Aviary Attorney flocks to Steam December 18

"I played it at Rezzed, and it's good—like Phoenix Wright, but with Victorian birds," Phil said of Aviary Attorney this morning, and what more need I add but to say that it's out on Steam on December 18? Ok, perhaps a little context would be appropriate.

LEGAL TERM OR VICTORIAN BIRD?

• Rail
• Chattel
• Megapode
• Affidavit
• Juvenile Delinquent
• Nolle

In mid-19th century Paris, bird-brained attorney Jayjay Falcon and his assistant, Sparrowson, hit upon a lucrative contract: "Bourgeoisie kitten" Caterline Demiaou is up on murder charges, and you need to get her off the hook. Like Phoenix Wright, Aviary Attorney is divided into evidence-gathering and legal wrangling phases, but it's possible to fluff a case completely and still progress the story one way or another.

Aviary Attorney is the mad brainspawn of a two-person team, Jeremy Noghani and Mandy Lennon, who were inspired by the whimsical illustrations of JJ Grandville. The backgrounds and music were drawn from public-domain 19th-century sources—sticking it in a game is the sort of strange oxymoron that commends it to me.