Shu Takumi, the creator behind the Ace Attorney series, has admitted that he absolutely loves working on Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright. Takumi says that it presented the opportunity to do something with the courtroom drama that he wouldn’t normally do. He went on to say that he decided to make a story rooted in the traditions of Professor Layton games, rather than the Ace Attorney games. Here’s what he had to say.

“I wanted to something I wouldn’t be able to do in the proper Ace Attorney series. And I thought, isn’t there something that would also fit to the fantasy-esque worlds of Professor Layton? ‘Then it has to be the witch trials,’ I thought. And regarding the mob trials, when I imagined a trial in a medieval world, a lawless image came to be, with people yelling “I saw it,” “No, that’s wrong!” It seemed interesting for the game, so I used that.”

“I felt that Professor Layton’s adventure movie-esque elements shouldn’t be absent. I think that the mystery element is really concentrated in the concept of the medieval witch trials. Things natural to the modern world, like fingerprint analyses or other scientific methods don’t exist there. Instead, you’re hurled into a world where the rules of science of the real world don’t apply, where a witch exists who uses magic to commit crime.”

“In this incomprehensible situation, what are you going to use to build your logic and how are you going to defend your client? To find a way to turn things around in total darkness, that’s the theme this time. On the other hand, Professor Layton is also solving puzzles, and with him chasing the secret behind the mysterious town, we have a double layered story.”