Sherlock Holmes is in the new Ace Attorney, but he's not entering the world of the protagonist. The protagonist is entering his.
The main stage of the upcoming Ace Attorney game, The Great Ace Attorney: The Adventures of Ryunosuke Naruhodou, will be set in London, unlike in the previous games (not including Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright), where the location has primarily been Japan.
According to director Shu Takumi, "The story starts in Japan, but has Ryunosuke Naruhodou go to England where he meets Sherlock Holmes." In an interview with Weekly Famitsu, Takumi stated that the game's protagonist, Ryunosuke Naruhodou (no English version of his name has been announced yet) is being sent to England to study under the latest legal systems of the time.
The game takes place in the Meiji era towards the end of the 19th century. "At the time, apparently the occupation of defense attorney wasn't yet fully developed [in Japan]." producer Shintaro Kobayashi noted. The game's prologue will supposedly have some sort of event that will lead to Ryunosuke going to England.
Because the game is a period piece – albeit a fantasy world period piece – the cases that will be handled will be different from what fans of the Ace Attorney series are used to. "Things like fingerprints and other forensic science have become the norm now, but at the time, these things didn't exist, and even photography was new." Takumi said. "I think there will be some enjoyment for players to look and think, 'these are the sort of things people used back then.'"
As for the character of Holmes, Takumi, who is also in charge of the game's scenario writing, has stated that he is a fan of the original series and hopes to maintain the sort of Sherlock that he grew up reading about. "I loved the Holmes novels since I was in junior high and I greatly admire them. I'm taking care to strike a delicate balance when altering things so as not to destroy the original image of the character." However, being that the game is an Ace Attorney game, the story will focus primarily on Ryunosuke and his becoming the foundation which his descendant, Phoenix Wright, is molded from.
The Great Ace Attorney: The Adventures of Ryunosuke Naruhodou is scheduled for release in Japan on the 3DS in Spring, 2015. No word on an international release, but I'm sure they'll find a way. More information will be released at this year's Tokyo Game Show.
ファミ通.肠辞尘 [ファミ通.肠辞尘]
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