In this week's big Famitsu feature on Ace Attorney 5, producer Motohide Eshiro and scenario writer Takeshi Yamazaki talk at length about the game. The interviewer asks something that I'm sure has been on every fan's mind since they found out a new AA game was coming; where the hell is Maya?

Yamazaki danced around the question and jokingly pondered if "maybe she's still doing her special training back at home? Hahaha." This is hardly a confirmation that everyone's favorite spiritual medium won't make an appearance in the game though.

When asked if any other characters from the prior entries in the series would be making an appearance, Eshiro coyly answered that "The world is of course the same as the previous games, so whether they make an appearance or not, the characters are still around." 

Further more, Famitsu confirms for us that the pendent in Phoenix's jacket is actually the same pendent he possessed during Ace Attorney 4. Both men go on to talk about how this is a direct sequel and that they had wanted to tell the story of what happened after the last game. Phoenix reclaims his attorney badge to keep an important promise he made with someone. With the world of law having fallen into something of a dark age, Phoenix returns to the courtroom to try and set things straight. Famitsu adds that the mysterious new female character is also scheduled to be officially introduced at TGS in a few weeks. 

The Tokyo Game Show demo is set to be about 15 minutes long, so you can bet we'll be there with full impressions of the game come September 20.