Five years after its last release, Ace Attorney fans are finally getting a treat as Capcom has announced the global release of the series’ spin-off title, The Great Ace Attorney.

The franchise’s creator and director Takumi Shu announced the good news out of nowhere in a short video addressed to all fans of Phoenix Wright and the gang. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve will both be available in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles which will be released on July 27 later this year. The two titles were previously Japan-only releases for the Nintendo 3DS back in 2015 and 2017.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will center on the adventures of Ryunosuke Naruhodo, the ancestor of Phoenix Wright. The story will take players to the eras of Meiji Japan and Victorian London in the late 19th century. There are ten cases and eight mini escapades to solve, offering about 50 hours worth of investigations, trials, and of course courtroom objections here and there.



Aside from the protagonist Ryunosuke, five other characters have been introduced as part of the main cast — the faithful judicial assistant Susato Mikotoba, the lawyer Kazuma Asogi, the prosecutor Barok van Zieks, and the unbeatable tandem of Detective Herlock Sholmes and Dr. Iris Wilson.

The Great Ace Attorney, Capcom, Herlock Sholmes, Ryunosuke
Credit: Capcom

Ace Attorney players (and even some fans of British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) were surprised at how the world-famous fictional detective’s name turned out to be in the global version in contrast to the Japanese version where Capcom used his original name, Sherlock Holmes.

Herlock Sholmes sounds silly, but it might be a way for Capcom to avoid copyright strikes against some of the Sherlock Holmes books that are not out in the public domain yet.

This isn’t the first appearance of Herlock Sholmes in a medium, as the detective already became a part of the novel “Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes” back in 1908.

If you think about it, Herlock Sholmes is a great fit for Ace Attorney’s humorous and pun-tastic naming convention. You’ve already heard of Sal Manella, Wendy Oldbag, and Guy Eldoon, now get ready for… Herlock Sholmes!

The Great Ace Attorney will drop later this summer season and will be playable on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and on Steam.

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