Dual Destinies Discernment

-Warning: Some spoilers for the Acre Attorney series-

I am an unapologetic fan of the Ace Attorney series.  I picked up the first game on a complete whim, and devoured it within a week.  Since then I've bought each subsequent game on its release date, as as each of the various manga, and I've replayed each game several times over.  So you can bet that I'm super excited for the release of Dual Destinies this week.  Heck, I replayed the third and fourth games again recently to prepare.  

I'm certain I'm going to like this game, but there's something I need to get out before hand.  Ever since it was announced that the main character was once again going to be Phoenix, I've wondered if the Ace Attorney 5 we'll be getting soon is the true Ace Attorney 5.

Let me explain: Much of the conflict in the Ace Attorney series comes from playing as a rookie greenhorn lawyer going up against more seasoned and veteran opponents.  The first three games in the series, Phoenix Wright, Justice For All, and Trials and Tribulations (which I'll refer to as AA1, AA2, and AA3 for the future) were all about Phoenix's growth from a rookie attorney to a respected defense lawyer.  In AA1 Phoenix was a pushover, ready to give up the case at a moments notice.  But by the end of AA3's final case, Phoenix can stand confidently behind his bench and see the case through to the end on his own.  

If there was to be a fourth game about Phoenix, what growth would he have left to do?  Any new, antagonistic  prosecutor couldn't rightfully demean Phoenix, not after everything he's done thus far.  It would ring hollow.  The game's developers knew this.  Why else would they use the Cornered Theme from AA1 to close out the final case of AA3?  To emphasize how far he's come to reach the end of is story.  All the loose ends of his trilogy were wrapped up, Phoenix says goodbye to his mentor once and for all, and is ready for his future as a legitimate attorney.

The lead up to Apollo Justice (or AA4) was filled with promotion touting it as the start of a new era for the series.  The game itself ended with an overall feeling of a new start, that Phoenix had laid his demons to rest and was more than willing to stay in the background and let Apollo take the reigns.  Everything was set up for this new era: the lawyer, the assistant, the mentor, the friendly rival (Gavin), and the friend on the police force (Ema).  There was even a cliffhanger of sorts, hinting at further exploration into Trucy Wright's character and family history.  This was to be the next storyline for the series.  

Now, AA4 came out in Japan in April of 2007, and a fifth installment to the series, Gyakuten Saiban 5, was announced a month later.  Yet it took nearly six years for the game to be released.  What could have caused such a wide gap?

This is where I think the series started to veer off of it's desired intent.  AA4 did not sell as well as Capcom had hoped.  Additionally, many people flat out did not like Apollo, whether it was due to his more forceful personality rubbing them there wrong way, or just because they didn't want anyone to replace Phoenix as the lead.  Many also disliked that AA4's Phoenix was characterized as rude and somewhat belittling.  The next game in the series to be released was Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (or AAI).  This game was called Gyakuten Kenji in Japan, which means that this wasn't the Gyakuten Saiban 5 announced in 2007.  My guess is that this was released as a way of testing new investigation system that may have been used in the actual Gyakuten Saiban 5.  Yet, even though AAI starring a more familiar face as the lead, one fans would be more receptive to playing as despite the game not starring Phoenix, the game sold poorer than Capcom had hoped in the west.

What am I trying to say with all this history?  Well, I believe that, in order to increase sales AA5, Capcom completely reworked the game they had intended to make.  People didn't like Apollo as much as they did Phoenix, so Capcom decided to make Phoenix the main character again, flying in the face of his character development in AA4 and all the grandeur that was made of this "new era" of Ace Attorney.  It's the only reason I can think of to make Phoenix that star again.

Furthermore, we have the Mood Matrix system.  In AA5, this lets players discern a witness's emotions during testimonies, and when their mood shifts during certain topics.  This sounds incredibly similar to Apollo's Perceive ability, which allowed him to spot a witnesses nervous habit.  Both abilities are about noticing subtle changes in a person when the testimony shift to key topics.  My theory is that the Mood Matrix was intended for Apollo's use, as an evolution of the Perceive ability, and as a means to show his growth as a lawyer.  But with Phoenix becoming the main character again, Capcom had to conceive another way for him to use the Matrix, hence the new partner Athena.

I will be the first to admit that this is purely speculative, and my evidence is nothing more than ideas and hypothesis.  We may never now what AA5 would have been like if the previous two games in the series had sold well, unless Capcom comes out and says so one way or another.  Personally, while I was looking forward to another whole game as Apollo, I'm just glad to get another Ace Attorney game in my hands.  So I'll speculate just for the fun of it, and keep hoping for a release of Investigations 2.