Launch Station: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

In the last couple of years, crossovers have become more common on Nintendo consoles.  From full-on retail releases such as Pokemon Conquest, Project X Zone and the upcoming Hyrule Warriors to smaller experimental pieces of downloadable content like Nintendo character costumes in Monster Hunter 4 and Bayonetta 2, or special Yoshi's Story and Legend of Zelda stages for Sonic Lost World, crossovers are seeing much more attention in the video game industry now than in generations past especially here in North America.  Continuing this large surge of video game crossovers is Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, a brand new 3DS adventure that brings together two franchises that made their names on past Nintendo handhelds.

Transported to the medieval city of Labyrinthia, Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright and company are tasked with solving puzzles and winning court battles in order to help Espella Cantabella, a girl who is wrongly accused of being a witch, prove her innocence and find a way back to their respective universes.  Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is divided into two distinct sections that coincide with each franchises respective gameplay.  The Adventure section of the game will be awfully familiar to Professor Layton fans as you are searching environments for clues and interacting with characters.  Through your interactions with the environments and characters, you open up a multitude of thought-provoking puzzles which earn Picarats, the currency from the Professor Layton games used for unlocking extra puzzles and buying hints, and advance the story.  The other section of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is the Witch Trial.  This is the section where Phoenix Wright and the gameplay from the Ace Attorney series takes centre stage.  Using the clues from the Adventure section, Phoenix must cross-examine witnesses and find contradictions in their testimonies in order to pull out the not guilty verdict for Espella.  Although finding contradictions involves the standard pressing for information and presenting of evidence that the Ace Attorney faithful are accustomed to, there are a couple twists to the standard Ace Attorney formula which spice up the proceedings quite a bit.  These twists are the ability to cross-examine multiple witnesses at a time and the addition of presenting magic spells as evidence. After completing the main game, there is additional content such as special episodes and art galleries available for players to download for Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney via the Nintendo Network.

When crossing over two completely different franchises, you always wonder how their signature elements such as gameplay, audio and art style will co-exist.  In the careful hands of both Capcom and Level 5, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney looks to strike a careful balance between the unique gameplay, art styles and designs of each franchise in a way that truly compliments one another.  Although it took four long years since its initial announcement to reach North America, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney should be a quality third-party title to keep 3DS owners satisfied until major titles like Pokemon and Super Smash Bros. release this fall.

Year in Review 2013: Games I Missed

Hundreds of games release in a year both physically and digitally.  It is impossible for one person to play every game that releases in a year.  You have to pick and choose which games to spend your valuable free time playing.  With this mindset, you will miss experiencing some great games.  As game releases slow after Christmas, it is an opportune time to pick and play those missed games.  While I did not get much or any time with the games on this list back in 2013, I hope get plenty of time with them in 2014.

Guacamelee!
Luchadors, wrestling moves and Metroidvania-style platforming.  Guacamelee is made for me.  Sadly, its early Sony exclusivity kept this writer from picking Guacamelee up until its eventual release on Steam.  Playing as an average Mexican farmer turned super powered luchador, the player is tasked with saving El Presidente's daughter from an evil skeleton.  Crazy story aside, Gucamelee looks to be a great extension of the classic Metroidvania formula.  Switching the classic weapon upgrades out for wrestling moves, adding a dimension-changing mechanic and focusing on melee combat are the ways that Guacamelee differentiates itself from other action-platformers in the Metroidvania vein.  I love this style of platformers and have put countless hours into many games in this sub-genre from Super Metroid to Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.  Once I get the chance to install Gucamelee on my computer, I predict much of the same with this game.

Ni No Kuni:  Wrath of the White Witch
This joint venture from the minds of legendary animation house Studio Ghibli and esteemed video game developer Level-5 originally released for the Nintendo DS in Japan.  A decent number of gamers heard about this unique collaboration through the media, but nobody thought Ni No Kuni would make it to our shores.  Thanks to Namco Bandai, the PS3 remake, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, came to North America last January.  Just as unique as the collaboration between Studio Ghibli and Level-5 is Ni No Kuni's gameplay.  A mix between the combat of Namco's Tales series and the monster collection of Nintendo's Pokemon franchise, Ni No Kuni has the player switching between human characters such as Oliver and his party members and monster-like creatures known as Familiars during enemy encounters.  This unique battle system along with the excellent 2D and 3D animation and art provided by Studio Ghibli make Ni No Kuni stand out as a quality JRPG in a generation that has seen more lackluster entries in this genre than standouts.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney:  Dual Destinies
My love for the Ace Attorney series has been well documented in the annals of Silver Bit.  Apart from Capcom's controversial decision to keep Dual Destinies as a digital-only release, the latest entry in the Ace Attorney series was easily among my most anticipated games of 2013.  Following the events of Apollo Justice, Phoenix Wright has returned to the courtroom to help the wrongly accused from awkward teenagers to killer whales from facing prosecution.  Even though Dual Destinies Mature rating, the game still looks to have all the comedic hijinks that fans have come to know and love.  Dual Destinies adds the Mood Matrix to Phoenix's arsenal, which replaces the psych locks and perceive system from previous installments.  The Mood Matrix allows Phoenix to gauge the emotions of a witness during cross-examinations in order to pick out contradictions.  While this writer is still holding out for a physical release of Dual Destinies, I will definitely pick up the newest Ace Attorney within the next year.

Puppeteer
Sony may have been hitting it out of the park on the hardware side of things in 2013, but their software has not gotten this writer as excited.  Sony's major releases consisted of unnecessary sequels such as God of War: Ascension and Gran Turismo 6 and over hyped new IPs such as The Last of Us.  The one game from Sony that got this writer excited was the one that got the least hype from the electronics giant--Puppeteer.  Puppeteer is an interesting platformer from Sony's Japan studio with a striking presentation as the entire game plays out as an actual puppet show.  Apart from the unique aesthetic, Puppeteer features a couple cool mechanics such as the ability for Kutaro, the player character, to switch heads for different abilities and Kutaro's pair of magical scissors which can be used to interact with the environment, fight enemies and traverse trails of string and paper.  From what I have seen and read about Puppeteer, I am excited to eventually spend some time with the PS3's most interesting exclusive of 2013.

The Dual Destinies Debate

Monday saw Capcom confirm the newest entry in the Ace Attorney series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney- Dual Destinies for a North American and European release this coming Fall on the 3DS.  An announcement that would be the cause of celebration for any handheld gaming aficionado like yours truly has just as easily angered fans.  How has Capcom managed to anger their fans this time?  Well by announcing that Dual Destinies will only be available on the Nintendo eShop as a digital download.  Considering that media in general is turning to purely digital forms of distribution, the up rage over Dual Destinies being digital only might seem like a non-issue for some gamers.  For gamers that prefer hard copies of their games over buying games digitally not having a hard copy of Dual Destinies is upsetting especially considering that Capcom will be releasing Dual Destinies for both retail and digital in Japan.  It is understandable to see that Capcom is trying to cover their loses as the Ace Attorney series has not been a commercial success outside of Japan, but it would be nice for Capcom to give 3DS owners a bone after all the ill will with the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3.  Do a limited release for the hard copy of Dual Destinies in North America and Europe to appease the gamers that prefer physical copies of the game and possibly test the waters for future Ace Attorney releases.  There are other ways of limiting the costs than just going with a digital only release.

Personally, I have been a fan of the Ace Attorney series ever since it debuted in North America back in 2005.  I was never into the courtroom dramas that the game seemed to be influenced by such as Law & Order, but there was something about Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney that made me gravitate toward the virtual courtroom.  The fantastic humour, solid adventure game mechanics and beautiful music are the reasons I own every entry of this series to reach our shores.  When I saw the announcement that Duel Destinies was releasing this Fall in North America, I was ecstatic.  While I do prefer to have a hard copy of Dual Destinies, I am not upset with Capcom's decision.  I believe there are better ways of dealing with potential losses on a physical copies of the game rather than alienating a good portion of Capcom's audience.  Also I am concerned about how Capcom will price the digital version of tDual Destinies and how much memory will the game take up.  Since Dual Destinies will be digital download, I do not want to see this game priced like a retail 3DS game.  In my opinion, twenty five to thirty dollars will be justifiable for this eShop only release. Another thing, I do not want Dual Destinies to take up an entire SD card due to how big the game turns out to be.  Capcom needs to understand that some gamers just cannot afford to buy the biggest SD card out on the market and should accommodate for these gamers by making the storage manageable or provide a physical copy of the game.  

While I do have some concerns over the next entry in the Ace Attorney series, I am a fan of this series no matter what.  I am very excited to see Dual Destinies come to this side of the Pacific in some capacity later this year.  Hopefully the release of Dual Destinies will inspire Capcom and Level 5 to bring over Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney to our shores as well.  Now before we end things, check out the first trailer for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney- Dual Destinies.