It’s a great time to be a fan of Ace Attorney games. We’ve got collections everywhere – one for Phoenix Wright, one for Apollo Justice, one for recently-localised hero Ryunosuke Naruhodo – and now, with the release of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, it’s about to be Miles Edgeworth’s turn. I had long since given up on my dream of ever getting to play the second Ace Attorney Investigations game, released in Japan in 2011 but previously unseen elsewhere in the world, and yet here we are, over a decade later, and it’s finally here in this two-game collection. I want to admit from the get-go that I haven’t touched this second entry in the cravat-wearing prosecutor’s journey yet, but I will confidently say that my time revisiting the first game of this collection has only reinvigorated my excitement.
For those who aren’t already familiar with the series, the Investigations Collection is perhaps not the best entry point. With the possible exception of The Great Ace Attorney Collection, the games in the Ace Attorney series are riddled with in-jokes and references, and while there’s still plenty to love about them even when approaching them without the necessary context, I’d imagine you could easily find yourself more than a little lost.
The basic premise itself is not hard to grasp – prosecutor protagonist Miles Edgeworth is known for his perfectionistic tendencies and strong moral compass, and utilises both in his approach to the law. An occasional antagonist in previous games, what he cares about above all else is the truth – a trait that has also traditionally made him a reluctant ally to the determined Phoenix Wright. His (often accidental) charm and tendency towards sassy remarks have also made him a fan favourite, both in-game and with the player base. But for the most part, his game plays like any other in the series – you’ll examine crime scenes, talk to witnesses, and destroy their testimonies by presenting evidence – with just a few key differences.
While most Ace Attorney games can be broken down into clear ‘courtroom’ and ‘investigation’ segments, things are a little less clean-cut for Edgeworth. Witness testimonies in these games are gathered during investigations, as you join Edgeworth on his quest to determine who he actually means to prosecute in any given case. His job is to find the culprit before they make it to the courtroom, which means you’ll often be collecting evidence and using it only moments later to dispute a statement that’s just been made about the crime scene you’re still actively investigating. It completely changes the pacing of the game compared to the traditional format, and (in the first few cases of the first game, at least) this feels like a welcome change.
Edgeworth does have his own ‘ability’, which involves using logic to connect pieces of evidence together to form new theories about the crime. The pieces literally join together like puzzle pieces, and it does feel like you’re building a case step by step in a very satisfying way. In a world traditionally littered with paranormal abilities and occasional magic, it’s sort of refreshing to go back to just plain logic, and of course makes perfect sense for Edgeworth himself. Not that the weirdness and hints of the paranormal are completely absent from this game – there’s something inherently whimsical and magical about basically every character that appears in one of these titles – but it does feel somewhat more grounded.
Plenty of series regulars make their return, both as defendants who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time (as is the Ace Attorney way), and as allies to help with your investigation in various ways. Most notable are Detective Dick Gumshoe, a bumbling but well-meaning police detective who in this case, just wants to be Edgeworth’s best friend and make him proud – which, really, is all anyone ever wants to do; and Franziska von Karma, Edgeworth’s adopted sister and frequent rival with a penchant for whips. There are also plenty of new characters ready to help, hinder, or do a healthy mix of both, all of whom are super weird and wonderful.
The collection itself comes with some fun bonus content, like a gallery of screenshots and game art and a library of the songs you’ve encountered during your playthrough. The soundtracks to these games are always stacked with great tunes, and these extra touches will be a nice addition for those who are revisiting these games (or at least the first game, for most of us). These touches, combined with new artwork and updated graphics (and the ability to toggle back to the old ones if you’re feeling nostalgic), provide a new way to experience games that are now (somehow) more than a decade old.
I’m excited to write a full review of this game, because it’ll mean I’ve had a chance to play Ace Attorney Investigations 2, the real drawcard of this collection. But for now, it’s enough that playing through the early chapters of the first game felt just as good as I remembered, and I’m confident that this game will still absolutely hold up after all these years.
