Harvey Birdman - Hillarious, loveable game that are hampered by short gameplay
Harvey Birdman borrows the game play formula from Phoenix Wright series which are also published by Capcom. Thanks to the storage space offered by PSP's UMD, everything in this game is fully animated and voiced; and makes you feel like you're watching an interactive episode from the TV series.
Majority of the game's characters are voiced by their voice actor from the TV series. Their voice work is simply amazing and help brought the experience to live. You'll find yourself enjoying all the characters even if you don't have any prior knowledge about the TV series
As mention before, the game play is a carbon copy of Phoenix Wright series. You'll start off by investigating the crime scenes, collecting the evidence and speaking with various characters to gather information. Once you got everything you need, you'll be taken to the trial. During a trial, you'll have to question the witness, press them for more information, and then find contradiction in their testimony by presenting appropriate evidence. Presenting the wrong evidence will cause you to lose one Birdman's crest. Lose all the crests and its game over.
Unfortunately, unlike Phoenix Wright's game, Harvey Birdman game play is too simple. The game throws you hints here and there giving you an idea on what you should answer or present as evidence. There are no brain-cracking like you would have in Phoenix Wright series as you'll often have "Eh? You can use THAT to commit crime" or "Huh? THAT's the person who committed the crime?" moments. Perhaps they make it simpler to attract more casual gamer?
Another mistake they made is that the game is too short. There are 5 cases overall, and each case shouldn't take you more than an hour to solve. The first case in particular is extremely short, I finished it in around 15 – 20 minutes and when the case is over, I was like, "Huh? Is that's all?". You'll probably plow through the game in less than 4 hours.
What you can do after you finishes the game? Well, you can replay the game to unlock "Secret Movies" (one per case) by going off the beaten path choices in the dialogue tree, though you can probably unlock them all in a single play through. I unlocked 3 out of 5 "Secret Movies" on my first play.
In the end, how much you'll love the game depends on two things. If you're a fan of the TV series and / or craving for more Phoenix Wright like game, then Harvey Birdman is highly recommended. Just don't expect to play it for too long.