While no seventh main game in the Ace Attorney franchise has yet been announced, developer Capcom has indicated interest in continuing the legal mystery series. The past several games have introduced major shakeups to the Ace Attorney status quo, with original protagonist Phoenix Wright adopting a daughter, Trucy, and taking on two apprentice defense attorneys, Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes. While recent games featured complex mysteries and intricate plots, the abundance of new characters and story elements unfortunately left several plot threads hanging at the end. The next Ace Attorney game should resolve these hanging plot threads rather than continuing to leave fans guessing.
While Ace Attorney consistently remains one of Capcom's highest-rated series by critics, it is not among its best-selling. Thus, the franchise has had a shaky few years. Initially, series creator Shu Takumi felt that Phoenix's journey was complete, and introduced Apollo Justice as a new protagonist, but Phoenix's popularity among fans brought the blue-suited lawyer back to the stand. In the past few games, Phoenix and his new proteges have faced down greater and greater threats ranging from internationally wanted spies, political conspiracies, and an attempt to reform an entire country's flawed justice system. While some of these stories have been handled well, others have been left to fall by the wayside in favor of introducing more plots and characters.
Apollo's Mother & Trucy's Heritage
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney had a central mystery revolving around a case that caused Phoenix to lose his law license and adopt Trucy, an orphan girl. Figuring out where Trucy came from was a major plot that was developed consistently throughout all four of the game's cases. It was ultimately revealed that Trucy's mother was Thalassa Gramarye, a famous magician who lost her memory in an accident and had reinvented herself as a singer called Lamiroir. The game ended with perhaps an even bigger reveal - Thalassa is not just Trucy's mother, but Apollo's as well. She is the source of Apollo's magic bracelet that allows him to sense when witnesses are lying and hiding secrets.
Unfortunately, the game ends with only Phoenix Wright figuring out the connection, and Apollo and Trucy never learn their mother's identity or even the fact that they are half-siblings. Two more games in the series, Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, have been released since then, but Thalassa has not appeared in either and Apollo and Trucy still have not learned the truth. Even when Apollo learns more about his father in Spirit of Justice, the issue of his mother is never again addressed.
Iris and the Fey Family
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations was the first entry in the Ace Attorney series to have a major overarching plot stretching through almost every case in the game. The plot revolved around Dahlia Hawthorne, Phoenix's murderous ex-girlfriend who tried to frame him and set him on the path to become a lawyer. The final case in the game, Bridge to the Turnabout, drops a major revelation regarding this iconic villain: she has a non-murderous twin sister named Iris, and the twins are members of the Fey family of spirit channelers. In fact, they are the daughters of vengeful branch family head Morgan Fey, making them half-sisters of recurring series character Pearl Fey. Unfortunately, at the end of Trials and Tribulations, Iris is arrested as an accomplice to murder, and has not been seen since. Her relationship to Pearl and convoluted romantic history with Phoenix makes Iris a fascinating character to potentially return in a future game.
Developer Capcom has previously indicated that it is interested in making an Ace Attorney 7, but the game has not yet been officially confirmed. Once Ace Attorney 7 does come out, fans are hoping to see the return of Iris and Thalassa as well as Pearl, Apollo, and Trucy finally learning the truth about their respective pasts. These would be fascinating additions to the plot of the much hoped-for continuation of the Ace Attorney series.