I don't think Nick is dead. Phoenix is Capcom's GS series seller. They aren't going to kill him off without properly transferring the right of being the series "mascot". Having Apollo on par with Wright as protagonist may very well be a first step into making him the series new face and give Nick some well deserved vacations/retirement.

That aside, I like the notion that Apollo could be fighting against a prosecutor inside the spiritual world but as others have stated with examples, it's possible that Apollo may end up confronting the new prosecutor in Japanifornia and what we see in the trailer was a placeholder background.

As to how the cases should be structured, there should be five case: Apollo and Phoenix each take two, while the fifth and last one could be handled by both. As to the premises of the last one, here's an idea:

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That makes me think of Maya, maybe she's been arrested for something or other?

Oh Maya, how come you get into trouble so much?....

HDWM

Yeah maya was the first thing I thought of when I saw the trailer. She hasn't appeared in the last 2 games so yeah it wouldn't shock me if Wright goes to Kurain to save maya from being at the wrong place at the wrong time again

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I liked the idea of Apollo being stuck in the spirit world but not dead... :)

We all know now that Apollo is back in Japan (California for the western releases) while Phoenix is in Kurain, which is likely what was being referred to in the trailer. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to seeing how everything comes together in the end.

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