  Ultimately, focusing too much on much else is rather losing perspective.

  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled

    like I said

    But yeah, I doubt many people are really playing them for the gameplay first and foremost...

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