1UP are reporting details from Famitsu magazine of a Nintendo 3DS game we haven’t heard about in a while — Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney. The game is being prepared for a 2012 release, and is being worked on by Layton series producer, Jun Suzuki, and Ace Attorney creator, Shu Takumi.
Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney is set in Labyrinth City, a Middle Ages-influenced town where magic still exists. The girl from the game’s debut trailer is being put on trial, accused of practising witchcraft, and Phoenix is defending her in court. Unlike the court system in the Ace Attorney games, the court system here has Phoenix and his client going up against entire mobs of witnesses, who are free to confer amongst themselves as well. Ouch.
Takumi says this was done in order to create a medieval age feeling where one may have the image of a trial with a mob of angry people yelling accusations at the top of their lungs.
“Capcom is handling the visual design and art,” Takumi revealed about the game. “We’ve been undergoing a long trial-and-error process in pretty much every aspect of the game, figuring out how to merge the two worlds together. Phoenix is drawn a little more simply than in the Ace Attorney games, while Professor Layton has a bit more detail, with the wrinkles in his clothing and so forth. It’s a lot of nitty-gritty work, and I’m sure we’ll continue trying to balance all of it right up to the end of the project.”
You can read more details of the game’s development in 1UP’s report. Meanwhile, Famitsu.com have put up a few in-game screens of the title as well.
Level 5 will publish Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney in 2012. The game hasn’t been confirmed for a North American localization yet, but topped Level 5 America’s poll asking which Level 5 games fans wanted to see localized most.
