Set between the first and second trilogies of the series, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection follows fan favourite Miles Edgeworth as he investigates a string of increasingly wild cases. Combining the original game with it’s never before released in the West sequel, the colllection has Edgeworth joined by series mainstay Detective Dick Gumshoe and newcomer (and Great Thief) Kay Faraday, the trio find themselves quickly involved with wider overarching plots involving smuggling and corruption.
Throughout you’ll run into a host of characters from the main series, which is a mixed bag to say the least. On one hand, some excellent characters that deserved more time to shine or develop get exactly that. On the other, some of the most irritating characters from the Ace Attorney canon get to return to bother you, and Edgeworth is just as disappointed to see them return as I was.
We do get to enjoy more of the buddy comedy double act that is Edgeworth and Gumshoe working together though. The chemistry between the two and Kay is absolutely incredible as well, while the primary antagonist (but not villain) Agent Lang is a superb character as well. So, I guess I can’t explain too much when there’s this much great character work on display.
The biggest difference between this spin-off duo and the main series is the lack of courtroom shenanigans. Far from being a problem, the lack of these parts helps the narrative flow far better, with everything lining up far smoother. The result is that the stories of these games are arguably the most coherent of the series, displaying the clever ‘whodunnit?’ style writing well and giving the twists greater payoffs than ever.
This contributes to the gameplay feeling smoother too, as instead of the harsh transitions between investigation and courtroom, the cases are segmented into smaller narrative chunks that flow into the next towards a natural conclusion each time. Largely though, the main components of the gameplay are investigating crime scenes and listening to testimonies from other characters – business as usual for Ace Attorney fans.
The investigation segments allow Edgeworth to wander around areas to examine them rather than the visual novel style of the main series. Certain spots allow you then to examine in greater detail, and even choose spots that conflict with your evidence to Deduce why contradictions might exist there. As a great little quality of life feature, the game tells you when you have fully investigated a spot. This shouldn’t feel like a big deal, but it absolutely is, believe me!
The main purposes of these investigations are to find evidence and clues for the cases. The evidence, as well as the deductions in investigations, is used in Rebuttals. These function the same as Cross Examinations from the main series, with the player presenting evidence to expose contradictions in the testimony of the character, complete with pressing statements for more information and presenting evidence with the trademark “Objection!”
The clues, however, are more like vague nuggets of information or questions posed by Edgeworth or other characters during the investigations. These are used in the new mechanic, Logic. This is by far my favourite addition in these games and allows Edgeworth to reach new reasoning by combining gathered information, which can result in new items of evidence or new directions of enquiry into the case.
The strength of the Logic system is that it’s easy to understand, and even easier to piece together, with only rare occasions in the whole collection where the link between the clues is unclear. That simplicity is what I enjoy about it. It encourages you to think about the information you currently hold without overly blocking your progress and keeps you moving towards the solution of each chapter’s mystery.
Another new mechanic for the second game is Mind Chess. This is a little more vague than Logic, and sees you playing a game with a witness or other person of interest to gain information. It takes place as a conversation with the character where you need to decide when to go on the attack or remain silent based on the behaviour of the opponent.
If the character is aggressive, you can bide your time in silence until they calm down and let slip information you need to proceed. Oh, and as added fun, you’re timed in these sequences and mistakes take a chunk out of your remaining time. This is the closest these games get to the obtuse nonsense of the main series, and can be frustrating, but once you get into the swing of it, it’s a great little back and forth challenge.
Both of these new mechanics are enjoyable though and really work to diversify the gameplay beyond what would otherwise simply be point and click. I wouldn’t say that they’re as interesting mechanically as say the Magatama or Mood Matrix from the main series, but they definitely add flavour to the investigations, and – of course – they also make sense with Edgeworth’s character at this point in the overall series timeline.
This two game collection has remastered visuals, with the option to use the original pixel art character sprites if you would prefer that, if with the inconvenience that you can only do this from the main menu. For the most part, I would recommend going with the enhanced visuals, as the core cast look great in this updated style. It only starts to fall apart with some of the side characters who have the odd animation or facial expression that just doesn’t look right but that doesn’t overly detract from the visuals.
The soundtrack is absolutely incredible from beginning to end, as you would expect from the Ace Attorney series, with those classic Ace Attorney sound effects thrown in as well to add that little bit of familiarity around these new settings. The song in this game for when you have a witness on the ropes during a Rebuttal especially is exquisite, especially in the remixed version used in the final showdown.
One final feature to praise is the Story Mode, which removes the puzzles and let’s you just enjoy the story of the two game. Also, as is standard for these collections now, all of the music tracks in the game, plus a load of concept art and all that fun behind the scenes stuff, is all available in the Gallery. More things get added to this as you go, with in-game achievements also to be found during gameplay that you can view from the main menu, though I’d advise against viewing those until you’ve finished the games to avoid spoilers.