Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

Unreleased

Ace Attorney 6 (working title) (逆転裁判 ６, Gyakuten Saiban 6; lit. "Turnabout Trial 6") is the upcoming 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.

Story
Phoenix Wright travels to the Kingdom of Kurain. When his tour guide is arrested, he offers to go watch the trial. Upon learning that the country's courtroom has no defense attorneys, and instead relies on oracles to render its verdicts, he raises an objection and springs into action. 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.

Meanwhile, Apollo Justice remains in an alternate-history version of Los Angeles, the main setting for most of the previous games in the Ace Attorney series. He handles cases for the Wright Anything Agency along with Athena Cykes.

Protagonists

 * 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 traveling abroad in search of something.
 * 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 also finds himself standing at the defense bench in a Kurain courtroom appearing to face someone from his past. He possesses a genetic ability (augmented with a special bracelet) to sense nervous tics in others, which he uses to tell if someone is lying.

Kurain characters

 * Bokuto Tsuani (ボクト・ツアーニ): A monk-in-training who works as a tour guide. Once he starts one of his tour monologues, there is no stopping him. Wright defends him in court on charges of murder.
 * Leifa Padma Kurain (レイファ・パドマ・クライン): The mystic princess of Kurain. She is a spirit medium who can use a water mirror to reveal what a murder victim saw and felt before their demise.
 * Nayuta Sadmadhi (ナユタ・サードマディ): An international prosecutor and respected monk from Kurain who has a soft demeanor that hides a sharp tongue. Sadmadhi believes that convicting criminals in court will provide salvation for their victims. 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 Kurain courtroom.
 * Gaspen Payne: A prosecutor and self-proclaimed "Rookie Humiliator" who appears in a Kurain 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 as an "undefeated prosecutor" in Kurain, rising to the rank of head prosecutor there.
 * Kurain judge: A man similar in appearance to the judge who normally presides over Wright's cases, albeit with more East Asian attire and a beard that ends in two braids.
 * Mima Waruhito (見回る人): A treasure guard whom Tsuani is accused of murdering.
 * The bailiff in Kurain wears a khaki uniform with a purple headband, and carries a rifle.

Other characters

 * Athena Cykes - An energetic rookie attorney who joined the Wright Anything Agency the previous year. 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.
 * Trucy Wright - Phoenix Wright's adopted daughter and current heir to the performance rights of Troupe Gramarye. A stage magician and high school student working out of the Wright Anything Agency, she sometimes accompanies the Agency's attorneys on investigations in addition to her stage career. Thus far, she has only been depicted in promotional posters within some in-game screenshots.
 * Mimi (ミミ) - A magician at the Theater Trompe. She is a witness for one of Apollo Justice's cases, and the Mood Matrix is used on her.
 * Maya Fey - Phoenix Wright's assistant and client in past games. Wright meets Maya during his visit to the Kingdom of Kurain

Gameplay
Ace Attorney 6 takes place in two different settings. In Kurain, Phoenix Wright tests his prowess as a lawyer in an unfamiliar court system. One of the new gameplay elements that he must deal with involves a "water mirror" on the floor of the courtroom. Mediums are able to use the mirror to show what a victim saw and felt during their final moments. Apollo Justice's cases, meanwhile, greatly resemble the investigations and trials of the past games, particularly Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies.

Ace Attorney 6 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 are aiming to have fewer direct clues in Ace Attorney 6, as well as giving the player the option of disabling the appearance of hints in the dialogue. Additionally, while Dual Destinies only allowed the usage of the "Examine" feature in specific locations, investigation segments in Ace Attorney 6 will allow them to "Examine" any environment, more akin to the other games in the series. Nonetheless, the game has inherited several gameplay elements from Dual Destinies, such as investigation notes and the Mood Matrix.

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.