Ace Attorney 7 is still only a dream, but I’m optimistic.

Between Ace Attorney’s recent success, the full series (except for the crossover) being available on modern platforms, and Capcom’s assurance that the series will continue, I think we’ll see a new entry sooner rather than later.

In fact, with the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection coming out in September instead of being spaced farther out from the Apollo Justice Trilogy, I’ve still got hopes for a Tokyo Game Show Announcement.

Now, as much as I’d be even happier with a new Great Ace Attorney, it’s probably best for the series if we get a new mainline game first. So with that in mind, here are my top 5 hopes for Ace Attorney 7.

(Note: I will touch on Spirit of Justice ending spoilers in points #3 and #4, so skip those ones if you haven’t played Spirit of Justice yet.)

5. More than 5 cases

Ace Attorney has had a pretty standard structure since the beginning. Every game has either 4 or 5 cases, with 5 being more common now. But The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles bundling together two games with a single overarching story made me realize how great (no pun intended) an Ace Attorney game with more than 5 cases would be. Having room to carefully set up its world and characters is one of the things that makes the story in The Great Ace Attorney work so well, so I’d love to see them do that again in a single game.

Of course, I’d still be happy with a 5-case Ace Attorney game. Actually, even a 4-case game would be fine.

More than anything, I don’t want them to feel so constrained by the 5-case structure. The last few Ace Attorney games have felt like they were forced to have 5 cases when they should have had 4 or 6, so I want the next game to have as many cases as it needs for its story, whether that’s more or less.

4. Let Phoenix step into the background

Phoenix Wright has been the main protagonist for most of the main series. Even two of the three games in the “Apollo Justice Trilogy” are Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney titles. For a long time, it was assumed that Capcom believed the series wouldn’t sell without Phoenix Wright in the title, but it looks like that has finally changed.

Therefore, I’d like to see Phoenix step back into more of a mentor role, with either Athena or a new protagonist taking the lead.

Back when Spirit of Justice was fresh and we all assumed Ace Attorney 7 was right around the corner, I remember speculating about how they would handle Apollo. Rather than split the whole game across two countries again, I’d like to see the main story focus on the home office, with a filler or DLC case to show us how Apollo is doing in Khura’in.

Speaking of Khura’in, part of the reason it exists is because they’d run out of threats for Phoenix to believably be challenged by at home, which is another reason to let him step out of the spotlight. That brings me to my next wish…

3. Lower-stakes story

As Ace Attorney has moved toward more focused overarching plots, the scope has crept up as well. Overcoming corrupt officials is one thing, but how about widespread conspiracies and threats from enemy nations? They seemed to feel a need to make the stakes higher in each new game, which culminated in Spirit of Justice where we helped a revolution overthrow a tyrannical queen (and the head revolutionary was a defense attorney, going up against a government that specifically hates defense attorneys, for maximum stakes).

We can’t get any higher than this without it feeling ridiculous. Even Spirit of Justice was pushing it. We don’t need Ace Attorney 7 to try to top the scope of overthrowing a tyrant.

So I hope Ace Attorney 7 scales it back. The emotional stakes are highest when they’re personal, when it’s something that will affect characters we care about regardless of the impact on the world at large. That’s what I’d like to see in the next game.

2. Normal Ace Attorney gameplay

This one feels too obvious to be this high on the list, but you don’t know how many times I’ve seen people hoping the next Ace Attorney game fundamentally changes the structure or gameplay. Being able to choose which protagonist to play as, timed investigations, multiple outcomes to each case with branching story paths, an episodic release structure with a new case every few months… There are a lot of ideas out there that could be fun in another game, but wouldn’t feel like Ace Attorney.

So it’s my greatest hope that Ace Attorney 7 is still an Ace Attorney game at its core. A new gimmick mechanic here or there is fine, as long as the core progression stays the same.

In fact, I want that more than any of these other things. They could have a game starring Phoenix Wright with 4 cases stretched into 5 as he defends clients in Galactic Court (Phoenix Wright: SPACE ATTORNEY!) to save the world from being destroyed and I’d probably still like that better than if they fundamentally changed the core gameplay too much.

(While I’m at it, I hope they never return to the streamlined investigations from Dual Destinies. Let me freely investigate every area for funny dialogue, please.)

1. It to exist

Please just announce a new Ace Attorney game, Capcom. Please.

…

…You know, I kind of want Phoenix Wright: Space Attorney as a spin-off now. But let’s get a real Ace Attorney 7 out there first.

Anyway, if and when Capcom finally announces Ace Attorney 7, what are your hopes for it?