Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy Might Get a Physical Release in North America After All

 Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Nov 242023
 

I’ve been pretty excited for the upcoming release of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, but the one disappointing fact was that it seemed to be digital-only in the west again.

However, that might not be completely true anymore.

Yesterday, listings started going live at Canadian retailers for a physical ESRB copy of the Apollo Justice Trilogy for the Switch. VGP even confirmed it and said anyone who preordered the import with them and wants to change to the North American version should get in touch.

So it seems the North American Switch version, at least, will be available as a physical copy. (Amazon Canada listed it as the “Pollo Justice Trilogy”, which is questionable, but everything else seems legitimate.) Other retailers haven’t followed suit yet, but yesterday being Thanksgiving might have something to do with that.

I’m excited about this for several reasons. First, I just like having physical copies of my games. I’m one of those people who preordered the import already since it seemed like it would be digital-only here. Second, since Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice were digital-only 3DS releases, this will be the first time those games are getting a physical release in North America! And third, this bodes well for how Capcom views the series.

I mentioned earlier this year that Ace Attorney’s future looks brighter than ever (or at least brighter than it has been in over a decade). The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles getting a localization and a physical Switch release in North America felt like Capcom had faith in the series, faith rewarded by its excellent sales. The Apollo Justice Trilogy being made at all was already another promising sign, and if it’s getting a physical release in North America, that really suggests Capcom believes it will sell enough to be worth it.

(Though apparently they don’t have that same faith in European and PS4 players, let alone Xbox players.)

This is exciting! I’m more convinced than ever that Capcom will follow through with more Ace Attorney games, such as our long-awaited Ace Attorney 7. In the meantime, I’ll be trying to switch my import preorder to an ESRB copy and keeping an eye on other retailers to see if they’ll list the Apollo Justice Trilogy as well.

Will you be buying a physical release of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy?

The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy Sounds Like a Great Collection!

 Video Games  8 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Sep 252023
 

I mentioned it briefly on Friday, but now let’s discuss it in more detail. During Capcom’s TGS showcase, the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy received a January 25 release day.

I almost joked about the possibility in my post about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth coming out on January 26, right ahead of Granblue Fantasy Relink and Persona 3 Reload, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth a month later. I almost joked that the Apollo Justice Trilogy’s “early 2024” window would also mean that time frame.

But I didn’t joke about it, because I thought it would be too unlikely. I figured it would be more of an April sort of “early.”

I tuned in to Capcom’s TGS 2023 show not expecting too much and hoping for a release date. Well, not only is the Apollo Justice Trilogy coming out on January 25, but it also looks to be a fantastic collection.

Worried about the DLC cases? They’re included! (Not Asinine Attorney, though; since that wasn’t even in the mobile port, it’s probably lost to time just like The Great Ace Attorney 2’s similar comedy-focused DLC cases.) Wondering if they’d include the Spirit of Justice prologue anime? It’s part of the Art Library! The Orchestra Hall contains 175 tracks! It has the quality-of-life features The Great Ace Attorney got, like dialogue autoplay and Story Mode. And there’s even a new “Animation Studio” feature that lets you choose a background, character, animation, etc. to create your own scene.

It was more exciting than I expected for a trailer about games I’ve already played.

The official website includes details about all of these things and more.

Now, I can’t help it. When I saw that January release date, my thoughts started churning. What if they’re releasing the Apollo Justice Trilogy so early in the year to clear the way for an Ace Attorney 7 announcement later on?

Then I saw someone online suggest that the new illustration unlocked after completing the whole collection could tease Ace Attorney 7. Apparently Capcom did something similar in a Mega Man collection to hint at Mega Man 11. It’s probably not going to be that, but now I can’t let go of the idea. A piece of art unlocked as you beat each game is logical enough, but also an additional one unlocked after you beat all three? That would be a prime spot to include a sequel tease.

So yes, the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is coming out on January 25, right on top of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and I’m now tempted to replay all of them just in case.

Digital preorders have yet to open up despite there being a spot on the website for them, but Play-Asia listed a physical import for $60 while VGP listed it at $70. Since Play-Asia listed Ghost Trick at $60 before lowering it once the official price came out, it’s quite likely that the same thing will happen here, since it appears the physical edition in Japan is going for closer to $45. Right now, we just have to wait and see. (Edit: Play-Asia has now revised the price down to $42, and VGP to $52.)

What do you think about the new features and bonuses revealed for the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy? Do you think there’s a chance it will tease Ace Attorney 7?

Why is Ace Attorney 7 Taking So Long?

 Video Games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Aug 282023
 

If you’ve seen my recent Ace Attorney posts, you know I’m very optimistic about Ace Attorney’s future.

To me, Ace Attorney 7 is a matter of when, not if.

For that matter, I even think we have a chance of seeing an Investigations Duology collection, especially given the recent attention it’s received.

But optimism still leaves us with one big question: where is Ace Attorney 7?

The seventh mainline game has been rumored since 2017, and here we are six years later still waiting for a shred of actual news. As I mentioned in my post about Ace Attorney’s future, the data breach leaks that revealed The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and tentative plans for the Apollo Justice Trilogy also said Ace Attorney 7 was in development.

According to that roadmap, Great Ace Attorney staff would be shifted to the in-development Ace Attorney 7 after finishing work on Chronicles, with Chronicles planned for Q1 2021 release followed by a projected Ace Attorney 7 release in Q3 2021. Chronicles released later than its projected window, but Ace Attorney 7 has come nowhere close. This has led to a lot of speculation about what exactly happened to it, and I think there are three main possibilities.

Possibility #1: The delay is strategic

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles game out at the end of July 2021 and blew past sales expectations. With Chronicles selling so well, the last thing they’d want to do is release another Ace Attorney game too soon and risk cannibalizing sales – and it might have spurred them to release a collection of games 4-6 before Ace Attorney 7 after all.

Chronicles came out in mid 2021, and then they used Ace Attorney’s success to boost marketing of the Ghost Trick remaster in mid 2023, while preparing the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy for early 2024.

If this possibility is correct, it would mean that Ace Attorney 7 is going well or even finished, but the announcement was withheld to space out releases and bridge the gap for new fans by releasing the Apollo Justice Trilogy first. We’d probably get an announcement later in 2024 or the next year in that case.

Possibility #2: It was cancelled

The worst possibility, of course, is that Ace Attorney 7 was cancelled. Many fans seem to subscribe to this theory, believing the pandemic, Yamazaki’s departure from Capcom in 2020, or general development troubles led to Ace Attorney 7 being scrapped completely.

Obviously, since I’m an Ace Attorney optimist, I don’t believe this – or at the very least, I believe Capcom would un-cancel it after seeing the success of Chronicles. It is a possibility worth keeping in mind, though, because that would account for such a big delay. In this scenario, the Apollo Justice Trilogy could be seen as either a way to fill the gap while restarting development or an alternative release.

Let’s hope it wasn’t cancelled, though.

Possibility #3: It was rebooted or revamped

While this might sound very close to the previous possibility, this is actually the one I think is the most optimistic: the possibility that the in-development Ace Attorney 7 was playing it safe, but the success of Chronicles convinced them to overhaul the project to make it a more ambitious game.

For example, they could have seen how the two Great Ace Attorney games telling a single story allowed for its story and world to be built up so well and decided to give Ace Attorney 7 more than the usual 5 cases. Or they could have realized Ace Attorney doesn’t need Phoenix as the lead character to be a success (the recent poll focusing on the Ace Attorney characters with their own games fits in with that) and retooled Ace Attorney 7 to have a different lead.

This possibility would mean Ace Attorney 7 is potentially still a ways off, with the Apollo Justice Trilogy filling the gap in the meantime, but it could be the best-case scenario. I’d like to see what they could do if they were willing to take some risks.

Conclusion

Right now, there’s no way of knowing what the current status of Ace Attorney 7 is, but I think these are the most likely possibilities. What do you think happened to Ace Attorney 7?

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