ace attorney "why so serious"

by Daphnee Hackett Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago 3 min read

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Why is Ace Attorney so popular?

The Ace Attorney series has been credited with helping to popularise visual novels in the Western world. Vice magazine credits the Ace Attorney series with popularising the visual novel mystery format, and notes that its success anticipated the resurgence of point-and-click adventure games as well as the international success of Japanese visual novels. According to Danganronpa director Kazutaka Kodaka, Ace Attorney ' s success in North America was due to how it distinguished itself from most visual novels with its gameplay mechanics, which Danganronpa later built upon and helped it also find success in North America.

What is Ace Attorney?

Ace Attorney is a series of adventure video game legal dramas developed by Capcom. The first entry in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, was released in 2001; since then, five further main series games, as well as various spin-offs and high-definition remasters for newer game consoles, have been released. Additionally, the series has seen adaptations in the form of a live-action film and an anime, and has been the base for manga series, drama CDs, musicals and stage plays .

What is the second Great Ace Attorney?

It was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015 in Japan; it has also been released for Android and iOS in 2017 in Japan. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve is the second entry in The Great Ace Attorney series.

How does Ace Attorney Investigations work?

The Ace Attorney Investigations spin-off series splits the gameplay into investigation phases and rebuttal phases , the latter of which is similar to the courtroom trials of the main series. During the investigation phases, the player searches for evidence and talks to witnesses and suspects. Things the player character notices in the environment are saved as thoughts; the player can use the "logic" system to connect two such thoughts to gain access to new information. At some points, the player can create hologram reproductions of the crime scene, through which they can discover new information that would otherwise be hidden. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 introduces "logic chess", where the player interrogates witnesses in a timed sequence that is visualized as a game of chess, with the player aiming to destroy the other character's chess pieces. To do this, they need to build up their advantage in the discussion by alternating between speaking and listening, and then choose to go on the offensive.

How many Ace Attorney Chronicles are there?

The series currently consists of six main series games and five spin-offs.

When will the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles be released?

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a compilation of both Adventures and Resolve to be released in July 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows. This will be the first time both games are officially available outside of Japan.

When did the Great Ace Attorney 2 come out?

The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve is the second entry in The Great Ace Attorney series. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017 in Japan; it has also been released for Android and iOS in 2018 in Japan.

9. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

As the title suggests, investigation-type gameplay was first introduced in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and marked a huge, polarizing change from the first four games.

8. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

In the scheme of crossover games, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright was decidedly mediocre, especially for two franchises that had been around long enough to build up two solid fan bases. Expectations were never really met from either side when it came to playing as Professor Layton or Phoenix Wright.

7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

The most recent game in the main series, Spirit of Justice, has the spirit of the four previous games, but it didn’t quite live up to fans’ expectations.

6. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Being the first Ace Attorney game where you play as a character other than Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney worked surprisingly well. Apollo Justice, the apprentice of sorts to Phoenix Wright, is actually a loveable and fun protagonist for the game. Plus, he had the ability to “perceive” at a deeper level than his predecessor.

5. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

This Switch bundle gave us two brilliant Ace Attorney spin-offs that were previously not released in English: The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve.

4. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All

As a sequel to the first game in the franchise, Justice for All is a worthy follow-up, but at the same time it simply continued the series rather than doing anything groundbreaking or pushing the envelope.

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

At the time of its release, Dual Destinies was a near masterpiece on the Nintendo 3DS. It used the 3D features flawlessly and incorporated fully-animated cutscenes, which really helped bring the courtroom and crime scenes to life.

When will Great Ace Attorney be released?

However, that same document also lists Great Ace Attorney for a Q1 2021 launch and that's now being released on July 27, 2021. As such, that falls within Q3. Considering many games have faced delays due to the global pandemic, it's not unreasonable to assume both might've faced issues.

When did Ace Attorney 7 come out?

Considering the (likely working title) name given in the Capcom documents, Ace Attorney 7 is believed to be set after Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice, which came out in 2016. That involved us visiting the Kingdom of Khura'in, seeing the return of Maya Fey.

Is Ace Attorney 7 pushed back?

Alternatively, Ace Attorney 7 could've been pushed back so it doesn't clash with Great Ace Attorney. Until Capcom officially confirms it though, we'll have to wait for further details.

Overview

Reception

The Ace Attorney series has been well received by critics, and has performed well commercially: in December 2009, it was Capcom's 9th-best-selling series of all time, and in October 2010, they called it one of their "strongest intellectual properties", with more than 3.9 million units sold worldwide. By December 2013, the series had sold over 5 million units. In the United States, the first game became surprisingly successful, forcing Capcom to prepare at least three additional r…

Games

The Ace Attorney series launched in Japan with the Game Boy Advance game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in 2001, and has been published in the West since the release of a Nintendo DS port in 2005. The series currently consists of six main series games and five spin-offs.
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is the first entry in the series. It was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001 in Japan; it has also been released for the Nintendo DS in 2005, Microsoft …

Common elements

The Ace Attorney games are visual novel adventure games in which the player controls defense attorneys and defends their clients in several different episodes. The gameplay is split into two types of sections: investigations and courtroom trials. During the investigations, the player searches the environments, gathering information and evidence, and talks to characters such as their client, witnesses, and the police. Once enough evidence has been collected, the game mov…

Development

The series was created by Shu Takumi, who wrote and directed the first three games. The first game was conceived in 2000 when Takumi's boss at the time, Shinji Mikami, gave him six months to create any type of game he wanted to; Takumi had originally joined Capcom wanting to make mystery and adventure games, and felt that this was a big chance for him to make a mark as a creator…

Localization

The localization of the first game was outsourced to Bowne Global, and was handled by the writer Alexander O. Smith and the editor Steve Anderson. While the Japanese version takes place in Japan, the localized version is set in the United States: because one of the episodes involves time zones, they had to specify where the game takes place, and chose the United States without thinking a lot about it. The Japanese justice system of the original still remained intact in the loc…

Related media and other appearances

The Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theater troupe, has adapted the series into stage musicals: 2009's Ace Attorney: Truth Resurrected, which is based on the last episode of the first game; 2010's Ace Attorney 2: Truth Resurrected Again, whose first act is an original story, and whose second is based on the final episode of the second game; and 2013's Ace Attorney 3: Prosecutor Miles Edg…

Legacy

In 2015, GamesRadar+ named Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney as the 55th-best video game of all time. In 2016, Famitsu readers voted Gyakuten Saiban as the second-most memorable Game Boy Advance title (behind only Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire) and Gyakuten Saiban 123 as the tenth-best Nintendo 3DS game. In 2017, Famitsu readers voted Gyakuten Saiban the third-best adventure game of …