Top 5 Ace Attorney Announcements I’d Love to See

It’s been a while since we’ve had any Ace Attorney announcements, despite me checking for news every time I see it’s trending on Twitter.

It’s been long enough that when the official Facebook and Twitter accounts changed their profile picture, I clung to it as a hint of upcoming news.

Since the release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles in July 2021 (which itself came after a long drought of Ace Attorney news), all we’ve had in the way of new Ace Attorney releases is an Apollo Justice trademark that still hasn’t come to anything and the replacement of the buggy Phoenix Wright Trilogy mobile port with the better version every other platform already had.

So as far as actual game news goes… we have nothing. And I keep hoping.

But what sort of Ace Attorney announcements am I hoping to see?

Any announcements, I would say… except not another version of the trilogy; the trilogy is so widely-available now that it’s the last thing we need.

So here are the top 5 Ace Attorney announcements I’m hoping for the most.

5. Ace Attorney 4-6 Collection

For newcomers to Ace Attorney, the second half of the main series presents a problem. The Phoenix Wright Trilogy has been ported to all modern platforms, so you have your choice of where to play it.

But the fourth game, Apollo Justice, is available on DS, 3DS, and mobile. Nothing besides those. The fifth and sixth games, Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, are only available on 3DS and mobile. What makes this worse is that the 3DS games never got physical releases, so once the 3DS eShop shuts down in March, it’ll be the mobile ports or nothing for the last two main series entries.

So it’s high time we got ports or remasters of those remaining three games, preferably as another collection to go alongside the Phoenix Wright Trilogy. What would they call it? Ace Attorney: The Second Trilogy? The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2? The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, ignoring the fact that his name is only in one of the three titles? Since games 4-6 aren’t a cohesive trilogy, naming such a collection might be the trickiest part. All the same, a collection like that is one of the announcements I’m hoping to see.

4. Ace Attorney Investigations Collection

You know, at least Apollo Justice got ported to the 3DS. The same can’t be said for Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, the spin-off available only on the DS and mobile. And then there’s its sequel, the never-localized Gyakuten Kenji 2, which is one of the best in the series according to people who have actually gotten to play it.

After campaigning for its localization for years, I more or less gave up hope until the release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. If those two spin-offs can be bundled together for a new release (and localized), why can’t we have an Ace Attorney Investigations duology bundle?

Apparently the orchestra concert last year contained a large number of Gyakuten Kenji 2 songs, which I’m clinging to as a sign. Maybe this time, Investigations 2 will finally come to the West.

3. The Great Ace Attorney 3

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a perfect duology. It’s a wonderful story with everything neatly wrapped up at the end, with only the slightest of hints that maybe a sequel could be made. Part of me wants to say that we should just let it end there, lest a sequel ruin the conclusion.

…But partway through Chronicles, I realized I wanted to stay with its characters forever. I didn’t even want another main series title at that point, because I’d grown so attached to the Great Ace Attorney cast. So I’d be nervous about it being done well, but I’d really love a Great Ace Attorney 3.

2. Ace Attorney 7

My fervor for The Great Ace Attorney has cooled since then just the slightest amount, enough for me to accept that getting a new mainline entry is probably more exciting after all. We’ve been expecting Ace Attorney 7 since the rumors in 2017. For that matter, the data breach that first leaked Chronicles also listed Ace Attorney 7 for a Q3 2021 release, which it obviously missed.

The truly pessimistic fans believe it’s been cancelled, but I’m sure we’ll see Ace Attorney 7 eventually. But when? And what will it be like? Yamazaki, who directed the Investigations game as well as Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, left Capcom in 2020, so we could even have someone new at the helm.

Will it be another “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – some new subtitle” entry? Or perhaps an “Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney”? Another game starring Apollo?

Let’s just hope we get Ace Attorney 7 news sooner rather than later… this year, perhaps?

1. Great Ace Attorney Investigations

Finally, the Ace Attorney game I actually want the most is probably the least likely of all the ideas on this list. Edgeworth got his Ace Attorney Investigations spin-offs, and now I want another prosecutor-led game set in the Great Ace Attorney era. That’s about all I can say without Great Ace Attorney spoilers, except that I think there’s enough room for further development and character arcs there that it could be an amazing game!

(I actually went into more detail about what I want behind a spoiler tag in my Great Ace Attorney 2 review.)

It would star all my favorite characters. I want it. I need it. I’ll be terrified about whether or not it could live up to the duology, but I still want it with all my heart.

Conclusion

I’m sure there are plenty of other Ace Attorney games fans might hope for. A port of the Professor Layton crossover? Another crossover? A game starring Sholmes? Something entirely new with a new protagonist? I’m on board for any and all new Ace Attorney content, but these are the five announcements I’d most love to see.

What Ace Attorney games do you hope will exist in the future?

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