Gyakuten Kenji 2

Unreleased

Gyakuten Kenji 2 (逆転検事 2 Gyakuten Kenji 2, lit. Turnabout Prosecutor 2) is the sequel to Gyakuten Kenji and the sixth game in the Ace Attorney series of text adventure video games. Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, detective Dick Gumshoe and self-proclaimed "Great Thief" Kay Faraday reprise their roles as main characters in the game. Motohide Eshiro, Takeshi Yamazaki, Minae Matsukawa and Noriyuki Iwadare also reprise their roles as producer, director, art director and soundtrack composer, respectively. The game was announced on the September 2010 issue of Famitsu, with a scan of the announcement page revealed on the internet on September 7, 2010.

Pre-announcement
After the release of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, an interview with its producer Motohide Eshiro revealed that he had contacted core series producer Minae Matsukawa offering his services in developing a new Ace Attorney game, in response to the positive fan reaction to Ace Attorney Investigations. Development started on September 2009; the developers went to a "training camp" to talk about the game all day for this purpose.



Post-announcement
Gyakuten Kenji 2 was revealed in the September 7, 2010 issue of Famitsu, showing Miles Edgeworth, Dick Gumshoe and Kay Faraday along with some gameplay pictures and a new gameplay feature with a chess-based theme. Shelly de Killer and a new character with thick red hair and beard were also seen. The article also stated that the game would focus more on Edgeworth himself than on other characters and past events, revealing a more "human", conflicted side that has never been seen before. The official website launched around the same time.

At Tokyo Game Show 2010, three new characters were officially revealed and named. The character from the Famitsu article was revealed to be Outeikun, the president of Zheng Fa, and Hakari Mikagami and Mikiko Hayami were revealed as well. Additionally, the TGS trailer of the game was revealed, featuring returning gameplay elements like Logic and Little Thief as well as the new gameplay feature, "Logic Chess". As well, a demo of the first case was available at the event. On November 2, the official website revealed the game's box art and a release date of February 3, 2011. The box art features Miles Edgeworth, Kay Faraday, Hakari Mikagami and a male character who had previously been seen only as a brief silhouette in the trailer.

Subsequent revelations before the release were primarily done through Famitsu issues, each followed shortly by a website update:


 * November 18
 * Featured case: Turnabout Target.
 * Featured character: Umanosuke Naitō (内藤 馬乃介), the president's bodyguard.
 * More about Logic Chess was revealed. The Japanese CERO rating was revealed as B, like the other Ace Attorney titles.
 * A Nintendo Dream issue also featured an article about Gyakuten Kenji 2 and Layton-kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban, both mostly repeating the same information about Gyakuten Kenji 2.


 * At the beginning of December, the demo from TGS became playable on the official website, and some details of the second case were revealed as well, including a prison location and Hakari Mikagami's role in evaluating Edgeworth as a prosecutor. Yumihiko Ichiyanagi, another previously silhouetted character, was also revealed to be a prosecutor to whom Mikagami is attempting to hand Edgeworth's case.


 * December 16
 * Featured case: The Imprisoned Turnabout.
 * Featured characters: Previously unnamed major character Tateyuki Shigaraki, the more recently revealed Yumihiko Ichiyanagi, and some new characters.
 * A second trailer was also released featuring all of the known major characters as well as the return of the metal detector and Missile. The official website, meanwhile, revealed more characters, including Tateyuki Shigaraki and two new characters.


 * December 22 - The last silhouetted character from the first trailer, Miwa Mari, introduced.


 * January 13
 * Featured case: Case 3, a "flashback" of the "IS-7 Incident" 18 years in the past, starring Gregory Edgeworth.
 * Featured characters: Issei Tenkai and Tsukasa Oyashiki.
 * Setting: A bakery called Dansweet, which was shown in a few of the backdrops shown very briefly in the second trailer.


 * January 20
 * Featured case: The Imprisoned Turnabout.
 * Featured characters: Regina Berry, Frank Sahwit and Ema Skye.
 * Updates to Little Thief, as well as video inspection, luminol and fingerprint testing were shown.


 * January 27
 * Featured case: The Imprisoned Turnabout, case 3.
 * Featured characters: Shi-Long Lang and Manfred von Karma.

Gameplay
All of the main features seen in the previous game have returned for this game, including the investigation/argument structure, the Logic gameplay mechanic and Little Thief. Little Thief itself has been given updates such as the ability to recreate an area in multiple instances of time. As well, the metal detector seen in Turnabout Goodbyes and Bridge to the Turnabout has returned for at least one of the cases. The police dog Missile is also used as a gameplay mechanic. As well, Ema Skye returns to re-introduce luminol and fingerprint testing in at least one case, and an instance of video inspection is also included.

Logic Chess
Gyakuten Kenji 2 features a new gameplay element called "Logic Chess". When interrogating a person who refuses to testify, the background changes to a chessboard with chess pieces, as if Miles Edgeworth / Gregory Edgeworth and the other person were in a mental chess match. Similarly to the magatama feature in Phoenix Wright's games, this feature is used to pry secret information from various people. However, instead of just presenting evidence, the player is presented with two options at each decision prompt.

There is a time limit to this mental exchange; when it expires, the opponent will change his or her mind and not entertain Edgeworth further. This emphasizes the need to analyze the situation quickly and adapt to each opponent's personality. For example, against a cautious opponent, one may want to ask a question that she is guaranteed to answer. Through this, Edgeworth can slowly gain information needed to "win".

When the opponent makes a suspicious statement, a chess piece icon appears next to one of the choices, marking it as the critical "move" to make to knock out one of the opponent's pieces. Edgeworth can either choose to pursue this or choose to wait to get into a better "position" in the "game". By choosing incorrectly (i.e. waiting for too long or striking too soon), Edgeworth risks incurring a penalty to his time limit.

Story


In the opening case, Edgeworth is summoned to Gourd Lake, the scene of one of his darkest moments to date, to investigate the assassination of the president of Zheng Fa, Oteikun. As time passes, the president's bodyguard, Umanosuke Naitō, tries to stop Edgeworth's investigation. In later cases, Edgeworth becomes the next target of a so-called "Prosecutor Purge", a judicial program designed to weed out and replace incompetent prosecutors. Judge Hakari Mikagami is sent to observe Edgeworth during his investigations and attempt to replace him with another prosecutor, Yumihiko Ichiyanagi. Edgeworth risks his badge to continue his quest for the truth. Meanwhile, Edgeworth faces a personal conflict when he meets Tateyuki Shigaraki, a defense attorney who used to be an assistant to Edgeworth's father Gregory and has taken over his office. Shigaraki offers Edgeworth the chance to change sides, to become a defense attorney like his father.

Episodes

 * 逆転の標的 Turnabout Target

Turnabout Target is the opening case and is meant to feel very large and important, like a final case.


 * 獄中の逆転 The Imprisoned Turnabout

The Imprisoned Turnabout is set inside a prison and introduces Judge Hakari Mikagami, prosecutor Yumihiko Ichiyanagi and defense attorney Tateyuki Shigaraki.

Timeline

 * Main article: Timeline

Dick Gumshoe's age is given as 32 in the Tokyo Game Show demo, and the demo case occurs on March 25, which puts the full date of the first case at March 25, 2019, ten days after Turnabout Ablaze.

Major characters

 * Miles Edgeworth, the protagonist, a prosecutor
 * Kay Faraday, self-proclaimed Great Thief Yatagarasu
 * Dick Gumshoe, Edgeworth's detective partner
 * Gregory Edgeworth, a secondary protagonist, a defense attorney and Miles's father
 * 信楽盾之 Tateyuki Shigaraki, Gregory's partner
 * 水鏡秤 Hakari Mikagami, a judge who seeks to replace Edgeworth
 * 一柳弓彦 Yumihiko Ichiyanagi, a rival prosecutor

Returning characters

 * "John Doe", a suspect in case 1
 * Winston Payne (cameo)
 * Regina Berry, a witness in case 2
 * Polly (cameo)
 * Frank Sahwit, a witness in case 2
 * Ema Skye, a witness in case 2
 * Shi-Long Lang, a character in case 2
 * Manfred von Karma, Gregory's rival in case 3

New characters
Case 1:
 * 王帝君 Teikun Ō, president of Zheng Fa and the first victim


 * 速水ミキコ Mikiko Hayami, a reporter


 * 内藤馬乃介 Umanosuke Naitō, the president's bodyguard who likes to play chess and is rather liberal about playing with his gun. "Naitō" is a literal pronunciation of "Knight", and "Uma" means "horse", making the full name a double reference to the knight piece from chess.

Case 2:
 * 美和マリー Marī Miwa, the director of the prison and the detention center. Name comes from mimawari, which means patrol.


 * 猿代草太 Shirosōta Saru, a man who acts like the Three Wise Monkeys. Name comes from saru, which literally means monkey.


 * 折中秀治 Shūji Orinaka, a prison boxer with a little polar bear. Pun on ori no naka, shuujin, which means prisoner in a cage.

Case 3:
 * 天海一誠 Issei Tenkai, a famous pastry chef who appears on the TV program, Dansweet. He sings and dances when he makes cakes and is a suspect of the IS-7 case.


 * 緒屋敷司 Tsukasa Oyashiki, a servant of Tenkai's mansion who appears on Dansweets with Tenkai.

Extra content
The extended edition of Gyakuten Kenji 2 includes a Miles Edgeworth figurine. The limited edition adds to the extended edition a promotional DVD and an orchestral soundtrack.

Reception
Gyakuten Kenji 2 received a 8/8/8/8 score from Famitsu, for a total of 32/40.