Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Genre: Puzzle / Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel

Players: 1

.

Review:

Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2014, is an unlikely crossover involving both of the named franchises. The plot involves a young woman hailing from an unheard-of land who is apparently being hunted by witches. In her attempts to flee, she encounters first Professor Layton and then Phoenix Wright, and players alternate between investigating the strange occurrences surrounding the girl as Layton, and defending her and other innocents from accusations in court as Phoenix

It may seem like a somewhat unusual pairing of franchises, as both franchises tend to play somewhat differently, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Both games have Graphic Adventure elements already, with a strong focus on plot, and the Layton investigation and puzzles can slot neatly into the parts of the Phoenix Wright formula in between trials that tend to involve investigation. And while the Ace Attorney series’ characters tend to be more silly and outlandish than the Layton characters usually are, they both have a reputation for being endearing in their own way, and those endearing qualities ultimately compliment each other very well, with the Layton bits being more subdued and relaxed, and the Ace Attorney bits often being more manic.

And just in case I haven’t made it clear, this game really does stick both games’ formulas into one title – the Layton parts play exactly like any other game in the Layton series, and the Ace Attorney bits play exactly like any other game in the Ace Attorney series. This isn’t a seamless combination, but rather each game taking turns more or less doing what it does best. The Layton gameplay still presents some nice Graphic Adventure investigation and a solid selection of puzzles to solve, and the Ace Attorney part still presents gripping courtroom dramas where players need to seek out contradictions in the testimony.

There is one issue with the way this game combines these to formulas, however… or rather, how it doesn’t. Players who are fans of the Ace Attorney games, but not the Layton series, will likely notice it first – because the game alternates between the two game styles, it means that if you’re partial to one style, you’ll be waiting to play that style as you’re pushed through the other style of gameplay. And as the first hour of the game is almost exclusively told from Professor Layton’s perspective, you’ll be waiting a while before you get to see the other side of the cross-over in more than just a brief cameo.

The other issue is one that’s more of an early-game annoyance – because this game has basically two different styles of gameplay, you’ll spend much of the first few hours of the game playing through two different tutorials. You can skip parts of these, but most of it you’ll have to sit through as Layton reminds his protege Luke how his gameplay works, and Phoenix’s assistant Maya reminds Phoenix how his gameplay works.

What all of this ultimately means is that this game has some pacing issues, especially early on. Perhaps this may have been unavoidable given the different gameplay elements this game is trying to juggle, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. However, on the bright side, this game’s need to keep the two characters’ journeys centered on one central plot means that the story meanders far less here than it often does in the Ace Attorney games.

When it comes to the presentation, the Layton series and Ace Attorney series both already had somewhat similar presentations, so combining the two works pretty well. Both games feature cel shaded 3D characters in a cartoony art style, and while the Layton characters often have a more simplistic style somewhat comparable to classic comics like Tintin, and the Ace Attorney characters have a more traditional anime-like art style, the way both franchises lean into caricature-style characters means that neither seems entirely out of place next to the other.

Phoenix Wright himself seems a smidge off-model, but otherwise him and the characters he deals with all look great and have excellent animation, and the Layton characters, while not quite as lively, still look very nice as well. And much like the way these two franchises present on the Nintendo 3DS, the backgrounds feature a well-crafted mix of 2D and 3D elements that often makes it difficult to tell the difference.

However, I would argue that one area where Phoenix Wright benefits greatly from this collaboration is when it comes to sound – The Professor Layton segments feature their usual great voice acting, and perhaps feeling the need to live up to these, the Phoenix Wright segments seem to feature far more voice acting than they usually do, though not all lines are voiced. In addition, some of the recurring musical themes from Phoenix Wright are reprised here using Layton’s instrumental music style, and the result is overall a game that sounds fantastic.

There is one other point I need to make before wrapping things up here. Players wanting to try to get a physical copy of this game on eBay right now are looking to spend anywhere from $60-$110. Compare this to the $30 price the game currently sells for on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, and it should be absolutely clear that this is a game you will want to buy a digital copy of ASAP before the Nintendo 3DS eShop closes in March 2023, or else you’ll have to spend a lot more to play the game.

And frankly, you really should. Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney may suffer from some pacing issues, but overall this is an excellent pairing of two unlikely franchises that I feel ultimately benefits both of them. If for some reason you love one of these franchises but hate the other, then this game will make you wade agonizingly through the gameplay you don’t like to get to the stuff you do. However, I think most fans of Puzzle games, Graphic Adventures, and Visual Novels will find this to be a charming and enjoyable game that displays some of the best qualities of its two starring franchises. Definitely worth getting.

tl;dr – Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a crossover game that combines Professor Layton’s style of investigation Graphic Adventure game with Puzzle gameplay and Phoenix Wright’s style of courtroom Graphic Adventure and Visual Novel style gameplay, and the result is a game that mostly brings the best of both worlds to the formula, although not without a few pacing issues, especially in the beginning. Still, this is a charming, delightful game, and the fact that cartridge prices for the game are already skyrocketing makes this one you should absolutely snatch up on the eShop while you still can.

Grade: A-

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