After debating about the lack of necessity for a new Phoenix Wright game, I started to notice how the art style was similar to Dual Destinies and that the interface is almost exactly the same as the game I just mentioned.

It's not much evidence to go on, obviously, but I'm under the impression that they're going to release these games as if they're a new trilogy like the original trilogy, which did not change its interface and kept the same art style and character.

I'm pretty sure the change of art style and interface in DD was just due to the change of console, and they'll keep the same interface for all the 3DS games. After all, they did change the interface of the original trilogy when it was ported from the GBA to the DS.

I agree.

I've been thinking about this too, more in terms of this game's relation to Apollo Justice.

My long standing belief when DD came out was that they were treating AJ as a "transitional" game and that - if they were going to stick to the trilogy concept - that they would think of DD as part one of a DD trilogy rather than part 2 or an AJ trilogy.

After hearing and looking at GS6, though, I've been wondering about this.

Right now, I'm thinking that there are three possible options how they could go.

1) The new team is not making a trilogy - each game is stand alone and has its own ending, even if there are times in future games where events or characters that come back.
2) They are making a trilogy and are thinking of DD as the first one, followed by GS6 which will be a middle chapter then GS7 which will be the finale for this arc.
3) They are making a trilogy and are counting AJ as the first part, while they made DD the second part - GS6 will end this arc.

The first choice I almost think is the most likely. While we think of the OT as a trilogy, looking at the first two games they are actually really stand-alone titles. AA1 is totally self-contained, and the only "cliffhanger" in JFA is Morgan's quest for vengeance, which is big and we do see her talking about it but really that could also have been showing that she hadn't given up on her plans yet. Other than that scene the only thing is the little bit with Von Karma and Maya's drawing which isn't ever brought up again. I do think that by the second game Capcom wanted another one after JFA, but I also think it's not as much of a deliberate trilogy as we sometimes make it out to be.

I think this format was used by the DD team on GK1 and 2 (although 2 is kind of weird in that it kind of end's Edgeworth's arc - he resolves his relationship with Gumshoe, becomes assured in his job and then we pretty much see that Edgeworth in DD, so I don't think a GK3 would bring in a bunch of dramatic twists about his character. DD ended very much with a complete finale, so I'm honestly kind of expecting the games to drop the trilogy idea and just be made like the next season of a TV show. This makes more sense too as Capcom seem to like yearly AA releases in Japan.

The second choice is also quite likely. DD really felt like AA1 in that a lot of the story was focused on Athena, the newcomer, and as a result of that the audience was reintroduced to the AA world and the returning characters in a new way. There definitely was carry-over from AJ, but it did drop anything that was unnecessary for this story. If T&T had followed the DD route, then they probably wouldn't have touched upon Misty Fey at all and just left it up in the air. If this is the case, we'll hear more about Simon and Athena and maybe even things like the country behind the UR-1 incident or side characters from DD returning in different ways (like Adrian Andrews in T&T) but I don't think there will be anything about the Jurist System or Trucy and Apollo's relation ever again (some could argue that these minor things don't matter, and I agree to a certain extant (although the jurist system disappearance still bugs me) but I do feel they should at least touch upon it). In this case I'd expect an ending either similar to DD or even a little more open-ended or mysterious, although an ending like that would worry the "the next one won't get localized" fear in my brain.

The third choice I see as being the least likely, although I'd almost like it the most. It seems really unlikely based on DD, but on the other hand the DD team seems to be taking note of fan's reaction in regards to DD's difficulty and Apollo's importance, so that makes me think it might be more likely. The early emphasis on Apollo as well as his comment about going against "that person" makes me think that his story might be part of the heart of this story (something they already did with DD to a certain extant). I could see them bringing back Lamiroir or even Kristoph and trying to wrap up those things (once again, not saying I think those things actually have to be wrapped up, but I've heard fans talking about them a lot and I agree to a certain extant). This would give the game closure but would also enable the next game to continue to use these characters in a less "tied to the case" role, like Phoenix was in DD. Perhaps after Apollo gets his "end" then athena would become the main playable character. Closure would also ensure that if GS7 didn't get localized fans would at least feel satisfied. From what I've heard DGS is definitely setting up a trilogy and it would be terrible if we had gotten that one but not the other ones. So having it be standalone or this trilogy's finale feels like a better option. Once again, though, it seems like this really wouldn't happen.

Overall, I feel like I'm expecting mostly a stand alone game with some returning characters and maybe hopefully a little bit of minor wrap up in regards to AJ.

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Personally I'm guessing that they're not planning a specific trilogy. Because otherwise I'd wonder why they'd order DD and GS6 this way:

Assuming that Athena's not a playable character in the main part* of GS6 (based on the fact that they haven't mentioned her, and the story is already split between two locations), then from AJ to GS6 we've gone from

Apollo( with slight Phoenix)> Phoenix/ Apollo/ Athena > Phoenix/ Apollo

when you'd think that a more logical structure would be to gradually increase the number of playable characters with each installment:

Apollo > Phoenix/ Apollo > Phoenix/ Apollo/ Athena.

Especially if they had some kind of overarching plan for DD- GS7.

Of course, it's possible that Athena will be playable, and they're just saving that announcement for later. But at the moment I'm still not sure that they have a specific plan for the 3DS games. It's possible that DD was a way of testing the waters, and they'll use the next game to start a new trilogy or something.

*I wouldn't rule out DLC.

Looking back, I don't want to start reading into things more than I should, but in light of the recent updates its brought me back to wondering about this.

As we can see in the photo Trucy is doing some kind of magic show, and she has a Troupe Gramarye poster up which not only includes Thalassa but the mysterious green magician. If it wasn't going to play into the story at all I'd think that they wouldn't randomly put a new character in there. So that makes me start to wonder if they're going more into some of the leftover stuff from AJ (possibly Apollo's father?).

Again, we probably shouldn't be reading too much into it, but its there for a reason. It makes me think they might be going along the route of a trilogy or tetralogy with later games solving some of the series' mysteries. But I still don't think this team will ever put out a "finale" game equivalent to T&T. Capcom wants these things cranked out for the foreseeable future, so I'd imagine anything that happens in this game won't put our heroes in a position where they won't come back "normal" for GS7,8,9,etc.

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I'm a bit concerned about that move, actually. Nothing against the Gramarye line, but I couldn't see anything so important to tag along from AJ. If the green magician in the old poster is indeed Apollo's dad, that'd make a nice cameo, and probably tie in with Trucy's latest masked partner in green, but that's about it at the moment.

I don't see how they're going to manage to tie the Gramaryes into some overarching plot with Kurain, since the two plots are so disjointed from one another that it'd feel like only a crack theory could tie them together.

Most likely is the case that Phoenix's mission in Kurain and Nayuta's mission in Japan are going to make up the bulk of this game's story. How Maya and her Kurain tie into it will remain to be seen, but I'm pretty sure she'll be more than a cameo this time.

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It turns out the Kurain and the Gramayres have an ancient blood feud. Maya prepares her clan for war while Trucy and Thalassa stand with a legion of magicians from across the globe.

Thalassa demands that Nick tells Apollo of his birthright as his is the power needed to turn the tide in the war. At the same time Maya beseeches Nick to join her side for old times sake and because she wants to protect him.

Apollo is just confused as to what the hell is going on and tries to go to court as normal.

Eventually the Kurain discover the truth about Apollo and attempt to kill him. Athena dies as Pearls kills her in a berserker rage while channeling an ancient Persian warrior.

Then this is the turning point for Nick and he has to make his decision.



To be continued....

Phoenix Weight Ace Attorney: The Weight of Justice.

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Thank you, Pierre.


Aw, come on. You just spoiled the plot for GS6 for everyone. :(


Where everyone is rotund and speaks in a rotund way? Sounds like a game just right for Grossberg.

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Capcom is going to sell this Fire Emblem: Fates style, right?

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I thought that AJ was going to be the start of a new arc, considering that it doesn't end with a lot of closure.

DD and AA1 are both self-contained, DD more so than AA1. They could expand upon the country behind the Phantom and Athena, but what I'm really hoping for is that AJ's loose ends are tied up. DD didn't bother addressing them.
I suspect DD not being a plot sequel to AJ is due to Takumi not writing DD. I wonder what he had in mind for Apollo and co. after AJ.

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I think it's possible that GS6 might focus both on the Gramaryes and whatever overarching story the Kingdom of Kurain might unfold. And if not, then if a GS7 happens, then most probably GS6 might be the newer Justice for All in the sense that it was self-contained, but introduced precedents that would be utilized on a possible sequel. I can imagine GS6's ending settling whatever story the Kingdom of Kurain started and revealing that the green magician is probably Apollo's father, seeing as how that same man is featured in a poster with the original Gramaryes: Magnifi, Zak, Valant and Thalassa. And we all know that Apollo's father starred in some of the shows.

That reminds me of the theories that flew around one time suggesting that Gant and Apollo were father and son xDD

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I am now more convinced that they might be answering questions related to Apollo's father after just replaying AJ again; they definitely mention that Apollo's dad performed with them but took off (they may have even said after some incident, but I don't remember if they said that or not). Either way, they wouldn't add someone random to the poster if it was just set decoration, so whether it's Apollo's dad or some random person I have a feeling we're going to know who that guy is.

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And seeing as how Yamazaki has less responsibilities on the project, he can fully focus on the writing, meaning whatever is delivered will be satisfying and wrapped-up nicely. I have optimistic expectations with GS6. I feel it'll be what AAI2 is to AAI: an honest improvement.

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Yeah I actually think Yamazaki is perfect for this because he likes a lot of background complicated pasts to the characters and crimes and this sets up for something like that. I know some might be concerned about the Yamazaki team wrapping up a plot line started by the Takumi team but I think its obvious Takumi didn't feel any more need to "wrap" anything up after AJ (or add any more to the AJ universe in general or else he would have made GS5 long before Yamazaki did. I'd rather have a new writer who is interested in the subject finish the story than the original writer who doesn't particularly have a strong desire to finish it bite the bullet and try to get back interested. I think Takumi is (justifiably) bored of writing the same main AA story again and again and he's been experimenting ever since so I think he'd prefer the DD team handle any AJ baggage as well.

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My thoughts exactly. He's at a point in his career where he wants to just try stuff out. He did PLvPW, but didn't make a sequel, but rather did something different: Feudal Era Japan Ace Attorney. What's next? Ace Attorney in the 24th and one half century?

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DGS is (for the most part) not set in Japan, and even then: Meiji Japan is not feudal Japan. It is considered the first period in the history of modern Japan.

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I actually wouldn't mind seeing a Feudal Japan Ace Attorney game, but the problem would be regarding the status of so-called "defense attorneys". How was the legal system at the time? I don't remember what public defenders were called or how they were seen in public eye, but I do know it wasn't something nice.

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That's not really new. He's always been the kind of guy that likes trying new things rather than doing the same over and over again (that's probably why AJ was so experimental). At least that's the impression I get reading his interviews.

There were no public defenders. Magistrates acted liked chief of police, mayor and judge. Cases were brought in either by the public, or initiated by the magistrates themselves (at least, that's in the Tokugawa period. Know very little about the law system before that).

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I probably think I'm wrong...but I think that following the game order, the next game should be Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney.

We've had AJ, which to me is honestly the JFA of the series, DD, which was the original AA of this trilogy. Which leaves Spirit of Justice to be a sort of pseudo-T&T.

So if you follow the order from there, the next trilogy should start with Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney, or some new character they want to introduce.

This is probably really dumb, so please scrutinise all the problems with this post...

If anything DD was this trilogy's JFA. It introduced a returning character and prosecutor (Athena v Pearl and Blackquill v Franziska), and its plot had next to no connection to the previous game.

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T-true...uh...eh...
Yeah, I honestly think I'm just too desperate for AC:AA to be honest...

I'm open to the idea of Athena getting a game. Maybe the next might give more focus to Athena? I think the reason she's been sidelined this game was because people were mad Apollo was sidelined in DD. So I'm sure she'll have some significance in this game and the next. (She still gets DLC costumes in AA6, so she must appear frequently enough for them to be seen in-game?)

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Next to no connection? AA ended with Maya leaving, and JFA picks up with what she was doing.

In my opinion, Athena and Apollo are the future of AA. I see potential for lots of character development, but Phoenix keeps stealing the show.

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Huh weird...pretty sure Athena got plenty of screentime in the last game without Phoenix stealing the show.

I'm fine with her being put on the backbench for now.

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I mean, it's called a Phoenix Wright game even though Apollo and Athena both get more development than he does. Despite that, he's playable for much more time than the other two.

I won't object to more Phoenix if he's handled much better than he was in DD. There was potential for him to grow as a boss by that was barely addressed (only two lines went towards that).

And I'm also fine with Athena to taking a step back because her story is more complete than what Apollo got in both games. I don't see her getting her own game when Phoenix and Apollo are more popular and marketable.

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With Maya coming back I feel its fair to give this one to Phoenix otherwise I'd agree that he should settle into a Mia role and let Apollo be the name on the box.

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In terms of overarching plot, (of course Maya will be back, she's a main character XD) it ended up being some different cases unrelated to DL-6 and Edgeworth, and made its own narratives. Same with DD. It didn't continue the Kristoph/Lamiroir arcs and made its own.

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I see the point. It's not like JFA and T&T.

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Yeah, T&T actually worked really well tying in JFA's case 2 and Nick and Mia's history into a 3rd game.
If SoJ follows the original trilogy, I guess we'll get some expansion on points in DD, and some from AJ and they all tie into this new story set in Khura'in. (Like maybe this guy "Druk" was in cahoots with the Phantom? Or we get to see Lamiroir again?)

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