A woman after our own hearts

The Ace Attorney series will soon be making the leap over to the 3DS with Ace Attorney 5. It sees Phoenix Wright take centre stage once more, and this time he has a new assistant to help him snare sneaky lies from testimonies.

Capcom has recently updated the Ace Attorney 5 website and, thanks to a handy translation from the folks at Siliconera, a few more details on Phoenix's new yellow-clad helper Kizuki Kokone have emerged.

Kizuki has of course studied law, but she has her own special way of discovering the truth. She is guided heavily by her emotions and due to this has a connection with those of the witness. Using her Heart Scope, Ms Kokone can listen to the witness' heart's testimony, allowing her to fish out the truth among the lies and contradictions.

When listening to a heart testimony, a lot of noise is thrown up, stopping you from getting the truth. By reducing this noise Kizuki can get to the very core of the truth, helping Phoenix crack the case; you can briefly see the Heart Scope in action during the trailer from last year's Tokyo Game Show.

As was reported last week, Apollo Justice is making a return in Ace Attorney 5. The newly updated website gives a little more information on him, but doesn't explain his eye-patch or bandages. The only trinket of information is that the coat he is seen wearing around his shoulders has never been seen before.

Some more details were also given on the 3D element of the game. It looks like it won't just be there for aesthetic purposes, but will be crucial to finding evidence lying around; the added depth can allow you to see underneath objects in crime scenes. As with previous games, when exploring areas you must look for clues from left to right. It certainly hasn't been confirmed but it could be possible for the gyro controls of the 3DS be utilised here - we'll have to wait and see for more information.

We still have no release date for Ace Attorney 5, although it's hoped that it will be released at some point in 2013. Capcom's senior vice-president Christian Svensson recently said more information on the game would be coming soon.

Are you looking forward to getting back in the courtroom with Ace Attorney 5? Let us know by dropping a comment below.

[source capcom.co.jp, via siliconera.com]