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. Like the other 3DS Ace Attorney titles, Ace Attorney 6 will contain anime cutscenes.

Setting
Unlike previous games in the series, Ace Attorney 6 takes place in two different settings. In the West Asian kingdom of Kurain, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey come into conflict with a court system that has done away with attorneys and instead uses oracles from a water mirror 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.

Located in the far west of Asia, Kurain is a kingdom of spirit mediums, with a religion centered around its founder. Its court system has undergone a drastic shift, relying on oracles from a water mirror to determine what murder victims saw before being killed, and passing judgment accordingly. Prosecutor Nayuta Sadmadhi leads a police force that works to capture and silence those who defy the oracle's judgments. The remnants of those who wear the attorney's badge object to a court that only produces guilty verdicts and allows no room for rebuttal.

Meanwhile, in a land far removed from the notion of persecuting lawyers, 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 Kurain for spirit medium training. In her training sessions, Fey is assisted by a local boy named Bokuto Tsuani. Commenting on her role as the upcoming Master of Kurain Village, he compares her to Leifa Padma Kurain, the princess of the kingdom, who interprets the spirit visions that come from the water mirror.

Later, Fey calls Wright on her cellphone, but their conversation is interrupted when a Kurain 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. Nayuta Sadmadhi incapacitates the attacker, however, and leaves with his target. Unaware of this rescue, Wright immediately decides to hurry to Kurain to make sure that she is all right. A man overlooking a graveyard of Kurain attorneys heralds the arrival of a "dragon" and the blowing of a new wind.

Episodes

 * Turnabout Foreigner (逆転の異邦人) - After his arrival in Kurain, Phoenix Wright decides to go sightseeing with Bokuto Tsuani, a monk-in training who works as a tour guide. During that time, the "Jewel of the Founder" is stolen from Kurain's Jiin Temple, resulting in the murder of a temple guard. Tsuani 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 oracles to render its verdicts, he raises an objection and springs into action.
 * Turnabout Magic Show (逆転マジックショー) - During a rehearsal of Trucy Wright's upcoming magic show,  in Land, one of the performers turns up dead, followed by the collapse of part of the stage 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 Kurain, Nayuta Sadmadhi.

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.
 * Maya Fey - A spirit medium of the Kurain Channeling Technique and upcoming leader of Kurain Village, who is training in Kurain. She was previously Phoenix Wright's assistant and co-counsel, as well as his client in two previous cases. Wright rushes to Kurain after hearing Fey scream when she drops her phone during a conversation between the pair.
 * 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 Kurain courtroom.
 * 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.
 * 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. 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 Kurain, 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 Kurain courtroom.

Other main story 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.
 * 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 in the attorney-less Kurain as an "undefeated prosecutor", and has ultimately risen to the rank of head prosecutor there.
 * Potdino Niwakas (ポットディーノ・ニワカス) - The chief priest of Jiin Temple, he performs the musical accompaniment to Leifa Padma Kurain's dances on a Kurain instrument called a "damaran". A witness in Bokuto Tsuani's trial.
 * Mitamaru (ミタマル) - Tsuani's pet dog.
 * Kurain 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.
 * Mima Waruhito (ミーマ・ワルヒト) - A treasure guard whom Tsuani is accused of murdering.
 * A bailiff in Kurain who wears a khaki uniform with a purple headband and carries a rifle.
 * Mimi Nanano (菜々野　美々) - A rookie magician at the Theater Trompe working under Trucy. She is a witness in Episode 2, and the bracelet and Mood Matrix are used on her.
 * 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 sometimes accompanies the Agency's attorneys on investigations in addition to her stage career. In Episode 2, an incident occurs during a rehearsal for an upcoming show, placing her under suspicion. Prior to the Famitsu article revealing details of this episode, posters of her could be seen in in-game screenshots of the episode.
 * Kanenari Shinoyama (志乃山 金成) - A producer from Nidomi TV who's looking to do a special broadcast of Trucy's latest show,  in Land. Also known as Jack Yamashino.
 * 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. She appears in Episode 2. 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 the Ace Attorney 6.
 * Mr. Menyo (Mr. メンヨ) - A co-performer of Trucy's whose dead body appears during the rehearsal in Episode 2.

Characters confirmed for pre-order episodes

 * Miles Edgeworth - Renowned prosecutor prodigy, current Chief Prosecutor, and childhood friend and long-time rival of Phoenix Wright. Appears in Wright's pre-order episode.
 * 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. Appears in Justice's pre-order episode.
 * Pearl Fey - A spirit medium who is Maya Fey's younger cousin. Appears in Wright's pre-order episode, where she testifies alongside Bokuto Tsuani.
 * Jinxie Tenma - A young maid living in Nine-Tails Vale who is friends with Trucy Wright and was a witness in The Monstrous Turnabout. Appears in Justice's pre-order episode.

Other characters

 * Simon Blackquill - A prosecutor with a dark and somewhat mischievous sense of humor who is known for his use of psychological manipulation in court via flattery, suggestive persuasion, and implicit death threats. Blackquill was the rival prosecutor in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, where he had been on death row for seven years after being wrongfully accused and imprisoned for the UR-1 Incident, but was cleared of all charges due to the efforts of Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice, and Athena Cykes. Currently, his only known appearance is during the anime prologue video, where he faces Wright and Cykes in court.

Gameplay
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, though the forensic investigations from the Nintendo DS era of games are also returning. Cutscenes can now be skipped by pressing the START button or tapping the touchscreen. Additionally, a menu accessible from the title screen contains options such as volume controls, allowing the player to adjust various settings.

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 elements from Dual Destinies, such as investigation notes, the Mood Matrix, anime cutscenes, and the "Consult" feature, which merely gives more hints this time around, rather than explicitly indicating part of the solution.

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 (6000, 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 Ace Attorney 6 site, with the promised video being an anime prologue for the game.

Releases
The final game 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 Tsuani's tote bag, a plush toy of Mitamaru (Tsuani's dog), a drama CD, and a set of Ace Attorney 6-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 Ace Attorney 6. Purchasing the game in the first few weeks of release also grants free alternate costumes for Wright, Cykes, and Justice (Furio Tigre's outfit, a Trés Bien waitress uniform, and a Japanese high school student, respectively).