I finally finished Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations yesterday. It’s probably the best game in the series (including Apollo Justice) and the last case is a real whopper.
 
But it got me thinking about the things that Konami’s Hideo Kojima said at TGS this year; that Japanese videogame output has fallen way behind that of the West. This was a pretty ambiguous statement. Was he referring to the technical innovation and overall quality of the games? Or did he also mean culturally? Phoenix Wright 3 (made by Capcom, another Japanese developer that’s had big success in the West), sort of gives us a few clues.
 
The game’s last case gives us an insight into the power struggles in the Kurain genealogy, between the main and branch families. The Kurain families are female spirit chanellers, whose activities and garments bear a loose resemblance to Shinto mysticism. In this case, and indeed all throughout the series, the family’s identity is one of the core themes. Their clothes and symbols become significant and instantly recognisable, as do their musical themes which reflect this culture. Is the appearance of the Phoenix Wright games in the West a defiant statement of Japanese nationality amongst its alleged toning down for Western tastes?
 
Perhaps only partly. Despite the fact that the characters of the Kurain family all bear the visual signs of Japanese heritage, they are all written with American personalities, perhaps to fit in with where the game is set. Mia is an idealistic attorney, Maya a burger-crunching pop culture fanatic, and Pearl bears all the stereotypical resemblances to Western depictions of childhood: someone emotionally strong rather than intellectually strong.
 
In order to get a more deliberate representation of Japan, we have to look at Victor Kudo, an old man from Japan and a witness in the game’s third case. His stereotypical ‘old man’ image (grumpy, sullen and nostalgic) is presented alongside his Japanese heritage. He’s always talking about the good old days of honour-bond Japan, and how they’ve been forgotten. Overall, his character represents Japan’s ambivalent attitude to its nationality through videogaming: the harking for a bygone era which at the same time, is plodding and uncool.