It’s been a busy couple of years for Capcom’s Ace Attorney franchise. The series received its fifth main entry in 2013 with Dual Destinies, released the long-awaited crossover with Professor Layton in 2014, and has an anime adaptation currently airing on Japanese TV.
While last year’s prequel game, Dai Gyakuten Saiban, never got an English release, anyone concerned that Capcom might be ending plans to localize future entries shouldn’t worry, as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, the sixth main entry in the series, has just been confirmed for release in North America and Europe on the 3DS.
Originally announced last year, and still apparently on track for release this summer in Japan, Spirit of Justice will once again see players controlling veteran lawyer Phoenix Wright as he investigates and interrogates to get to the truth in various cases, mixing point-and-click adventure gameplay with a varied cast of locations and characters. There will be some big shakeups to the formula this time, though, as Wright will this time find himself in the far off mystic kingdom of Khuar’in, where traditional courtroom traditions are thrown aside in favor of visions and seances.
Some portions of the game will also have players once again controlling Apollo Justice, a younger lawyer who works with Wright and served as the protagonist of the fourth Ace Attorney game, holding down the fort back home and taking on his own case.
Dual Destinies had three playable protagonists in Wright, Justice and newcomer Athena Cykes, and while the latter has been confirmed to be in Spirit of Justice to some degree, it doesn’t sound like she’ll be as prominent. Series veterans can also look forward to the long-awaited return of Maya Fey, Wright’s assistant from the first three games.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice will launch on 3DS some time in September, though like its predecessor, it will be available exclusively digitally via the Nintendo eShop. Expect to hear more news on the game as the release date approaches.
