When it comes to matters of the law in video games, no one can come quite close to the folks over at Capcom, at least in the world of Ace Attorney. Over many years, the Japanese gaming giant has given fans and players much to ponder over in the courtroom, screaming objection after objection, all in the name of true justice.
Now, we find ourselves on the precipice of reliving adventures of old in a new light, as Capcom prepares for the upcoming release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy at the start of 2024, a new dawn that will see three legendary games make it to modern platforms and welcoming new pursuers of justice to the cause.
To help us understand more of what to expect, producer Kenichi Hashimoto was called to the stand at Gamescom Asia 2023, giving his testimony in an interview with Geek Culture.
What is clear is that this upcoming compilation is a project of passion for the team, bringing not just the main games, but also all of the Special Episodes and costumes that caught the eyes of fans back in the day.
“The team has known that fans have been waiting for this game for a very long time. So they were wondering how to create the game, not only by actually putting it to the newer platforms but also adding something new and that’s how the museum function is currently present in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy,” shared Hashimoto.
“Only putting it on the newer platform would be not enough for the fans of the series. That’s why we are they were thinking about how to improve it, especially putting the higher resolution voiceovers and more.”
Furthermore, the additional features of the Orchestra Hall, Art Library, Animation Studio, and Story Mode were all tweaked and added with fans in mind, the kind of fan service we are on board with.
“You can use the Animation Studio to use the characters and set them in different settings and play around with them however you want. Also, you can also listen to the orchestra as well as visit the gallery, which includes all of the development pictures and development. Basically, everything in the game is looking better with the high-res graphics. Everything is redone and remade in a higher resolution so it will be easier for all players to enjoy it.”
That kind of attention to detail also extends to the localisation efforts of the team, with the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy packing seven different languages at launch, with hard work ensuring that nuance and delivery maintain their impact even when justice is being meted out in various languages.
Of course, if you are coming from playing the excellent Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, the level of quality is not news. In fact, Capcom is counting on fans who enjoyed that first offering to come to this new trilogy and have a ball, even if the team had to figure out a way to translate the game’s design on the Nintendo DS to work more traditionally.
“Since the Nintendo DS was split into two screens. it was quite a challenge to put all of the mini-games like dusting fingerprints or taking samples into one whole screen, so they remade the UI and how the mini-games worked,” Hashimoto said.
This was a particular sticking point to sort out, especially with the new Story Mode function in the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy. Designed as “the story mode where you can enjoy the game without doing basically anything,” figuring out “how to make mini-games solve themselves automatically was one of the difficult problems that staff faced” and after plenty of trial and error, they were satisfied it will make fans happy.
While it is always nice to see classic games get a new lease of life, it is even better when they are revitalised with new content and features that make them even better than before. Capcom’s work on this trilogy certainly falls into that category, and come this 25 January, it should be an easy case to argue that the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy will be well worth the time for followers of the franchise.
Jake is a full-time trophy hunter and achievement gatherer on consoles, and part-time Steam Sale victim. He has a thing for Batman and awesome statues, and running out of space for both. Send help.
Natalie
Edwin Teo
