Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, and the Future of Ace Attorney

That feeling when the autopsy report is updated...

In the most recent Nintendo Direct, Capcom announced that they would be releasing another Ace Attorney game onto the Nintendo Switch and other modern consoles, just months after the release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy. Titled the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, it contains the two Miles Edgeworth-led Ace Attorney spin-off games. This is major news for Ace Attorney fans, as the latter of the two games had not been released and localized outside of Japan since its original Nintendo DS release in 2011 until now.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, Shu Takumi's Ace Attorney is a game where you play as a defense attorney in pursuit of defending those wrongly convicted of crimes... at least, at its surface. The series also contains a cast of zany and eccentric characters, elements of magical realism, spiritual and cultural exploration, and tons of drama and twists. The storyline is brilliant, and the lore is even better. There are eleven games in all: six mainline games, two spin-offs, two prequels, and a crossover with Level 5's Professor Layton series. The game has spawned a live-action film, an anime series, many volumes of manga, stage plays, and a large, passionate fanbase.

In the past few years, the Ace Attorney series has seen the release of two previously non-localized prequel games, Adventures and Resolve, in the collection The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Earlier this year, we received ports of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice in the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy. Now we'll finally be getting the remaining two Ace Attorney games, Ace Attorney Investigations and Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Gambit in their own collection in September. It's also worth mentioning that we got a port of Shu Takumi's Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective a year prior. (It leaves the only game not ported to modern consoles as the infamous crossover Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.)

All of this begs the question, why? Is it just an easy cash-grab for Capcom to port old games onto modern consoles, and leave it at that? (Probably.) Or is this in preparation for something more, such as a new Ace Attorney game? Fans of the Ace Attorney series have been eagerly awaiting a new installment to the mainline series since 2016, but with Takumi's focus on the prequel series it seemed that a new present-day game would be a long time away. However, now that all Ace Attorney games are available on modern consoles, it seems like Capcom is preparing for the release of a new installment in the series.

Personally, I would love to see an Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney game, starting off her own trilogy. Having Phoenix take a step back out of the spotlight while also keeping him present seems like a good choice at this point in time, and it would be a fresh start with some familiarity for the series. I've also always wanted a Mia Fey: Ace Attorney game, set just before the first game in the series, but at this point it's a fever dream. A Franziska von Karma game is also a dream, considering she's my favorite character. It may be possible that we could get a third The Great Ace Attorney installment, finishing out that trilogy.

At this point, anything is possible with the Ace Attorney series. Previously, Capcom stated that they had no intention of localizing Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Gambit, and the only way to play it in the west was through a fan-made translation... now look how far we've come. While I am thankful for the ports, I'd love to see new content in the series, no matter what that ends up becoming.

R.I.P. Sebastian DeBeste, you will always be the best in my heart. I mean, Eustace Winner... really?

A side note before I go; aside from the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection announcement, I'm also looking forward to for Hello Kitty: Island Adventure and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom! Right now, I'm playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons (always), The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Princess Peach: Showtime!, and replaying the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney trilogy. My desire for the Nintendo Switch successor is big but my backlog is bigger....