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Iwata Asks - Phoenix Wright Vs. Ace Attorney

by rawmeatcowboy
14 December 2012
GN Version 4.0
- Level-5 has wanted to collaborate with Ace Attorney and its creator, Shu Takumi, ever since the conception of Professor Layton
- Brain Age games served as Layton’s inspiration
- Ace Attorney has always held its place in Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino’s mind as the Layton series’ rival
- Hino admired the series’ charm and the flow of the Ace Attorney games
- these are two things that heavily influenced Layton’s design
- Hino feels that the two series are actually rather similar

“From the outside, Professor Layton and Ace Attorney appear to be made with completely opposite game designs in mind. Professor Layton was created to go in a direction games don’t usually go, and Ace Attorney was created to appeal to the fans. However, even though the superficial interfaces are incredibly different, the core wrapped inside the package is essentially the same game.” - Akihiro Hino

- the idea for a collaboration was presented to Capcom in January
- Shu Takumi wasn't originally on the team, due to being involved with Ghost Trick work
- in May, Shu was called out to a yakiniku restaurant by the producer of the project
- Takumi originally had no desire to expand beyond the Ace Attorney universe
- when the phrase “witch trials” came up during a brainstorming session, Takumi started thinking, “What would it be like for Phoenix to hold trials in a world where magic exists?”
- Takumi wanted to do a crossover that allowed Phoenix to take on something that would never happen in the Ace Attorney world
- Takumi then started working on the game's script
- Level-5 put for the idea of the “ultimate criminal, one where anything he writes would become true”
- programming was left up to Level 5, while the art direction was Capcom’s job
- music was equally divided between Layton and Ace Attorney tracks
- a lot of work was needed for the Professor Layton art
- eventually an effort was made to adapt the Professor Layton style of art to Ace Attorney’s
- the transformation of the characters into anime cutscenes took quite some time
- other characters in the game are a mix of both styles
- Mahone is drawn completely in the Ace Attorney style
- Takumi noted that if you look carefully, you can tell which side the characters fall
- Hino was especially proud of the city’s design and graphics
- because the setting was medieval, he found it especially interesting to note the differences between Labyrinth City (the setting for the crossover) and Layton’s fantasy London
- Hino aimed for a world that was balanced between realism and fantasy
- Takumi enjoyed the 3D effect in the cities, which gave them a sense of awe
- game has an extensive amount of content packed into it
- easily 30 hours
- Professor Layton fans will enjoy seeing a new, more playful side to the Professor
- Ace Attorney fans will enjoy both the nostalgia of seeing Phoenix and Maya interact again
- “The logic and scientific investigation that’s held up in the series up until now won’t apply to this world where magic exists, so you’ll have to put together a new logic.”
- the crossover shouldn’t be viewed as just a side-story
- players should listen to the ending song once they finish the game, which is a hybrid of the two main themes played by a symphony

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