The Great Ace Attorney Finally Comes West

April 22, 2021

While we’re far away from the days where Square Enix and other Japanese publishers wouldn’t release major games in the West, there’s still the odd release that doesn’t make it. As some of these games get ported to new consoles, they’re now finally beginning to make their way West at the same time. The latest of these games is none other than The Great Ace Attorney 1 and 2, the two missing entries in the Ace Attorney franchise in the West.

This is happening as part of a two game collection titled The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, which collects both games into a single package for last generation consoles. Where these two games differ from their mainline compatriots, and potentially why they didn’t make it over originally, is their setting.

Unlike the modern setting of the main series, these two games are set in the late-Meiji period in Japan, so they aren’t as modern or contemporary. Also, the game’s inclusion of Sherlock Holmes as a character may have made localisation seem like a risk, given the Holmes Estate’s propensity for litigation towards anyone that portrays the character as anything other than utterly emotionless.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is scheduled to release on July 27th for Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 4.