Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Capcom |
Publisher(s) | Capcom |
Director(s) | Takeshi Yamazaki |
Producer(s) | Motohide Eshiro |
Designer(s) | Yuki Nakamura |
Artist(s) | Tatsuro Iwamoto |
Writer(s) |
|
Composer(s) |
|
Series | Ace Attorney |
Engine | Unity (Ace Attorney Investigations Collection) |
Platform(s) | |
Release | Nintendo DSAndroid, iOS
|
Genre(s) | Adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth [a] is a 2009 adventure video game developed and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in 2009, and internationally in 2010, and later for iOS and Android in 2017. It is the fifth game in the Ace Attorney series, and is set between the events of the third and fourth games, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney .
While previous games in the series focus on defense attorneys, Ace Attorney Investigations has the player control prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, who investigates five cases that tie together to form an overarching story about a smuggling ring. The game consists of investigation phases, in which the player investigates crime scenes in search for evidence, and rebuttal phases, in which they confront other characters, to hear what they think has happened; the player is able to use evidence to find contradictions in the characters' statements, to get closer to the truth.
The game was directed by Takeshi Yamazaki and produced by Motohide Eshiro. Eshiro had come up with the idea of a new adventure game about Ace Attorney characters while working on Trials and Tribulations, and Yamazaki had the idea to have it be about deductive reasoning and crime scene investigation. The game was specifically designed to be different from previous Ace Attorney titles, with a larger focus on the environment. The development team had originally considered using Ema Skye, a character from earlier games in the series, as the lead character, but used Miles Edgeworth instead because of his popularity. They aimed to have players be immersed in the game and feel like they are Edgeworth, as opposed to previous Ace Attorney games, where they felt players merely could identify with the lead characters; to do this, they included direct control of Edgeworth, and a gameplay element that involves connecting his thoughts.
It was met by generally favorable reviews, with a common complaint being that rebuttals at times devolve into trial and error. The game was one of the best selling games of 2009 in Japan, while Western sales were described as "poor at best". After the game's release, a manga series based on it has been released. A sequel, Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit , was released in Japan in 2011. Both games were remastered as part of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection compilation release in 2024.
Ace Attorney Investigations is a single-player adventure game [1] [2] in which players control prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, who investigates five cases. [3] The game is mostly presented from a third-person perspective, occasionally switching to a first-person view when examining evidence. [4] Each case involves playing through several investigation phases and rebuttal phases. [3] [5]
During investigation phases, players control Edgeworth directly, either with the D-pad, [3] or by sliding the map that is displayed on the bottom screen. [4] The player has Edgeworth walk around crime scenes in search for evidence; they also meet witnesses and suspects during these phases, who they can talk to. As Edgeworth notices various things in the crime scene, they are saved as Edgeworth's thoughts. Using the "logic" function, the player can connect two such thoughts to gain new information; [3] [4] for instance, by connecting two bullet holes with a gun that has only been fired once, Edgeworth will conclude that two guns must have been at the crime scene. At some points, the player is able to control a cursor to examine parts of the crime scene; by using the "deduction" function at these points, the player is able to point out a contradiction between the crime scene and evidence. If the player successfully points out a contradiction, they gain access to new information. [6] At certain points, a device called Little Thief can be used to create hologram reproductions of the crime scene; [3] [7] by investigating these reproductions, the player can discover new information that would otherwise be hidden. [8] As more evidence is uncovered, the hologram is updated. [3] [7] After having examined an area sufficiently, the investigation phase ends, and the game moves on to a rebuttal phase. [3]
The rebuttal phases work quite similarly to the cross-examination phases from the original games. A witness or a rival character provides their idea of what has happened. [3] The player is able to press them for details, and can present relevant pieces of evidence that contradict what the witness or rival is saying. [4] By doing this, the player gets closer to the truth; [3] it is through confronting suspects during these phases that the player solves the cases. [9] Upon solving a case, the episode is cleared and a new episode is made available to the player. [10] If the player makes mistakes throughout the game, such as presenting wrong pieces of evidence, attempting to connect two thoughts that do not match up, or making incorrect choices, a green gauge called the Truth Gauge decreases, representing Edgeworth getting further from the truth. If it is completely emptied, the game ends. By clearing an investigation phase, half of the gauge is restored, and by clearing an episode, the gauge is restored completely. [1] [11]
Ace Attorney Investigations takes place between the third and fourth games in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney . [12] The story is split into five episodes, each focusing on a different crime; though told out of sequence, the cases tie together to form an overarching story [9] revolving around an international smuggling ring. While previous Ace Attorney games feature defense attorneys Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice as the lead characters, Ace Attorney Investigations features prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, [13] who was Phoenix's rival in previous games. [3] Among the supporting characters are Kay Faraday, who claims to be the Yatagarasu, a legendary thief who works to expose illegal corporate dealings, and detective Dick Gumshoe, [4] Edgeworth's long-time partner. Recurring rivals of Edgeworth's are Shi-Long Lang, an Interpol agent from the fictional country of Zheng Fa who bears a fierce hatred of prosecutors and the courts after his family's reputation was tarnished by a corrupt prosecutor, and his assistant Shih-na. Other characters include prosecutor Byrne Faraday, detective Tyrell Badd, and defense attorney Calisto Yew. Returning characters from previous Ace Attorney games include prosecutor Manfred von Karma and his daughter Franziska, and forensics student Ema Skye.
Cohdopian Embassy secretariat Manny Coachen is accused of murdering Cece Yew, a witness to a smuggling ring's connection to the embassy. Prosecutor Byrne Faraday and detective Tyrell Badd attempt to convict Coachen, but he goes free after key evidence is stolen. Feeling that the justice system is powerless to those who stand above the law, Faraday, Badd, and Yew's sister Calisto start stealing corporate files detailing illegal or unethical activities and expose them to the media, under the name Yatagarasu.
Three years later, another murder occurs at the embassy. During the trial, in which Faraday is the prosecutor, suspect Mack Rell claims that Faraday is the Yatagarasu and ordered him to commit the murder. A recess is held to replace Faraday with another prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth, due to this accusation; before court reconvenes, both Rell and Faraday are found dead. Edgeworth discovers that Calisto had murdered Faraday with Rell's help, then killed Rell and made it look the two had killed each other. Calisto claims to be the Yatagarasu as well as a member of the smuggling ring before fleeing. Faraday's daughter Kay is comforted over his death by Edgeworth, Badd, and detective Gumshoe; she believes her father to be the true Yatagarasu, and vows to one day catch the fake.
Seven years later, while Edgeworth is traveling on an airliner, an Interpol agent investigating the smuggling ring is murdered during the trip. Upon landing, Franziska von Karma arrives and explains that she is working with Interpol to expose the smuggling ring; she and Edgeworth discover the murderer to be flight attendant Cammy Meele, who is working with the smuggling ring. After landing, Edgeworth is contacted by businessman Ernest Amano, whose son Lance is being held for ransom at an amusement park. Edgeworth reunites with Kay, who calls herself the true Yatagarasu. They find Lance, along with the dead body of Oliver Deacon, who Lance identifies as one of the kidnappers. As Edgeworth investigates the mystery, he meets Interpol agents Shi-Long Lang and Shih-na, who believe that Amano's business group is involved with the smuggling ring; the ring's counterfeit money has ruined the economy of their home country Zheng Fa, so they seek to bring an end to the ring. Edgeworth learns that the kidnapping was a ploy by Lance to get money from his father, and that Lance had killed Deacon after the latter had attacked Lance.
Evidence is found tying Amano to the smuggling ring, and Lang brings Amano in for questioning. Returning to his office, Edgeworth is confronted at gunpoint by an unidentified man and then finds the corpse of Detective Buddy Faith inside. He determines that the murderer was Jacques Portsman, a prosecutor working for the smuggling ring who broke into Edgeworth's office to steal evidence from Byrne's murder case, murdering Faith after being caught; however, Edgeworth also discovers that Portsman was not the man he encountered.
The next day, the countries of Allebahst and Babahl, which formerly made up Cohdopia, prepare to announce their reunification when their shared embassy is set ablaze and two people are killed. The bodies are found in the embassies' respective offices; one of them is Manny Coachen, now the secretariat for Babahl. After investigating, Edgeworth exposes Shih-na as Calisto in disguise; she admits that she attempted to frame Kay for Coachen's murder but insists that she did not murder the secretariat. As she is taken away, Badd reveals that he has since figured out that "Callisto Yew" was just an alias, and that she became part of the Yatagarasu on orders from the smuggling ring's leader. He also reveals that he was the one who confronted Edgeworth in his office – he was also looking for case files.
Edgeworth discovers that the smuggling ring's leader is Quercus Alba, the former Cohdopian and current Allebahstian ambassador, who committed both murders to cover the smuggling ring's tracks. He intended to frame Coachen as the smuggling ring leader as Coachen had plotted to seize control of the ring himself. Edgeworth and Lang work together to get Alba's diplomatic immunity revoked, and he and the other smugglers are convicted, while Edgeworth and his companions recommit to their vows to defend the truth.
The game was directed by Takeshi Yamazaki and produced by Motohide Eshiro, with character designs by Tatsuro Iwamoto, [14] and music by Noriyuki Iwadare and Yasuko Yamada. [15] Eshiro got the idea to make a new game featuring characters from the original Ace Attorney games while working on Trials and Tribulations. According to Eshiro, the game was made for portable play, and has an interface that uses the touch screen; as this could not be replicated on other platforms such as Xbox Live, he said that the Nintendo DS was the platform that was best suited for it, and that no ports to other hardware were planned. [16]
Eshiro said that they could have set the game in a courtroom similar to that of the main series and made a few additions, but that it would not have been very interesting; instead they moved the game to crime scenes, and added several new gameplay elements. [16] Yamazaki was the one who came up with the idea of making a game about deductive reasoning and crime scene investigation. Because of this theme, it made sense to them to include the Ace Attorney character Ema Skye in the game, as she is portrayed as wanting to be a forensic scientist. [17] Yamazaki originally suggested that Ema should be the main character, but based on fan feedback, they decided to use the more popular character Miles Edgeworth instead. [18] Figuring out how to move the game from the courtroom to the crime scene was a challenge for the development team. The team also thought that it was difficult to make the game feel new while also making sure it felt similar to the game series. [19] Because of the new gameplay systems that all had to be created from scratch, Ace Attorney Investigations took longer to develop than previous Ace Attorney games had. [20]
The concept of the story was that while each case is a standalone episode, they are also all interlinked, forming a larger mystery, with each episode revealing a piece of the puzzle. [17] Because Edgeworth is portrayed as a genius prosecutor, whereas Phoenix Wright is a rookie attorney, the development team felt that they needed to come up with incidents that were larger in scale for Ace Attorney Investigations, to match Edgeworth's skill level; therefore, the opponents were made "more formidable" compared to the ones in previous games in the series. [21] Eshiro saw the story as the most important part of the game, and said that, while time-consuming, it was important to make sure that it works. This was accomplished through a lot of trial and error, and several rewrites and revisions: Yamazaki would come up with an idea, which was tested to see if players had a hard time understanding it. Based on feedback from the testers, Yamazaki would rewrite and reorder some parts, and add hints. [22] When creating the game's story, the development team took into account that some players might not have played any Ace Attorney games before. Because of this, they tried to make the game as accessible as possible, and make it playable without first having played any of the previous titles; for instance, the first part of the game is a tutorial that introduces the game and the characters. They did however add in-jokes for players who had played previous Ace Attorney games. [17] Kay Faraday was the first new character that was created for the game, and was cited by Eshiro as one of his favorite characters. [16]
The development team felt that with previous Ace Attorney games, players could identify with Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice; for Ace Attorney Investigations, they wanted players to be immersed in the game and feel like they are Edgeworth. He said that they think players will feel a connection with Edgeworth and understand his character. As examples of this, Eshiro cited the ability to directly control Edgeworth, and the possibility to see inside his head: [17] the game's logic system was created because the development team wanted to show how Edgeworth thinks. It represents what is happening inside his mind, which Eshiro describes as a "very cool, calm and collected way of thinking". [16] For the rebuttal phases in the game, Eshiro wanted to try out new things that could not be done in courtroom battles: during rebuttals, several characters come in and out during each scene at a rapid pace, providing the player with evidence, to create drama with tension. [21] Ace Attorney Investigations has a larger focus on the environment than previous Ace Attorney titles had; previous titles featured gameplay elements in which the player finds contradictions in suspects' statements, whereas the goal of Ace Attorney Investigations is to find things at the crime scene that contradict the evidence the player has. [17] The game's third person perspective was specifically chosen to be different from the main series' first person perspective, and to show the environment so that players can walk around inside it. The game system was designed specifically for Ace Attorney Investigations, with the aim of being different from the main series; therefore, Eshiro felt that a lot of its features should stay within the Investigations series, and not be used in other Ace Attorney titles. [22]
The development team put effort into trying to make Edgeworth look right; Eshiro described Edgeworth's running animation as "graceful, while exerting effort", while Iwamoto was not entirely convinced and thought it looked like he is "walking really fast accidentally". [14] Eshiro and Yamazaki wanted to add a lot of features to the Little Thief system, but due to time constraints it ended up more simplistic than they had originally envisioned. [23] Eshiro used his experience with producing action games such as Shadow of Rome and laying out scenes to get backgrounds to move smoothly without scrolling issues when Edgeworth moves. [24] The programmers faced big technical challenges and had to make significant modifications to the game when implementing the graphics: in the game, two animated characters - whose graphics each are larger than those in previous Ace Attorney games - appear simultaneously and on top of smaller "mini-avatar" graphics. Eshiro said that he thinks they pushed the graphic processing ability of the Nintendo DS system to its limits for this. [21] Eshiro said that they would consider making DSiWare episodes if demand was high enough, but that they did not have any plans at the time. He said that there were many technical aspects to consider, such as memory limitations for DSiWare. [22]
The game was announced in Famitsu in April 2008. [25] A demo of the game was made available at Tokyo Game Show 2008. [26] It was also shown at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009, [27] and appeared once more at Tokyo Game Show in 2009. [28]
The game was published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS on May 28, 2009, in Japan, [2] on February 16, 2010, in North America, on February 18, 2010, in Australia, and on February 19, 2010, in Europe. [29] A limited edition version of the game was made available in Japan, containing a business card holder, promotional videos, a CD with five tracks from an Ace Attorney concert performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, a pamphlet from the concert, a game box, and a copy of the game itself. [30] A bundle containing an Ace Attorney Investigations themed Nintendo DSi and a copy of the game was also made available in Japan. [31] An iOS and Android version was released worldwide on December 8, 2017. [32] [33] The soundtrack album Gyakuten Kenji Original Soundtrack was released on June 24, 2009, by Suleputer. [15]
For the game's localization, the main focus was to keep the dialogue natural and accessible to Western players, while also staying true to the Japanese version. The Japanese version had several instances of puns or cultural jokes, which would not have worked if they had been translated literally. There were also places in the script where the development team would have liked to insert jokes in the localization, but thought that it may be inappropriate to do so since the joke was not in the Japanese version. The team found difficulties in getting the Western version's tone right, as they wanted to keep the localized text interesting, and at the same time avoid inconsistencies with the original version's tone. [21]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | DS: 78/100 [34] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Adventure Gamers | [35] |
Eurogamer | 8/10 [7] |
GameSpot | 8/10 [4] |
GameZone | 7.5/10 [36] |
IGN | 7.6/10 [9] |
NGamer | 79% [37] |
Nintendo World Report | 8.5/10 [3] |
TouchArcade | iOS: [38] |
Ace Attorney Investigations was well received by critics. [34] The game sold 172,000 units in the week of its release in Japan, [39] and 42,000 the following week; [40] by the end of 2009, it was the 33rd best selling game of the year in Japan, with 303,445 copies sold. [41] On the other hand, Capcom USA's vice president described Western sales as "poor at best". [42] The game won an Aggie Award for Best Character of 2010, for Miles Edgeworth, [43] and was awarded for Best Adventure Title of 2010 on Nintendo DS by Nintendo World Report. [44] Following the game's appearance at Tokyo Game Show in 2008, it was awarded a Japan Game Award in the "future" category. [45]
Austin Boosinger at Adventure Gamers said that the gameplay changes compared to the main series were mostly superficial, resulting in a game that is similar to but worse than the main series. [35] Neal Ronaghan at Nintendo World Report did on the other hand feel that there had been enough changes for the game to feel fresh, and said that it was possibly the best entry in the Ace Attorney series. [3] Hilary Goldstein at IGN said that the new gameplay elements were strong additions that add variety to the game, but felt that the series was running out of steam. [9] Steven Hopper at GameZone said that the game was very similar to previous Ace Attorney games, on good and bad, and that the Ace Attorney series was starting to show its age. [36] Laura Parker at GameSpot said that the game was a "successful twist" on the gameplay of the previous games in the series, and that it "lacked none of the magic" of them. [4]
Boosinger called the game too easy and streamlined, and found the Logic system to be too simple. He did however feel that finding contradictions in testimonies was "fantastic as always", while too reliant on trial and error. [35] Ronaghan said that many solutions in the Rebuttal phases are "binary" - while it makes sense to present a piece of evidence at several points, the game accepts only one of them. He found the controls to be fine, but called the touch screen-based walking controls "awkward and imprecise". [3] Goldstein similarly found problems with multiple pieces of evidence that all could point to the same contradiction, but where the game would only allow a specific one. At other times, she said that no reasonable solution could be found, forcing her to guess. [9] John Walker at Eurogamer also complained about how reasonable solutions sometimes are not accepted. [7] Hopper said that solving cases isn't intuitive enough, and involves a lot of trial and error. While some puzzles made sense to him, others were frustrating. [36] Parker called the gameplay exciting, and said that the game has depth and variety, but that it is too easy at times. [4]
Boosinger said that while the game retains the comedy of the Ace Attorney series and has great character writing, he found the story to be dull, slow, and too long. [35] Ronaghan called the dialogue funny, and said that the game was well-paced, long, and enjoyable. [3] Goldstein called the story interesting, but said that it at times plays out "like a bad soap opera". [9] Walker appreciated the choice to make Edgeworth the game's lead character, and called Kay a fantastic addition. He found the translation of the game to be incredible, despite a number of spelling mistakes. [7] Hopper appreciated that the game has a new protagonist and setting, and called the dialogue "cheesy but charming". On the other hand, he said that there is a lot of superfluous text in the game, making the cases longer than they need to be. [36] Parker said that it takes some time to get used to playing as Edgeworth, saying that he is not as immediately engaging as Phoenix and Apollo. She called the story deep and intricate, and slow but solid. [4] NGamer praised dialogue as charming, and liked the characters, but thought the game lacked the "hard-hitting melodrama" of previous Ace Attorney games, and that Edgeworth had been made "too nice" compared to previous appearances. [37] Ronaghan called the art style and presentation wonderful, and said that each character "oozes with personality", but that the animation, while better than that in previous titles, was limited to only a few frames at a time. [3] Goldstein called the characters colorful, but found the locations to be uninteresting. [9] Hopper called the game's aesthetic "anime-esque" and clean, and said that the static images were decent. [36] Parker liked the game's presentation, and called the environments "beautifully drawn". [4] NGamer praised the art style. [37]
A manga based on the game, written by Kenji Kuroda and drawn by Kazuo Maekawa, premiered in 2009 in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine . [46] Kodansha also released the manga in North America in four volumes between July 31, 2012, and January 29, 2013. [47] [48] [49] [50] The second and third volume ranked 7th and 8th, respectively, on The New York Times Manga Best Seller List for one week each in 2012. [51] [52] In 2011, an attraction based on the game was opened in the amusement park Joypolis in Tokyo. [53] A stage play based on the game ran in July 2016 in Tokyo. [54]
A sequel to the game, Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit , was released in Japan on February 3, 2011. [55] While there were initially no plans for Capcom to release it internationally, [56] the game was eventually localized as part of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection , released in September 2024. The compilation, which includes both games, features high-resolution graphics, with the option to choose between newly animated character sprites and the original pixel art, as well as bonus content such as artwork and music. [57] In July 2013, Eshiro said that he and Yamazaki would like to make a third Investigations game, and that he intended to secure the needed Capcom personnel and plan everything out in the future, but that he could not make any promises. [58]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a visual novel adventure game developed and published by Capcom. It was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance in Japan and has been ported to multiple platforms. The 2005 Nintendo DS version, titled Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten in Japan, introduced an English language option, and was the first time the game was released in North America and Europe. It is the first entry in the Ace Attorney series; several sequels and spin-offs were produced, while this game has seen further ports and remasters for computers, game consoles, and mobile devices.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the fourth title in the Ace Attorney series, and was released for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in Japan in 2007 and in the West in 2008, for iOS and Android in 2016, and for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. It was also released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One in 2024, as part of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy compilation.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All is a visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002 in Japan, and has since been released on multiple platforms. The Nintendo DS version, initially released in 2006 in Japan, was released in English in the West in 2007. The game is the second entry in the Ace Attorney series, following Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
Ace Attorney is a visual novel adventure video game franchise developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, 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, prequels, and high-definition remasters for newer game consoles have been released. Additionally, the series has been adapted in the form of a live-action film and an anime; it is the base for manga series, drama CDs, musicals and stage plays. The player takes the roles of various defense attorneys, including Phoenix Wright, his mentor Mia Fey, as well as his understudies Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes who investigate cases and defend their clients in court. They find the truth by cross-examining witnesses and finding inconsistencies between the testimonies and the evidence they have collected. The cases last a maximum of three days; the judge determines the outcome based on evidence presented by the defense attorney and the prosecutor.
Phoenix "Nick" Wright, known as Ryūichi Naruhodō in the original Japanese language versions, is the fictional titular defense attorney and the protagonist in Ace Attorney, a visual novel adventure video game series created by Shu Takumi, who was an employee of Japanese gaming company Capcom. Introduced in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001), Phoenix is a young rookie attorney who the player controls in several cases to protect the clients suspected of murder. Phoenix is the main character in the first three games, accompanied by assistants Maya and Pearl Fey and Ema Skye, mentored by the ghost of Mia Fey, and rivaled by Miles Edgeworth, Franziska von Karma, and Godot. He remains in a less prominent role in the second trilogy starting with a supporting role in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (2007) as an older single father to Trucy Wright and mentor to Apollo Justice, before becoming a playable character again as a veteran attorney in subsequent games, mentoring Athena Cykes, rivaled by Simon Blackquill and Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, and reuniting with Maya and Pearl. The character has also appeared in film, anime, and manga adaptations of the series, a Japanese series of musicals and stage plays, as well as several crossover games.
Maya Fey, known as Mayoi Ayasato in the original Japanese language versions, is a fictional spirit medium in Ace Attorney, a visual novel adventure video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Maya is featured as the main support character to the protagonist Phoenix Wright in the first three games of the series and later returns in the sixth game. The character has also appeared in film, anime and manga adaptations of the series, a Japanese series of musicals and stage plays, and crossover video games such as Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011) Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2012) and Project X Zone 2 (2015).
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations is a visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 in Japan, and has since been released for several platforms, including a Nintendo DS version that was released in 2007 in Japan and North America and in 2008 in Europe. It is the third game in the Ace Attorney series, following Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001) and Justice for All (2002).
Franziska von Karma, known as Mei Karuma in Japanese, is a character in the Ace Attorney series. She first appeared as the rival prosecutor to protagonist Phoenix Wright in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All, replacing former rival Miles Edgeworth due to creator Shu Takumi not wanting Edgeworth to continue losing to Phoenix due to Edgeworth's popularity with fans. She wields a whip against Phoenix, witnesses, the Judge, and others, and believes in aspiring for perfection. She professes a desire to defeat Phoenix, ultimately never doing so due in part to her being shot as part of a conspiracy by one of Phoenix's defendants to weaken efforts to prosecute him. Her revenge is revealed to be a desire to surpass Edgeworth, who had never beaten Phoenix before. She reappears in multiple later titles, at times serving as an ally to Edgeworth.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies is a visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the fifth main entry in the Ace Attorney series, and was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, with iOS and Android versions following in 2014 and 2017. It was also released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in 2024 as part of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy compilation.
Ōkamiden, known in Japan as Ōkamiden: Chiisaki Taiyō, is an action-adventure video game published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a spiritual successor, rather than a sequel, to Ōkami, a game released originally for the PlayStation 2 and later ported first to the Wii, then to other platforms.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit is an adventure video game developed by Capcom. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2011 and for Android and iOS in 2017. It is the sixth entry in the Ace Attorney series, and the sequel to Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (2009).
Shu Takumi is a Japanese video game designer, director, and writer at Capcom. He is best known for his work on the Ace Attorney series, serving as director and scenario writer for the original trilogy. In addition, he provided the Japanese voice of Phoenix Wright for the first four games. He then served as director and scenario writer for Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective in 2010.
Ace Attorney is a 2012 Japanese legal comedy-drama film, directed by Takashi Miike and based on the Capcom video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The film stars Hiroki Narimiya, Mirei Kiritani, and Takumi Saitoh. In the film, rookie defense attorney Phoenix Wright takes on a series of court cases, culminating in one that pits him against Manfred von Karma, a prosecutor who has remained undefeated throughout his forty-year career.
Miles Edgeworth, known as Reiji Mitsurugi in original Japanese language versions, is a fictional prosecutor in Ace Attorney, a visual novel adventure video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Initially introduced as a cold-hearted perfectionist, he appears as the antagonistic rival to main character Phoenix Wright in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001). Following the events of the first game, the character has a change of heart and reappears as a friendly rival in most subsequent entries. He was created by Shu Takumi and designed by Tatsurō Iwamoto, being a character more difficult for Takumi to create compared to Phoenix. Edgeworth went on to star in two of his own spin-off games, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (2009) and its sequel.
The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures is an adventure game and the eighth installment in the Ace Attorney series, developed and published by Capcom. It was directed by Shu Takumi and produced by Shintaro Kojima. The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in July 2015, with Android and iOS versions following in August 2017. A sequel, The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, was released in Japan in 2017. Both games were released worldwide in July 2021 via The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, a duology compilation for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice is a visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Capcom, and the sixth main entry in the Ace Attorney series. The game was released for Nintendo 3DS in Japan in June 2016, and in North America and Europe in September that year. Versions for iOS and Android followed a year later in September 2017, and it was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2024 as part of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy compilation.
Ace Attorney, known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban: Sono "Shinjitsu", Igiari!, is a mystery anime series produced by A-1 Pictures, based on Capcom's video game series of the same name. It is directed by Ayumu Watanabe and written by Atsuhiro Tomioka, with Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi serving as a script supervisor. The first season—which adapts the first two games of the franchise, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Justice for All—aired in Japan from April to September 2016, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. A second season by CloverWorks aired from October 2018 to March 2019, adapting the third game, Trials and Tribulations.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a compilation video game containing remasters of the first three games in the Ace Attorney series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001), Justice for All (2002), and Trials and Tribulations (2004). A compilation sequel, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, was released in 2024 and compiles the next three mainline games in the series, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice.