Before I begin, I should make it clear that I did not play the North American version of this game; I was using the Japanese version, which has an option for full English translation. However, given the nature of the Phoenix Wright series, and the sophistication of the translation, it is my opinion that the difference between the two versions will be ostensibly nil. That said, let’s get started.
Phoenix Wright: Trials And Tribulations (hereinafter referred to as PW3) pretty much continues the gameplay formula of the first two games without any real change, which isn’t a bad thing by any means. The PW series is more or less a revival of the classic adventure genre, which sparked such games as Myst and Monkey Island back in the day, but manages to bring plenty of its own gameplay to the table. The game has two basic portions to it: the investigation portion, and the courtroom portion. The former plays very much like an old-school adventure game, as you move from location to location, talking to people and inspecting scenes to gather evidence. The meat of the game lies in the courtroom portions, where you will need to point out logical contradictions between a given testimony and the evidence you have gathered.