Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy aims to attract both old and new players, says producer Kenichi Hashimoto

The Ace Attorney franchise — the visual novel legal drama adventure game developed by Capcom — is set to make its big return on 25 January 2024 with the release of the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy compilation on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

While it's not exactly a new entry to the series, the compilation features the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney game and its two sequels, Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, overhauled with high-resolution visuals, character voice-overs, and tons of other new content.

Producer Kenichi Hashimoto told Yahoo Gaming SEA in an interview at gamescom asia 2023 that the new Apollo Justice Trilogy is aimed at bringing back old fans of the series as well as welcoming new ones.

"For new fans who are going to play the Apollo Justice Trilogy, obviously we would like for them to experience the new graphics and these old titles on the newer platforms. As for the older fans of the franchise, obviously we would like them to compare how the games have improved from the originals," said Hashimoto.

The Ace Attorney series was a bit of an unexpected hit outside of Japan when it first started in 2001 and through most of the decade, introducing many players to the visual novel format that was familiar to Japanese audiences but fairly novel (pun intended) to those outside of the country.

The series' courtroom setting certainly helped in that regard, immersing players in the drama of solving cases alongside a colourful cast of characters. It had a very recognisable flair to it too, with expressive characters that help to immerse players into stories that turn what should be boring courtroom affairs into gripping narratives with a welcome side of wacky hijinks.

I find myself returning to playing Ace Attorney games every now and then, even over two decades after the first game released.

While the earlier entries are certainly dated when compared to modern titles, the 8-bit dialogue sounds, the flip-flop between serious drama and light-hearted shenanigans, and iconic shouts of "OBJECTION!" and "HOLD IT!" are timeless.

It's why I'm excited for the Apollo Justice Trilogy.

I've sadly been unable to replay the games in the compilation after my 3DS gave up on me, and to see them return with better graphics and other improvements on modern platforms is certainly welcome news.

Hashimoto said that "basically everything in the game is looking better", including small details like the icons for court records were done in high resolution to give it that current-gen feel. But the producer also noted that everything still retains the same spirit that the series always had.

Part of why they did that is to make Apollo Justice worth the wait for longtime fans of the series, who have been anticipating a new mainline entry after the release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Spirit of Justice for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016.

Even if Apollo Justice will largely be the same game ported over to modern platforms, Hashimoto assured that it will be a refreshing return to the trilogy for existing fans and a welcoming entry point for new ones.

"The staff have known that fans have been waiting for this game for a very long time. So they were wondering how to create the game not only by actually putting it to the newer platform but also adding something new," said Hashimoto.

"That's why we were thinking about how to improve it, especially by adding high resolution graphics and voice overs, so that players can better enjoy the trilogy."

Aside from updated visuals, Hashimoto also said that one of their aims with Apollo Justice is to reaffirm that it is a series carried by its characters. While the series does have a courtroom setting, its aim is not to immerse players in the mundanities of law and order.

Rather, it's to show how human beings like ourselves live our lives in and around it — even if the characters doing that for us may seem too wacky at times to be considered as how real people act like. But if you look at the times we live in now, I feel like even Ace Attorney characters can seem tame.

"To put it plainly, even though the Ace Attorney series is involved with law itself, it doesn't really strictly need to be so in touch with law. It just basically has it as one of the settings for it. Basically, the game wants players to experience different settings for different characters, and see how interesting solving mysteries can be," said Hashimoto.

Localising for the English language

This brings me to what I think is one of the best things about the Ace Attorney series: its localisation.

As a Japanese series, Ace Attorney is chock full of real-life references and idiosyncrasies that are unique to Japan that will often fly over the heads of audiences from other countries.

To prevent confusion and improve immersion, the developers made an effort to localise the game's content to appeal to the different cultures that would be using each language dub.

While the characters largely remain as they are, their names as well as little tidbits of dialogue here and there help to immerse players in the game's world.

For example, the mainstay detective character is called Keisuke Itonokogiri in the original Japanese version, with his first name being a reference to the Japanese rock musician Keisuke Kuwata.

But in the game's English localisation, he is called Dick Gumshoe, both slang terms for a private detective. 'Gumshoe' is often used to refer to inexperienced private detectives too, a nod to the character's rather incompetent way of handling cases despite his well-meaning personality.

Hashimoto called these seemingly minor yet very important changes "culturalising" the game.

"The Ace Attorney series, especially in terms of localisation, has come to its current form almost 20 years ago since the very first entry in the series. At the time, the internet wasn't really as powerful as it is now and when the developers were working on localisation, they came to realise if you just translate in Japanese various terms and questions as they are for American and European players, they wouldn't really understand much of it," Hashimoto explained.

"That's why the current theme or way of localising Ace Attorney has come to its current form. Not only localising it but culturalising it so that players from different language families can understand various questions and tricks inside the game and enjoy it."

Hashimoto says it's a bit of a service to the game's players too, who have shown a keen eye for details in the game that even surprised some of the developers.

Whether it's something Ace Attorney players are naturally inclined to do or something they developer over the course of playing the series, the developers seem quite proud of small yet impactful things that really resonate with the players.

"Ace Attorney staff constantly check on different feedback from fans and [I recall] that the planner for the current Apollo Justice Trilogy noticed that fans of the Spirit of Justice have noticed very small details about how the time span works in the game," Hashimoto recounted.

"They noticed that the feedback from the fans was quite interesting in terms of that such small and slightly insignificant things can impact majorly how fans experience the game. So they were quite thrilled about fans noticing those different things they put inside the game."

All these things that make Ace Attorney the beloved game that it is will be something Hashimoto and his colleagues hope to bring to the forefront with the upcoming Apollo Justice Trilogy — both for longtime fans and newcomers to the series.

"The game itself is made in a way that it will not feel as if it's out of time or very old, so it will be quite appealing for both new players and old fans of the series. We would like all fans, either old or new, to enjoy our current game," said Hashimoto.

The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy compilation will be released on 25 January 2024 on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more information on the upcoming title, you can check out the official page here.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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