| Ace Attorney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre(s) | |
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Creator(s) | Shu Takumi |
| Platform(s) | |
| First release | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney October 12, 2001 |
| Latest release | Ace Attorney Investigations Collection September 6, 2024 |
Ace Attorney[a] is a visual novel adventure video game franchise developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, was released in 2001; since then five further main series games, as well as various spin-offs, prequels, and high-definition remasters for newer game consoles have been released. Additionally, the series has been adapted in the form of a live-action film and an anime; it is the base for manga series, drama CDs, musicals and stage plays. The player takes the roles of various defense attorneys, including Phoenix Wright, his mentor Mia Fey, as well as his understudies Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes who investigate cases and defend their clients in court. They find the truth by cross-examining witnesses and finding inconsistencies between the testimonies and the evidence they have collected. The cases last a maximum of three days; the judge determines the outcome based on evidence presented by the defense attorney and the prosecutor.
While the original Japanese versions of the games are set in Japan, the series' localizations are set in the United States (primarily Los Angeles) though retaining Japanese cultural elements. In the spin-off series Ace Attorney Investigations, the player takes the role of prosecutor Miles Edgeworth and in the prequel series, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, they play Phoenix's ancestor Ryunosuke Naruhodo.
The series was created by the writer and director Shu Takumi. He wanted the series to end after the third game, but it continued with Takeshi Yamazaki taking over as writer and director starting with Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (2009). Takumi has since returned to write and direct some spin-off titles. The series has been well received, with reviewers liking the characters, story, and the finding of contradictions; it has also performed well commercially, with Capcom regarding it as one of their strongest intellectual properties. The series has been credited with helping to popularize visual novels in the Western world. As of June 30, 2024, the game series has sold 12 million copies worldwide.[1]
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- ^ "CapCom Game Series Sales". Capcom.co.jp. CapCom Co. Ltd. Retrieved August 23, 2024.