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"The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles" will be released on Switch, PS4, and Steam on July 27 (in English)

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
The announcement:

Set around the year 1900, you play as Phoenix Wright's ancestor Ryūnosuke Naruhodō, solving cases in Meiji-era Japan and Victorian England, teaming up with the famous private detective Herlock Sholmes, and persuading juries in a refinement of the multi-witness system prototyped in "Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright." This release contains all eight cases from the previously Japan-exclusive two-part game series "Dai Gyakuten Saiban."
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
This is pretty cool! I wonder if there will be iOS ports? Those were the best way to play AA5 and 6 IMO. Everything ran really nicely at super high resolution, it looked pretty dang good.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
This release contains all eight cases from the previously Japan-exclusive two-part game series "Dai Gyakuten Saiban."

Aren't they supposed to be really good? I vaguely remember someone here saying that. Awesome, I wanted to play them for such a long time.

Also, the series has been dormant for some time now, right? I hope that means that something new will happen, in the not-too-distant future. Would be a shame, if this series would die.
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
The Great Ace Attorney series is what series creator Shu Takumi was working on while his colleague Takeshi Yamazaki directed Ace Attorney 5 and 6. Shu Takumi is just great, so I believe them when they say these games are really good.
 
Aren't they supposed to be really good?
They're actually incredible. Like, the best AA has ever been, definitely the pinnacles of the franchise. Everything about them is so good. The scripting and stories are engrossing. The story structure is flexible enough to allow for lots of slice-of-life moments to help make the setting and cast feel more like real people versus the rigid police procedural nature of the earlier games. The cases themselves are clever and have wonderful and delightful twists, even if you're intimately aware of the Sherlock Holmes stories a lot of them are based upon. The characters are colorful and delightful. The historical figures (both real and fictional) will make any history buff blush. (Natsume Sōseki is absolutely inspired!) The game mechanics are about as involved and intricate as they've ever been, but the game is so expertly crafted that you both never feel stuck or cheated, and also never feel like you're playing something too easy and patronizing. The story itself is grand, playing with poignant and deep themes on socio-economic disparity and racial injustice that feels poignant and connected to the present. The animations and artwork are Elder God tier, and make the most out of the medium and more than fully justify the franchise's transition to 3D. The voice acting is delightful. (So glad they're keeping the original voice tracks in these ports.) And the music. Oh my god the music! Play these games with headphones on blast, because the music makes these games. Just listen to some of it, I'm ill-equipped to describe:


The game's theme song just evokes the imagery of a court argument, where you've got a Victorian orchestra arguing amongst itself accompanying by a timid Meiji imitation that's still using a Biwa or a Shamisen that wants to fit in so hard but isn't allowed to. And this discord manages to weave together in this weird way that makes its own striking harmony that just paints a wonderful mental picture. Every song helps establish the place, setting, and tone in ways that only the best media can by making the music its own character of equal importance with the rest of its cast. And that's before you get to the music variations that occur when a shift in events happen, allowing the music to organically grow and evolve with the scenes. The "Joint Reasoning" music variations is like artwork. There are segments in the game where Sherlock Holmes inspects a crime scene and does his deductive reasoning bit to solve a murder. But the game's MC comes in and corrects his judgment errors and realigns his reasonings so that they better reflect reality. And the music for these scenes are incredible. Because they start out quirky and fun, but then when it's your turn to fix things, the music shifts. A new layer of instruments gets put on top and it's like listening to the musical equivalent of one person going "um, actually!" and arguing with the other to create this crazy melody that's just absolutely brilliant. 🥰

I am so happy that everyone else finally gets to experience these. And because of the nature of the 3DS's base graphics, it'll look gorgeous with the res pumped up, instead of like weird vaseline smears that the original trilogy tends to look like.

Also, the series has been dormant for some time now, right? I hope that means that something new will happen, in the not-too-distant future. Would be a shame, if this series would die.
DGS2 (I suppose I should be saying GAA2 now) came out in 2017, so yeah. This is the longest stretch of time in the franchise's history without any new games being put out. The franchise has been in limbo for several years now, but in the big Capcom internal memos leak, they outlined how the recent Ace Attorney Trilogy ports on Steam/PS4/Switch did so unexpectedly well for them that they were now open to reviving things by bringing the Great Ace Attorney games out. I'm glad they're putting both games in the same package, because DGS1 ended on a cliffhanger that rubbed a lot of players the wrong way initially. (But is expertly followed up on in the sequel!) Capcom responds to money, so if enough people buy into these ports, they'll probably be eager to greenlight the production of more.

Somebody let me know when preorders go up, because I'll probably preorder several copies, lol.

This is pretty cool! I wonder if there will be iOS ports? Those were the best way to play AA5 and 6 IMO. Everything ran really nicely at super high resolution, it looked pretty dang good.
There are Android and iOS ports of both games in Japan, but the lack of announcements for NA here tells me that previous iOS/Android ports probably didn't do well enough for them to justify it just yet. That or they don't want to undercut console sales with phone ports and/or see phone ports as the thing you do once the legs for the console versions run out. If you just want super high res and smooth operations though, Steam/PS4/Switch ought to be good enough. If you just really want to play it on a tablet though, the fan translation patches exist for the Android version, as well as the 3DS one.
 
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Phantoon

I cuss you bad
It's not as big of a shock due to the ransomware stuff, but I'm absolutely delighted by this news. The Ace Attorney series is fantastic and I'll always be happy for more. Shame the second Miles Edgeworth one never made it over officially.
 

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
I've pretty well already decided to get the physical edition that wraps these together with the first three Phoenix Wright games. I'm here for it.
 

clarice

bebadosamba
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, WisteriaHysteria!

Right now i'm not playing games because, in my spare time, i'm usually in the mood for watching movies or anime, but i'm still excited anyway.
 
Right now i'm not playing games because, in my spare time, i'm usually in the mood for watching movies or anime, but i'm still excited anyway.
Haha, this is me on most days these days. But I get pretty pumped for Ace Attorney games because they play out more like an interactive movie/anime than anything else most people would associate with games. So it's an pretty chill experience to just curl up with a portable and tap the screen/buttons once in a while versus anything that demands constant vigilance and inputs. And these new ones are even more so, since there's significantly more voice acting in them than pervious games, as well as tons of slice-of-life vignettes that makes the story feel like more of a conventional story than a bunch of rigid court battles. The final case of the first game for example, starts out with Sherlock Holmes being depressed because he accidentally pawned off his violin, and you go off to the pawn shop to get it back for him. (Only the mildest of spoilers but thought I'd be diligent with the tagging.)
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
So what you're saying is: it really is a great Ace Attorney.
 

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Now I always just assumed these two games never got localized because Phoenix Wright + Meiji-era Japan period trappings was just considered too niche for western market, but it sounds like it copyright BS may have been the bigger issue.

 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Hahaha, I had no idea that there was precedent for "Herlock Sholmes" dating back to, of all things, the also-often-copied Lupin stories. That's amazing.
 
Hey preorders have gone up for this! It's $40 USD. I'm ACTUALLY gobsmacked. I would have expected at least $60. Had these been on 3DS, you would have paid at least $40 for each title, and here we're getting BOTH for $40. What a crazy friggin' steal. Last time I remember a game having this generous of a pricing/value was the original Katamari Damacy.

Cover art is delightful too. I would have expected them to have just reused the artwork for DGS1 or 2, but we get something brand new instead:

7161Lj9FRXS._SL1004_.jpg


Aweeee yiiiissssssss
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
That cover art is amazing (so many characters, I want to learn more about the two running guys on the down-left). All the clothes look great, as do the prosecuters. The great things Wisteria said (thanks for the post!) also helped a lot.
 
I want to learn more about the two running guys on the down-left
These two characters are reoccuring ones and I love them both to bits.

The first one on the left is Gina Lestrade (spoiler'd in case you want to go into it completely blind) and she's a fantastic character. When at first you meet her, she's an orphaned pick pocket, being crushed by the cold, brutal, capitalist victorian society, and is a quintessential witness to one of the cases. But you help her get on her feet and she becomes a detective in training thanks to your influence. (spoilered for mild but actual spoilers)

The character next to her is Soseki Natsume and he is the historical figure who is probably the most famous and influential Japanese writer from modern times. He's one of your first clients, and you take on his case specifically because he's Japanese and can't find a lawyer because everyone is racist and also scared of the corrupt prosecution.

Both characters are delightful and have so much personality and charm. Especially the second one. He's probably my favorite!

241573381_282x210.png
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
These two characters are reoccuring ones and I love them both to bits.

The first one on the left is Gina Lestrade (spoiler'd in case you want to go into it completely blind) and she's a fantastic character. When at first you meet her, she's an orphaned pick pocket, being crushed by the cold, brutal, capitalist victorian society, and is a quintessential witness to one of the cases. But you help her get on her feet and she becomes a detective in training thanks to your influence. (spoilered for mild but actual spoilers)

The character next to her is Soseki Natsume and he is the historical figure who is probably the most famous and influential Japanese writer from modern times. He's one of your first clients, and you take on his case specifically because he's Japanese and can't find a lawyer because everyone is racist and also scared of the corrupt prosecution.

Both characters are delightful and have so much personality and charm. Especially the second one. He's probably my favorite!

241573381_282x210.png

Thanks. Every time you talk about these games, I want to play them more. Which is saying a lot, because they looked great from the moment I heard about them first.
 
My copy is in the mail! Should arrive some time tomorrow. I assume you can preload the game if you buy it digitally. I'm very excited!

I won't allow myself to crack the game open until I finish Skyward Sword, but this game gives me extra motivation to push through it. My hype levels are cresting
 
Hey, apparently on the Switch's digital store, you can buy a bundle of both the original Ace Attorney trilogy, and this new Great Ace Attorney duology for $10 less than if you were to buy them a la carte. (So, $60 instead of $40+$30) That's kinda nifty. I'd probably take them up on that if I hadn't already physically bought Great Ace Attorney three times. 😂
 
oh didnt realize this was out. I'm definitely going to get this, but it's kinda bad timing. I have just replayed the series as it's been available to us so im a little burnt out.
 
Same! Can't wait to start, but it'll probably be a day or two.

On a funny side note. My copy came with a "Early Purchase Bonus Art and Music From the Vaults" DLC code. "Includes Never Before Released: Art Pieces for the Gallery/Music for the Auditorium." Which itself is whatever. Most DLC codes though come with expiration dates, because game companies usually don't want to be on the line for keeping some service open indefinitely in the future. This is the first time I've ever seen an expiration date though like this one, where it expires in "12/31/2799" 😂
 
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