Review: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Brace yourself for the earthquake, because two major powers are about to collide. The agonising wait is over. Professor Hershel Layton, archaeologist, puzzle-solver and honorary gentleman is about to meet the only man who can pull off the hedgehog head (and that’s an achievement in itself) – ace attorney Phoenix Wright. Yes, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on 3DS has finally released all its trials, tribulations and mind-boggling conundrums into the world.

“Hold it! Isn’t this just a lazy cash-in for Capcom and Level-5, with zero logic, zero ingenuity and two pancake-flat protagonists flailing in uncharted waters?”

“I object to the prosecutor’s claims, your honour!”

“Objection sustained. The prosecution will refrain from speaking out of turn and demonstrating unparalleled stupidity in my courtroom. Defence, proceed.”

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This crossover of epic proportions begins in London, where Hershel Layton and assistant gentleman-in-training Luke Triton go about their daily business besting the investigators of Scotland Yard. Meanwhile, Phoenix Wright, accompanied by Maya Fey, is soaring across the Atlantic for a law conference (yeah, right – we all know he’ll end up in a courtroom one way or another, queasy and inconsolably underprepared). After crossing paths with the mysterious Espella Cantabella, both parties are sucked into the pages of Labyrinthia, a medieval storybook town where witches truly exist and real witch trials are carried out in the flaming pit of a dungeon courtroom. At the heart of the town is its creator and god, the Storyteller, who writes its history.

If anyone is guilty of being a blatant spell-caster, it’s the judge – but apparently witches can only be female so bushy Merlin beards and wizard’s cloaks are just fashion statements in Labyrinthia.

Spanning a decade, these two Nintendo behemoths have continued to delight fans right up until present day. While I confess my loyalty mainly lies with the Phoenix Wright series, which showcases detailed, dialogue-heavy court cases where you press the testimonies of hilariously kooky witnesses in order to find inconsistencies and ultimately prove your client innocent, the Professor Layton puzzles have been consistently challenging without being infuriating, even for someone like me, now twenty years’ old. This new crossover does not disappoint the loyal fans of either series, implementing both puzzle-solving elements and trial cross-examinations, drawing into itself the best of both series. It even stuffs in as many delightful little nuggets as it can without alienating green players. Inspector Chelmey makes a cameo appearance, even the Blue Badg– I mean, the PC Badger, worms his freaky face into the first trial – and have no fear, Wright aficionados, the stepladder joke makes a triumphant return. Best of all is the recovery of Maya, whom we haven’t physically witnessed in a PW game since Trials and Tribulations. Needless to say, she returns clad in all her zealous, eccentric glory, and like every other character populating the title, has been written to comic and sentimental perfection.

The game is set into large chapters, with many mini chapters within those, and often alternates between a Layton puzzle-based chapter and a Phoenix trial chapter, so you never feel that one party is being neglected. Overall, it’s fairly balanced and well-rounded, but it’s when both parties come together and combine their approaches that this game really shines (cue playful banter where Phoenix usually ends up the butt of the joke). Each individual chapter also has a significant impact upon the rest of the game, all being interwoven into the fabric of the main plot – the mystery of Labyrinthia itself – and information gathered over the course of the game can be viewed at any point using the ‘Mysteries’ button in the start menu. As information is added and smaller mysteries resolved, the archive neatly stores each of the jigsaw pieces that will eventually reveal the solution of this enormous, enigmatic puzzle.

Exploration of the world of Labyrinthia is acheived by hopping across an interactive map to different destinations, and in locations you can search for hint coins that can be traded for tips either in a puzzle screen or during a trial. Some of the townsfolk give out extra puzzles, but the game also provides another source for hidden puzzles so there’s plenty of content to sink your teeth into. There are even mini puzzles for tiny instances, like untying Espella’s ropes, which feel like bonus treats, suggesting that, with care and consideration, the game’s possibilities were fully explored by Level-5. Some puzzles are especially ingenious and though there are some minor repetitions, the majority are original and accompanied by beautiful medieval artwork.

Phoenix’s trial sections are the parts that receive the biggest revamp, however. Court scenes are generally more a homage to the classic PW, with the old five-mark credibility bar and the bare traditional modes of cross-examination present – no widget, no magatama and no psyche-locks – just good old-fashioned ace attorney style. However, as Labyrinthia is an utterly illogical place (I mean, come on, witches get burned in a flaming pit, does that seem logical to you?), a new cross-examination mechanic has been introduced, where multiple witnesses take the stand, with hilarious consequences. Now Phoenix must interrogate a hoard of witnesses and cross-reference their statements to discover contradictions, while they ignore him and bicker among themselves! On top of this, defending clients in a world where witches are burned ups the stakes for a guilty verdict, filling trials with tension and suspense like never before.

Even the menus receive a makeover with cute character-themed buttons.

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright is an irresistible game with very few cons to speak of. Fully 3D cutscenes and sensational small-screen graphics are what brings this crossover world to life, and the game displays some of the best voice acting moments to be seen yet on the 3DS. The animation is in the halfway-house, with Layton characters upped in detail and Wright characters lowered somewhat to blend well with the beautiful environments of London and Labyrinthia. Phoenix’s animation on the stand can look a little rigid, like a deer in headlights, but otherwise the animation is detailed and expressive. No component has been spared an improvement, not even the soundtrack, which is arguably the best so far.

So, Capcom and Level-5’s new crossover has indeed proven itself innocent of all charges. It’s a game lovingly assembled by both developers, certainly fit to be seen in any Layton and Wright collection; a hefty, well-proportioned adventure that will easily cost at least twenty hours of your life, given willingly.

“Defence, what is your verdict?”

“No objections to a sequel, Your Honour!”

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