Sketchy Logic Games, the developer of the Phoenix Wright With Birds visual novel Aviary Attorney, has patched in the final chapter to the game after stirring up a bit of controversy when players found out that one of the promised endings was missing from the release version of their game.
In the patch notes they say they've also fixed a couple of bugs as well as add an option to delete your savegames if you want to start the game from scratch or if you've encountered a bug that would stop you from continuing past the first screen in chapter 1. The developer states that the game is now officially complete, with planned updates being focused on fixing bugs still present in the game as well as add completely new content to the base game. The game is still missing achievements on PC and Mac platforms, and while the developer can't give an indication as to when those are coming, they do plan on adding achievement support soon.
Aviary Attorney was released on the 22nd of December last year. Our very own Pattrick Perrault did a review on it, and he liked it quite a bit.
Quick Take
Even though the developer stepped up to the plate, this shouldn't have happened in the first place. The developer stating that the game was released before it was officially complete was mainly due to the developer already releasing the game past its initial release date, citing money issues as a factor in releasing the game in an incomplete state. No matter how red your bank statements look, releasing an unfinished game and disclosing it only after people found out there was a missing ending isn't good form, and it's certainly not good business to do so. Let's just hope the developer has learned their lesson.
What are your thoughts on releases like this? Should the game have been marked as Early Access? What does Valve need to do, if anything, about situations like this? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
