Also, the way players are expected to manually sort out multi-page documents with traditional controls is needlessly tedious, and the game doesn't support touchscreen controls (despite that it would really benefit from them). When it comes to flaws, I will say that the game seems to assume that the player already has a good understanding of France during this time period, or at least the expectation that they'll be able to deduce enough about what's going on to understand it all. And at certain points in the story, players are asked to make important decisions outside of the usual courtroom drama that can have an impact on the story.Īll in all, this makes for not only an outstanding game of ethical and political maneuvering, but a fascinating experience in what it may have been like to live in France during one of the most harrowing times in its entire history. In addition, players are tasked with getting a basic understanding of each case to answer a few simple questions at its conclusion, and cannot simply be satisfied with getting a verdict they want supported by the jury.
Players must also manage a home life with various family members that have different needs, and their happiness can convey bonuses such as extra points to spend on “hints”. There are other factors at work here too. This is a case where players may have good cause not to see every snippet of story and conversation in the game, as going through all of these dialogue options may run counter to your goal of getting the jury to support the verdict you intend to hand down (and no, this is not how the US justice system works, but then we are not, at least as of this writing, in a time of revolution and civil war). Once the player has these questions, they must choose which to ask and which to remain silent on, with the consequences of each question (raising the jury's desire for punishment or reducing it) shown in advance. Players are given a limited number of attempts to do so, and failing often enough will lead to a reduced choice in the questions you can ask. The game's mechanics do a good job of balancing the ethical choices with the player's resourcefulness – players must first deduce which questions to ask by reading the case outline and tying the various elements of the case (events, evidence, and so on) to the basic fundamentals that would establish the accused's innocence or guilt (the accusation itself, the motive, mitigating factors, etc.). However, the real treat in this game's presentation is the story, which does a superb job of setting the stage of the tense situation that makes it clear that being a judge deciding important cases during such a divisive time is not only an ethical landmine, but a political one, as every question you ask prompts responses from both the jury and onlooking crowd (the former representing the populace in general, and the latter representing the voice of the revolutionaries), with their opinions of the accused shifting depending on which questions you choose to ask, and their opinion of you changing based on your ultimate decision, with the ever-looming threat hanging in the air with every choice that either group disagrees with (and few choices will please both). This is underscored by a subdued, dramatic orchestral soundtrack that ensures the tension level is high, in keeping with the dangerous nature of the situation, and while for the most part the game's lines aren't voiced, the game's cutscenes are, and fairly well (albeit without any outrageous French accents). The game is presented with hand-drawn visuals that have a simple angular, polygonal look to them, which is a bit of an odd choice that nevertheless works well enough, presenting the characters of this game in something of an abstract that makes them easier to relate to.
The Revolution (from here on I'll just be calling it We the Revolution to avoid confusion), released in 2020 on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Switch, is a Graphic Adventure that takes the courtroom hijinks of a game like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and plays them deadly serious – the game takes place in France in the days of the French Revolution, and the player takes the role of a judge who must decide not only the guilt or innocence of the accused in cases brought before him, but must weigh his decision against the desires of the various factions in France who may opt to line you up for the guillotine if your judgments upset them enough.
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