OBJECTION! is the most fun thing to shout into your DS on the train ever. This game is stay up all night material.
The game starts out with the main character, Phoenix Wroght, just starting his first case, with the help of his mentor Mia Fey, Phoenix wins his first trial with gusto. Unfortunately for Mia, she falls victim to a murder and it's up to Phoenix to look after the law firm with Mia's spirit channelling, food obsessed younger sister Maya.
Phoenix's trials usually follow the same pattern, investigation then trial, if no verdict is passed repeat process. The investigation stage is quite typical of the point and click genre, all of your information is stored for you to view whenever you want, you're free to move between fixed locations and talk to whomever is positioned infront of you about topics related to the story. This however is where generic stops. The trials are fast paced, intellectual battles between yourself and the prosecution.
The trials tend to revolve around testimony and cross examination. The witness tells their story, you expose the lies, of course, not all of the witnesses lie and not all of the lies are easy to see so you can press the witness for more information on whatever you want. This sometimes leads you off topic, leading to some hilarious comments from one dim-witted judge. Once you find a contradiction in the testimony you're free to shout OBJECTION! and present evidence to back up your theory. Here is a problem though because there is only one right answer and you have to go the long way around, so if you pick the wrong evidence or are moving too fast for the case and present something before you are supposed to the game will penalize you and deduct some hit points which you will need for further on in the case as some trials get rather difficult at points. Fortunately for you there is a save function that can be used whenever you want, unfortunately this can be used to change trials into a guessing trial and error situation that saps all of the fun out of solving the case on your own.
The characters are amazingly written. There are characters I feel bad for (Detective Gumshoe and his continued punishment) characters you tend to really hate (usually the killer) and characters that are so charming they could rival that of James Bond (Miles Edgeworth). The animation is truly amazing, as with Hotel Dusk the character animations are subtle but stand out to show the amount of detail gone into this game and how brilliant the artists are. The soundtrack is expertly composed and adds to the thrill and drama of the story magnificently, enhancing the emotion of the situation at hand.
In conclusion this is everything I want and more. An emotional story, fun and exciting gameplay and lovable, sometimes comedic characters. I can tell you that this game kept me up many a night and I love every second. Aside from the faults, this is the best DS game I've played in a long time.