You see, up to that point, Ace Attorney had been solely a sprite game, and the sprites were pretty good for their time. As for the games with Professor Layton, they had embraced special 3D models.

Ace Attorney Kenichi Hashimoto sheds some light on the series' move to 3D in a recent interview. ... So we tried out a visual style of 3D models which looked like 2D art, ...

Capcom have shared a new trailer for Ace Attorney 5 that shows off a bunch of courtroom scenes with the game's new 3D models.

The Ace Attorney series is set to make its 3DS debut with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies. But as the series' trademark anime-style visuals may suggest, the change from 2D to 3D ...

As for Layton, like Ace Attorney, the 3D graphics started after the crossover title. Following this, Professor Layton's developer, Level-5, opted to use 3D animation on all of the Nintendo 3DS games.