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Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Hands-On Preview #1

by Daan Koopman - March 8, 2014, 9:45 am EST
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In which we cover the opening moments of this highly anticipated release.

It is a dark night in London and strange things seem afoot in one of the biggest capitals of the world. The game opens as two mysterious figures, a man and young woman, are escaping in a car from some devilish looking creatures. They seem to be after the two, though we are unsure why at first and this is where things get interesting. The two are separated, due to an accident, and the young woman is asked to leave and find a man by the name of Hershel Layton.

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Our favorite top hat professor and his jolly assistant are waiting for a heavy storm to stop and pass the time with some puzzles. The player is introduced to the gameplay mechanics of the Layton side of the game in a rather rapid pace, though it is nothing that neither newcomers or veterans will find irritating. You can move about with the magnifying glass on the touchscreen and find secrets on the top screen. This usually involves some puzzles, hint coins or some general interaction with the environment or a character. We get a puzzle to start out with, and you come to realize they start slightly easier than in the main Layton games. The puzzles do go nicely in sync with the story, and even better than in the regular series, so it shouldn’t bother players too much.

In the beginning, the story is simply the star and everything around it is built to make that story work better. In these opening moments, players will talk a lot and discover more than they may be used to. It is a nice change and a breath of fresh air that will directly put you on the edge of your seat. In this story, we get back to meeting the mysterious girl from earlier, whose name is Espella. Espella isn’t sure where she is, and clearly has not heard of London before. She comes from a town called Labyrinthia and it seems that witches are out to get her. The man she was with was a former student of the professor named Carmine Accidenti, who was apparently investigating something in the mysterious town.

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Before the real heart of the matter can be discussed, the trio are rudely interrupted as the witches gain access to Hershel's study. The witches take Espella to places unknown and Professor Layton and Luke follow without thinking about it for long. Their journey leads to the place of the accident where they hear that Carmine is okay, and exchange some further small talk with Inspector Chelmey. They end up at the Tower Bridge and it is here where they find Espella. Through some tricks they manage to sneak the girl on a boat, while they fend off the mean and cruel witch entities. Their victory is short lived sadly, as they are pulled into a book and sent off to the land of Labyrinthia.

This is where the second prologue begins and it is here that we meet the other duo that make up the game. Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright fly to London to be part of an international attorney meeting. Everything seems well and good while they are on the plane and they are looking forward to some sightseeing in the city. Unfortunately, that dream is killed rather quick as Phoenix is asked to defend a client on this side of the ocean. As it turns out, players will be defending Espella who has become less talkative since we last met her. The person with her mentions that Espella will plead guilty, but our trusty attorney mastermind is not going down without a fight. Phoenix decides that he will defend his client until the very end, and that is exactly what will go down in this court case.

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What is she exactly accused of? Assault and robbery on the same ship she was dropped on by Professor Layton. I will not tell you what exactly what will go down in this case, because it will really destroy half the fun of it. I must say, however, that players will come eye to eye with wacky characters once again. They have proper voice acting to really bring it all home and it makes for one quite entertaining introduction to the attorney side of things. By talking to a security guard and listening to other testimonies, players will try to overcome this massive hurdle and bring this case home. It will take a few moments for newcomers to come in terms with all the mechanics, but they are non-mandatory tutorials that guide you through the process.

The gameplay is exactly what you would expect from any case in the regular games. Players will look upon evidence, hear out witnesses, find contradictions and present findings to the judge. New to this game is the use of the same hint coins that Professor Layton and Luke use for their journeys. With these coins at hand, players can get hints on what to do next or on which part of the text they will have to press or question the witness with. This will be quite helpful for the newcomer who is not familiar with looking too deeply into the text's content. Like with every Phoenix Wright game, players can only screw up five times and then it will be all over. With these tools in hand and some clever thinking, players can figure it all out soon enough. If players manage to keep some chances intact, these will transfer to the currency of Picarats.

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After a successful court case, Maya and Phoenix celebrate and talk some more with the mysterious woman and Espella. They soon depart, though Espella seems to drop a book before disappearing from the scene fully. This book, Historia Labyrinthia, is what pulled Layton and Luke into that particular world. It is a grand tome that tells everything about Labyrinthia and is being filled more by the Storyteller bit by bit. Maya and Phoenix now open the book as well and are pulled in to the mysterious world. What will happen to the four in this wild land? Find out about their first experiences in Labyrinthia in a secondary preview soon!

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3DS

Game Profile

Layton Kyouju vs. Gyakuten Saiban Box Art

Genre Adventure
Developer Level-5

Worldwide Releases

na: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Release Aug 29, 2014
PublisherLevel-5
RatingTeen
jpn: Layton Kyouju vs. Gyakuten Saiban
Release Nov 29, 2012
PublisherLevel-5
Rating12+
eu: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Release Mar 28, 2014
PublisherNintendo
Rating12+
aus: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Release Mar 29, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingParental Guidance
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