Ace Attorney


 * This page is meant to provide an overview of the entire Ace Attorney franchise. Links are provided under most section titles for more detailed information on each aspect of the franchise. More information on the Phoenix Wright / Apollo Justice games can be found in the page Gyakuten Saiban.

Ace Attorney (called Gyakuten (meaning "Turnabout") in Japan) is a meta-series of primarily text-adventure video games created by Shu Takumi and published by Capcom for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS handheld systems, with ports for Microsoft Windows, WiiWare and iOS. These games follow various lawyers in their battles in the courtroom and their investigations of crime scenes. The first four games, which were originally released between 2001 and 2007 in Japan, comprise the "Gyakuten Saiban" (meaning "Turnabout Trial") series, and follow defense attorneys Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice as they give their all to defend their clients in a courtroom setting resembling that of the Japanese legal system, using investigative skills, cross-examinations and evidence. The next two games, the first released in 2009, are part of an ongoing interquel series, Gyakuten Kenji, and follow prosecutor Miles Edgeworth as he investigates various crime scenes to find the truth behind the crimes using evidence collection, logic and arguments with other people.

History
The series, which now spans 15 different game products (including ports), started with three games released on the Game Boy Advance only in Japan between 2001 and 2004, created by a small team led by Shu Takumi and starring Ryuuichi Naruhodo (Phoenix Wright). These first Gyakuten Saiban was then remade for the Nintendo DS as Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten (meaning "Turnabout Trial: Turnabout Rebirth) in 2005, which included English-language mode, making it a popular import title. Later that year, a North American version of the remake was released as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, followed by a European version. The remake also featured an extra case, Rise from the Ashes, which used the microphone and touchscreen features of the Nintendo DS for using forensic tools. Similar remakes for the next two games followed, named Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations in localizations, though these did not feature extra cases.

The fourth title, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, was built for the Nintendo DS from the ground up, and starred a new lawyer, Apollo Justice. Mechanics from Rise from the Ashes made a return in various capacities in this game and in subsequent games. The practice of including an English mode was discontinued, the English localization only appearing in international releases. Capcom then partnered with Daletto to release the first three games as episodic content only in Japan between March and May 2008. After Apollo Justice, Takeshi Yamazaki took over the director's position from Takumi and produced a game starring Phoenix's rival Miles Edgeworth, Gyakuten Kenji. This was localized internationally as Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, though only the English language became available. iOS and WiiWare remakes of the original three games soon followed, though in case of the iOS, only the first game made it to North America.

A crossover with the Professor Layton series is planned, called Layton-kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban.

Setting
The game takes place in an urban city mostly set in the 2010s and 2020s; for the Japanese versions, this city is somewhere in Japan, while other versions place the games in Los Angeles, California. Cases tend to be localized within the city, though some take place well outside city limits, such as Kurain Village and Flight I-390. The main characters of Ace Attorney are lawyers who investigate crime scenes and then take their evidence to court. Throughout the stories, these lawyers work under an intricate system of rules in the crime scene as well as the courtroom.

Trials

 * See also: Trial, Gyakuten Saiban

Trials are the driving force of the plots in the Gyakuten Saiban games. The courtroom proceedings in the low-level trials seen in the Ace Attorney world run on the initial trial system, which is based on the Japanese legal system. Essentially, when a person is accused of a crime, he or she is immediately given a bench trial presided by a judge, a prosecuting attorney from the state, and a defense attorney who must completely prove the accused innocent of the crime, usually by finding contradictions in witness testimonies, within three days, after which the case is consigned to a higher court. Turnabout Succession uses a jury trial instead, the result of a change in the Ace Attorney world's justice system.

Investigations

 * See also: Investigation

Gameplay

 * Main category: Gameplay



The Ace Attorney games are primarily adventure games, though they require the player to collect evidence and to present it to the witnesses in court. The game is presented primarily using animated two-dimensional manga-like sprites, with text dialog, sound effects, and minimal spoken clips to simulate speech.

There are two phases to each case: investigation and trial sessions. Investigation includes the ability to visit several key locations in the case and talk to people involved with it while searching for evidence by examining the scene; the second and third game introduces the "Psyche-Lock," a system through which the defending attorney can break mental barriers to learn the truth from uncooperative witnesses during investigations. Players can present both evidence and, in the second and third games (but not the fourth game), profiles of people involved with the case.

Trial sessions are generally made up of testimonies consisting of statements by witnesses. The player generally cross-examines the witness to locate a contradiction by showing a piece of evidence that relates to what the witness has testified. The player may also "press" the witness, asking the witness to clarify a statement. Sometimes pressing and presenting evidence will lead to additional statements added to the testimony. Presenting evidence successfully may also lead to new lines of testimony altogether and it is almost always the only way to proceed in the game. The fourth game introduces the Perceive system, which is active during some cross-examinations. During testimony, the player can use his bracelet to look closely at body language and actions that trigger when the witnesses states something untruthful (for example, their hands may twitch or they may swallow), and thus force the witnesses to respond truthfully.

The ultimate goal in the courtroom is to have a "not guilty" verdict handed down to the defendant. Often however, the player is only able to delay the case until the next day. This gives the player more time to investigate the crime. Generally, the player must determine who the true perpetrator of the crime is in order to absolve the defendant of guilt.

Presenting evidence is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger, as in the game's logo, and shouting "Objection!" (異議あり!, Igi ari!), accompanied by a word bubble of the same word, both of which have become iconic representations of the series. If the player presents the wrong evidence, attempts to present at the wrong time, or fails in other parts of in-court questioning, they lose some measure of acceptance by the judge, and if the player is wrong too many times, the case will be terminated with a guilty verdict for the accused, and the player will have to restart from his/her last save point or the beginning of the court session.

Each game is made up of four or five episodes; the games and episodes have some interconnection, recurring minor characters and similar crime elements.

Nintendo DS gameplay
In the DS remakes, the game utilizes the touchscreen and microphone in addition to, and as an alternative to, the normal controls, allowing the player to shout "Objection!", "Hold it!", "Take that!", or "Gotcha!" at the appropriate times. The remake of the first game for the DS includes a brand new fifth case created specifically for the remake, with additional aspects of gameplay that fully used the special features on the DS; for example, one can dust for fingerprints by tapping the screen to apply fingerprinting powder, then blowing at the DS microphone gently to blow the powder away. The player can also use the 3D capabilities of the DS to render the collected evidence; key details concerning the evidence are often revealed this way. The fourth game of the series, which is the first game developed completely for the DS without a prior GBA release, also includes a number of these elements.

Localization
The localization of the games changes much of the more trivial content completely to cater to the appropriate audience. Character names are adapted into English; for instance, "Ryuuichi Naruhodo", whose first name references a dragon and whose last name literally means "I see", is renamed "Phoenix Wright", whose first name references the phoenix and whose last name is a pun on the word "right". Additionally, references to Japanese culture are replaced by references to Western culture; for example, "Mayoi Ayasato" frequently hungers for ramen, while the English equivalent "Maya Fey" lusts for burgers. However, all this results in a few leftover quirks that make little sense in an American setting, such as the existence of Japanese temples. In Reunion, and Turnabout, an American car is called a British car in the localization because cars in Great Britain and Japan drive on the left side of the road, whereas North American cars drive on the right.

Games

 * Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
 * Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All
 * Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
 * Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
 * Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
 * Gyakuten Kenji 2
 * Layton-kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban

Critical reception
The Western gaming press has generally given favorable reviews of the games. The games have received praise for their presentation, music and dialog, and for being strong adventure game titles in an otherwise lacking market. Criticisms have included linearity, lack of replay value, and lack of evolution in the general gameplay formula. Reviewers have also noted the unrealistic nature of the courtroom system; GameSpot noted in its review of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney that, during courtroom sessions, one should "suspend your disbelief about the whole procedure, since, although it feels fairly close to reality, many things go on during the proceedings that would probably horrify actual members of the legal system." Issue 22 of (N)Gamer also noted that the games sometimes involve "odd leaps in logic" that can degenerate the experience of presenting evidence into a trial-and-error procedure. Justice For All and Trials and Tribulations were criticized for a lack of the unique DS features introduced in the first game.

Popularity
In Japan, the games have enjoyed a reasonable amount of popularity. The combined sales (both GBA and DS) of the first two games totaled around 400,000 units, while the GBA version of the third game, neared 250,000 units. The fourth game sold 160,000 copies on the day of release in Japan, with a total of 250,000 units moved during the first week of release. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth sold 172,000 units in the week of its release and 42,000 the following week. In both cases, the game was the second best selling DS title in Japan, trailing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

In the United States, the success of the first game exceeded the low expectations of retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us, forcing Capcom to prepare at least three additional runs of the game to meet the demand. Capcom had produced nine to ten runs of three-to-four thousand units before Toys "R" Us requested 15,000 copies.

As of December 2009, Capcom has stated that the series has sold more than 3.8 million units worldwide, and is currently their 9th best selling series of all time.

Music

 * Main category: Category:Music

The official soundtrack for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was first published by Suleputer on November 30, 2005, followed by OSTs for the next two games.

Capcom has also released an album entitled Gyakuten Saiban Orchestra Album: Gyakuten Meets Orchestra with orchestral arrangements of many of the songs used in the game and its two sequels on September 9, 2006. A second CD with additional Ace Attorney orchestral pieces was released for sale at the Tokyo Game Show 2006, and was sold to the public later that year. On March 31, 2007, Capcom released an official jazz arrangement album named Gyakuten Saiban Jazz Album: Gyakuten Meets Jazz. The CDs were originally scheduled for Japanese release only, but since, it has been announced that they will be released in North America as well.

The video game music arrangement circle Magical Trick Society has released an album with arrangements of songs from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, called Cadenza: Gyakuten Saiban 1.

On April 20, 2008, a live concert for the music in Ace Attorney was held, and on July 16, 2008, a recording of this soundtrack was put out, under the name of Gyakuten Saiban Tokubetsu Houtei 2008.

Capcom Japan worked in conjunction with Takarazuka Revue to create a live musical performance for the Ace Attorney games to be presented in February 2009. It will be called Gyakuten Saiban −Yomigaeru Shinjitsu− (逆転裁判 −蘇る真実 lit. "Turnabout Trial -Truth Resurrected-"), and it will star Cosmos Troupe's Tomu Ranju in the lead role.

Manga
U.S manga publisher Del Rey Manga is distributing in the United States a manga adaptation of the video game series that is currently being serialized in Japan. The adaptation is written by Kenji Kuroda and illustrated by Kazuo Maekawa and published by Kodansha. Del Rey Manga also distributed a manga anthology based on the Phoenix Wright trilogy, this was an older collection of doujinshi (fan comics) created by several different manga artists. The first volume was called The Phoenix Wright Files while the second was called The Miles Edgeworth files.