Hello again to long-time Ace Attorney fans, and nice to meet you to new folk who have just joined us on our outrageous legal adventure! I’m Janet Hsu, localization director of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice.

Is everyone having a great 10th anniversary year of Ace Attorney?! It’s hard to believe that the first game was released almost 11 years ago now in the west, but here we are! In fact, we’ve actually caught up to the events of the first game’s timeline – *gasp* the future is now!

Is anyone replaying the games in real time? If so, then you know there’s a nice gap right between episodes 2 and 3 of the first game to slot in a playthrough of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, which is coming out on September 8th! I, for one, am looking forward to non-stop Ace Attorney fun through the end of the year.

Speaking of Spirit of Justice, well, I’m sure you can guess why I’m back blogging on Capcom Unity. Yup, it’s time for dev and loc blogs once again! So now, without further ado, I bring you the first in a number of installments in which we’ll explore the various facets of how we, the development team and the localization team, created a little game called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice.

At the heart of every Ace Attorney are the strong stories and characters that keep you playing until you’ve gathered every piece of evidence and unraveled every mystery. So naturally, the director Mr. Yamazaki and one of our writers, Mr. Fukuda, would have the best insight into how the story of each episode and the game as a whole was put together. So, take it away, Mr. Yamazaki!

The Theme of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

Hello and hap'piraki everyone! This is the director of Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice, Takeshi Yamazaki. (Hap’piraki is a standard Khura’inese greeting.) I’m here today to talk a little about the main theme of this game.

When work started on AA: SoJ, my very first order of business was to decide on a theme, because we certainly wouldn’t have gotten very far without one. The theme of the previous game, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, was the destruction of the court. Based on this key concept, we wrote about the dark age of the law, the literal bombing of a courthouse, and even a prosecutor who was also a convicted felon. Thanks to all of these impactful elements, the then-newest mainline entry was able to captivate people anew after a long, seven-year hiatus for the series.

And then, it came time to make its sequel – this game.

Like any long-running series, Ace Attorney lives or dies by each game’s ability to go beyond its predecessor. The same is true for the themes of each game. This meant that the core concept for AA:SoJ had to be even more impressive than the destruction of the legal system itself! Like Apollo and his Chords of Steel exercises, I found myself yelling, “HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO PULL THIS OFF?!” at the top of my lungs as I sat there at my desk, trying to come up as many ideas as I could to overcome this giant wall in front of me.

“The birth of a court system!” “The evolution of a court system!” “The incineration of a court system!” “An ancient court!” “An underwater court!” “A space court!”

No, no, no! What I needed was a catchier, more impactful key concept – something no one had ever done before. I was lamenting to myself with my head in my hands when Mr. Eshiro, the producer, came over to me with a giant grin on his face.

A new one appeared!

Journey to the West: The Search for the Kingdom of Khura’in

Don't know if these are going to be separate news stories on C-R every time one pops up, but I figured I'd post it here if anyone hadn't seen it.