Preview: Pro Philosopher 2 is a political discussion club combined with Ace Attorney.

The Ace Attorney-inspired Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher was released by Intelligible Games in 2013 for web browsers. Rather than having murderers in outrageous courtroom dramas, you had to argue with actual philosophers from history to determine what morality actually is. In 2023, a complete recreation of the game was released on Steam. However, a decade later, the same team has returned with a real sequel that focuses on politics, a subject that gamers love.

As part of Steam Next Fest, I had the opportunity to play a brief sample of Pro Philosopher 2: Governments & Grievances, which should be downloadable by the time you read this. You can easily do it in 20 minutes, and when I say short, I really mean short. It does, however, provide a concise overview of what to anticipate from the whole game: a lot of obvious parallels to Ace Attorney, intriguing discussion themes, and a lighthearted sense of humor.

Although it pains me to say this, Pro Philosopher 2 is reminiscent of Capcom's visual novel series. However, a quick glance will reveal that Pro Philosopher 2 wears the Ace Attorney inspirations all over, rather than simply on its sleeves. Its basic gameplay concepts are not only mechanically comparable, but it also heavily borrows from Ace Attorney in several areas of its presentation. When caught off guard, characters react exaggeratedly, and during disagreements, they yell "Nonsense!" with the same fervor as Phoenix Wright's famous "Objection!"—complete with the word slamming onto the screen in large red letters. There's a chance this may cost Pro Philosopher 2. any hint of its own individuality, yet it's obvious that these parallels stem from a mutual respect for Ace Attorney. and not a blatant effort to mimic it in an attempt to replicate its level of popularity. Furthermore, being an ardent Ace Attorney I can't resist smiling at the ways that Pro Philosopher 2 borrows ideas from Capcom's creations.

A game where you have to discuss politics and expose the weaknesses in each philosopher's philosophy seems like a big, challenging undertaking, but if you've ever played even one Ace Attorney game, you can easily feel comfortable with it. As opposed to hard proof, you have an idea slate that may be used to refute the claims of your opponent, much as how you would utilize inconsistencies in a Ace Attorney testimony. If you challenge someone properly, it will diminish your credibility, and once that is gone, it's done.

In fact, it's a really straightforward concept: just as you may ask for further testimony in Ace Attorney, you can also ask for clarification if you believe a certain remark is too ambiguous or ask your opponent to provide proof to support their allegation. Completing these tasks may provide new concepts for the idea slate or extra assertions. For the most careful of players, there is no penalty for utilizing the Clarification and Backing choices on every remark (you'll also get some humorous dialogue out of it). Additionally, if you finish a sentence, you'll get a little clue about what to do in case you become utterly lost.

The demo was quite easy for me to get into, but I have a feeling the full game will be much harder. There is a hint at an additional gameplay mechanism that isn't shown in the demo, and considering the complexity of the political argument itself, there may be some really challenging riddles that leave a good number of players perplexed. Naturally, it's too early to predict how they will be handled or if the level of difficulty will be appropriately distributed. If nothing else, you should be entertained by the Ace Attorney-like presentation and lighthearted banter between lead character Ari and her other cast members. You could even pick up some new political historical facts.

The rather ridiculous sense of humor in Pro Philosopher 2 won't appeal to everyone, but it made me laugh a little bit. mostly because it presents real philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli as this haughty genius who always smiles smugly while smugly asserting his superior intelligence. Although there will undoubtedly be artistic license in the portrayal of these real-life personalities, it's still an enjoyable experience. Additionally, you might choose to just say something like "You stink!" to your opponent during a discussion. This is a tactic that is meant to backfire and damage your reputation. Even then, I can envision players using it to see how each philosopher responds when pulled into a typical Twitter dispute.However, how Pro Philosopher 2 handles its debate subject selection is likely to make or ruin the game. Thankfully, the demo gives no indication that it will attempt to maintain a neutral position at all. Machiavelli defends overt totalitarianism, arguing that only a single, unrestrained ruler free from moral constraints can establish a stable form of governance. I believe we can all agree that's a terrible notion, and Ari thoroughly refutes it, as does the game and the production team. However, will this same strategy be used to other debates? What happens if the player is forced to provide an argument in the game that they don't essentially agree with? Will Pro Philosopher 2 even tackle the most contentious subjects, or will it play it safe and limit itself to deconstructing antiquated or unpopular views that aren't relevant in the twenty-first century? It's a difficult balancing job, but I would rather that the game adopt a position of some kind rather than suddenly caving in and saying that "all sides are equally valid."In any case, anybody interested in visual novels, logic games, and/or political conversation that doesn't immediately turn into people calling each other names should definitely check out Pro Philosopher 2. Though the precise number hasn't been disclosed, it looks like it will be a rather heavy game as well, promising more philosophical opponents than the five that its predecessor had. Trailers for the game include a few examples, including the deliciously foppish Englishman John Locke from the 17th century and the Chinese scholar Confucius, so the types of viewpoints that players will have to contend with are already very diverse. From a mechanical standpoint, Pro Philosopher 2 seems to be flawlessly solid. I commend Intelligible Games for their brave choice to base the whole game on political discourse, particularly given the present state of affairs. It is my goal that it will provide meaningful and thought-provoking insights on the range of discussion subjects it covers.