Another Tokyo Game Show has come and gone, and left in its wake news about the future of Ace Attorney - most of it focused on Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney.
I don't care about the details, just give me the media!
As you wish. The game had a new piece of art (above), screens (below), and a trailer, which you can either see at the official site, or subbed on YouTube.
Spoiler: Screenshots
So what got revealed?
We were given a first look at the game's gameplay, as well as two characters: Mahoney, the defendant in the witch trial (who appeared nameless in the original trailer) and Jiiken Baanroddo, a knight of Labyrinth City who acts as the prosecutor in Mahoney's case. Gameplay seems similar to a typical court scene in the Ace Attorney games, with Wright cross-examining witnesses - with a twist. The game now features a "Mob Judgment" system, where Phoenix cross-examines a number of witnesses at once, who may stop and confer amongst themselves. Further, Phoenix and Maya will be voice-acted by their actor and actress from the upcoming live-action movie.
Hey, where's Professor Layton in all this?
Good question! He and Luke are shown in the courtroom, though not behind the prosecutor's bench as they were in the original trailer - in fact, the game shows Layton and Phoenix paired up behind the defense's bench, giving it their best "Objection!" Further, near the end of the new trailer above, Layton-esque gameplay sequences can be seen in the montage, such as a "magnifying glass" investigation (which debuted in Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle), and Layton giving his famous "puzzle solved" finger point. However, we don't know much more about his role, which leads us to
When are we going to hear more info?
That would be October 15th, at Level-5 World. Layton vs. Ace Attorney will be shown off there, and presumably Layton's side of the game will get a little more focus.
So when does the game come out?
We were given a vague "2012" date for Japan, which means you probably shouldn't expect to see it until the middle of next year at the earliest. As for America, no official localization was announced - however, GamesRadar received a press release hinting at a localization by way of noting that "English names are TBD" for the game's new characters.
Was there any Ace Attorney news besides Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney?
No Gyakuten Saiban 5 announcement, if that's what you mean; that 2ch rumor turned out to be false. However, Capcom did announce a "10th Anniversary Court" event, the details of which will be revealed on October 12th (the date of the 10th anniversary) on the official Gyakuten Saiban homepage.
Special thanks to JapaneseGIRL, who continues to be amazing in keeping on top of (and keeping us up to date on) news about the series.
