My copy of Gyakuten Saiban 2 came in from NCSX today, and I tore through the first case and about a third of the second.

What most of us know I'll gloss over anyway; yes, a full English language translation is present here, which is selectable at the beginning of the game.  Like the first DS Gyakuten Saiban, substituting GS2 to English completely changes the game over to its English counterpart, from text, graphical images, and voices.  For all intents and purposes, it becomes "Phoenix Wright: Justice For All," as evidenced from the title screen.

The game is, of course, outfitted specifically with the DS's touch and voice capabilities, so everything functions just about the same as the first Phoenix Wright.  The music has once again been remastered, where compositions are the same, but the instrumentation sees a significant improvement over the GBA's original synths.  As a point of interest, some tracks that were carried over from the first game, such as "Suspense" and "Auspicious People," remain untouched from the last DS remastered score.  Others, however, like "Maya's Theme," got a total reworking.

I recorded an eight minute sample medley, which you can check out here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NAHW0QS2

As for the most important thing, the translation..... Playing through the first hour or two, there is the notion that this feels a little more like a straight-up translation, and not quite the clever and most excellent Alexander O. Smith-laden localization of the first.  Which isn't to say the localization isn't good; it's still smart writing, but it just feels more literal and not quite as vibrant as before.  I can say that characterization that was established from the first game has more or less made it intact here; Gumshoe keeps his trademark "pal" in, for instance, while Maya retains her passion for burgers and still playfully refers to Phoenix as "Nick."

There was also a concern with spelling and grammatical errors, as was shown by the release shots from various web sites -- and unfortunately, there are a few noticeable ones, even in the earlier parts of the game.  I would imagine that the two to three month gap between this and the domestic release will be used to iron out these errors.  One hopes, anyway.

But all in all, I'm extremely pleased with the game.  I mean, dudes, this is more Phoenix Wright we're talking about; new characters, new locales to investigate, new courtroom battles..... once you're into the thick of it, you'll be hooked all over again.  I know I am.

Mine has shipped but I haven't got it yet. I'm a little disappointed to hear about the translation. I had never played a Phoenix Wright before the first DS release and the superb writing (which would be in a large part down to translation) and the humour is really what made the game for me. If that suffers, I can't imagine the game would hold its appeal for me.

I dunno, outside of the minor spelling issues, the translation seems about as good as the original so far. Some of the stuff Wellington referred to I didn't know, so it's at least kinda smart.

I love this game but a part of me is still desperately awaiting a full English version of the third game. Chinami/Dolores is one of my favorite characters of the series.

It actually is a pretty solid translation all around. There are some minor things that bug me, like Phoenix's repetitive use of "Urk!" and "Ack!" and that certain reaction and response dialogue are, again, just not as sharp as that of the first game's.

Who isn't?  But I'm really happy that we've gotten GS2; it's a necessary chapter in the trilogy, and further embellishes on certain aspects of the story, like the Fey family, which is key to understanding the overarching plot for GS3.

And wait till you get to the fourth and final case in GS2; it may possibly be one of the most engrossing stories you'll ever experience in gaming.

Wasn't there word that GS3 would be brought to DS before GS4 hit? I'm pretty sure that came out at the last E3 or some other game show. If it makes it to DS at all, I would hope it would have an English option.

I'm waiting for the US release for the simple fact to support Capcom USA and I won't be ready to play it by Jan. anyway.

I'm totally all about people buying the American version to convince Capcom to keep translating them.  I'm actually REALLY worried with this one that since the import is so cheap, it's going to cut severely into the sales of the domestic release.

Admittedly, though, I was unable to resist buying a copy when I saw it sitting in front of me at a local store.  The sad thing is that I probably won't actually have time to play the thing until after it's come out in the US, anyway.

*swoons over the song Recollection ~ Tonosaman's Ballad*

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TXH31H5Q

Ok. I bought this the first day.

Just finished today.
I, again, had a hard time putting it down.

The music, while not as good as the first one, does grow on you over time.
This game seems a lot darker...and less humorous.
I didn't start laughing until Case 3; and laughed a lot in Case 4.
Case 2 was kinda sad.

Let me say, that the first time I saw the true face of the culprit in Case 4, I got chills.
It didn't really help that I was playing in the dark.
And it's the Hardest case I ever played.

Last time I got chills from a game was when I played MYST, in the dark.

Don't play in the Dark, it's bad for your eyes too.

I certainly felt a pang of sympathy for the murderer at the end of Case 2.  Case 3 had the most colorful cast of characters, but Case 4 was just all kinds of awesome.  I think it's rather ingenious how Capcom was able to to weave new and refreshing elements into the way they present the story, so it doesn't feel like a rehash of the first game.

I didn't think Franziska was all that great of a prosecutor, though - as least, compared to Edgeworth.  Much too reliant on the whip and childish name-calling, and not nearly enough on the straight facts and evidence.

"Tell The Truth 2002" is one of the greatest songs of the trilogy, by the way.  ^_^

I'm with you, though the import's low price tag is mighty tempting. Still, I've got a fair backlog of games to work through, so I figure I can wait a few months.

I am a bit disappointed to hear about the game's darker tone. As much as I loved Case 5 in the first game, its more somber nature was a bit off-putting at times. On the other hand, I'm very happy to hear that the Fey family story continues in GS2. It was one of the loose ends remaining in GS1, so I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

I actually got chills when watching the surveillance video in Case 5 of GS1. I'm not sure if it was because of the Blue Badger or if I just thought it was creepy to watch a murder take place.

I've been playing this the last couple of days and loving it. But the music - I haven't played the GBA ones to compare but I can't possibly imagine that these tracks have been improved even slightly from the GBA one. Much of it sounds like it's coming from the old GB sound chip. On top of instrumentation, the actual music composition doesn't seem to have any of the impact of the first one.

Great game though. Definitely seems tougher than the first.

Just a heads-up that the Capcom Store is now taking pre-orders for the U.S. version of Justice For All.  What better way to show support for the series than to order from Capcom themselves?  I've already got mine on tap:

http://shop.capcom.com/servlet/Controll … D=57588000

Thought this thread could use a bump, now that the U.S. version has seen release.  My order from Capcom should be coming in next week, and I'm most curious to see what changes, if any, were made from the Japanese version.

Been wanting to discuss the cases and story ever since finishing the Japanese version, but obviously held off in lieu of spoilers.   It's still early days yet for domestic players, so I guess I'll continue to hold off for a while more. ;)

I heard they tuned up the translation.

I've only played the first case of the US Version.  It was pretty short, easy, and fairly funny.

I don't like the new music, though.

Just past the first day of story/clue-gathering on Episode 2. Wild stuff. Also, some good chuckles and laughs thus far, putting my fears of a plain-vanilla translation at ease (though admittedly some phrasings come off as a little odd).

The music is a mixed bag. I actually prefer the testimony theme in this one to the first, but the new objection theme isn't nearly as catchy as the first. Can't really comment on the rest without going spoilery.

But damn, man...new Phoenix! Zelda can freaking wait.

I'm on case 2, and I say thumbs down to the music! Thumbs up to everything else.

The music from 1 is so untouchably catchy and memorable, that they could have just reused those songs for 4, 5, or any number of Phoenix sequels and I still wouldn't get tired of hearing them...   
I'll pick up the Justice cartridge sometime though, but haven't spotted it locally yet.

I do hope the translation got touched up for the US release - there were so many typos in English mode in the Japanese version.  Seriously... I'm not sure they ever spelled "were" without an h.

The only typo I picked up on so far was "altar" was spelled "alter"... twice.

My copy arrived on Wednesday, but I haven't had any time to play it other than to verify that it works.  Plus, I still need to finish Portrait of Ruin (933+% so far).

My copy's coming soon, but in the meantime I've started replaying the first game to refresh my memory.

On a related note, is anyone else mighty tempted to get the Gyakuten Saiban 4 LE? I'd love to keep supporting Capcom USA by buying the US equivalent, but I want that DVD!

I finished the game.  I don't like the new music compositions as much as the first game's music.

The cases are a bit harder for me, because I had to recall information related to court evidence and profiles that is not written in the evidence's or profile's description.  In PW1, most of the tip-off clues were self-contained in the description.

The Psyche Lock mechanism is a bit clunky, because of how the life bar transfers over to court.  There isn't a good enough explanation of this.

The last case is the best case so far.  It's much more crazy than case 5 in PW1.

I'd love to nab that Limited Edition for the Dictionary alone.  Assuming its execution is as well thought-out and expansive as I'm hoping it'll be, it could be quite an excellent archive source.

And while on topic, I think it's worth mentioning that interview with Capcom's Christian Svensson, regarding PW and PW's future outside of Japan.  It's really quite informative:

http://www.croik.com/PW/interview.htm

And of course, Nintendo Power's recently-released interview with the localization team for JFA offers up some spiffy insight as well.

I'm nearing the end of case 3, and I'll say that Francizka (sp?) is really starting to piss me off. The whole "whipping" thing is getting really annoying and makes me dislike her even more as a character. She's not even a good "bad guy" prosecutor... although the game is good, I miss Edgeworth. His competition with Wright is sorely missed in JFA.

Franziska indeed comes off as a very annoying character...an awful lot like Ranma 1/2's Kodachi Kuno (whom I despise) with the whipping aspect. But stick with it. Case 4 reveals, on the part of all involved, new shades of character.

Yeah, she got to me too. I did find her quite amusing at the very start and, if she had only been there for one case, I don't think she would have bugged me. But she grates after a while and I'd have preferred a more logical challenger.

I would have loved to have seen a different judge at some point too but I guess it would have been hard to explain another judge as simple as the one they have. Anyone know if it's the same judge in 3 and 4?

Just picked mine up the other day. Refuse to touch it until I beat the fifth case in the first game. And this "Psyche Lock" system looks a little weird. How does it work?

The thing that gets to me about Franziska is that they're constantly describing her as a "prodigy" -- a genius prosecutor in her home country.  Does Germany really hold whiny, childish hot-tempered lawyers in such high esteem?  (And the funny thing about that is, in the Japanese version, she actually hails from America.)

From the looks of it, the judge in GS4 will be the same as the rest of the games; however, in one specific case in GS3, it is a different person.

Well, it took me over 6.5 years, but I finally beat this one! That last case was beyond nuts, but I enjoyed it. Maybe one of these days I'll actually catch up to the rest of you.

I'm still only halfway through the third game, so if you hurry you can still catch up!

I stopped with Apollo Justice. You'll have me beat regardless.

Wow, I had completely forgotten about Franziska. I was just wondering to myself last night if Blackquill quite works for me like Edgeworth and Godot did, forgetting all about the existence of Franziska. Got to admit, I don't miss her.

Hah, if new Mario & Zelda games weren't mere weeks away, I probably could!