| Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney | |
|---|---|
Official Japanese logo |
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| Developer(s) | Level-5 |
| Publisher(s) | Level-5 Capcom |
| Designer(s) | Shu Takumi |
| Series | Ace Attorney Professor Layton |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Adventure Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney (Japanese: レイトン教授 vs 逆転裁判 Hepburn: Reiton-kyōju vs Gyakuten Saiban, lit. "Professor Layton Vs. Turnabout Trial") is an upcoming crossover adventure puzzle video game being developed by Level-5 and Capcom and published by Capcom for the Nintendo 3DS. The game will be a crossover between the Professor Layton and Ace Attorney adventure series featuring their respective lead characters, Professor Hershel Layton and Phoenix Wright (Ryūichi Naruhodō). The game will feature scenario designs from Shu Takumi, the series director for the Ace Attorney series.[1] The game will combine the trademark puzzles and contradictions themes from Professor Layton and Ace Attorney respectively.[2]
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The game will feature a combination of gameplay elements from both the Professor Layton and Ace Attorney series. As Professor Layton, the player will face off against various puzzles whilst trying to solve the mystery of Labyrinth City. As Phoenix Wright, players will take part in 'Witch Trials' using evidence and wits to find contradictions in witness statements and prove the innocence of his client. This time however, Phoenix will often have to question multiple witnesses at a time, requiring him to find which of their statements contradict each other.[2][3] The game will feature voice acting and animated cutscenes, a staple in the Professor Layton games but a first for the Ace Attorney series.[1]
The game takes place in a different universe from the existing Professor Layton and Ace Attorney universes. Both Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright, along with their respective assistants Luke Triton and Maya Fey, find themselves in a different world from their own, where they find the strange medieval city known as Labyrinth City has been victim to a number of impossible occurrences recently. The town is allegedly home to witches who hide in the shadows, and is supposedly controlled by an evil villain known as the Story Teller. Central to the plot is a young girl named Mahone who is accused of witchcraft. As Phoenix decides to defend Mahone in a witch trial, Layton seeks to figure out the mystery behind Labyrinth City, with the two not always seeing eye to eye.[2]
The game was officially announced at the Level-5 Vision 2010 press conference on October 19, 2010.[4] The game was originally an idea that Akihiro Hino, CEO of Level-5, came up with and a project that he himself proposed to Capcom, sometime after some initial development work had been completed on the project.[3] Jun Suzuki, the producer for the Layton series, noted that Hino was a huge fan of the Ace Attorney series and even had challenged Suzuki to "produce something on par with Ace Attorney" while developing the Layton games.[3] The idea came as a surprise to Shu Takumi, series designer for the Ace Attorney series. Keiji Inafune, head of Capcom's R&D Management Group, was "80 per cent certain" that Takumi would refuse the idea.[5] However, according to Inafune, Hino was able convince Takumi to accept the idea, giving him creative control as the main scenario writer for the project.[5][6]
Inafune stated the game is a true collaboration between the two companies jointly sharing in the effort, as opposed to the licensing of characters by one company; he felt that "we wanted to create a great history, which would have been impossible if both parties were not fully involved".[5] Hino recognized that fans of both series would "want to see a showdown" between the lead characters as well as sections where the two "join hands and take on a really big challenge".[5] Both Level-5 and Capcom are contributing towards the game's development, though Capcom is specifically handing the visual design while Level-5 will publish the game.[3] The artwork style used is a mix between the detailed visuals from the Ace Attorney series and the flatter cartoons from the Layton games; the mixed style is a result of a drawn-out trial-and-error process to figure out how best to mix the two conflicting styles.[3] The game will support the 3D effects on the Nintendo 3DS console; though Level-5's developers have already worked with this feature in the release of Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles in 2011, this will be the first Ace Attorney game to support that feature. Takumi was initially hestitent of this feature, but has since come to appreciate it, realizing that the 3D visuals "[let] us present the action from different angles and really [expand] the freedom of expression we have" with the courtroom parts of the game.[3]
The game was first hinted at as a crossover between Capcom and Level-5 by Inafune, who was talking to Japanese business magazine Diamond prior to the Tokyo Game Show 2010, where he mentioned that he had great respect for Akihiro Hino, the CEO of Level-5.[7] On September 25, 2010 the game was outed on Twitter when Jiro Ishii of Level-5 accidentally tweeted to Jin Fujisawa of Square Enix, "Huh? Oh, Gyakuten XX. I'm making it, with Mr. Takumi!" in Japanese. This led to rampant speculation of a new Ace Attorney game being developed by Level-5, similar to how new Capcom games from established franchises are being developed externally, such as DmC being developed by British developer Ninja Theory.[8] The mistake was quickly covered up by Jiro Ishii who tweeted later that day that, "A misunderstanding seems to be spreading, so let me say that I'm currently working only on Time Travelers"[9] Yo Oizumi and Maki Horikita, who voiced Professor Layton and Luke in previous games will reprise their roles, whilst Phoenix and Maya will be voiced by Hiroki Narimiya and Mirei Kiritani, who are also playing their roles in the upcoming Gyakuten Saiban live action film.[10]
The game has currently only been announced for release in Japan, with Capcom currently gauging interest from the community over whether or not to localize it for other territories.[11] In July 2011, Level-5 International America Inc. conducted a Facebook poll in which fans were asked what currently Japan-only Level-5 game they had the most interest in.[12] Professor Layton Vs. Ace Attorney ultimately won the most votes, with over 6,000.[13] Although the game has yet to be officially announced for release outside of Japan, an English-language press release from Capcom at Tokyo Game Show 2011 hints as such.[14]
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