The latest Ace Attorney game brings justice more of a spiritual twist, but Siliconera recently spoke to the game and scenario director, Takeshi Yamazaki, who talked about how things could’ve been a little darker in Phoenix Wright’s latest adventure.

When creating the theme for Spirit of Justice, Yamazaki held a brainstorming session where the team felt that the weak defeating the strong was what made a good turnabout. What other ideas were discussed? Were there any case ideas that didn’t work?

Takeshi Yamazaki, Game and Scenario Director: There was one real sticking point while I was writing the design document for Spirit of Justice, and that was how were we going to put Phoenix in a corner, given that he’d become this legendary lawyer in the course of this series.

One idea was to have Phoenix stand as a lawyer in an underground court that served the likes of the mafia and other underworld inhabitants. That underground court would hold trials and render judgment on those who’d broken the rules of the underworld, meaning that even Phoenix would have a tough time believing in his own clients. Furthermore, everyone involved in the trials would be members of the underworld, including witnesses and prosecutors, so naturally, there would be false testimonies, forged evidence, bribes, blackmail, and other dirty dealings going on. Under those circumstances, we figured even Phoenix would feel incredibly like a fish out of water.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice is available for Nintendo 3DS.