¡Objeción! The Trials and Tribulations of Translating Ace Attorney for Latin America

All of a sudden, the team of four was sitting in front of over 780,000 words. Any project of this magnitude would be daunting, to say the least. But Ace Attorney presented a unique series of challenges. After all, the visual novel series starring a rookie attorney and an absurdly large character cast is known for pun names, excess of jokes originally translated from Japanese, and subtle word mentions that become key pieces of evidence during trials. Over the following year, the team lived and breathed Ace Attorney.

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“We decided that, inside the courthouse, they would treat each other formally, because that’s the facade they have. But that formality doesn’t exist outside the courthouse. It’s impossible to maintain the relationship with ‘usted’ because they already knew each other from when they were kids,” Morales says.

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An overachiever sentiment led the group to try and keep most of them, but there were some significant lines drawn. When it came to transphobic and fatphobic jokes, of which there are plenty, the team proposed Capcom to censor or remove them altogether, touting the line between the games being a product of their time and considering modern sensibilities.