Capcom shows Phoenix Wright prototype in Dual Destinies
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies is the series’ first game to be shown in 3D. As such, Capcom had to experiment with polygon models – including Phoenix himself – until they felt a proper transition from the 2D games had been made.
Here’s one of the first prototypes created by the team:
And this is the final result:
Localization director Janet Hsu gave an explanation of the prototype’s history in a Capcom-Unity post:
The first order of business my team and I had to tackle was how were we going to create polygon models that unmistakably looked and felt like the series’ iconic 2D sprites? And of course they had to preserve that feel even when they were viewed in full 3D. Well, a few of the artists and modelers on the team got together and put together a concept trailer for this game’s visuals, and this was the result of their first foray into creating Phoenix Wright in 3D.
But! As cringe-worthy as this may be now, we wouldn’t have the in-game models we have today if it wasn’t for this initial prototype. With the help of everyone on the dev team, we continued to refine the way Phoenix’s 3D model looked based on feedback we received until everyone was satisfied.
Obviously, the models themselves aren’t the only things we strove to preserve; there was the matter of how to keep the lively animations from the 2D sprites. However, this was also the Nintendo 3DS, so we wanted to include some elements that took advantage of the new hardware. Thus, by adding in some slick camera work and connecting motions that gave the 3D models that extra bit of fluidity in their movements, we were able to bring a new, hybrid Phoenix to life.
