Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney:Review and my feelings about this crossover

Well it took the US and its territories long enough, but we got it. We finally got Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney.These are two very different franchises, but yet come together for one game, and I will say the game on its own is pretty good for what it is. There have been many complaints that the game is so easy but you have to realize that the game was meant to breathe new life into both series. So if you've played only one series or the other, it's meant to make you see the other side and make you want to play the other... And for me, it certainly did that.

 I've been playing Phoenix Wright games since the first one came out, it was the one game I wanted for my 3DS and I was happy to play it. The story was so fun. And the Japanese best version of the game; Gyakuten Saiban, well it came with not only the Japanese version but the English as well. So when a new game came out with my favorite defense attorney, I went to get it as soon as I could.

U.S. Cover of the game featuring the main four heroes

 I am trying to keep this review spoiler free so I'm sorry if there are things in here that you didn't want to read, since I tried to keep it to the content and want you to experience the game itself.

So as it comes to reviews, I will be reviewing it based on these criteria in order:
-Story and setting
-Characters
-Voices/Music
-Gameplay
-Cohesiveness

Story and Setting
The story itself starts off in London, England featuring Professor Layton and his assistant, Luke recieving a request from a previous student of the Professor. While at the same time Phoenix and Maya are going to a conference in England. In a weird twist of fate both groups of people then get thrown into Labyrinthia, the city of walls.

Concept Art for the game

In Labyrinthia everything is decided and foretold by the Storyteller, and what he writes is an absolute to the point where if he goes out into the street people create parades for him, and revere him; for his power is absolute.

But where you play a part in it; well it depends on who you are currently playing as. If you're playing as Layton and Luke, your main point is to figure out the secrets of Labyrinthia and what lies beyond the veil that control the regular people whose days go by in relative peace.

As for Wright, he does what he does best, and that is pull miracles in the courtroom. Since the trails that happen in Labyrinthia are witch trials, Wright has to learn the new ins and outs of the courtroom including a new mob mechanic.

The story that happens within Labyrinthia itself is brimmed with an intriguing storyline, but the problem with it is its pacing, especially towards the end of the game itself.

Characters
Layton, Luke, Phoenix and Maya are all developed quite nicely and interact great. Personally I love how Luke and Maya interact together the most, mainly because both characters have somewhat child-like whimsy around both of them. Though all four main characters act like how you think they would be. But it isn't just about them but the characters that surround them.

The citizens of Labyrinthia all have unique personalities and likes. Labrythinthia's citizens are all about puzzles though, so a lot of your interactions will contain puzzles with them. But when you're in court, this is when character development shines the most. Most characters seem one dimensional, but during the witch trials, these seemingly one dimension characters aren't so one dimensional anymore.

Though I felt the greatest love for your opponent, who for the most part in the trials is Inquisitor Barnham.

Inquisitor Barnham's first appearance in court

Inquisitor Barnham's a knight, but at the same time, he is beloved by the citizens for his personality though he may seem like a bad guy at first glance, you realize through court cases that, well that isn't the case with him. As he only desires one thing; truth. At first Phoenix was able to trip him up, as a knight he is quick on his feet and can adapt fast in court. He is a good counter to Phoenix in the courtroom and can keep him on his toes, which made court battles between the two very fun to watch and read. Really good character dynamics between the two.

But though the regular citizens and Barnham are great; a lot of the other main characters are rather insufferable, Espella in particular just really irritates me. Her personality is just so infuriating at times, she tries to keep self sacrificing herself but it seems so half-assed that I can't believe it to be true sometimes. I simply cannot empathize with her and that's a huge problem seeing as she is one of the main characters that interacts constantly with Wright and Layton. It's just lazy writing and development, which held the game back since this game is extremely story driven.

Voices/Music
I've got to admit the voices for this game are top notch, even though there's no Japanese track the English voices were such a delight to listen to. All the British characters all had accents and Maya and Phoenix sounded great. Though it was weird hearing Phoenix's inner thoughts in the same exact pitch that he was speaking normally. That just didn't translate well when voiced parts happened. If there was some sort of indicator that he's talking to himself in his head it would have made everything better.

The music though, I simply loved it. Music greatly added to the charm of the game and was appropriate for what ever happened. The music that plays during most puzzles was extremely soft yet the constant beat was just enough that I didn't mind whenever I failed a puzzle or had to take some time to think about what I was doing. Though the song I enjoyed most was Layton's theme. It's just soothing for the ears, a great arrangement that suits the Professor.

Gameplay
Gameplay is divided into two main parts based on whichever character you're playing. Layton's puzzles are rather straightforward along with the investigation. It just is a whole bunch of different types of puzzles based on either the place or the current person you are interacting with.

Layton explains to Phoenix and Maya about puzzles

The puzzles themselves I've heard from other people are quite easy for a Layton game, but as my first time playing this sort of thing, a lot of puzzles kind of kicked my butt. Though later on I realized that using the memo function and trying to figure it out. Then everything became a little bit easier, but sometimes I thought puzzles worked one way, when the exact opposite was true. But the puzzles were fun for a person who had never played anything Layton before.

As for Phoenix's side it at first seems like a standard court case in Labyrinthia, but you have to remember that these are witch trials. The witch trials have introduced a new mechanic called the mob trial. Now to explain the mob trial I need to show a picture of it first.

Mob Trial-exclusive to this game

The mob trial has you interviewing and questioning all these characters, all at once. Bits and pieces come from each character in the cross examination. The main gripe of this type of trial is the way that the game mechanic works.

So when you're cross examining a person and you press for more information and you'll hear a sort of ping sound and then if you go over there are ellipses that are over the characters head who you can question for even more information on. It makes the game more straightforward, which for most peoples main gripe is that it makes the game easier. But most people don't understand that Ace Attorney is a type of visual novel (adventure game in Japan) so I can see how if need be it can have mechanics to make things more straightforward, especially to make it more accessible to a bigger group of people. But I will admit the main gripe does still stand, it doesn't require as much thought as the original Ace Attorney series, which is a bit sad, because court cases in the Ace Attorney series is so fun, and is usually a huge climax in each case; a nonstop fun climax.

Cohesiveness
Overall the game plays great. The story is really engaging and the characters overall are fun and delightful... But the pacing is rather the worst part of this game and just breaks things up into chunks instead of seamless play.

As you progress through the story, you'll notice that at times it's as if the characters are playing tag with one another. As soon as you get to a really good part; bam, switches you to another point of view and what they're doing, practically just killing the hype that the game has just built up for you. This is especially true when you're playing as Layton and it switches to Phoenix. And the only reason why it feels like that is the most crucial development when it comes to the whole overarching story has you playing as Layton. But then even in game, you're kept from information for the sake of breaking up the current story to have it go somewhere else. Which is dumb.

Afterthoughts 
Would I recommend this game to people? Of course I would! The reason being both the Professor Layton and Ace Attorney series are introduced in such a way that makes it so interesting for anyone to get interested in. And not only that, puzzle games and visual novels/adventure games aren't what I would call the mainstream and these series show how fun and intuitive these genres are.

While there are pacing issues with the story it doesn't detract so much overall when you play the game. Honestly with the way that the game has it, you feel like you're doing a lot of stuff within the game. You feel like you're making great progress. If you like either of the series, I suggest that you pick it up but even if you don't look up some images or the preview if it looks interesting, you may find yourself liking a new genre. I know I did. I am obsessed with Layton right now and want all the games.