Aviary Attorney Review

 Only slightly Objectionable

Another in the "parody bird base visual novel" camp. Aviary attorney is a shorter experience that starts as a very simple satire of Phoenix Wright... Get it, cause phoenix, bird? Anyway. Suffice to say it is perhaps a bog standard example of an indie parody with a single gag that doesn't particularly last. Not to give it all away so soon, but it's not as though this is an extensive review.

The story is solid and the characters likeable, taking the aesthetic of 1840s france to give a beautiful atmsophere of simultaneous class, intrigue, and scandal. However it also feels a little shaky in certain key ways. For one the core gag of all creatures being animals is only a gag in that the visual of a bird in a hat looking thoughtful is amusing. In practice it has no bearing on the story and only dilutes the themes of class divide that are natural to the setting. It is also not very set on structure, starting out as a very direct phoenix wright parody before jumping off the deep end into revolutionary drama. Good drama, but only barely connected nonetheless.

The gameplay however is it's weakest point. While the ability of the game to Adapt to success and failure based on your evidence collecting adds a nice sense of uncertainty to the courtroom moments, it leads to the LA Noire problem where it's possible to miss vital clues that allow the story to make sense. Leading into a cascade of lacking one clue meaning it is impossible for you to the to the next and so on. The game has merit in that I believe it is trying to say someone about the nature of justice and the law, and I do think the story succeeds in that regard. But I'm just not sure I could truly recommend this for fans of detective games.

If, however, you do like the idea of french bird lawyers running around Paris. I don't think you'd necessarily be disappointed either.

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