The Ace Attorney Series
The Ace Attorney Series switched to 3D graphics after Professor Layton helped to convince its developers. The success of the Professor Layton crossover game influenced the Ace Attorney series’ developer, who decided to convert the visual novel’s graphics to 3D.
Producer Kenichi Hashimoto of the upcoming Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy talked about the series’ move to 3D graphics in Play Magazine’s most recent issue (Issue 36), following several years of sticking with the well-known 2D visuals. Though a 2007 blog post implies that the game’s development team experimented with 3D graphics nearly two decades ago, the producer recalls the history differently.
“We had no plans to shift to 3D with Apollo Justice,” Hashimoto recalls when discussing the creation of the original Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. This was before the 2012 release of the crossover title Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. “During the development of the fifth game, Dual Destinies, we saw how successful the 3D visuals were in Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney,” the company continues.
3D Graphics:
“Combined with the capabilities of the ten-current Nintendo 3DS hardware, we felt that we couldn’t ignore the 3D possibilities,” Hashimoto says. “So we tried out a visual style of 3D models which looked like 2D art, and it turned out even better than we expected.” In case you’re not too familiar with Ace Attorney/Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies from 2013 was the first Ace Attorney game to feature 3D graphics.
Similar to Ace Attorney, Layton’s 3D visuals debuted following the crossover release. After that, Level-5, the company behind Professor Layton’s games, decided to employ 3D animation in every Nintendo 3DS game. Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, a brand-new 3D Layton and Luke adventure for the Nintendo Switch is scheduled to launch sometime in 2025, seven years after the previous installment of the series concluded.
On January 25, 2024, the newly released Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy will be accessible on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
