Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken


 * This article is about the game. You may be looking for the character Ryūnosuke Naruhodō.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken (大逆転裁判 -成歩堂龍ノ介の冒險-; lit. "Great Turnabout Trial: The Adventures of Ryūnosuke Naruhodō") is a prequel game for the Ace Attorney series of text adventure video games. Available on the Nintendo 3DS, the game is published by Capcom, directed by Shu Takumi, and produced by Shintaro Kojima. Ace Attorney veteran Kazuya Nuri returns for official art, and the soundtrack is composed by Yasumasa Kitagawa (of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) and Hiromitsu Maeba. It is the ninth title overall in the series. There are currently no plans for release in the West.

Story

 * Many names in this section are non-Japanese and written out in katakana. English transliterations for these names are provided; names in italics are unofficial/speculative, while other names are official.

Unlike previous canonical games in the series, which are set in the near future and feature somewhat futuristic technology, Dai Gyakuten Saiban is set near the end of Japan's Meiji period, when the profession of "defense attorney" was still a fairly new concept in Japanese society. The game stars Phoenix Wright's ancestor, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō, as well as a female judicial assistant named Susato Mikotoba. Although the game initially takes place in Japan, the two later travel to the United Kingdom and work cases alongside the renowned detective Sherlock Holmes.

In developing the plot, Shu Takumi wanted to introduce the classic mystery stories that he loves to the player. Additionally, previous games in the series placed emphasis on the true culprits' breakdowns at the climax of each episode, but this is less emphasized in Dai Gyakuten Saiban.

Episodes

 * The Adventure of the Great Departure (大いなる旅立ちの冒險) - On November 19, college student Ryūnosuke Naruhodō finds himself accused of murdering Professor John H. Watson in the restaurant La Quantos. Three days later, he ends up in a special trial organized by the government. Naruhodō's close friend Kazuma Asōgi comes to represent him as his defense attorney. However, not wanting to jeopardize Asōgi's trip to England, Naruhodō decides to represent himself instead. Asōgi stands by his side to help him learn the ways of the courtroom.
 * The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band (友とまだらの紐の冒險; lit. "The Adventure of the Friend and the Speckled Band") - In this investigation-only episode, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō travels to England with Susato Mikotoba on the steamship Alaclair (アラクレイ), but during the trip he is accused in another incident involving a locked room and an adder. The mystery attracts the attention of fellow passenger Sherlock Holmes. The title is a reference to the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".
 * The Adventure of the Runaway Room (疾走する密室の冒険) - Upon his arrival in London, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō is assigned to a trial involving a murder in a horse-drawn carriage. Although the young lawyer is told that this will be a simple case, Naruhodō soon finds out why nobody else would take the case: his opponent is the legendary prosecutor Barok van Zieks. The trial is further complicated when a fire breaks out in the courtroom. Before the coverage of this episode by Famitsu, the carriage murder was alluded to in the trailer released after the April 1, 2015 Nintendo Direct.
 * The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro (吾輩と霧の夜の冒険; lit. "The Adventure of The Foggy Night and Me") - After his English court debut, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō is assigned to another case. His defendant this time is Natsume Sōseki, a Japanese transfer student living with his cat Wagahai, who has been charged with stabbing a woman to death. The defendant is based on Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. The reference is further reflected in the use of the Japanese first-person pronoun Wagahai (吾輩) in the title and as the cat's name, referencing I Am a Cat, one of Sōseki's books. The English title is not a direct translation of the Japanese but instead references Kokoro, another of Sōseki's books.
 * The Adventure of the Unspeakable Story (語られない物語の冒険): The Hound of the Baskervilles - A fifth episode teased in the late June trailer. Ryūnosuke Naruhodō takes on the defense of a girl named Gina Lestrade. The subtitle is a direct reference to a Sherlock Holmes novel of the same name.
 * Randst Magazine - Downloadable content to be released as weekly "issues" like a magazine. The first issue is available for free from July 9 to July 19, while the next eight will cost 300 yen each. Each issue may contain a short "episode", music from the game, voice clips, concept art and commentary, making-of videos, and Nintendo 3DS home themes. The title is a reference to The Strand Magazine, where Arthur Conan Doyle first published his Sherlock Holmes short stories.

Main characters

 * Ryūnosuke Naruhodō (成歩堂 龍ノ介)
 * Voiced by: Hiro Shimono
 * A second-year student at Teito Yūmei University (帝都勇盟大学). He has a strong sense of justice and is prone to putting himself in dangerous situations. An ancestor to Ryūichi Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright).
 * Susato Mikotoba (御琴羽 寿沙都)
 * Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa
 * Age: 16
 * A judicial assistant working alongside Naruhodō. A "yamato nadeshiko" with a progressive frame of mind and a love for books on law and foreign mystery novels. She also has something of a sweet tooth.
 * Kazuma Asōgi (亜双義 一真)
 * Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura
 * Age: 23
 * A close friend of Ryūnosuke's and fellow student at Teito Yūmei University. He is studying to become a defense attorney, but supporters say that he is more than qualified to become one. He seeks to travel to Britain to continue his studies. Asōgi is calm and confident compared to the inexperienced Naruhodō, and stands alongside him in Episode 1.
 * Sherlock Holmes (シャーロック・ホームズ)
 * Voiced by: Shinji Kawada
 * Age: 34
 * The legendary English detective famous for his talent for rapid-fire abductive reasoning. He teams up with Naruhodō for criminal investigations.
 * Iris Watson (アイリス・ワトソン)
 * Voiced by: Misaki Kuno
 * Age: 10
 * Holmes's assistant. A genius inventor and doctor who has invented rudimentary forensic instruments for use in Holmes's investigations. In this continuity, she is the author of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Takumi's familiarity with Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories, and their various theories and parodies in particular, led him to create the Iris Watson character.
 * Barok van Zieks (バロック・バンジークス)
 * Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda
 * Age: 32
 * A "cursed" English prosecutor known colloquially as the "Death God of the Old Bailey". He has returned to the courtroom after a five-year absence.
 * Narrator
 * Voiced by: Takayuki Sugō

Other characters
Episode 1:
 * Yūjin Mikotoba (御琴羽悠仁) (Age: 42) - Professor at Teito Yūmei University. Kazuma Asōgi's mentor and Susato's father.
 * John H. Watson (ジョン・H・ワトソン) (Age: 47) - The victim. An English professor from London who has taught at Teito Yūmei University for the past three years. Based on Dr. John Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame.
 * A judge (Japan).
 * Taketsuchi Auchi (亜内武土) (Age: 51) - The prosecutor in this case and the ancestor of Takefumi (Winston Payne) and Fumitake (Gaspen Payne) Auchi. Equally arrogant and self confident as his descendants.
 * Satoru Hosonaga (細長悟) - A waiter with a bad cough. The first witness.
 * Taizou Uzukumaru (渦久丸 泰三) - A Japanese soldier and father who appears as a witness.
 * Sanmon Sonohigurashi (園日暮 三文) - An old merchant of relics who appears as a witness alongside Uzukumaru. He owns a antiques shop called Ponkotsu Hall.
 * Taizou Kuroumaru (九郎丸 泰三) - Troublemaking son of Taizou Uzukumaru.
 * Jezail Brett (ジェゼール・ブレット) - A woman in a blue dress and hat whom Naruhodō claims to have seen at the scene of the crime. Her name is a pun on "jezail bullet", the weapon that wounded the John Watson of the Sherlock Holmes stories during his military service in Afghanistan.

Episode 2:
 * Nikomina Borschevic (ニコミナ・ボルシビッチ) - A 15-year-old ballet dancer who is running away from Novavic Ballet (ノバビッチ・バレエ), her ballet group.
 * While searching for her, Holmes encounters a bearded man calling himself Roylott (ロイロット). The detective goes on to accuse Roylott of being a Russian revolutionary named Dmitri Demiglaski (デミトリ・デミグラスキー) and trying to break open a trunk with Nikomina Borschevic inside. The name "Roylott" may be a reference to Dr. Grimesby Roylott, a character from "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".
 * Mitrov Stroganov (ミトロフ・ストロガノフ) - A sailor who was on patrol at the time of the incident.
 * At least one other sailor.

Episode 3:
 * Hart Vortex (ハート・ヴォルテックス) - The Chief Justice in England. He is a strict adherent to science with a focus on time. He assigns Naruhodō to an allegedly simple case. He was first seen on the box art for Dai Gyakuten Saiban.
 * Cosney Megundal (コーゼニ・メグンダル) - The defendant. Although he is well-liked, nobody wants to take his case due to the prosecution being handled by the legendary Barok van Zieks.
 * Mortar Milverton (モルター・ミルバートン) - The victim. He is a brick-worker who lives in the East End, and is found dead in a carriage. The name 'Milverton' is likely a reference to the Arthur Conan Doyle work "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", a Sherlock Holmes story from 1904.
 * Gina Lestrade (ジーナ・レストレード) - A pickpocket who witnessed the murder. Her surname may be a reference to Inspector G. Lestrade in the Sherlock Holmes stories. She was first seen on the box art.
 * An unnamed carriage driver is shown on the box art.

Episode 4:
 * Natsume Sōseki (夏目漱石) - A transfer student from Japan living with his cat Wagahai. He finds himself accused of murder when a woman is stabbed and he runs away.
 * John Garrideb - A wealthy man with a maid who lives near the crime scene. His name may be a reference to the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs".
 * Joan Garrideb - John Garrideb's wife and maid. She also appears as a jury member in the trial phase of Episode 4.
 * Patrick and　Lola O'Malley - Husband and wife pair called as witnesses in the trial phase of Episode 4. Patrick works as a patrol officer of the London Metropolitan Police, working a beat near the building where Sōseki lives.
 * Tobias Gregson (トバイアス・グレグソン) - A detective at Scotland Yard who loves fish and chips. He is based on the Sherlock Holmes character of the same name, even appearing in Iris's books. Shu Takumi describes him as serving a similar role to Dick Gumshoe's role in the original Ace Attorney trilogy. He was first seen on the box art.

Episode 5:
 * Hatch - Owner of a pawnshop that Sherlock and Gina Lestrade use from time to time.
 * Egg Benedict - A twirling man with a white hat looking to retrieve a coat from Hatch's pawnshop. He was first seen on the box art.
 * Nemmy and Tully Tinpillar (ネミー・ティンピラ & タリー・ティンピラ) - Two common crooks who stand as witnesses in Episode 5. They are brothers, and claim to be looking for a third who they were separated from at birth, named Uzzeh Tinpillar. All three of their names involve worldplay of a slurred adjective + the Japanese word for 'thug' or 'punk'. These are 'Nemui Chinpira' (Sleepy Punk), 'Darui Chinpira' (Sluggish Punk), and 'Uzai Chinpira' (Annoying Punk), respectively.

Other characters:
 * A judge (United Kingdom).
 * Beppo (ベッポ) - An elderly man wearing a green suit and top hat.
 * Oscar Fairplay (オスカー・フェアプレイ) - A tall, dark-haired man in a suit and top hat, he works as a banker in London. His name is a pun on the phrase "fair play".
 * Adam Redifast (アダム・レディファスト) - A blonde-haired man in a black suit and top hat, and he himself works as a hat-maker. His name may be a pun on the phrase "ladies first".
 * Dmitri Demiglaski (デミトリ・デミグラスキー) - Though he is only seen in a newspaper article in Episode 2, he appears in person as Juror #6 in Episode 5. He claims to have come to Britain as a tourist to see the Crystal Tower, but the truth of this is suspect as he reads from a notebook every time he says it. He also states that he is an expert on firearms.
 * Episodes 3-5 have trials involving six-member juries. The jurors are identified only by numbers, though some make appearances outside of the jury as individual characters.

Gameplay
The game incorporates the basic investigation/trial formula used in previous Ace Attorney titles, with some changes especially to the trial portions. Unlike previous games, some text graphics in Dai Gyakuten Saiban use English translations alongside or in place of some of the Japanese terms, such as "cross-examination" and episode titles.

Like the other 3DS titles, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, the game features 3D character models and backgrounds. However, it also expands on the camera work and animations, treating these aspects with special care to help depict Sherlock Holmes's legendary ability to infer details from even the subtlest of movements. For this purpose, actors from the Himawari Theatre Group were brought in for motion capture.

Investigations
"Ryūnosuke Naruhodō"

- Hold it, Mr. Holmes!

Dai Gyakuten Saiban introduces a new element to investigations, known as "joint reasoning" (共同推理 kyōdō suiri). This feature involves Sherlock Holmes using his rapid-fire reasoning to come to a conclusion based on various details that he notices. Naruhodō then has a chance to rebut this train of logic by pointing out flaws and contradictions. One way of doing so is to inspect an individual from various angles to find hidden clues that have escaped Holmes's notice, possibly leading to an entirely different conclusion. Investigations in Dai Gyakuten Saiban also allow for more in-depth background exploration. Additionally, joint reasoning sequences feature heavy usage of spotlights and flashy poses, in a fashion reminiscent of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.

Trials
The trial system has undergone an overhaul, with many elements similar to the witch trials from Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. This includes the five-strike penalty system from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and cross-examining multiple witnesses at once. Also like Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, pressing a witness results in a dialogue that can be interrupted if the player catches one witness thinking. When pressing a witness, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō says, "Hai!" ("はいッ!") instead of "Hold it!" ("待った!")

The English courts use a jury system involving six jurors and a judge. The jurors vote by launching flaming knives in a firework-like manner onto a set of scales, one side representing a guilty vote and the other representing a not guilty vote. The jurors can change their votes as the trial progresses. If all six jurors vote "guilty", the defense has the right to a "jury examination" to try to convince them to overturn their guilty votes. The jury examination works much like cross-examinations, with each juror having his or her own ideas about the case at hand. Like Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the defense can point out a contradiction between two jurors' statements, though in this game there is a button dedicated to this feature, allowing the player to choose any two statements instead of having one already picked out by the game. If a majority of jurors reverse their decision, the jury examination ends in the defense's favor.

The court record appears similar to the one used in Dual Destinies, with five evidence icons fully visible at a time, though two other evidence slots are visible, partially obscured by the arrow buttons used to scroll through the evidence.

Development
Development began a few months after the November 2012 Japanese release of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, when Takumi was asked to start work on a new Ace Attorney game. Because the series had become so long, spanning eight text adventure titles up to that point, a more accessible game was desired. Takumi initially looked to civil trials as a concept, but realizing that it would not lead to very clear-cut conclusions, he instead developed the "joint reasoning" concept with Sherlock Holmes, which he had had in his mind ever since the development of the original Ace Attorney trilogy. The idea was somewhat vague at first, with Takumi only writing in concept plans, "Holmes says something strange, and you correct that." The concept was later made into a demo in December 2013 and presented to higher-ups at Capcom, signaling a more concrete notion of how these interactions would unfold. Takumi did not actually expect Capcom to accept the proposal. The Meiji Japan setting was Nuri's idea, as Takumi originally conceived of the game taking place entirely in London.

The development cycle of the game was long and difficult due to all of the new approaches to the plot and game mechanics. The plot in particular took more effort than Takumi had anticipated. The last Ace Attorney scenario that he had written in an ordinary setting was the 2007 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, and he wanted to make a series that could compete with the original trilogy in terms of quality. The game script was huge and changed drastically multiple times before being finalized in April 2015. This in turn provided a daunting challenge for Nuri and the other asset developers. It was as if no one really knew what the final product would look like.

Nuri designed the graphics to have an illustration-like touch to them and convey the feel of the material of the clothing and other objects of the period. The characters were designed to have a more realistic feel with their expressions and movements, though witnesses and jurors were still more comic-looking to make them more recognizable when sitting next to each other. Nuri had difficulty with designing characters due to the limited selection of clothing and hairstyles available for the period, as well as the need to design so many jurors. He had to bring out their personalities in different ways.

Unlike past games, Dai Gyakuten Saiban makes extensive use of camera movements. For the asset designers, this meant that they could no longer get away with skimping on details on characters and settings that would not have been very visible in past games. Keeping the hand-drawn feel of the backgrounds even with camera zooming and movement required putting much more detail into the assets. Despite this, the asset designers pulled through and the assets were finished by the end of 2014.

Announcement
On December 27, 2013, Capcom announced that Takumi was working on a new game that was planned to be presented in 2014. A February 13, 2014 Nintendo Direct event revealed the game was a "totally different" Ace Attorney game for the Nintendo 3DS.

In April 2014, the game's title was finally revealed and the game was featured in Famitsu. An interview with director Takumi and producer Kojima described the basic details of the game, including the protagonists Ryūnosuke Naruhodō and Susato Mikotoba, and the Meiji period setting. Takumi said that he had not gotten to know the characters very well yet, but that he learned more about them as he wrote more of the script. He also mentioned the challenge of writing dialogue appropriate to the Meiji period, when Japan was focused on becoming part of "the new world" and becoming more Western, which included the Western court system complete with defense attorneys. Kojima revealed that the game is planned to be the first in a series, and that they would show players that the game was capable of being more than just a spin-off.

The Famitsu feature was followed by a teaser trailer for the game. According to Takumi, development of the game had only begun recently. He described this situation as chaotic and was not certain of how the game would turn out, but also said that it was always like this in the beginning of his projects, which was both scary and fun.

Tokyo Game Show and Jump Festa
In September 2014, the game was featured again on Famitsu, and introduced Sherlock Holmes and Iris Watson. On September 18, another trailer for the game was released. In December, ahead of Jump Festa, the official site updated with a profile of a new character, Kazuma Asōgi (亜双義 一真). A Famitsu feature of the game around the same time showed some details about the first trial. The Jump Festa event itself featured a playable demo of the game.

Subsequent promotions
Dai Gyakuten Saiban enjoyed promotions on a regular basis starting on April 1, 2015 local time, when a trailer was released shortly after a Nintendo Direct. The promotions involved features of the first four episodes in Famitsu over Q2 2015, as well as demos of the first and second episodes, shown on Capcom TV by producer Kojima. Near the end of April, details on the official soundtrack were revealed, and Dai Gyakuten Saiban was one of the games shown at NicoNico Chou Kaigi. A playable demo became available on the eShop for Japanese Nintendo 3DS systems on June 2. A final trailer on June 29 changed Iris's age and revealed title cards for five episodes.

Ken Gyakuten Saiban
On April 1, 2015 local time, the official Japanese site for Dai Gyakuten Saiban celebrated April Fools' Day by renaming the game Ken Gyakuten Saiban: Inuhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken (犬逆転裁判 -戌歩堂龍ノ介の冒險-; lit. "Dog Turnabout Trial: The Adventures of Ryūnosuke Inuhodō") and showing dog-like versions of the main characters. Sherlock Holmes design as a dog is based on the "Meitantei Holmes" 1984 anime. The first kanji of the title was changed from 大 (meaning "big"/"great"/"large") to the slightly different-looking 犬 (meaning "dog"). Similarly, the first kanji of the Naruhodō surname was changed from 成 (meaning "to accomplish/finish/become") to the slightly different-looking 戌 (the Earthly Branch for the dog). The other characters' names each had a kanji or syllable replaced with ワン (wan, the sound of a dog barking) (Kazuwan Asougi, Susato Mikotowan, Iris Wantson) except Sherlock Holmes, whose name stayed intact. A trailer was also shown, based on the Tokyo Game Show trailer of Dai Gyakuten Saiban.

Reception
Famitsu gave Dai Gyakuten Saiban scores of 9/9/9/8 out of 10, for a total score of 35/40. The game sold 135,690 physical units in its first week, surpassed only by Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team & White Dog Corps.

Soundtrack
The Dai Gyakuten Saiban soundtrack contains 67 tracks on 2 CDs. It was released on July 15, 2015.

== Character Popularity Poll == Capcom conducted a character popularity poll which lasted from July 23 to August 7, 2015. Fans voted using Twitter and the characters were ranked based on the amount of retweets they received. The results were posted on the official Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken website.
 * 1) Kazuma Asōgi
 * 2) Sherlock Holmes
 * 3) Barok van Zieks
 * 4) Ryūnosuke Naruhodō
 * 5) Satoru Hosonaga
 * 6) Iris Watson
 * 7) Wagahai
 * 8) Susato Mikotoba
 * 9) Sōseki Natsume
 * 10) Gina Lestrade
 * 11) Cosney Megundal
 * 12) Taketsuchi Auchi
 * 13) Nikomina Borschevic
 * 14) Tobias Gregson
 * 15) Hart Vortex
 * 16) Mitrov Stroganov

Trailers

 * Announcement teaser trailer (English subtitles)
 * Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer (English subtitles) (with extra scene) (April Fools' version)
 * Nintendo Direct trailer
 * Gameplay trailer
 * Pre-launch trailer

Other videos

 * Tokyo Game Show 2014 stage show and developer interview
 * NicoNico Chou Kaigi
 * Stage show
 * Developer Q&A
 * Joint reasoning demo
 * Episode 1 demo
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3
 * Episode 2 joint reasoning demo (available on eShop in Japan)