As I doomscroll through Reddit, bouncing between posts about the state of the world, video game rumors, and ridiculous memes, I stumbled onto the Ace Attorney subreddit and found a post about a developer making their own Ace Attorney-like game. It immediately caught my attention, and it has quickly become one of my most anticipated titles this year now that Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally been released.
Titled Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved, this mystery visual novel adventure is developed and published by an up-and-coming indie studio, Armonica LLC. The inspirations from Capcom’s beloved Ace Attorney series are clear, from its familiar command menus and intentionally obscure time period to its pixel character portraits. What stands out most, though, is that it also borrows ideas from other classics like the Famicom Detective Club series and Hotel Dusk, as noted by the game’s developer, writer, and composer, Joey, in an official interview with UK Anime.
It has all the makings of a great visual novel adventure. From the trope-y missing persons plotline to unraveling a vast conspiracy and dealing with a colorful cast of NPCs trying to make sense of it all, the setup feels strong. One of the things I appreciate about this game is how it is presented. It has an air of familiarity to its systems, while also a hint of novelty from its gameplay. According to that same interview, the creator also made a deliberate choice to avoid synths in the soundtrack, which were a major hallmark of previous Ace Attorney games. Instead, Detective Instinct leans on acoustic instruments like guitars and pianos to give the game its own sound.
While it wears its inspirations proudly, Detective Instinct also features cutscene animations that look top-notch, blending the feel of older visual novel titles with modern touches.
Part of why I’m so excited about this release is because it feels like it was made for fans of the visual novel genre, especially those craving a new Ace Attorney after Capcom seemingly put the series on ice.
Fans have been eager to see what Capcom has planned for Ace Attorney’s future, but it has been nearly a decade of silence regarding the long-rumored seventh entry. In that time, we’ve only gotten a small YouTube series featuring Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth, which, while fun, is hardly enough to satisfy long-time fans.
Detective Instinct has been in development for nearly three years, with planning dating back to February 4, 2022. It’s one of those passion-driven indie projects that grew out of a desire to create something both fresh and familiar. Even better, Joey came up with the idea for the game through a Discord server, which makes the project’s grassroots origin all the more charming.
While we continue to wait for Capcom to show what’s next for Ace Attorney, Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved is shaping up to be a fantastic visual novel adventure that feels perfect for longtime fans of the genre. If it takes off and we get massive fandoms and shipping wars, we might even see more from Armonica LLC’s next titles.
Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved is slated for release on November 26, 2025, and will be available on Nintendo Switch and Steam.
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