Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Unreleased

Gyakuten Kenji (逆転検事 lit. Turnabout Prosecutor), codenamed "NEW Gyakuten NOT Saiban" prior to its official announcement during an orchestra, is a spin-off from the core Gyakuten Saiban series of text adventure video games. It centers around prosecutor Reiji Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth) and detective Keisuke Itonokogiri (Dick Gumshoe), with some other characters from the main Gyakuten Saiban series appearing in the game with varying degrees of prominence.

American fans and magazines often refer to Gyakuten Kenji as "Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor" or some variant, but no official word has been given on the English name. Nonetheless, Capcom has trademarked "Ace Attorney Investigations".

The game is not Gyakuten Saiban 5.

Basic information
The game is set to take place around the time of Gyakuten Saiban 3. Unlike the core series, which Shu Takumi directed, Takeshi Yamazaki is the director for Kenji.

Kenji will be more similar to "point-and-click" adventure games than the text-adventure style of previously released games. During investigations, characters will appear as small sprites standing at a specific point in an area rather than as large sprites facing the player. Mitsurugi (Edgeworth) and Itonokogiri (Gumshoe) will also appear as such and the player will be able to move Mitsurugi around. The court record and examination functions are set to return in similar if not identical forms to those in the previous games.

The developers have stated that they have taken great care in animating the characters correctly; for example, they have tried to ensure that Mitsurugi's running animations are "graceful, while exerting effort".

Like the other games in the series, the player can access gameplay features through the touchscreen or the buttons.

Development
On March 5, 2008, the official Ace Attorney developer's blog hinted at the revelation of the game. The blog referred to the game as a product called "NEW Gyakuten NOT Saiban" and stated that more info would be released on the product during an orchestral concert for the music of Ace Attorney. During the concert, the developers showcased a trailer revealing the game and a new major character, Mikumo Ichijou. An official website accompanied the revelation.

On September 17, 2008, the September issue of the magazine Famitsu revealed more information about Mikumo Ichijou as well as a new character, Makoto Yuuki. The official website was also updated over the following month.

During Tokyo Game Show 2008, more info on the game was released, including info about gameplay phases and the confirmation of Mei Karuma (Franziska von Karma) as another major character. The developers also announced that the game was about half-done at that point. Visitors were able to play a demo of the first case, which featured an appearance by Mako Suzuki (Maggey Byrde).

According to a Famitsu survey of 55 companies that were present at TGS 2008, Kenji received the most attention of any portable game at the show.

The October 2008 issue of Famitsu and the official website corroborated the information revealed at TGS 2008.

The November 2008 issue of Famitsu revealed the second case of Kenji and some relevant characters.

The January 2009 issue of Famitsu revealed two new characters. B's Log published the same information and added the age of one of them.

On February 2009, the box art was revealed. The February issue of Famitsu also revealed a limited edition of the game as well as a new mode of gameplay, "crime scene reproduction". As well, the TGS 2008 demo appeared on the official website. Additionally, e-Capcom, Capcom's virtual store, announced that the game's official soundtrack would be released as a two-disc set on June 24, 2009, and began pre-orderings at a price of 3.360 yen (including taxes). Tatsuro Iwamoto, the game's designer and art director, will draw the cover art.

In March 2009, Capcom trademarked the name "Ace Attorney Investigations".

Gameplay
Gameplay is centered around moving Mitsurugi (Edgeworth) to different locations and interacting with different objects and people. This includes talking to people and examining objects. The player moves Mitsurugi around by touching a directional pad on the touchscreen. Any partners that Mitsurugi has follows behind him as he moves around, and Mitsurugi can converse with them by touching their partner icons on the touchscreen. As in the core Ace Attorney games, the player can access an "investigation log" (the game's court record) at any time and peruse evidence and profiles collected. Kenji also features a second inventory, called "Logic", that stores important pieces of information that Mitsurugi has found. Here, the player can combine two ideas to reach a conclusion; this can create a new piece of information or trigger some other event.

Certain events can also open up new modes of gameplay. For example, some areas, like crime scenes, can be examined more closely in a manner that is similar to the "Examine" function in the core Ace Attorney games. There is also another examination mode in which the player must look for a clue in an area that contradicts collected evidence. As well, at some points, Mitsurugi engages an individual in a "Confrontation" that is similar to cross-examinations in the core Ace Attorney games.

Mikumo Ichijou has a "crime scene reproduction gadget", which has an appearance similar to a black cellphone, that can reconstruct the events of a crime based on information gathered so far in a case.

Episodes

 * Turnabout Visitor
 * Turnabout Airline

Major

 * Prosecutor Reiji Mitsurugi (Miles Edgeworth)
 * Detective Keisuke Itonokogiri (Dick Gumshoe)
 * Prosecutor Mei Karuma (Franziska von Karma)
 * Mikumo Ichijou
 * Rival investigator Shiryuu Rou
 * Secretary Shiina

Minor/cameo/unknown

 * Ichiru Konomichi
 * Detective Sinji Nakamato
 * Kaoru Ooba (Wendy Oldbag)
 * Mako Suzuki (Maggey Byrde)
 * Takuya Uzai (Sal Manella)
 * Zinc White
 * Prosecutor Makoto Yuuki
 * "?????"

Timeline

 * This section is mostly speculation and should not be assumed to be canon!

Keisuke Itonokogiri's (Dick Gumshoe) age was listed as 32 in the demo of Turnabout Visitor. In addition, Visitor takes place on March 14, while Farewell, My Turnabout, in which Itonokogiri's age is listed as 31, takes place on March 20. This cements the year as 2019, which coincides with interviews in which Gyakuten Kenji was said to take place "around" or "after" Gyakuten Saiban 3. Nevertheless, other sources could indicate that the game takes place in 2018, as this would not be the first time the court record produced a timeline contradiction with characters' ages.

Limited edition
The limited edition of Kenji will include the following:


 * A pamplet from the spring concert
 * A few character illustrations
 * A card case
 * An orchestra "mini album" (four of the tracks plus a bonus)
 * A DVD of promotional trailers

Other known facts

 * The game was about 40% complete in mid-April.
 * There is a penalty system of some sort, including in Logic Mode.
 * A new speech bubble "Kore wa!" (roughly translated as "That's it!") has appeared in the Tokyo Game Show 2008 trailer.
 * Mitsurugi (Edgeworth) will be able to index information he finds as keywords that he can combine in Logic Mode or use in conversations.