Famitsu: What sort of [design] features have you included [to help series newcomers]?
Eshiro: For starters, we've added two save slots. And aside from the tutorials, we have designed the game in such a way that people can get used to the gameplay without having to read a manual. On the character side, we've made it so new players will understand that Phoenix is the main character, that he is a defense attorney, and that [Athena] is his partner. Things that help people transition smoothly into the story.

F: I see, so you've designed the game in a way that players will understand the gameplay and game's world pretty naturally.
E: Yes, and we've improved the interface as well. Previously, you had to first look for a piece of evidence, then re-select it to view its information. Now you can see the item's information without the need to keep selecting it, so right from the start. You know how vending machines are designed so people don't purchase the wrong item? We kind of had that in mind when we were designing the interface in this game.

F: It definitely feels like the gameplay is a lot smoother here.
E: The implementation of the back-log helps to remind players of the story, and where it's at. And another thing, this happened with me, but sometimes I wouldn't know where to present the evidence. I'd end up presenting evidence randomly until I got the right answer. This led me to start saving, presenting, then loading the save if I were unsuccessful, and this can get pretty tiresome. There's obviously the scare of a "Game Over" that pushes us to use our own thinking to find the truth, but for the casual player we've added the "hint-system" that appears after numerous errors. So new players will be able to play the game with minimal stress, too.

F: So the game is made to be kinder to newcomers, but also not handhold more experienced players or those that want to work on their own.
E: Exactly. When you make multiple errors, a "hint" icon suddenly shows up on the screen. But if this icon were to scream "Touch me!", people may feel a little bit obligated to press it. Then the player may end up getting a hint when they didn't want it and think "I didn't want this info! I wanted to find out on my own!"... So we designed the icon to show up quietly and not have too much of a presence.

Another thing is that sometimes you just can't figure out what to do next during investigations. This can get pretty stressful, so we included the Memo to let you know how far you have gotten and what still needs to get done. Of course, those that don't wish to use it can ignore it completely and play the game like they did the previous ones. You can also head from one place to another directly, without the need to first travel to a specific location.

F: It's much more user-friendly, I see.
E: I'd say so, definitely. It is without a doubt the most user-friendly game of the series. However we don't want make the game too friendly, of course. We tried to design the interface in such as way that fans of the series will not say "Hey, I didn't want these spoilers!" when they accidentally select these features. We had to design while keeping in mind the fans that think "I don't want to see spoilers so I'll avoid this..." and those that say "Okay, I would like some help here!"... and this was pretty difficult.

The difficulty of the Psyche-lock and the bracelet, the investigation gameplay, was a point we all thought long and hard about. There's a thrill about only being able to make a set number of mistakes, but if we take that thrill-level here and used it in the same way it was used 10 years ago, the game would be ridiculously hard. Almost like a one-chance-only or GAME OVER.

F: Yeah, some players may become truly upset if this were to happen.
E: Right, there's always that chance. The inclusion of the Psyche-lock and bracelet are sure to be a little nostalgic to fans, but we decided NOT to include penalties here. It is more for players to enjoy the interactions between characters. We thought people didn't want to be penalized out here, and that the "thrill" of failure should stay in the court room. This kind of balance was something we spent a lot of time thinking about.

F: So kind of a way to separate the different parts of the chapters/cases that players are going to really enjoy.
E: Yes, we worked hard to make each section of each case feel interesting in their own ways. So if players, after they beat the case, want to "read this part again" or "watch this anime scene again", they can jump straight to that location or watch the anime scene in the gallery. We wanted players not to waste any time in finding their favourite moments. I think some players want to present every piece of evidence they have, so we changed the dialog for every evidence presented. You won't be getting the same old generic "This isn't important." dialog. Nor will you get the same message when you search things while investigating. If this were the case, people would think us developer were too lazy, haha.

F: As far as the story is concerned, is it connected in some way to AA1-4?
E: The setting for AA5 is that it takes place one year after AA4. We created the story so you wouldn't have to know what happened in AA3 or AA4 to enjoy the story. That's something Mr.Yamazaki (scenario-director) really focused on. It's clear it takes place after AA4, but we wanted the story to take place entirely within the AA5 time period. There are definitely points in the game where series fans will smirk a little, but newcomers should still be able to enjoy these scenes. It's just that series fans will get the most kick out of the scenes.

To be honest, for us, we wanted the story to be created in a way where people who play this as their first AA game want to go back and play the previous titles. Then they'll find certain scenes/points and think "Oh hey, this is where AA5 got this from!" As a game in the series, the stories all wrap themselves up in one game, so it shouldn't matter where you jump into the series.

F: Yeah, but for those who want to play 1-4...
E: Haha, yes, it might be kind of tough...

F: So please make a "COLLECTOR's EDITION". Like... "Ace Attorney: The Unveiled Edition"!
E: So all of the games in one!? Well.. I'll think about it. It's true though that there are people who ask us for things like this. But right now we've got the same AA games on the GBA, DS, Wii, and even Smartphones. AA has actually branched into a lot of consoles.

F: So, yeah, AA1-4 with the 3D graphics and support system... Oh, the Investigation games as well.
E: Haha.

F: It'll be a huge seller!
E: I've never seen a 6-title collection before, haha. Remaking the games again but in 3D would be quite costly... I mean, there are parts of the game even I want to see in 3D, but there are concerns about the presentation, how to support some of the more difficult areas, and we would have to think about whether or not we'd want to simply create a 3D-port.

F: Well if AA5 ends up selling real well...
E: Haha, well if the company says "Just do what you want in 3D." then there's a possibility, I guess.

F: So if lots of people play AA5, then there's a chance.
E: Yes.

F: So there seems to be some heavy debating between developers.
E: Yes, I'm now a producer, so I don't really want to say too much "this" and too much "that" about the characters' attitudes and backgrounds. What I do tend to be picky about is the character design, however. It's not a "character" game, but the characters in the games do stand out a lot, so it's a delicate balance.

F: But it's also because the characters stand out so much that there is now a stage show, right?
E: We're always trying to make characters stand out a lot, but not too much, and it's a fine line. There's "If this characters stands out any more, it's a little much" and "if the character doesn't stand out more, they're way too boring". We had a particularly hard time coming to terms with Kokone (Athena). This is how I work, but if the character designers ask "What's wrong", I simply ask them "What kind of a character do you want to make? What do you think as you're making this character?". I try to look at each character from the point of view of the player.

F: So you're pretty harsh about that sort of stuff.
E: Yes, you could say I'm pretty picky. As for names, I never could get myself to like Kokone's name. Obviously I've given the "OK" in the end, but Mr.Yamazaki was pushing for the name "Kokone" the entire time.

IMAGE: This is the new partner, Kizuki Kokone (Athena).

F: For you, was it just a matter of it "feeling" not quite right?
E: It was sort of from experience. I thought the name pun was too blatant. "Kizuki Kokone" is "Kokoni kizuku (=to notice 'here'/this point)" and "Kokone! (=It's here!)". At first I sent about 200-300 forms for names, but nothing really clicked. It was about last year when we were overseas for the release of "DmC Devil May Cry", and in the hotel. I kind of reset myself. Development takes a long time and sometimes you're sense of direction can go a little off-course haha. Then I started thinking about "AA" type names... and came to realize that "Kizuki Kokone" actually works as an "AA" name. That's when I gave the thumbs up.

F: So even after sending out 200-300 forms, the name remained the same, haha.
E: It's a little similar to how the idea was to "create the game in 3D but give it a 2D flavour". It's a contradiction of sorts. Aiming towards this concept, we had to recreate things many times over and things like "Hmm... that's kind of different than what I had in mind. Make it look more 2D." were said all of the time. Sometimes to the point where it seemed like some workers were thinking "If you want it to be more 2D... just make it in 2D!". But the answer was always "No, make it 3D AND have it present a 2D flavour!". That was the concept for AA5.

F: But it's because of these conversations/debates that the quality can be so good.
E: For sure, but if you're not careful, it becomes a matter of just doing what you want to do. You still need to help each other out by pointing out where things may not work well.

IMAGE: The 3D characters move smoothly and have great expressions. It's not a stretch to say it's an evolved "Ace Attorney" game.

F: I know we've asked this many times, but anybody can jump in and enjoy the game right?
E: Exactly. Mr.Yamazaki made it a point not to include text that is only interesting to series fans. The text will be interesting to everyone, but fans will enjoy it a bit more.

F: If there's a "series" centered joke, newcomers may feel left out, right?
E: Yeah, they'll think "What's so funny about this...?" and feel left out. You need to keep this in mind when reintroducing characters. It's okay for series newcomers to think a recurring character is an AA5 character. There's also nothing wrong with people liking a character in AA5, then learning that said character appeared in a previous game.

F: There's definitely a type of enjoyment in that too.
E: Take Edgeworth for example. People playing AA5 might think "Who is this guy? How can someone like this really be the chief prosecutor!?". But of course, within the story of AA5, Edgeworth plays his part appropriately. Maybe one of the new players will say "I have an iPhone, I'll play AA1." and see that Edgeworth was once simply a prosecutor as well.

F: There were stories about increasing and decreasing the number of frills on Edgeworth...
E: On the first design for Edgeworth in AA5, his frills almost came down to his thighs... haha... That was a bit much. There were lots of strange designs like that. Even one where he had grown facial hair. In the end we kind of kept his "elegant" look. His rolled back sleeves, vest, and long coat... But we definitely wanted to keep the same colour scheme. The first few drafts were incredible...

F: He is a very popular character so it must have been tough.
E: Yes, we didn't want to do an iffy job or his fans would say "This isn't the Edgey I know!"

F: So in that sense Simon is quite a character.
E: When Mr.Yamazaki first mentioned a "prosecutor who is also a prisoner", I asked "What the heck does that mean?". He replied simply "A prisoner who is also a prosecutor."... haha. When I asked him what kind of character this was, he said "I'll think about it" haha.

F: He kind of has too much of an impact haha.
E: Yes, when I heard it my immediate reaction was "What the heck is that?" so it definitely has an impact. So we decided on the drama involved in his background but I'd end up thinking "Hey, this prisoner as a prosecutor is kind of contradictory... Let's not do this anymore.". Yet even through the hard times, we somehow put together a character who we think is good. It's not just Simon, too, and that's thanks to the people like the art director and Mr.Yamazaki who put their souls into making these characters.

IMAGE: The new rival prosecutor. His strength is the result of the hard work of the development team.

F: What if someone who played "5" says "Hey, I want to play the past games in 3D too!"...?
E: Well, we're always listening to the fans' opinions and suggestions, so maybe there's a possibility of that happening in the future.

F: There's no need to make AA too real, but it's also created from your own experiences in the court room.
E: It helped us think about what could be entertaining and provided tips and hints for our own original court ideas. So it's not a COMPLETE work of fiction and you think "I guess this could happen". Well, the incidents and characters themselves are sort of extraordinary haha. Within the context of the AA5 story, though, you might see yourself thinking "In this circumstance, I might think this way too." or "I could get caught up in something like this.". Things aren't too much "fantasy". The Mood Matrix for example... People who stand in court under great circumstances are obviously going to have trouble remembering 100% of their thoughts and emotions. These "emotional" parts are always in trials, so when Mr.Yamazaki came up with the idea for the MM, I thought it was pretty good. The goal was to have a system that isn't too easy or too difficult, which provided a challenge.

F: How much volume is there in the game?
E: I think it's around 25 hours long. For those that present everything everywhere, it'll take longer of course. The great thing is that it's easy to drop-in and drop-out because you can take breaks anytime. The back-log helps too! Though to be honest, we worked really hard to come up with stories you couldn't put down, so there may be instances where you think "I don't need this back-log!" haha. This all depends on how the player chooses to play the game: all in one go, or a little at a time.

F: I see. So the story from Case 1-3 moves along at a good pace, but Cases 4-5 are pretty heavy with information and story?
E: Yes, and you'll learn a lot of things that will make you go "Oh!", and later on go "Oh... I see!" when reaching the climax. Oh yeah, the ending theme is about 10 MINUTES LONG. Mr.Iwadare was the one who composed the music and he really understands the AA franchise. At first, it was about 2-3 minutes with all of the staff's name rolling along. However with these games, there's some "drama" in the credits. Like how the characters speak about what has happened once their respective cases have ended. Mr.Iwadare composed his ending song and it ended up being 10 minutes long. Incredibly, the song doesn't loop once. There's a 10 minute song and some "drama" to end the game.

(Sean's Note: Heavily implied that this game is 5 Cases long. Not really a surprise.)

F: Maybe it's 10 minutes long because the ending's presentation is the way it is haha
E: No, it seems it became a 10 minute long track all of a sudden haha. Mr.Iwadare never said "Ahh... I can't do that." but rather "Sounds like fun!". To be honest, I wanted a 3-minute song but he just works so hard! We really want you to see the ending so please don't give up while playing the game (even if it takes a long time)! It's an ending that thanks you for playing but also thanks you for your love and support for the AA franchise.

F: Well if you say that much, we HAVE to watch the ending now!
E: There will be something very interesting in it.

:So if lots of people play AA5, then there's a chance
E: Yes

GS6 or AAI2

GS6 yeah, but i thought they were talking more about the AA 1-4/(+AAI) Collection. Also, remember this interview is focused towards the Japanese market, so AAI2 doesn't apply to them. However, i'm sure if the west's sales of AADD are good, they might seriously consider bringing Investigations 2 out.

I wouldnt mind them doing a AA 1-4/AAI HD collection but if it does happen i just hope they dont mess it up like they did with the recent AA trilogy HD collection

Maybe a Maya appearance? Who knows?

・Ace Attorney has lots of fans, so they wanted to bring back old characters, but also introduce new ones. It ended up being like an "all-star".

・They didn't want to remove Apollo, but they also decided from the start that he wouldn't be the main character.

・There's quite a lot of volume in Case 1. They put a lot of things into the Case so it got a bit long. However, there was actually an even longer version.

・Some character motions not in the demo are also present (eg. Junie taking a flower on her hat, bringing them to her mouth, and then making a gesture like she's breathing oxygen.)

・In response to the question "Will the 7 years between AA3 and AA4 be touched on in AA5?" Mr.Yamazaki replied "Well.. this is sort of a difficult question to answer, haha."

If you were incorrect too many times with the Magatama your soul would supposedly shatter. I wonder if they simply wrote their way to bend the rules with the AA lore or not.

Quite interesting to know Case 1 may not be a trial-only case. Then again, it was kind of hinted at when nobody was seen dead at first (and we all know in every AA case, at least one person is the victim) and that the victim is clearly seen in one of the trailers.

well its different compared to the first 3 GS games where every first case was a trial- only cases so its a different step for GS5

The bombing incident had at least one victim, not including Apollo. Though, I doubt that trial is Case 3. In the demos Juniper says she was viewing the trial from the gallery, and since she's the defendant in Case 3, she would most likely be wearing her school uniform. Although AA never really states where the defendant sits during trials,(not talking abouts the mangas or the film) I don't think it would the gallery where the audience sits. This makes me believe Case 2 takes place after Case 3. It's possible Case 2 has the trial of the bombing incident. Because if Case 3 was the bombing incident wouldn't Juniper's murder trial be at least postponed until after her bombing trial? I don't expect to Case 3 to end up unsolved. Then again, it could explain the scene in the trailer where Athena is crying at the destroyed courtroom, since it was her own trial at the time. Who knows for sure until people get the game Thursday?

I think it has been confirmed that Case 2 is the case where Apollo first meets Athena. Which would mean Case 3 would need to come after Case 2.