Ace Attorney

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The logo for the first Ace Attorney game's English release

The logo for the fourth Ace Attorney game's English release

Ace Attorney, known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban (逆転裁判, Gyakuten Saiban^? lit. "Turnabout Trial"), is a series of adventure/visual novel games in which players assume the role of a defense attorney in a fictional courtroom setting, which is based on the Japanese legal system, to strive to find their clients "not guilty" using investigation, evidence, and cross-examination to prove their case. The first three games in the series, originally released only in Japan and in Japanese between 2001 and 2004 for the Game Boy Advance platform, have been ported to the Nintendo DS as well as localized into English and other languages. The series has been developed for the DS from the ground up starting in the fourth game. The DS remakes and games in the series take advantage of the DS features, including the microphone and touchscreen.

The first three games feature and are sometimes referred to by the eponymous main protagonist, Phoenix Wright. The fourth game, set seven years after the end of the third game, introduces a new protagonist, Apollo Justice, who takes over for Wright.

[edit] Setting

See also: List of Ace Attorney characters

The game takes place in an urban city set in 2016 and later; for the Japanese versions, this city is somewhere in Japan, while the English localization places the games in Los Angeles, California.^[1] Localization differences will sometimes reflect the differences between these societies, for example the side of a car the driver's wheel is on. Additionally, the names of the major characters have been adapted for localization; for example, the main character of "Ryuichi Naruhodo", whose last name is a pun on the Japanese phrase for "I see", has been renamed in the Western versions as "Phoenix Wright", referencing the phoenix that rises from its own ashes, and a pun on the word "right".^[1]

The fictional future justice system is such that when a person is accused of a crime, they are immediately given a bench trial presided by a judge, a prosecuting attorney from the state, and a defense attorney that must completely prove the accused innocent of the crime. Trials last 3 days at most, due to the large number of cases that the courts must deal with; if the accused cannot be found innocent after this time, their case is consigned to a higher court. The majority of the work during a trial is on the shoulders of the defense attorney who must cross-examine the witnesses brought forth by the prosecution to find contradictions in testimony to clear their client. During the time frame of the fourth game, an option for a jury trial is also established.

In the first three games, the playable character is Phoenix Wright. He is a rookie lawyer fresh out of law school in the first game, taking a position at Fey & Co. Law Offices run by Mia Fey, a defense attorney that helped to acquit Wright of murder several years prior to the events of the first game. When Mia is murdered, Wright takes over the offices with the assistance of Maya Fey, Mia's younger sister, and renames the office "Wright & Co. Law Offices". The Fey family have the ability to channel spirits, which sometimes allows Maya or her much younger cousin Pearl Fey to channel Mia's spirit to help Wright in court. Wright develops a rivalry with prosecuting attorney Miles Edgeworth as they oppose each other in court. Wright's victories over Edgeworth (along with Wright's victory over prosecutor Manfred Von Karma) introduces a third prosecutor to combat Phoenix in court, Franziska von Karma, who sees Edgeworth as a younger brother, (despite actually being several years younger than him) and holds a grudge against Wright. In the third game, more info related to Phoenix, Mia and other members of the Fey family is unveiled, intertwining with the events from the previous games until the last case, which closes the Phoenix Wright chapters of the Ace Attorney series.

The fourth game shifts seven years after the first three games. Phoenix, having been disbarred for using falsified evidence, has become a piano player, adopted a young magician named Trucy, and has transformed the office to the "Wright Talent Agency". When he is accused of murder, he spies the upcoming and talented defense attorney Apollo Justice with his "Chords of Steel" and has him defend him as well as hiring him, forcing the office to be renamed "Wright Anything Agency". While Apollo and Trucy handle cases, Phoenix still works with ties to the justice system to implement changes that will help improve the courts, including the introduction of a "Jurist System" that leaves the decision of guilt or innocence to a six-panel jury, while investigating the remaining mysteries involving his last case seven years before.

[edit] Gameplay

Phoenix Wright issues an objection at the witness during a court case; the "Objection!" speech balloon has become an iconic element of the series

The games in the Ace Attorney series are primarily adventure games, though they require the player to collect evidence and to present it to the witnesses when they are in court. The game is presented primarily using animated two-dimensional manga-like sprites, with text dialog, sound effects, and minimal spoken clips to simulate speech.

There are two phases to each case, Investigation, and Courtroom sessions. Investigation includes the ability to visit several key locations in the case and talk to people involved with it in search for evidence; the second and third game also introduced the "Psyche-Lock", a system through which the defending attorney can break mental barriers to learn the truth from uncooperative witnesses during investigation. Players can present both evidence and, from the second game onwards, profiles of people involved with the case.

Courtroom sessions are generally made up of testimonies consisting of statements by witnesses. The player may cross-examine the witness to locate a contradiction by showing a piece of evidence that relates to what the witness has testified. The player may also "Press" the witness, asking the witness to clarify a statement. Sometimes, pressing and presenting evidence will lead to additional statements added to the testimony. Presenting evidence successfully may also lead to new lines of testimony altogether and it is almost always the only way to proceed in the game. In the fourth game, the game introduces the Perceive system, which is active during some cross-examinations. During testimony, the player can activate the Perceive system to look closely at body language and actions that trigger when the witness states something untruthful (for example, their hands may twitch or they may swallow), and thus force the witness to respond truthfully.

The ultimate goal in the courtroom is to have a "Not Guilty" verdict handed down to the defendant. Often however, the player is only able to delay the case until the next day. This gives the player more time to investigate the crime. Generally the player must determine who the true perpetrator of the crime is in order to absolve the defendant of guilt.

Presenting evidence is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger, as in the game's logo, and shouting "Objection!" (異議あり!, Igi ari!^?), accompanied by a word bubble of the same word, both which have become iconic representation of the series. If the player presents the wrong evidence, attempts to present at the wrong time, or fails other parts of in-court questioning, they lose some measure of acceptance by the judge, and if the player is wrong too may times, the case will be declared over with a guilty verdict for the accused, and the player will have to restart from his/her last save point or the beginning of the court session.

The courtroom procedure presented in the game differs dramatically from the law of the United States. In the games, objections are generally presented to reveal contradictions in a witness' testimony. This usually involves a display of evidence. In the Law of the United States, an objection is generally used to prevent a witness from testifying or answering a question that the attorney believes damaging to the case. A real world objection can attack the question being asked of the witness if it disobeys a defined set of rules (for example, asking the witness to speculate, badgering, and asking a leading question are not allowed). Objections may also be used to refute evidence if it is not legally admissible. Although perjury is stated to be a crime, its illegality appears to not apply to the Ace Attorney court system very strictly, as the vast majority of witnesses lie outright and repeatedly to the court, and receive little more than an admonishment by the judge to revise their testimony (though it is worth noting that at least one witness in the games series is told that he would be later charged with perjury). Additionally, though the charge of contempt of court does appear in an incident in the first game in the series, in all but this singular incident, contempt of court, as well as assault and battery go largely unpunished, especially in the case of prosecuting attorney Franziska von Karma, who wields a whip and constantly uses it against other attorneys, police officers, the witnesses, and even the judge, all while court is in session.

In the DS remakes, the game utilizes the touchscreen in addition to the normal controls, and also the microphone, allowing the player to shout "Objection!", "Hold It!" or "Take That!" at the appropriate times, though they can also select these options via more common entry methods. The remake of the first game for the DS included a brand new fifth case created specifically for the remake, with additional aspects of gameplay that fully used the DS special features; for example, one could dust for fingerprints by tapping the screen to apply fingerprinting powder, then blowing at the DS microphone gently to blow them away, or by using the 3D capabilities of the DS to render the collected evidence; key details concerning the evidence are often revealed this way. The fourth game of the series, which is the first game developed completely for the DS without a prior GBA release, also includes a number of these elements.

Each game is made up of four or five cases with the games and the cases have some interconnectivity, recurring minor characters or similar crime elements.

[edit] Games

The Ace Attorney series began as trilogy of Game Boy Advance titles, called Gyakuten Saiban, released only in Japan from 2001 to 2004. The Game Boy Advance versions were not imported or translated. In 2005, the original title, Gyakuten Saiban, was ported to the Nintendo DS as Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten (Turnabout Courtroom: Turnabout Rebirth). When the port was released in Japan it included both the original Japanese and an English localization, making the game a popular import title. In October of 2005, the English localization was turned into the North American version of the game, and European editions followed.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney boxart for the Northern America version.

[edit] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Main article: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

The original GBA game was released in 2001, with the Japanese and English DS ports in 2005. The game's story introduces Phoenix Wright, Mia and Maya Fey, and Miles Edgeworth, along with other minor characters that reappear in later games. The original GBA game contained four cases; a special fifth case named "Rise from the Ashes" was made for the DS version that utilized additional investigation techniques that relied on the features of the DS, such as the microphone and touchscreen.

[edit] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All

Main article: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All

The second game was released on the GBA in Japan in 2002, and on the DS in 2006 and 2007. The game contains four cases, in both the Advance and DS versions, and takes place about a year after the events of first game. It introduces the characters of Pearl Fey, the younger cousin of the Fey sisters, and Franziska von Karma, daughter of Manfred.

[edit] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

Main article: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

The third game was released on the GBA in Japan in 2004, with Japanese and English DS ports following in 2007. The game takes place roughly a year after the previous game and includes many characters from both previous games, and also allows the player to play two cases in the past as Mia Fey. There are five cases total within the game. However this game has yet to be released in the UK.

[edit] Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Main article: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

The fourth game was released in Japan in April 2007 and in North America on February 19, 2008.^[2] It is the first installment to be developed specifically for the Nintendo DS. The title was localized in America and other territories as Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, reflecting the change of the main character from Phoenix Wright to Apollo Justice (Housuke Odoroki (王泥喜 法介, Odoroki Hōsuke^?). The game features four cases.

[edit] Future games

A project codenamed New Gyakuten Not Saiban (NEW逆転 NOT裁判, New Gyakuten Not Saiban^? "NEW Turnabout, NOT Trial") was announced by Capcom in February 2008. In the April 2008 issue of Famitsu, it was revealed to be Gyakuten Kenji (逆転検事, Gyakuten Kenji^? Turnabout Prosecutor), a spinoff Nintendo DS game starring prosecutor Miles Edgeworth and detective Dick Gumshoe. The investigation portions are presented using a third-person camera view. The game takes place before and after the events of Gyakuten Saiban 3. The release date is yet to be determined, but development is 40% completed as of April 2008.^[3]

Gyakuten Saiban 5, the next installment in the Ace Attorney series, was announced by Capcom's president on May 22, 2007 with no further detail.^[4] It is not known whether Gyakuten Kenji and Gyakuten Saiban 5 are being developed simultaneously.

Daletto and Capcom have partnered to bring the three GameBoy Advance games to Microsoft Windows as episodic content in Japan; the first game, for example, is broken into 17 episodes and only includes the original four chapters from the first game. The games will be released between March and May 2008. At the present time, Capcom has not announced plans to bring these to other regions.^[5]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical reception

The Western releases of the games have garnered generally favorable reviews by the gaming press. The series has generally been praised for being a strong adventure game in an otherwise lacking market, having great presentation, music, and dialog, while at the same time being criticized for being too linear and lacking replayability and evolution among the series' installments.^[14][15][16] The representation of the legal system in the games has been noted to be significantly flawed; GameSpot's review of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney noted that during courtroom sessions, one should "suspend your disbelief about the whole procedure, since, although it feels fairly close to reality, many things go on during the proceedings that would probably horrify actual members of the legal system."^[17] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All also received negative comments due to the lack of the unique DS features introduced in the first game.^[16][15] Issue 22 of (N)Gamer noted that the series on a whole sometimes features "odd leaps in logic" that turns the game into a trial-and-error procedure.

[edit] Popularity

In Japan, the series has performed reasonably well, with the combined sales (both GBA and DS) of the first two games around 400,000 units, and the third game, only considering GBA sales, nearing 250,000 units.^[18] The fourth game sold 160,000 copies the day of release in Japan, with a total of 250,000 units moved during the first week of release.^[18]

In the United States, the first game became surprisingly successful, forcing Capcom to prepare at least three additional runs of the game to meet the demand.^[19][20] Part of this was due to initially low expectations from retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us who passed on the game; Capcom had produced nine to ten runs of three-to-four thousand units before Toys "R" Us requested 15,000 copies.^[21]

In May 2008, Capcom revealed that the series, spanning 11 games, has sold more than 2.8 million units worldwide, its 12th best selling series of all time.^[22]

[edit] Influence

The characters from the Ace Attorney games have become some of Capcom's more popular characters, and have been included in other Capcom games such as SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS and We Love Golf.

A video game based on the Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law cartoon series was released by High Voltage Software and is distributed by Capcom in the United States. The game features the characters from the show, using the same game mechanics of the Ace Attorney series, and features cameo appearances of other Capcom characters.

The anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya contains an episode that concludes with a session of deductive conclusions by Haruhi, where she takes poses identical to those of Phoenix Wright at court. Itsuki also makes two poses that are identical to Edgeworth's hand motions and Mikuru mimics Maya's bowing pose. In conclusion, while Haruhi is yelling, the backrground takes a stylistic form before she points her finger as the picture rapidly flashes white.

In the anime series Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei there is an episode in which a Psyche Lock appears on Nozumu Itoshiki.

In the anime series Lucky Star one of the characters who is obsessed with drawing manga shows off some drawings of Apollo Justice and Klavier Gavin.

In an episode of the anime Pani Poni Dash there is a sequence where one of the characters points at another with the "Objection!" animation appearing in front of them.

[edit] Soundtracks

See also: Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten Original Soundtrack, Gyakuten Saiban 3 Original Soundtrack, and Gyakuten Saiban 4 Original Soundtrack

The boxart for the official soundtrack to the first game of the series. Pictured (from left to right, top to bottom): Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Miles Edgeworth, Mia Fey, Ema Skye and Lana Skye.

Soundtracks are available for the first three Ace Attorney games in the series. The official soundtrack for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was first published by Suleputer on November 30, 2005.^[23] The soundtracks of the second and third game have also been released.^[24][25]

Capcom has also released an album entitled Gyakuten Saiban Orchestra Album: Gyakuten Meets Orchestra with orchestral arrangements of many of the songs used in the game and its two sequels on September 9, 2006. A second CD with additional Ace Attorney orchestral pieces was released for sale at the Tokyo Game Show 2006, and was sold to the public later that year. On March 31, 2007, another official arrangement album named Gyakuten Saiban Jazz Album: Gyakuten Meets Jazz was released by Capcom.^[26] As the name implies, the album consists of jazz arrangements. The CDs were originally scheduled for Japanese release only,^[27][28] but since, it has been announced that they will be released in North America as well, the release date currently unknown^[29]

The video game music arrangement circle Magical Trick Society^[30] has released an album with arrangements of songs from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, called Cadenza: Gyakuten Saiban 1.

[edit] Manga

A manga of the video game series is currently being serialized in Japan.^[31] U.S manga publisher Del Rey Manga has confirmed that it will distribute the manga in the U.S. starting in September 2008. ^[32][33]

The First case is about the murder of a CEO and Larry Butz is framed for it. Its called "Turnabout with the Wind."

[edit] See also

• Phoenix Wright (character)
• List of Ace Attorney characters

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Ace Attorney

• Official website of the series
• Official website of the series (Japanese)
• Official website for Gyakuten Kenji (Japanese)
• The series Ace Attorney and Phoenix Wright in France
• Court Records - Ace Attorney fansite, with information spanning all games in the series.
• Ace Attorney Online - Fan-made Ace Attorney online case maker.