Ace Trivia: Smorgasbord of Justice
Well, here we are – less than one week away from the launch of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice on September 8th! I hope everyone’s been enjoying the Nintendo 3DS demo. If you haven’t tried it yet, *gasp* then what are you waiting for? A personal invitation?
Well, luckily, I have one of the game designers, Mr. Daigo, here today to tell us about what in this demo makes it extra special. Plus, I have some extra designer and cultural notes about Rayfa and Nahyuta’s designs, and other random trivia floating about, so pull up a chair and enjoy this week’s dev and loc blog!
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A Revolutionary Demo
Hi, everyone. I’m game designer Yoriki Daigo. I’m here today to talk about my long history of fighting to the death with the director, Mr. Yamazaki. I mean, considering how we first met…
What? I can’t talk about that?
It’s not interesting, and too graphic… Plus, there’s a downloadable demo on the Nintendo 3DS eShop to talk about? But what about all those people who’ve already tried the demo at events like E3, Anime Expo, and San Diego Comic-Con this year?
Well, actually…!
The downloadable demo is even better than the version you tried! We’ve powered it up with the following four things:
1) A teaser trailer!
2) The Dance of Devotion!
3) Shah’do!
4) The main game’s opening sequence!
Let’s take a closer look at each of these power ups.
1) A teaser trailer!
Clear the demo to see an exclusive new trailer!
2) The Dance of Devotion!
The downloadable demo features the sacred dance Rayfa performs at the beginning of each Divination Séance, which you can watch to your heart’s content.
But for those of you who’d rather hurry and get to the Divination Séance itself, fear not! We have made this scene skippable just for you.
3) Shah’do!
This lovable little doggie, Shah’do, makes an appearance in the downloadable demo. Just when he makes his appearance is something you’ll have to play to find out!
4) The main game’s opening sequence!
We’ve added both the full game’s opening anime and Episode 1’s opening to the demo.
(From the opening anime for Spirit of Justice)
(From the Episode 1 opening in Spirit of Justice)
Speaking of the Episode 1 opening, Mr. Yamazaki had a big smile on his face one day when he came up to me and said…
Yamazaki: “So, I had this amazing thought…”
Daigo: “And?”
Yamazaki: “And I was thinking we could have a bunch of different images appear on the surface of the treasure box in the opening sequence.”
Daigo: “Hey, that’s not a bad idea!”
I gathered the art designers and programmers at once, and they told me that as long as it wasn’t in 3D, they could probably make some sort of movie of what he was envisioning.
Daigo: “They said they’ll probably be able to pull it off, but it might be tough if it’s in 3D.”
Yamazaki: “What? But the game’s on the Nintendo 3DS, so it should be in 3D.”
Daigo & designers & programmers: “Gnarrrrgh!”
There was blood pouring from the designers and programmers’ eyes. At this rate, I was afraid that the last thing I’d see in this world was going to be my fellow team members as they descended on me. However, everyone agreed that it would be better to have the opening be in 3D. And so, they went about trying to figure out how to do it. They figured that if they could get pictures to appear on a still box, then they could probably find a way to make it 3D. That’s when Mr. Yamazaki said…
Yamazaki: “Um… Can we make this box rotate somehow?”
Daigo & designers & programmers: “NoooooOOOOOOOOOO(screen flash) oooooOOOOooooooooooo!(*smack* *smack* *break*)”
Everyone had a mini-breakdown all at once, but this talented team wasn’t about to be beaten. We all agreed it would be cool to have the treasure box spin, so, even though I have no idea how they did it, the art designers and programmers worked together and managed to make the box turn – and in 3D. I couldn’t believe it.
I… I was saved! No one would need to divine what had happened to me through a Divination Séance! Or so I thought, because Mr. Yamazaki just couldn’t be stopped!
Yamazaki: “Um… Actually… do you think you could…
“…make the box look like it’s is coming out of the picture in this scroll?”
Nngh…
NNNNGGGGHHHOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!
It’s time for a revolution!
And that’s how the evil Mr. Yamazaki was overthrown and how peace came to the Spirit of Justice team☆
…Huh. Well, what do you know? My story somehow ended up being about how Mr. Yamazaki and I fought to the death anyway!
In any case, I hope you’ll check out how the spinning box turned out for yourself in the opening of the downloadable demo for Nintendo 3DS.
*This entry is a work of fiction. The characters of “the evil Mr. Yamazaki,” “the designers,” “the programmers,” and “Daigo” are in no way related to their real-life counterparts – in fact, we’re actually all very good friends. Furthermore, all of the ideas discussed above were given by the dev team as a whole.
However…
The fact that we kept refining features like this in order to make something even better IS NOT A WORK OF FICTION!
Yamazaki: “…You know, I don’t mind that you made me out to be the bad guy in this, but… isn’t this entire entry structured almost exactly like (西éŠè¨˜, pinyin: XÄ” Yóu Jì) or “ Saiyuki ” as it’s transliterated in Japanese (no, not that “ Saiyuki” …), which is the story of a monk and his supernatural companions who are on a journey to retrieve some sacred Buddhist scriptures from the Western Regions (or what one might say is “the western edge of the Far East”).
India has pretty much always been considered “non-Asian” to the Japanese, since Japanese culture was historically influenced primarily by Chinese culture. So from the Japanese perspective, Indian culture is a familiar, yet utterly different and unique one compared to their own. As a comparison, think about how ancient Greek culture is one step removed from American culture, which is European influenced – it’s familiar because we know their gods and legends, like Hercules, but just far away enough through space and time for it to seem exotic.
But ultimately, the reason why I know for sure that Khura’in is on the western edge of the Far East is because I spoke with Mr. Yamazaki and Mr. Fuse to confirm that that is actual region they meant to convey to their audience.
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Next Friday – well, you’ll probably be busy playing Spirit of Justice, but if you’re looking to take a break, I’ll be here to give you a look at how the game was put together – literally! It’s time to explore the programming and dramatic presentation scripting sides of Spirit of Justice, and just how we decided on the design of the game’s logo.
Until then!
Catch up on previous blog entries here!