Tin tức

In the commercial world, there is a rule: when you have the rights to use the names of heroes whose popularity has already reached legendary levels, start doing crossovers. And it doesn’t matter that the characters live in different time periods or even universes, the plot will somehow grow together. But the target audience of the project will be many times wider. This time Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton will meet each other – representatives of two cult consoles for owners of Nintendo series.

Witches Hammer

The idea of ​​“crossing” in this case does not seem illogical and violates the laws of common sense. The characters have a lot in common: both are outstanding intellectuals, both face complex mysteries and strive to find the truth. Thanks to this the plot Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney seamlessly combines Leighton’s research and intellectual activities with Wright’s judicial proceedings.

The era and territory for the two heroes to spend time together is chosen to be neutral – the action takes place in the medieval city of Labyrinthia, full of mysteries and secrets. It is controlled by the Storyteller, who creates stories that inevitably come to life. He writes the fate of the city, and the residents take it for granted – magic and enchantment here are not considered something fabulous and impossible. On the contrary, the order of inquisitors regularly conducts trials of witches, sentencing each one to death by fire.

Our heroes find themselves in this world in a mystical way: the girl Espella, suffering from memory loss, comes to Layton’s house, asks him for help and shows him a magic book, after reading which the professor finds himself in the Labyrinthia. The same fate awaits Phoenix. In the vastness of the dark Middle Ages, our heroes will have to enter into legal disputes with inquisitors more than once, defending witches, learn Espella’s dark past and unravel the many secrets of the city.

The script is replete with exciting events and unexpected turns, thanks to which you quickly get used to the new setting. In addition, the traditionally enchanting ending will put everything in its place. If you close your eyes to some inaccuracies, then, as usual, it will turn everything upside down and willy-nilly make you remember the good old “Matrix”.

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Since the canons of plot development in both series are completely consistent with each other, no serious compositional or semantic contradictions should have arisen. What was more alarming was the way two different mechanics were combined. Fortunately, the developers did not create a new monstrous hybrid gameplay, but simply offered us a series of gameplay fragments from both series. Thus, Layton’s travels around the city move the story forward, and Wright’s court hearings "chew" key moments. However, each of the mechanics has undergone some changes.

“Leyton’s” episodes followed the path of quantitative and qualitative simplification. As usual, we will meet dozens of different locations, full of interactive points with hidden coins and puzzles. In total you will have to solve about six dozen puzzles – not as many as in the same Azran Legacy. There are no additional mini-games or hidden collectibles here. The puzzles themselves have become an order of magnitude lighter – the cost of a larger number of them is twenty to thirty “picarats” (local analogues of glasses). Only a few times during the passage we will have to face truly difficult challenges.

If the main part of the game for Layton has become definitely simpler and poorer, then with the “lawyer” gameplay everything is somewhat more complicated. On the one hand, the opportunity to take part in real witch trials and defeat representatives of the Inquisition in verbal combat is a very interesting find from the developers. On the other hand, the updated setting can confuse a fan of the series: what could a world in which magic reigns have in common with precise procedures for establishing cause-and-effect relationships?? But in fact, there is no problem here, since magic in the Labyrinthia operates according to certain laws, and any spell is subject to established rules, which are written in the Grand Grimoire encyclopedia of magic. During interrogation, Phoenix can refer to the book’s entries and, extracting information about a particular spell, find holes in the testimony.

Another important innovation in “lawyer” mechanics is the simultaneous examination of several witnesses. Previously, the main character had a one-on-one conversation with an eyewitness to the events. Now two, three, and at the last meeting even ten participants will try to deceive Wright. In this regard, the value of evidence has decreased, and now a dozen items will not accumulate in our inventory. To catch one witness lying, you need to find a discrepancy between his testimony and the words of another. The solution is very promising for the series, but in this case it was not implemented very well – liars give themselves away with vivid emotional reactions, which makes the search for contradictions very simple.

Professor Wright and Phoenix Layton

The developers found some adjacent points in the gameplay of both series, which became bridges between the two mechanics and made it possible to create a seamless gameplay. So, there are no “inter-judicial” scenes with finding evidence in the crossover – instead we have a more convenient exploration of locations using Layton’s magnifying glass. And errors in presenting evidence will result not just in the loss of “life”, but in the deprivation of a couple of dozen picarats, which are now used to evaluate the success of Phoenix’s actions.

In addition, the creators constantly connect the characters of one of the series with the rules of operation of another, putting the heroes in unusual conditions. We will see the professor more than once in court, both as a lawyer and as an inquisitor, and Phoenix will try out the deductive method in solving puzzles. In addition to these familiar characters, we will meet Wright’s faithful companion May Fey, and the professor will be helped by a young but promising boy, Luke.

All this free combinatorics of characters and the roles they play is a very interesting sight, which, unfortunately, can only be enjoyed by users familiar with the two series. The same applies to observing the development of relationships between the characters – not everyone will be able to understand all the subtleties of the dialogues. The developers also allowed themselves a lot of humor and irony – for example, Phoenix, having forgotten that he is in a medieval court, demands to take fingerprints from the evidence.

In general, Phoenix, compared to Layton, seems like a worthless boy without any talents. The professor constantly literally explains to the blushing Wright what evidence needs to be presented and what should be said, while showing with all his appearance that he has already solved all the mysteries a long time ago and only wants to enjoy the suffering of the “blue knight”. So the feelings of loyal Phoenix fans may be hurt.

Another reason for dissatisfaction among Wright fans may be the graphics of the new game. The developers needed to bring the two series to a uniform appearance. And the visual style of “Layton” was chosen as a reference. All characters in court hearings are now 3D. Previously, the heroes of the Phoenix saga were always distinguished by sharp emotional reactions to what was happening – someone began to bite their nails out of excitement, someone, filled with confidence in their rightness, smiled charismatically. Although the characters’ actions were repeated, it was not boring to look at the individual facial expressions of each of them. Now, the new visual style, as well as the increased number of witnesses, have affected the quality of the portrayal of the characters. Many are executed rather sparingly and do not have memorable emotions.

But with music the situation is completely opposite. For Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright a huge number of compositions were written. The soundtrack is memorable and accurately conveys the mood of what is happening, be it the nostalgic memories of the characters or the aggressive move of a lawyer in court. Particularly interesting are compositions that combine themes from both series.

Fans, of course, can make complaints about the updated style, interpretation of character images and the somewhat rustic “Layton” line. But if we approach the assessment from a less dogmatic position, then Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney turned out to be an extremely successful crossover. The authors successfully combined elements of two mechanics with an exciting plot with many unexpected twists. Beginners got an excellent opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, having become acquainted with the principles of both series.

Pros: an interesting story with a memorable ending; excellent combination of two mechanics; bright music; humorous dialogues.
Cons: a small number of familiar characters; shortage of complex puzzles.