Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Top 5 Ace Attorney Announcements I’d Love to See

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jan 232023
 

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?

Updated List of the Top Untranslated Games I Want to See in English

 Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , ,
Sep 212022
 

It was only January 2021 when I wrote a list of the top games I wanted localized. Now, one year and eight months later, the list is already ridiculously out of date.

Two entries from the list have been wholly removed, as Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse and the Trails Crossbell arc are both on their way! Meanwhile, two others that remain on the list have to be updated to account for the games that were localized.

So let’s take a look through and update the list, once again organized by series.

5. Surge Concerto DX

Gust is releasing Atelier games at an alarming rate, but they do make non-Atelier games as well.

Once upon a time, they developed a life sim game called Surge Concerto: Ciel Nosurge, which was never released outside of Japan. It was followed by a JRPG sequel, Surge Concerto: Ar Nosurge, which did get localized.

Both are part of the larger EXA_PICO series, which began with the Ar Tonelico trilogy.

(Yeah, I just wanted to type all those titles.)

Last year, both Surge Concerto games received remasters, Ciel Nosurge DX and Ar Nosurge DX. I’d love to see the remastered titles be brought west, including the first game for the first time.

4. Sakura Wars

I still need to play 2019’s Sakura Wars entry, and I’d love to see a port or remaster of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. But did you know that there are four earlier Sakura Wars games?

The game released in the west as Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love was actually Sakura Wars 5. Four main series entries came out before it, and none of them have been localized. While I’m not as anxious to see these come west as I am for some of the games on this list, a translated remaster of the earlier games would certainly be welcome news.

3. Tales of Destiny 2, Rebirth, Innocence R

The only entry that remains wholly unchanged from the original list is the one from Tales, because the numerous unlocalized Tales games are still unlocalized with no news in sight.

So once again, I would love to see the true Tales of Destiny 2 remastered and released in the west. Maybe they could bundle it together with the Tales of Destiny remake, which was also only ever released in Japan.

Tales of Rebirth is possibly the unlocalized Tales game I’d like to see the most, and then there’s also the nearly-forgotten Tales of Innocence R.

I don’t have high hopes for Bandai Namco returning to these older titles, but I still have a lot of Tales games left to play. Maybe by the time I finish them, some new localizations will be on the horizon.

2. Ace Attorney Investigations 2

Just think, last January it was still a dream I clung to that The Great Ace Attorney and The Great Ace Attorney 2 would be localized. Now they’re out and dominate my thoughts constantly.

But the same can’t be said for Gyakuten Kenji 2, aka Ace Attorney Investigations 2, which remains unlocalized!

The localization of the Great Ace Attorney games renewed my hopes, and now I continue to wish that Capcom will revive its other spin-off duology and bring Investigations and Investigations 2 to modern platforms – with a translation for Investigations 2, of course.

There’s no sign of it happening yet, and I keep thinking about the fan translation, but I want to believe that there’s still a chance.

1. Yakuza Kenzan, Black Panther, Black Panther 2

And it was just last week that Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin got to leave the list, with its remake announced and confirmed for a worldwide release next February!

That still leaves the other historical spin-off, Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan. When we last spoke about it, RGG Studio had said Kenzan’s best chance of localization would be if it got remade. A recent interview, with the details translated by a fan on Reddit, addressed the matter of Kenzan again in the wake of Ishin’s announcement. A Kenzan remake would require a lot of work, and they would want to change some aspects of the story, especially around the ending.

Personally, I think if Like a Dragon Ishin sells well, that will increase the chances of Kenzan getting the same treatment. What once seemed impossible now feels like it’s on the table again.

Then there is Kurohyo: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsho and its sequel, popularly referred to as Yakuza: Black Panther and Yakuza: Black Panther 2. These PSP games don’t even come up in interviews, but RGG has been on fire lately, so who knows?

I still have three Yakuza games and three spin-offs to play before I run out, and that’s not counting the new games they just announced, so here’s hoping for more news by the time I’m finished.

Conclusion

I’m floored by the fact that in just over a year and a half, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, The Great Ace Attorney, The Great Ace Attorney 2, Trails from Zero, Trails to Azure, and Like a Dragon Ishin all were either localized or have upcoming localizations announced. And titles that might have made the list in their absence, like Chaos;Head, are on the way as well!

Let’s see if in a couple years’ time, we can say the same about the Tales games, Investigations 2, and the remaining Yakuza spin-offs, plus the other new entries for this list.

What as-yet-untranslated games would you most like to see in English?

Ace Attorney Mobile Trilogy to be Replaced By the Better Version

 Video games  5 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Mar 282022
 

There’s a good chance you thought the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy was the same across all its various releases, but that’s not quite true.

The mobile version in particular had several problems and was considered the worst of the available versions.

(The mobile port of the first game alone, which is actually what got me into the series and was much better, was taken down in favor of that, too.)

Anyway, Capcom announced that the mobile version of the Phoenix Wright Trilogy is being discontinued on June 9.

However, it will be replaced by a port of the Phoenix Wright Trilogy that has been released on everything else.

Save data won’t carry over, but in short, soon the mobile trilogy will match the better version available on other systems. Considering the problems the mobile version had, I’m surprised it took them this long.

The announcement has only been made for Japan so far, but I assume the same will happen globally.

Okay, so this isn’t quite the exciting Ace Attorney news we’ve been hoping to see, but anything that makes it easier for people to play the games is a good thing! I’m still holding out hope for something to come of that mysterious Apollo Justice trademark.

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