This is actually two games, which were released separately in Japan. They are a spin off of the Ace Attorney series, set in an alternative Victorian England. You play as a Japanese student who unexpectedly becomes a defence attorney. He stows away on a ship to England to join his friend who was travelling to study the English justice system.
The games are both quite long, and so combined this is a huge game with a lot of cases. They all end up relating to each other though, and it makes a lot of sense them being joined together. The ending also sets up a third entry, but so far there is no news on whether that is going to happen.
One of the main characters is Herlock Sholmes, who in the Japanese version is literally just Sherlock Holmes. He’s a very funny character, who seems overconfident and bumbling but later on it becomes clear that he knows a lot more than he lets on.
There are two major new mechanics in these games. One is that England has a jury system. At any time in the trial the six members of the jury can declare that they’ve reached a verdict. It’s on you to show any contradictions between the positions that they take. The other is deductions, which take place during the investigation sections. This is when you arrive at a new scene and Sholmes declares that he’s figured out what happened. He always reaches incorrect conclusions, however, and it’s on you to redirect his statements to figure out the truth.
I love this whole series, I’ve played every entry. It was really nice to have a pair of games with a completely new set of characters, despite missing people like Dick Gumshoe. I hope one day we get the third entry, or the next in main series. These used to come out frequently, but the gaps have been growing.
