Indies that should become #Nindies: Aviary Attorney

Hands up who has enjoyed an Ace Attorney game on the GBA/DS/3DS over the last decade. Hands up who wants more of those experiences on the Nintendo Switch.  See, there are plenty of you clamoring for these games! With Capcom not really diving two feet first in to Switch development, we might be left with Indie titles to quench our thirst, and that’s where this weeks Indie that should become #Nindies nominee comes in!

From the minds of Jeremy Noghani and Mandy Lennon at Sketchy Logic, Aviary Attorney is an adventure game very much in the mold of the Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney series. Taking on the role of of an Avian defense attorney, Jay Jay Falcon and his bumbling assistant Sparrowson, the title sees you defend a variety of anthropological clients in a 19th Century Parisian setting.

Each chapter of Aviary Attorney introduces you to a new crime and over the course of several days you are tasked with investigating the scene for clues, interviewing persons of interest as well as your client before finally taking the action to the courtroom where you must cross examine witnesses during the trial while trying to secure that important ‘Not guilty’ verdict.

If that all sounds familiar to you, then it should as the flow of the gameplay clearly mimics that of Capcom’s famous series, however do not be fooled as it does come with it’s own quirks!  Unlike the Ace Attorney series, here you can only visit one location per day, and with a limited amount of days before each trial begin you must carefully pick and choose which locations to visit.  It is entirely possible that you may miss out on vital testimony or clues due to not visiting the right locations for each case which in turn will make the cross examinations that little bit harder!  To take things further, failure in Aviary Attorney is not the end of your game and the story progresses regardless. Scenarios will change accordingly and the final act of the game changes heavily dependent on the result of the prior case, however, play your cards right and you can end up in court with all the vital evidence needed to defend your helpless client in front of a multitude of jeering and hollowing attendees.

When I first happened upon this game, the first thing that stood out, and I hope it is the same for you, is the exquisite art style and presentation.  It may surprise you to learn that the vast majority of the game is drawn from public domain sources!  The art itself is composed mostly of art from J J Grandvilles work “The Public and Private life of Animals”.  Things like backgrounds, items and even fonts have been lifted from contemporaries and painstakingly scanned and beautifully (i mean it, it looks amazing) animated to help create a wonderful picture book style for the game.

The soundtrack too is public domain in the form of the works of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.  His works just add an extra touch of class that the overall presentation exudes and the whimsy inducing pieces included in the likes of the trailer below just make this an unmissable experience in this writers opinion!

Now to the difficult part, why should this come to the Switch, and more importantly, could it?  With regards to the why I believe the success of adventure games on the DS and 3DS (Ace Attorney series, Professor Layton Series, Kyle Hyde titles) paint a picture that there is an audience for these titles on Nintendo handhelds.  Though differing in the overall style of writing from the likes of Ace Attorney, Aviary Attorney possesses great humor and wit throughout and could well tide people over while they wait for Capcom to do something more on the Switch than dip their toe in.  I also think the Switch interface could work extremely well with gameplay.  Utilising the touchscreen for controls is the ideal interface for titles like this and I feel the artwork would shine on the Switch screen.

The stumbling block definitely comes with the ‘could it?’ though.  Firstly, the Construct 2 engine used to create Aviary Attorney may not be compatible with the Nintendo Switch. It is currently compatible with the Wii U though, so that could be a good sign!  Most importantly though is that fact that the social media account for Aviary Attorney is now mostly inactive meaning any fan cry to get this title ported over may fall on deaf ears!

At the end of the day, I truly believe this would be a great fit for the Nintendo Switch, and I feel there is demand for titles like this on the device, and if not Aviary Attorney then hopefully some other talented individuals will answer our call.  For now though, check out the trailer below, and if you have any interest in the game, check it out on Steam.