Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice (逆転裁判 ６, Gyakuten Saiban 6; lit. "Turnabout Trial 6") is the sixth installment of the Gyakuten Saiban series, and the tenth installment overall in the Ace Attorney series of text adventure video games. It was announced in Famitsu on September 1, 2015 as a title for the Nintendo 3DS, with Motohide Eshiro as producer and Takeshi Yamazaki and Takuro Fuse as co-directors. It was confirmed shortly after the Japanese announcement that the game was in development for a Western release. The 3D models of returning characters have all been remade. Like the other 3DS Ace Attorney titles, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice will contain anime cutscenes, although this time they are instead created by A-1 Pictures (the animation studio who produced the anime adaptation), rather than Bones.

Setting
Unlike previous games in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice takes place in two different settings. In the Far Eastern kingdom of Khura'in, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey come into conflict with a court system that has done away with attorneys and instead uses séance visions from a "Pool of Souls" to determine guilt. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes remain at the Wright Anything Agency to take on cases, only for a crisis to loom over them.

Extra mini-episodes featuring characters from past titles will be available to those who pre-order the game in Japan.

Anime prologue synopsis
In March 2016, as part of a Twitter campaign, an 8-minute anime video was released appearing to depict events shortly prior to those in the game. An English dubbed version of the video was shown at Anime Expo in early July 2016 before being uploaded to official YouTube channels on August 25.

Located at the western edge of the Far East, Khura'in is a kingdom of spirit mediums, with a religion centered around its founder, the Holy Mother. Its court system has undergone a drastic shift due to a mass persecution of lawyers under the Defense Culpability Act. To pass judgment, the High Court of Khura'in relies on "Divination Séances", which consists of a mystic ceremony involving a "Dance of Devotion" and a "Song of Ceremony", which conjures images in a "Pool of Souls", revealing what murder victims saw and felt shortly before being killed. Prosecutor Nahyuta Sahdmadhi leads a police force that works to capture and silence the remnants of the attorneys who have eluded punishment. These remnants object to a court that only produces guilty verdicts and allows no room for rebuttal.

Meanwhile, in a land whose lawyers do not fear persecution, Phoenix Wright and Athena Cykes argue their client's case in court against Prosecutor Simon Blackquill. After the trial is adjourned, they join Apollo Justice and talk about Maya Fey, who is visiting Khura'in for spirit medium training. In her training sessions, Fey is assisted by a local boy named Ahlbi Ur'gaid. Commenting on her role as the upcoming Master of Kurain Village, he compares her to Rayfa Padma Khura'in, the royal priestess, who conducts the Divination Séances and interprets the resulting visions.

Later, Fey calls Wright on her cellphone, but their conversation is interrupted when a Khura'inese attorney with a knife grabs and holds her hostage to ward off his pursuers. In the process, she screams and drops her phone, breaking it. Nahyuta Sahdmadhi incapacitates the attacker, however, and leaves with his target. Unaware of this rescue, Wright immediately decides to hurry to Khura'in to make sure that she is all right. Meanwhile, a man overlooking a graveyard of Khura'inese attorneys heralds the arrival of a phoenix, and with him, the flames of purification and change.

Episodes
Six full-length episodes (five in the main game, one as DLC) as well as two shorter non-canon bonus episodes are available in this game. This is the first game in the main Ace Attorney series since Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney to have all episodes unlocked in chronological order.
 * The Foreign Turnabout - After his arrival in Khura'in, Phoenix Wright decides to go sightseeing with Ahlbi Ur'gaid, a monk-in training who works as a tour guide. During that time, the Founder's Orb is stolen from Khura'in's Tehm'pul Temple, resulting in the murder of a temple guard. Ur'gaid is arrested for these crimes, so Wright goes to watch the trial. Upon learning that the country's courtroom has no defense attorneys, and instead relies on séances to render its verdicts, he raises an objection and springs into action as Ur'gaid's defense attorney (with permission from the presiding judge).
 * The Magical Turnabout - During a rehearsal of Trucy Wright's upcoming magic show, Trucy in Gramarye-Land, at Penrose Theater, one of the performers turns up dead, followed by part of the stage collapsing moments later. Trucy is held responsible, but Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes take her case to court, facing off against the international prosecutor from the Kingdom of Khura'in, Nahyuta Sahdmadhi.
 * The Rite of Turnabout - As Maya Fey is completing one of her final training rites, the priest conducting the session is found dead. Since Fey is the only one who was with the priest at the time and wearing a ceremonial outfit that matched the killer's description, she is charged with the murder. Nahyuta Sahdmadhi returns to Khura'in along with forensic detective Ema Skye to try the case in the Khura'inese courts, while Phoenix Wright steps up to defend his friend yet again.
 * Turnabout Storyteller - Athena Cykes takes on the case of Bucky Whet, a soba shop worker accused of murdering rakugo master Geiru Toneido, at Simon Blackquill's request. However, with Apollo and Trucy occupied and Wright out of the country, she faces off alone against Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. Blackquill is called as a witness in this trial, but soon moves to the defense's bench as Cykes's co-counsel (despite being a prosecutor) after finding the witness stand boring.
 * Turnabout Revolution - A dispute over a piece of evidence leads to Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes facing Phoenix Wright on opposite sides of a courtroom in a civil trial. This scenario was first hinted at in the last preview trailer for Spirit of Justice in Japan. Following this, the members of the Wright Anything Agency and Miles Edgeworth travel to Khura'in, where rebellious citizens are attacking. Inga Karukul Khura'in, the country's Minister of Justice, is found dead. Dhurke Sahdmadhi is accused of his murder, and his trial is held with Wright and Justice at the defense's bench against the queen, Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in.
 * Turnabout Time Traveller (時を越える逆転) - Downloadable episode that chronologically takes place after the other episodes in the game. The case revolves around Shizuku Ootsubu, a maid who claims that she was attacked just after her wedding, then traveled back in time to the moment of the attack. Ironically, she now finds herself accused of the attack. Larry Butz returns in this episode, claiming to be Ootsubu's husband-to-be, even though she is married to a mechanic named Raito Haguruma. Miles Edgeworth takes the prosecutor's bench and Maya Fey stands as Wright's co-counsel.
 * Phoenix Wright: Asinine Attorney - Phoenix Wright's non-canon DLC case. Wright finds himself in the High Court of Khura'in, when suddenly a terrorist disguised as a guard barges in and demands Rayfa as a hostage. To stall for time, Pearl Fey claims she is Rayfa. Ur'gaid, who is acting as Pearl's guide in Khura'in, cannot afford to have one of his customers getting taken away by terrorists, as it would be bad for business, so he insists she is not Rayfa. Wright plays along with Pearl and tries to prove she is indeed Rayfa.
 * Apollo Justice: Asinine Attorney - Apollo Justice's non-canon DLC case. Justice is accompanied by Rayfa upon his return from abroad. Rayfa wants to look around the country since it's her first time there and Klavier Gavin has to escort both of them. But Klavier receives a call from the Khura'in Minister of Justice, telling him that Rayfa has to go back that night for a trial happening at Khura'in the next day, preventing her from sightseeing. She later heads to the courtroom and explains what she would like to see in the country. During the trial, Justice video calls Athena Cykes and Jinxie Tenma at Nine-Tails Vale, and later calls Trucy Wright at Penrose Theater, pointing out various places during them.

Main characters

 * Phoenix Wright - Noteworthy veteran Los Angeles defense attorney and the senior practicing attorney of the Wright Anything Agency, well-known for his ability to pull off impossible comebacks in court. He is drawn into the Khura'inese court system during a visit to check on Maya Fey, his friend and former assistant. The end of the final Japanese trailer for the game shows him standing at the prosecutor's bench in a Los Angeles courtroom while telling Apollo Justice (who is standing at the defense's bench) that he will not go easy on him.
 * Apollo Justice - A defense attorney who has been practicing at the Wright Anything Agency under Phoenix Wright for two years. With his boss abroad, it is up to him to take care of incoming cases at home. He possesses a genetic ability, augmented with a special bracelet, to sense nervous tics in others, which he uses to perceive if someone is lying. At some point, he finds himself standing at the defense's bench in a Khura'inese courtroom.
 * Athena Cykes - An energetic rookie attorney who joined the Wright Anything Agency the previous year. Like Apollo Justice, she helps by taking incoming cases while Wright is away, as well as assisting Justice in his investigations. She has a specialization in both law and analytical psychology, which she combines in order to better understand witness testimony and identify abnormalities in emotional states, relying on her advanced hearing and a special program called the Mood Matrix on her personal AI companion, Widget.
 * Rayfa Padma Khura'in - The royal priestess of Khura'in. She performs the Divination Séance, a ritual that uses a "Pool of Souls" to reveal what a murder victim saw and felt before their demise.
 * Maya Fey - A spirit medium of the Kurain Channeling Technique and upcoming leader of Kurain Village, who is training in Khura'in. She was previously Phoenix Wright's assistant and co-counsel, as well as his client in two previous cases. Wright rushes to Khura'in after hearing Fey scream when she drops her phone during a conversation between the pair.
 * Nahyuta Sahdmadhi - An international prosecutor and respected monk from Khura'in who has a soft demeanor that hides a sharp tongue. He believes that convicting criminals in court will provide salvation for their victims. He is also in charge of the persecution of the remaining attorneys in Khura'in, who are fighting against what they see as a corrupt judicial system. He was first shown briefly at the end of the extended 2015 Tokyo Game Show trailer as a silhouetted individual holding a purple butterfly. Said trailer showed Apollo Justice facing (and seeming to recognize) the mysterious character in a Khura'inese courtroom.
 * Ema Skye - A snackoo-obsessed forensic scientist who has previously appeared in several games in the series, using her strong interest in forensic science to assist various Ace Attorney protagonists in solving crimes. In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, she was hired by the Criminal Affairs Department as a homicide detective, much to her irritation, but since then she has managed to obtain a position as in forensics, as she had originally envisioned. First reintroduced in The Magical Turnabout, she plays a similar role to what she played in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Prior to the Famitsu article revealing details of this episode, Skye's appearance in the game was hinted at when a tiny sprite of her was shown to appear on the postcards that come with the "limited goods set" of Ace Attorney 6.

Other main story characters
Recurring:
 * Ahlbi Ur'gaid - A monk-in-training who works as a tour guide. Once he starts one of his tour monologues, there is no stopping him. In the first episode, Wright defends him in court on charges of murder.
 * Shah'do - Ur'gaid's pet dog.
 * Trucy Wright - Phoenix Wright's adopted daughter and heir to the performance rights of Troupe Gramarye. A stage magician and high school student working out of the Wright Anything Agency, she has sometimes accompanied the Agency's attorneys on investigations and acted as co-counsel to Justice in addition to her stage career. In The Magical Turnabout, a death occurs during a show, placing her under suspicion. In Turnabout Revolution, she travels with Justice and Dhurka to Kurain Village, and later to the Kingdom of Khura'in. Prior to the Famitsu article revealing details of The Magical Turnabout,  posters of her could be seen in in-game screenshots from that case.
 * Inga Karkhuul Khura'in - The current Minister of Justice for the Kingdom of Khura'in. Married to Queen Garan Shigataal Khura'in.
 * Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in - The current queen of the Kingdom of Khura'in.
 * Dhurke Sahdmadhi - The leader of the defense attorney resistance group known as the "Dragons of Rebellion".
 * Amara Sigatar Khura'in - The former queen of Khura'in. She disguised herself as Rayfa Padma Khura'in's personal aide Nayna.
 * Khura'inese judge - A man similar in appearance to the judge who normally presides over Wright's cases, albeit with different attire and a beard that ends in two braids.
 * A bailiff in Khura'in who wears a khaki uniform with a purple headband and carries a rifle.

The Foreign Turnabout:
 * Gaspen Payne - A prosecutor and self-proclaimed "Rookie Humiliator" who appears in a Khura'inese courtroom wearing a yellow suit, a gold crown, and a sash. Having been chased out of the prosecutor's office of Los Angeles at the end of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, he has made a reputation in the attorney-less Khura'in as an "undefeated prosecutor", and has ultimately risen to the rank of Chief Prosecutor there.
 * Pees'lubn Andistan'dhin - The head monk of Tehm'pul Temple, he performs the Song of Ceremony on a Khura'inese instrument called a "dahmalan". A witness in Ahlbi Ur'gaid's trial.
 * Paht Rohl - A treasure guard whom Ur'gaid is accused of murdering.

The Magical Turnabout:
 * Bonny de Famme - A rookie magician at the Penrose Theater working under Trucy. She is a witness to the case, with both Justice's bracelet and Cykes' Mood Matrix being used on her.
 * Betty de Famme - Bonny's much more aggressive twin sister, and witness to the case.
 * Roger Retinz - A producer for Take-2 TV who is looking to do a special broadcast of Trucy's latest show, Trucy in Gramarye-Land. Also known as the "Ratings Rajah".
 * Naohito Fushigi (伏樹　直人) - A co-performer of Trucy's, under the name Mr. Reus, whose dead body appears during a performance of her show.

Turnabout Ritual:
 * Tahrust Inmee - A Khura'in priest who is found dead during Maya Fey's final training rite.
 * Rheel Neh'mu - A government spy who is found dead on the first day of trial. He went under the alias Puhray Zeh'lot before his death.
 * Datz Are'bal - An revolutionary who escaped from prison around the time of Malmel Aatam's death. He later disguised himself as A'nohn Ihmus TBD, a man with amnesia.
 * Beh'leeb Inmee - The widow of Tahrust Inmee.

Turnabout Theater:
 * Simon Blackquill - The rival prosecutor from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, who testifies and then serves as Athena's co-counsel. He is known for his dark and somewhat mischievous sense of humor as well as his use of psychological manipulation in court via flattery, suggestive persuasion, and implicit death threats. Having been on death row for seven years after being wrongfully accused and imprisoned for the UR-1 Incident, he was cleared of all charges in the previous game due to the efforts of Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice, and Athena Cykes. Prior to the game's release, he appeared during the anime prologue video, where he faces Wright and Cykes in court, as well as in [[Media:Ace Attorney 6 - Key Visual.png|key visual art for the game]].
 * Taifu Toneido - The victim and a rakugo master. He worked closely with Whet, and Geiru and Uendo who were his students.
 * Bucky Whet - The defendant. He works at a soba shop. He carries boxes of food with him and rides on a skateboard.
 * Geiru Toneido - A balloon artist and rakugo performer who witnessed the murder along with her fellow student and Blackquiil.
 * Uendo Toneido - A skilled rakugo performer under Geiru's tutelage and witness to the case.

Turnabout Revolution:
 * Miles Edgeworth - Renowned prosecutor prodigy, current Chief Prosecutor, and childhood friend and long-time rival of Phoenix Wright. Also appears in Wright's pre-order episode and the DLC case Turnabout Across Time as the main prosecutor.
 * Pearl Fey - A spirit medium who is Maya Fey's younger cousin. She appears when Apollo Justice visits Kurain Village. She also appears in Wright's pre-order episode, where she testifies alongside Ahlbi Ur'gaid.
 * Paul Atishon - A politician running for local assemblyman in Kurain Village.
 * Archie Buff - A professor of archaeology studying Kurain and Khura'inese artefacts who was found dead in his home.
 * Armie Buff - Professor Sanagi's shut-in daughter who often communicates with a robot called Sergeant Buff.
 * Jove Justice - Apollo Justice's biological father who died on-stage in the Kingdom of Khura'in.

Turnabout Across Time:
 * Larry Butz - An overemotional and lazy childhood friend of both Wright and Edgeworth. Has had at least five jobs and nine girlfriends in the space of three years, although the latter is always due to him being unceremoniously dumped. Sometimes uses the pseudonym "Laurice Deauxnim" when working as an artist.
 * Shizuku Ootsubu (大津部 雫) - A maid and acquaintance of Butz who is attacked shortly after her wedding.
 * Raito Haguruma (八久留間 来人) - Ootsubu's newly-wedded husband and a mechanic.
 * Kazuharu Juumonji (十文字 一治) - A witness to the case, who works as Raito's butler.
 * Seiji Yonekura (米倉 静次) - The victim of the case, he worked with Ootsubu as a servant in the Haguruma household.
 * Hikari Haguruma (八久留間 ひかり) - Raito's deceased sister who passed away in a car accident a year before the case.

Side-story DLC episodes only:
 * Klavier Gavin - An easygoing but steadfast and principled prosecutor who was formerly the lead vocalist and guitarist in the Gavinners, as well as Apollo Justice's rival prosecutor in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. In the main story, he is mentioned in The Magical Turnabout as one of the people who sent flowers to Trucy and in a flashback by Apollo Justice in Turnabout Revolution. Appears in Justice's pre-order episode.
 * Jinxie Tenma - A young maid living in Nine-Tails Vale who is friends with Trucy Wright and was a witness in The Monstrous Turnabout. In the main story, she is mentioned in The Magical Turnabout as one of the people who sent flowers to Trucy. Appears in Justice's pre-order episode.

Gameplay
In Khura'in, Phoenix Wright tests his prowess as a lawyer in an unfamiliar court system. One of the new gameplay elements that he must deal with is the Divination Séance. In these rituals, Rayfa Padma Khura'in uses a "Pool of Souls" on the floor of the High Court of Khura'in to show what a victim saw and felt during their final moments. Rayfa interprets these visions as "Insights", a series of claims about the incident. Wright's job is to find contradictions between the Insights and what is actually shown in the visions, which can lead to corrections in the Insights or the visions. Apollo Justice's cases, meanwhile, greatly resemble the investigations and trials of past games in the series, particularly Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, though the forensic investigation mechanics from the Nintendo DS era of games also make a return. Cutscenes can now be skipped by pressing the START button or tapping the touchscreen. Additionally, an options menu accessible from the title screen allows the player to toggle or adjust various settings, such as volume controls, skipping of unread text, and the "Consult" feature.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice uses a "five strike" penalty system. This will be the first main series Ace Attorney game since Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney to use this system, rather than the variable health bar-like "Confidence Gauge" system that has been in place since Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All. Due to feedback that Dual Destinies gave too many hints to the player, the developers aimed to have fewer direct clues in Spirit of Justice, as well as giving the player the option of disabling the appearance of hints such as the "Consult" feature. Additionally, while Dual Destinies only allowed the usage of the "Examine" feature in specific locations, investigation segments in Spirit of Justice will allow them to "Examine" any environment, more akin to the other games in the series. Nonetheless, the game has inherited several elements from Dual Destinies, such as investigation notes, the Mood Matrix, anime cutscenes, and revisualization.

Development
Communion with otherworldly spirits is a concept previously only used with the Fey clan. The developers have explained that they felt that no one could prove a match for Phoenix Wright anymore in his usual setting, so they moved him to a foreign country with a different court system, which would provide a sense of urgency not seen in his usual games.

Promotions
A playable demo of the game was available at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show (September 17-19), as were stickers for players, stage events, and a "Special Court" video.

At the beginning of March, Capcom Japan ran a Twitter campaign to have "#逆転裁判 ６" posted as many times as possible, offering rewards as they passed certain thresholds (6,000, 12,000, and 18,000): headshot icons of Wright, Justice, and Cykes; wallpapers; and a special video at the highest tier. Ultimately the campaign reached over 55,500 re-Tweets, meaning all rewards were posted to the official Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice site, with the promised video being an anime prologue for the game.

Pre-orders and Limited Edition
The Japanese version of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice will ship in two versions: a standard version that contains just the game, and a Limited Edition bundle that includes the game, a bag in the style of Ur'gaid's tote bag, a plush toy of Shah'do, a drama CD, and a set of Spirit of Justice-themed postcards. All pre-order copies also have exclusive episodes (featuring such returning characters as Pearl Fey, Klavier Gavin, and Jinxie Tenma) and pixel-art keychain charms of the main characters of Spirit of Justice. Purchasing the game in the first few weeks of release also grants free alternate costumes for Wright (Furio Tigre's outfit), Cykes (Trés Bien waitress uniform), and Justice (male Japanese high school student uniform, similar in style to that worn by Ryūnosuke Naruhodō in Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken).

International release
As with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, Spirit of Justice was only released digitally on the Nintendo eShop outside Japan. The game was released in North America and Europe on September 8th, 2016.

Other DLC
A 3DS theme based on Spirit of Justice is available as of the game's release. Additionally, three downloadable costumes are available as of June 23, 2016. These costumes are based on characters from Sengoku BASARA, another Capcom franchise. Phoenix Wright's costume is based on Masamune Date / Azure Dragon, Apollo Justice's on Yukimura Sanada / Scorpio, and Athena Cykes's on Ieyasu Tokugawa / Irdene. Moreover, a downloadable case entitled "Turnabout Across Time" will be released on June 30, 2016; the case will be offered free of charge between June 30 and July 20, and then become paid DLC afterwards.

Reception
Spirit of Justice sold 196,831 copies in its first week in Japan, which is more than Dai Gyakuten Saiban but less than Dual Destinies and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.

Trailers

 * Tokyo Game Show 2015 trailer (w/ English subtitles) (w/ extra scene)
 * In English
 * Spring 2016 trailer (w/ English subtitles)
 * In English
 * Character Abilities Trailer
 * Sizzle trailer at end of demo
 * Special anime prologue segment
 * In English
 * Final trailer (w/ English subtitles)
 * Special court skit for Turnabout Across Time DLC