The game will be released in the US on... the 3DS shop as a downloadable game. It has also been renamed to "Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies".
There are some good and bad points about this. In Japan, the game is being released on a cartridge, which is a better guarantee of ownership. (I won't go into everything now). In the US, it's Downloadable. On the other hand, the Ace Attorney series - while a fan favorite - does not sell as many copies as, say, Street Fighter, here in the US and it is MUCH more expensive to localize. Seriously, look at the care that goes into this localization. Plus we have new Voice Actors, Phoenix may not be the only one voiced, we will have actual animation rather than sprite gifs, and the sprites of the characters are replaced with 3D models and backgrounds.
While the price is unknown, getting rid of cartridges does reduce the cost of the series in the US. At least on Capcom's end.
So, we'll see what happens. I would prefer a physical copy, this way I can play it on other systems or just look at it sometimes, but it's ACE ATTORNEY. It's going to be good.
And who knows? This might finally tip the scale for Ace Attorney Investigations 2.
Phoenix Wright is from the visual novel series "Ace Attorney". The most Phoenix has done in those games is a few errant punches, getting knocked out, breaking down an ancient and strong door, and falling from a burning bridge into a river that routinely kills people but he only emerges with a cold.
So, how does he work in a fighting game?
Well, they treat it like a court case. At least for him. Phoenix searches for evidence, he talks his opponent to death, and can convict Galactus himself! (As proving his client innocent in game means proving someone else guilty, it works for a defense lawyer.)
The end result is a very unique take. It fits into the world, and it still marks Phoenix as not quite in sync. After all, in his world, battles are fought in court.
And they are AMAZING.
But, well, the other games aren't as legally focused. The Marvel universe has a lot of fighting. Ryu's from a fighting game, and then we have Zero who is a bounty hunter. Oh, and Rocket Raccoon.
I'm not going to explain.
So, with the Capcom people being clever, and not using Franziska Von Karma (who uses a whip), they somehow made legal fighting work. They use evidence to shatter the opponents Psyche and therefor win.
And, that, after all, is kind of what Ace Attorney is about.
Well, Apollo has been injured and he may be our new prosecutor. Traditionally, the silhouette at the end of the Ace Attorney teaser trailer is the new Prosecutor.
And, right now, that silhouette is matching Apollo's sprite.
Now, people in AA changing professions isn't unheard of. Miles has doubled as defense in a pinch, Godot started as defense before becoming a prosecutor, etc. But the bandages are particularly interesting.
Apollo doesn't have a magatma in order to see the truth, instead he can see the little twitches people do when they're lying. Something happened recently, something that took away the use of one of his eyes (at least temporarily) Something that may keep him from perceiving.
In addition, prosecutors are traditionally (In AA) very bitter people. What could cause Apollo to become a prosecutor?
I hope they didn't fridge Trucy...
In any rate, Apollo is confirmed and something tells me he will be VERY important.
Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney was released a few months ago in Japan. As per the norm, an art book was released which revealed that early in development, Phoenix and Layton were to have an evil counterpart. This was apparently scrapped,
It's interesting to think about their evil counterparts. What would they be like? How would they be adapted into the story?
Phoenix already a bit of an evil counterpart in "Furio Tigre" and Layton had one on "Don Paolo" but neither of these were quite a counterpart. Don Paolo was shown to have some good in him several times while Furio Tigre was more intimidating then a portent of what Phoenix could be.
The idea of an evil counterpart, especially one towards Professor Layton, is rather interesting. Phoenix has very few faults (to the point he is noted in a few supplementary materials as bland) and Level-5 stated that Layton is just like Phoenix, but with no faults.
Admittedly, it may be why the designs were scrapped, but it's interesting to think what they could be. Would Evil Layton be a jerk obsessed with coffee? (Though that does sound a lot like Godot) Would Evil Phoenix be motivated for himself rather than his client? Or would he be a prosecutor?
Shadow archetypes are always a tricky game to play. Silent Hill tends to play it pretty well, you often have to face your Shadows to move on in the game. Other times, they tend to fall flat. I can't name any off the top of my head, but everyone has dealt with a fictional work with their own take on Shadow Archetypes.
So, sadly, these sketches are what can not be. Which really is a pity, they look gorgeous. As are the attempts at Miles and Larry, Labyrinth City style, below.
The last game in the Ace Attorney trilogy wrapped up a saga of love, law, and trust. (Obviously spoilers ahead)
I'm going to be focusing on the third game. The first covers so many different kinds of love and the law in the Ace Attorney series is pretty messed up.
Trust, however, is a major point in the game. Phoenix relies on trust because he may not always know what he is doing, but he knows what he is going for, an aquital.
He has trust in Maya, he has trust in Mia. He has trust in Pearl, Miles, Larry, Gumshoe, and even Franciska has worked her way into his trust.
This all comes to a head in Case 3-5 where every bond he has built up gets tested.
Miles Edgeworth is the main testee. Miles Edgeworth starts off in the first game as the rival. As the unbeatable opponent. As the man who would do ANYTHING to bring his opponent down. He turns into someone much more complicated and worthy of the trust. I've talked about this before.
Maya on her end always feels like she is never worthy of trust, but has fought and loved for the last three years so her trust can be given. In the second game, it looks like nothing can help her, she doesn't even know if she is innocent, and yet she places her trust in Phoenix and he continues his eternal trust in her.
Mia, despite being dead, has a large presence on the series because her family is a family of spirit mediums. As a result, Maya or her cousin Pearl can summon Mia when needed. As they can only have her there for limited times, Mia MUST be trusted because they can't really cross her or double check her information.
Franciska throughout the second and a bit of the third games rapidly proves herself to be -while out for revenge- also interested in justice and does not cross lines. While she may hide some information, she will never manipulate facts.
Pearl is a little girl. She can be trusted, partly because she has a horrible poker face.
Larry is an old school friend. While he may unintentionally cause trouble, he will never intentionally act malicious or lie (even if he forgets things). You may not like it, but you can trust him.
Detective Gumshoe works for the police, but he's also interested in justice being done to the right person. He helps Phoenix out when he can. Sometime's it's physical help, sometimes it's information, but he does not lie and he has been fired for helping.
This trust proves critical in the last case of game 3. Maya has disappeared, her mother has been found dead in two places at the same time. Pearl has also vanished. Phoenix fell through a burning bridge and landed in a cold and swift river known for killing people, and no one is quite sure what happened.
Edgeworth trusts Larry enough when he says Phoenix is in danger to come back to the states. (Phoenix did have a bad cold but that's it.) Phoenix trusts Edgeworth enough to have him do the work and help out in court despite how Edgeworth is a prosecutor. And when spirit mediums and psychelocks come up, Edgeworth trusts Phoenix enough to just go along with it and accept it. Gumshoe trusts everyone enough that they will do the right thing; that Edgeworth will protect the innocent, and that he will punish the guilty. Franciska is trusted to help Phoenix when everyone is missing. After all, she won't let anyone else get hurt. Mia and Pearl have critical information that they can not reveal right away. They are trusted when they appear that their witholding was not malicious or deliberate, and they know the truth.
If any of this was doubted, if anyone had lied. If anyone was not worthy of the trust they were placed with when studying the case, then Maya would have been found guilty of matricide, the manipulator would have had the last laugh, and the killer would not have found his redemption. (And, yes, that sentence makes sense in context.)
I need to replay this level again. The trust is heartbreaking and I'm lacking details. Though, you all should have played this game through before! It's worth it.
Second: I was replaying Apollo Justice when I was again struck by one of my favorite parts of the game: The Sprites.
So, what are sprites?
Sprites are basically pictures. Each picture is programmed to appear when doing certain things. They all string together to create something in motion (much like hand drawn animation)
While this is neither better or worse then 3D animation used today, I happen to prefer Sprites. They seem a bit more impressive to me. While they may not visually wow, you do have to see how smooth and detailed they have become. Let's look at the first Castlevania.
This is a sheet of Simon Belmont's movements from the first game:
And here he is in action:
The opening is impressive, especially for an NES. Look at those backgrounds.
Now, let's look at the most recent sprite based entry: Order of Ecclesia.
Here is a sheet for Shanoa:
It's much bigger, isn't it? I want you to look specifically at her hair and her clothes. The two constantly move when she's in motion... or when she's not. She also has much more animated abilities. Simon failing only has him on the floor. With Shanoa, we get to see her knocked around and get back up. Okay, let's actually watch her in motion.
See how much smoother she is then Simon?
I'm not denying that 3D has it's place, but there is something really special about Spriting. It just has this really special quality to it, and it's nice to see how far we've gone. Do you like Spriting?
(I got the sprites from Spriters Resource Here It's a useful tool, and just interesting to look at if you want to see all the detail that goes into spriting. Check it out!)
(Please note that I will be using the reasonably assumed English names not the Japanese names for the games that have yet to come out. This way everyone will know what I'm talking about. Also: a few spoilers ahead)
So, out of semi nowhere, yesterday Capcom announced Ace Attorney 5. While this is the Ace Attorney Franchise's 11th anniversary (Wow) we haven't had a main game in about five years. The first three games debuted on the GBA.
Ace Attorney 1 came out in October 2001, but only in Japan. After a surprisingly large number of imports, the game was localized and released as a DS game in 2005. The DS version has an extra case that does some set up of AA2 and AA3.
Ace Attoney 2 (Justice for All) was released in 2002 for the GBA and 2006 (Japan)/2007 (US/Europe) for the DS. This version had no extra cases for the DS.
Ace Attorney 3 came out in 2004 for the GBA and 2007 for Japan/US (Europe got it in 2008) DS versions. This one also had no special features, but did have five cases.
While it has been five years for the US, it's been around 8 years in Japan and Phoenix did not quite appear... well, not as himself.
Apollo Justice came out in 2008. (please note some parts of Europe received Apollo Justice before Trials and Tribulations) While Phoenix is in the game, he is the mentor character. Originally he was not to be in the game at all, but Capcom wanted him in.
After that, Miles Edgeworth took over. And it wasn't purely Ace Attorney.
His DS game debuted in 2009 for Japan and 2010 everywhere else. It deviated from the normal "point and click/Visual Novel" style games in that Miles, and other characters, could actually walk around the scene to examine evidence. As it was a more "Investigation" style game, it took the investigations subtitle.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 was not localized outside of Japan (unfortunately) but was released in 2011 in Japan. (I would like to say that, this actually makes sense. While I would like to play it, the Ace Attorney games are known for their VERY good localization that takes a lot of time. By the time the localization came out, the DS would be mostly dead. I hope they do eventually localize it. It could get new life as a 3DS port or something similar. What I've found of the story hints it was VERY good. Plus we find out more about Gregory Edgeworth! That's always a plus.)
In the mean time, two side projects with the Ace Attorney squad appeared.
Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney. We know pretty much nothing, but the conference yesterday showed a video. The video showed Maya and Phoenix on a plane heading to London, but nothing else is known at this time.
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 came out in 2011. In a spot of hope, Phoenix Wright made the cast list due to pure fan demand. While a character from the AA franchise (either Franziska or Phoenix) has been considered for a 'Vs' fighting game before (Namely Tatsunoko vs Capcom) it was scrapped due to localization difficulties. ('OBJECTION!" is longer then "IRIJI" (I hope I spelled that right)). If Phoenix made it into Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 due to fan demand, maybe AAI 2 could make it over too.
Well, still no word on that, but now we have Ace Attorney 5 officially announced!
We also know nothing else. Normally, the "Ace Attorney" in question is shown pointing over the title (Yes, Miles counts. He's still an Attorney) However, the title is blank. We could be getting a new one, the Attorney could be new, or an old attorney could be getting redesigned. That still means we know nothing. But it is interesting to see where the franchise has gone, and where it could go.
Our job is to find truth, no matter how painful it may be.
Miles Edgeworth is a critical part of the Ace Attorney franchise. (Because Ace Attorney Investigations 2 has not been localized for the west and the AAI series takes place after the main games, I will focus on the main games. As always, Spoilers ahead)
We meet Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth in case 1-2. (Turnabout Sisters) He explains that he has decisive evidence, has never lost a case, and he strives to find EVERY defendant guilty. Rumors persist of bribes to judges, doctored evidence, and back room deals so the defendants are always convicted. Several times in the series it's revealed he asked people to keep quiet on parts of what they saw or heard so it helps his case. You hate him with every fiber of your being.
The guilty will always lie, to avoid being found out. There's no way to
tell who is guilty and who is innocent! All that I can hope to do is get
every defendant declared "guilty"! So I make that my policy.
As such, he is the polar opposite of our cheerful and snarky Main Character, Defense Attorney Phoenix Wright, who believes in his clients no matter what. This is even more striking when it's revealed that Phoenix and Miles used to be friends.
Over the course of the game, we see him loosen up slightly. Wendy Oldbag gets him visibly flustered and he tells Will Powers that he (Edgeworth) is a fan. And then he is arrested for murder.
He refuses Phoenix's help a few times, but then we see the first true weakness. A minor earthquake hits while Phoenix and Miles are talking about the case. Phoenix and Maya are fine, but Miles is curled up in a fetal position on the floor. A little more digging into his past reveals that when he was young, he had been trapped in an elevator with his father(A defense attorney) and a baliff because an earthquake shut off the power. His father was shot in that elevator and Miles Edgeworth has spent every night after that dreaming that he shot his father. While it was eventually revealed that he did not commit the murder he was accused of, he then confessed to killing his father. Phoenix pulled out all the stops and managed to mount a case that proved not only was Miles innocent, but that the person who raised Miles after his father's death was guilty! ( I am hugely simplifying this case. Play it, please. I'm leaving out most of the DL-6, Yani Yogi, the reason why Miles doesn't believe Maya can summon the dead. There's just alot here that I can't talk about right now)
After this he only showed up in the final cases of games 2 and 3. Despite this, his presence is felt. Phoenix believes that he committed suicidein game 2 because he was ashamed of how the last few cases ended. This makes it even more amazing when it's revealed he's actually been living internationally and was the one who gave the key evidence in Phoenix's last trial. When he finally enters a court room again, he reveals what he is now fighting for, the truth.
He will find the truth, no matter what. He will use the truth to convict the guilty. And he will do it while remaining above the law. There is reason why his theme is "Great Revival"
So, what does all this tell about him?
He's human. While it may seem obvious, we can easily find these little chinks in his armor that show how human he is. He is terrified of Earthquakes (the AAI series expands this to elevators also) When he heard Phoenix was dying, he flew half way around the world to see him one last time and finish his case. (This turns out to be completely false. Phoenix and Miles share a grade school friend named "Larry Butz" and Larry has a tendency to exaggerate.). He's launched task forces to save Maya at least twice, and he is secretly a fan of the Steel Samurai (this was hinted at several times in the main series, but received more focus in AAI)
He's stubborn, but not stupid. Through out the series he's stuck to whatever he believes is true. He's believed Maya killed her sister, that he killed his father, and all defendants are guilty. (This last bit may be part of a guilt complex. He believes he killed his father, they already convicted his father's killer, so he prosecutes everyone else to make up for it) But when enough solid evidence comes to light that shows his ideas may be wrong, he rethinks the idea and chooses what he believes is the truth. It may be the old idea, but it can also be the new one.
He really does want to do the right thing. Living with prosecutors made him chose the prosecutor path over the defense path, but the right thing is what he wants to do. When he believes all defendants are guilty he pursues that path, but when he realizes he was wrong he adopts his new path and continues to follow it. He will fight tooth and nail for what he believes is the right thing to do. This has included randomly objecting to buy Phoenix time, having the defense call witnesses, BEING a defense attorney at least once, and stepping in to prosecute when his adopted sister was shot (she survived).
There is quite a few reasons why Miles Edgeworth a fan favorite character, and I've barely gone into any depth (and I've left AAI out of this analysis) Play the games, see why Miles is so great.
I'm going to talk about localization in general today.
Localization is the second part of translation that turns a good translated script into a great one. When you translate, you first translate something literally. "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten" is a well known example of a literal translation of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". What localization does is smooth the words over to give accurate translations. Almost every word we use has an alternate and more specific meaning, or what about context? "Steal" vs "lift" mean the same thing, but have very different contexts.
This is where localization comes into play. They look at the word, it's context, and make sure that they have the best word that fits the scenario. Check some examples out here.
Other problems of localization include slang or references to local events. "Spastic" means excited in the US, but it's horribly insulting elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Ace Attorney games have "Lotta Heart" who speaks in a particular Japanese dialect. The implications of that dialect wouldn't transfer over to the US, so they made her southern instead.
Localization is what makes games more enjoyable. "YOU SPOONY BARD!" was put in because English lacked a current word that expressed what the Japanese said. It's now an iconic line. (For the record, the literal translation is somewhere along the lines of 'you lovesick bastard') Maya's noodles were replaced by hamburgers, Final Fantasy VI's heroine is called either "Tina" or "Terra" (the point was to make it sound exotic to the player's ears. "Tina" isn't exotic in the west) and Pokemon's names are often changed to get the pun or idea across.
Literal isn't always better. There are some things readers just won't get, either due to cultural differences, language subtleties, or a mix of the too. Some things that okay in one language or culture are very insulting in another. Localization sees these problems and fixes them.
Professor Layton is a gentleman. No, really, that and puzzles are his defining characteristics. How can we tell he's a gentleman? Because of that hat. As soon as Layton appears wearing that hat, we know he is someone incredibly polite. No one really wears top hats anymore, but as he's seen driving a car in his intro too, we know he's not behind the times, he just likes wearing that hat.
After this, we see the rest of his clothes are rather common. Orange shirt, brown suit, he does not like to dress up, so the hat must be something special for him.
Except for the hat, he seems like a common man. He is, in actuality, a very kind archaeology professor so much of his outfit makes sense when you realize that he A) probably doesn't have alot of money and B) would need something to hide dust and dirt. It really all goes back to the hat for him though. That wonderful hat that immediately projects that this is a very good, very kind, very polite man who happens to spend his days solving puzzles and unraveling conspiracies to hurt other people.
Unfortunately, I am rather busy today, so I'll leave you with something that sold me on the 3DS.
Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself... That is coffee
I was going to do Miles Edgworth originally, but I'm missing a game of character development so...
time for another of my favorite Ace Attorney characters, Godot. (Spoilers below)
First, though, let's listen to his song (since it does a very good job of describing him)
So, when we listen to the song, we hear... regret. The song is sad, regretful, and yearning. A large clue into his character.
Godot is, in actuality, a man named Diego Armando. Around six years before his debut case, he was poisoned by a suspect. While he miraculously survived, he was forever altered. His nervous system had been damaged leaving him blind without the mask and his hair turned white. He woke up to the scent of coffee and found out his girlfriend (And fellow defense attorney), Mia Fey, had died in the intervening years.
Not really what you want to wake up too.
So, he becomes a prosecutor, starts trying to find a way to protect Mia's sister Maya and to punish Phoenix Wright who he holds responsible for Mia's death. (Phoenix actually has nothing to do with the deaths. He couldn't have known about the attempt on Mia's life and fought very hard to bring Mia's killer to justice. ) Godot's attempt to protect Maya was also tragic. But, I'll touch on that in a second.
When we fist meet him, he claims that he has never lost a case as a prosecutor... because it's his first case. He is shown to be obsessed with coffee, but there is always hints of a tragedy beneath his veneer. He mocks love, he insults everyone, he allows someone to trash Phoenix Wright's name, and when we meet him outside of the courtroom, he is alone.
While this is admittedly not unique to prosecutors, but when we do see him, the other prosecutors have established connections. Miles Edgeworth and Gumshoe have been established as Partners in Crimesolving before this point and the last case in game 3 only highlights that fact. Franziska von Karma has also shown a deep family connection to Miles Edgeworth at this point and willingly teams up with Phoenix Wright. Godot, instead, disappears for a while and when he does has no connections.
Another sense of tragedy is a brief moment in case 3. There is a large ketchup stain on an apron, but he can not see it, the first hint that even with the mask he can not see everything.
Case 5 is where it all comes together. His past is revealed, and when everyone figures out that he killed someone in order to protect Maya, he forces the case to continue until he is convicted. He knows he will probably die but he still continues.
He has a strong sense of right or wrong. I know it sounds cliche, but when dealing with the world of Ace Attorney, it's a good indicator of character. He woke up in a bad circumstance and really tried to make the best of it he could, he just went about it the wrong way. His obsession of coffee can indicate a fear of falling asleep again. He manages to work coffee metaphors into EVERYTHING. (And often throws his cups at Phoenix. This was actually referenced in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3) He has has a large guilt complex. This complex got him to save Maya from an attempt on her life, but rather then doing the sensible thing (Namely calling the police and warning Maya straight on) He instead sets up a situation where she had a greater chance of being in danger. While it ultimately proves successful, the price was quite high and it causes his future execution and the death of Maya's mother. Even when he knows that this reveal will cause his death, he still moves forward. (Admittedly, how the law can be applied in the case is rather confusing, but the point remains. Death is an option and he fights for true justice)
And he still finds peace. Once Phoenix (regretfully) reveals that Godot is the killer, he starts to cry bloody tears. He Calls Phoenix by his actual name, and seems finally relieved that he knows that Mia's legacy is in safe hands, that he can admit to himself that Phoenix could not have stopped Mia's death, and that he now has something to talk to, even if it is only for a short time.
Godot is quite easily one of the more complex characters in Ace Attorney history. His Ace Attorney gimmicks are much more then that. Each line, each animation, sets up and expands on a character who's hints of tragedy are far more then what we would expect.
