Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Review

Spoken about in hushed tones and surreptitiously traded in back alleys, dedicated Ace Attorney fans have had an awkward relationship with Ace Attorney Investigations – or at least they have done when it came to the sequel, seeing as it had no official English release. It almost felt like this arm of the series suffered from neglect,  considered to be overtly optional or only for the diehards given its oddly elusive status in the West. But in retrospect it seems that this was simply a fumble on Capcom’s part, because hot damn this is some tasty Ace Attorney action.

It’s hardly Cappy Com’s first time around the block when it comes to revamping older Ace Attorney titles – given that they have served up a stellar smorgasbord of past titles – but this is absolutely the first time they have done so with the spotlight square on Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Neatly rounding out the saga of modern-era Ace Attorney folks and tying the whole thing up in a lovely litigious bow. Ace Attorney Investigations Collection bundles the 2009 and 2011 DS games Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Prospector’s Gambit together, along with a whole host of accoutrements to bring them inline with Capcom’s recent collections.

Ah yes, Miles is known for flying off the handle

The adventures of the grey haired wonder expands the world of GYAKUTEN SAIBAN in fun and exciting ways, if only for the freeing feeling offered by escaping the courtroom. There is no judge overseeing your actions here, you are boots-to-the-pavement exploring proper crime scenes to deduce what could have happened. It is the grimy and dangerous life of a prosecutor, acting more like a detective than a lawyer – and when you take into account the professionalism of your partner Dick Gumshoe, you’d likely understand why Miles does most of the heavy lifting. You will navigate various spaces in the name of justice, looking in every nook and cranny for evidence before taking the time to draw lines of logic between your findings and your conclusions. Gameplay wise, this is represented by a literal act of locking in your thoughts by way of puzzle pieces, connecting a line of reasoning to a logical deduction – “the thing was in that place because…the killer dropped it”. It is a little Cluedo, a smidge Sherlock Holmes – but 100% Miles Edgeworth, baby.

You will also dig up these clues by cross examining the people close to the crime, meaning that the majority of your time is spent poking around for clues and shaking down nerds for their testimony. It’s a refreshingly cool twist on how Ace Attorney typically works, and once you hit your stride you start to realise – Hold on, this is just a point and click adventure game. And I do not say this in a derogatory way, it’s actually quite inspired how it all works. Instead of using a chicken pulley on the rope, I am using logical observation with discovered evidence, putting the gameplay a few paces away from the visual novel-esque feeling of the other games. It is an appreciable and logical detour from the usual Ace Attorney outing – where you find yourself rapidly fumble through a selection of evidence, shoving it into the face of disinterested parties and hoping for a positive (or emotionally negative) reaction.

Drop some logic bombs to uncover the truth

Where this shines the most is the wickedly creative cast of crazies and ludicrous locations that make up the madcap narrative. You’d never find yourself poking around an aeroplane mid-flight as Phoenix Wright, nor investigating a presidential assassination attempt – the wider world of Ace Attorney is properly on display through the eyes of Miles and his adventures. This is particularly true of the sequel, which sees a threat to his credibility as a prosecutor take the form of a rival that seeks to have Edgeworth lose his position. It’s perhaps the most incredible AA story I have ever experienced, where the stakes feel real enough to have you concerned about what might happen next all while you continue to chuckle at punny character names and fiendishly sharp written dialogue.

The sequel also sets about adding an additional layer of gameplay to the Edgeworth toolbox, by introducing the notion of Mind Chess. When Miles finds himself at a critical juncture in his cross examination, the landscape of the conversation will be presented as a chess board – offering both prosecutor and defendant-dork a chance to outmanoeuvre the other in pursuit of truth. At times, the options presented may feel overtly obvious when you apply a little common sense to what you are trying to uncover – but the handful of times I discovered that making no move at all was the right play was all it took for me to consider it a bang-on bit of AA-flavoured fun.

You’re between a rook and a hard place

It should also come as no surprise that the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is also spectacularly pretty, with redrawn sprites and environmental areas looking slick. I never got to play the game on its native hardware, so I had to look up some Nintendo DS footage to really appreciate where it had ended up – because obviously the Nintendo Switch was handily rendering the classic sprites too neatly for me to wonder what had been improved. What really stands out and sets Ace Attorney Investigations apart from its predecessors is the ‘World Sprites’ of all of the characters, given that the format of the game will see people milling about in the environment – not just appearing as waist-up art during dialogue. This results in small moments of animated interaction, with many of the titular peeps doing their signature flair in the game world – whether it is Miles waggling his finger to make a point or Franziska cracking her whip. All of these rendered moods and gestures do an immense amount of work to uplift the general feel of the game, particularly when you start encountering and conversing with some of the more colourful characters. It left me properly aghast that we didn’t see this format become more of a staple in the series moving forward – if only for how much visual depth it would add to the series.

The title also has all the signature trimmings of the collections that have come before it, with accessibility options to simplify the gameplay experience or even wholesale remove it, resulting in an experience that plays out more like a cinematic novel should you wish. This would likely be a magnificent option for people who want to enjoy the story but rest their brain from the puzzles of logic – but also serves as a great catch up for people who perhaps played the original game on their Nintendo DS and now wish to speedrun the story as a quick catch-up before jumping into the long lost sequel. And once you have dispensed your justice, feel free to dive deep into a collection of fancy character art and soundtrack options at will, scrutinising the impressive visuals of every oddball character and their mannerisms.

Maybe don’t wear a hanky around your neck

Final Thoughts

As the often overlooked and underappreciated cousin of the Ace Attorney series, Investigations holds a certain mystique that may have been missed by most casual fans. The change in formula and lack of a sequel translation meant that it was hard to invest in, and so it missed the opportunity to be praised alongside the more mainline entries. But this remaster has done all the right things to right such wrongs, easily communicating that Edgeworth is every bit as enjoyable as his spikier haired adversary – with a fun tale that steps comfortably out of the courtroom and onto the global stage.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch // Review code supplied by publisher

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