I was incredibly excited about both the announcement and the chance to review the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection because I had initially missed it when it was first released on the Nintendo DS back in 2009. When I first heard of it, I was beyond excited for a Phoenix Wright-style game where you play as the prosecutor instead of the defence.
But it was a legitimate case of judging a book by its cover as, after seeing a bit of gameplay, I wrote it off for not being exactly what I thought it would be. But I have never been happier to have been so wrong—Ace Attorney Investigations is as exciting, as challenging and as deeply engaging as its counterpart, made all the better by streamlined gameplay.
I won’t say too much about either of the two games included in this collection’s story because experiencing it is half the fun. You play as Miles Edgeworth—one of the world’s foremost prosecutors—who gets embroiled in mysterious and seemingly conspiratorial capers while assisting on initially straightforward investigations. Edgeworth’s commitment to justice and exposing the truth means he’ll stop at nothing to make sure innocent people are cleared and the real criminals are made to face the law!
Much like its counterpart, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection keeps you on your toes in true mystery-plot fashion. Every time you think you’ve figured something out, the game throws new twists, Red Herrings and possible clues to keep you guessing. It balances fairly serious moments involving murder, robbery and wrongful convictions with an air of lighthearted humour that takes a lot of the edge off.
Furthermore, it’s rounded out by an eclectic cast of characters who all bring a little something special to the proceedings. It’s especially nice to see a more genuine side of Edgeworth himself—who was always presented as a bit too serious and cold in Phoenix Wright.
“Ace Attorney Investigations Collection keeps you on your toes in true mystery-plot fashion.”
His partnership—and implied friendship—with the faithful, though sometimes careless, Dick Gumshoe is so incredibly earnest and makes the two so incredibly likeable. Throughout the game, Edgeworth is also paired with eccentric characters that act as a foil to his more serious nature and bring out a lot of his personality through his internal dialogue.
Ace Attorney Investigations’ gameplay is what really stood out to me though. Like I said, a big part of the reason I wrote it off was because it looked more like a traditional point-and-click adventure game instead of the series’ signature interactive novel. However, not only is it a stellar recreation of the game’s signature style, but everything from the way it moves to the way it plays feels faster and more direct.
The core gameplay remains intact: you’re still surveying a handful of areas, looking for clues and then using them to find contradictions in the witness’ testimony. However, if Phoenix Wright was a courtroom drama, Ace Attorney Investigations is a police procedural. Since this game never has a courtroom phase, everything that happens is almost immediate. You’ll conduct your investigation and have verbal confrontations with people—hearing their “arguments” and offering your “rebuttal.”
The basics of Phoenix Wright’s gameplay are expanded by these parameters since nothing is happening in a courtroom and needs to be presented as hard evidence. This presents players with gaps in logic, which Edgeworth needs to put together like literal pieces of a puzzle adding new context to certain evidence.
“The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection features not only the classic music from the 2009 and 2011 releases but also newly updated arrangements to make the game feel more modern and authentic.”
In a similar fashion, Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit features the “Mind Chess” mechanic where Miles engages in a verbal battle of wits with his opponent. It functions similarly to the Magatama from Phoenix Wright—Justice for All, where players unlock secrets from tough witnesses by carefully choosing when to use certain logical inquiries and when to bide their time and prompt their opponent to let things slip.
It all works together so well to create a game that captures all the elements players loved about Ace Attorney’s gameplay while never having the pace slow down during the “Investigation Phase.” As any fan of Phoenix Wright can attest, the latter cases especially can feel like a real drag with so many new areas to search, so much new evidence to acquire, and so many details to remember.
However, the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection never suffers from this problem since every moment feels so immediate, and plots unfold in a much more naturalistic way. Because of its pace, the moments where you get on a hot lead that made Phoenix Wright so exhilarating are cranked up to an eleven—made all the more thrilling when you hear that iconic “Objection!”
Naturally, the methodical yet exciting gameplay is backed by an incredible soundtrack—as is standard for this series. The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection features not only the classic music from the 2009 and 2011 releases but also newly updated arrangements to make the game feel more modern and authentic. It maintains the same bombastic energy that almost feels synonymous with the pursuit of justice and perfectly backs the proceedings as they’re happening.
In addition, it maintains a lot of the iconic character themes from the previous games and adds a few new ones that perfectly suit the gameplay. I really enjoyed how Pursuit – Chase Down the Truth—which is essentially Edgeworth’s Cornered theme—has extravagant classical flair with fluttering arpeggios and big crescendos, but a kind of intense jazzy vibe like something you’d from a big chase scene in a crime drama. It actually reminded me a bit of the Conclusion theme from Layton Brothers: Mystery Room.
Like the audio, the Ace Attorney Investigation Collection does a great job not only preserving the original release’s visuals in a clean HD way but they’ve also updated all the character models with new “chibi” renders that add crisp new art to the game. The game does a lot with a little, crafting interesting and unique little areas that have a beautiful, almost painted aesthetic and feel both bizarre and authentic—like a passenger airplane with a two-story cargo hold.
Lastly, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection feels appropriately like a celebration of the two games included. It not only contains the second game which only ever saw a Japanese release, but a plethora of art and concepts that can be unlocked through play, and a jukebox containing not only music from the two games but fully orchestrated arrangements. If you love this series, the games alone would be enough, but getting to flip through concept art and little extras makes it feel a little more worth it.
If you love the Phoenix Wright games, but, like myself, skipped out on this little side adventure, then you’re going to absolutely adore the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. Even newcomers to the franchise might find this a better starting point than the main series in how it perfectly replicates the soul of the series in a far more digestible way. I can’t believe I slept on this back in the day, and if you haven’t played it yet, don’t make the same mistake I did!
