I've always had a soft spot for the Ace Attorney franchise. Visual novels are hit-and-miss as far as I'm concerned, but something about how this series tells its stories – and how those stories range from grounded true-to-life tales of friendship and perseverance to off-the-wall bits where a killer whale becomes one of Phoenix Wright's clients – always resonates with me.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and its sequel – two spin-off games based on Wright's prosecutorial rival – are the latest to receive the remaster treatment in this Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. The original launched in 2009 here in the States, while the second never made its way across the pond from Japan until now. I was excited to dive in (or dive back in) to Edgeworth's extracurriculars, and I'm happy to say that both games stand the test of time.
Miles Edgeworth
I do not want to discount the first game in this spinoff duology, however, as it introduces a few key elements to the Ace Attorney formula that I feel make the entire experience better. First and foremost are the investigation sections; where previous games acted as a Highlights-style seek and find with static pictures, AAI here lets us roam freely as Edgeworth and discuss the details with bystanders and other characters.
This free-roaming mechanic is, to me, the biggest reason why this duology benefits more from the fresh remaster coat of paint than other Ace Attorney games. Sure, the character art of the lawyers behind their desks furiously pointing at each other looks great with modern touch-ups, as they do here, but that extra personality translates to the full character models on display here too. I can see the individual wrinkles on poor Gumshoe's face as he stomps with frustration after a bad beat, for example, and that gives these characters even more personality than they already have.
The second is the Logic system, where instead of always gathering hard evidence, Edgeworth will sometimes acquire an "idea" of sorts that's stored in a separate menu. From there, you can connect two ideas like puzzle pieces using Logic, and once the pieces fit together, another strand of the mystery is unfurled.
I really like the Logic system, as when combined with the free-roaming, it puts a definite bow on the end of an investigation section. In previous Ace Attorney games, an investigation required me to find all the clues in the seek-and-find, so there were times I would mindlessly click on things until Wright decided I was finished. Here, I can go to all of the designated spots in an area, learn their secrets, then hit the Logic menu to put the pieces together. Once I do that, the investigation is complete, and the story continues. This approach to investigations is not only more fun, it's… more Logical.
As for the story, the game plays out exactly as it did before, so anyone who's played it in the 15 years since its launch shouldn't expect any new major twists. However, man does it look great with these HD graphics. It's worth a replay for that alone.
Prosecutor's Gambit
The second game, on first glance, could be confused for the original by someone who's not played any of them. The visuals are similar, the main characters are basically the same save for a few additions, and the mechanics of the previous installment are all intact.
However, it seems as if someone involved with the creation of Prosecutor's Gambit really leaned into how Edgeworth likes to play chess, as not only do multiple characters refer to it, but it's the basis of the game's one new mechanic: Mind Chess. It's another take on the back-and-forth dialogue trademark of the series, but with responses being represented by chess pieces. Should Edgeworth back his opponent into a corner, one of the pieces will break apart, and when all the pieces disappear, that's checkmate.
Mind Chess conflicts with me. On the one hand, it's a novel approach to the standard testimony/rebuttal format I mentioned before, and the idea of a discussion being as strategic as a game of chess fits well into this world. As a mechanic, however, it's just more back-and-forth with extra steps and a weird blue arena forming out of nowhere. It's an iteration more than an addition, and while it's fun to figure out the right dialogue paths, it's not really doing much more than what previous Ace Attorney games already had.
That being said, all of the Mind Chess in the world would be worth it, because this story is so dang good. The way it ties every little thing together, across all five of its cases, is astounding. The way the characters bounce from analysis to grim realization to light-hearted goofing off – sure, let's randomly break into ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’ antics during an investigation, why not? – requires a deft writing hand, and the author here has one. Just when I think I've figured out a twist, the story twists a different way, and I'm left dumbfounded.
For a long time, Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations (the third one) was my favorite Ace Attorney story. After playing Prosecutor's Gambit, we have a new and serious challenger for that throne.
COLLECTION! (like Objection!…get it?)
The rest of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is standard fare for these recent Capcom collections. There are art galleries, animation sections where you can rewatch how a character reacts – including the freakouts of the villains after they're caught, which is always great – and more. The meat of the offering is in the two remastered games – as it should be – but the rest of the collection has plenty to explore once the credits have rolled.
All in all, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection serves its included games better than any previous bundle in franchise history. The updated graphics still impress, but the way they improve the free-roaming investigation sections is notable. The mechanics are easily mapped to a console controller – to the point where I played most of the dialogue-heavy scenes one-handed with an Xbox controller. Plus, seeing Prosecutor's Gambit finally available in the West is worthy of celebration all by itself.
Capcom is crushing it with collections lately, and Miles Edgeworth is the latest to benefit; even the famed prosecutor can't object to that.
Full Disclosure: A copy of this game was provided by PR for the purposes of this review. Reviewed on PC.
