I was a huge Phoenix Wright fan, but I must testify that it took me ages to court this particular spin-off series. Such was the contempt I held in my heart for Wright’s smug old adversary and hero of this outing, Miles Edgeworth. If you’re somehow in the same boat, trust me when I say it’s time to make a forgive and forget ruling. Let me make that case to you now…
What we have here is a modernisation of a title originally released in the West on Nintendo DS way back in 2010. Technically, Ace Attorney: Investigations is the fifth game in Capcom’s reading-heavy, interactive court drama series; however, it’s chronologically smack bang between the third and fourth games, Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.
The real prize in this package is the inclusion of Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit. This 2011 DS title never saw release outside of Japan, and it’s seen as quite the homecoming for hardcore fans. I’ll talk more about it in a sec.
In my opening statement, I should probably note that the first Investigations in this two-pack is absolutely a decent entrypoint for just about anybody. It’s its own self-contained thing—one overarching caper that spans five seemingly unrelated cases. Jump in fresh, even with no prior knowledge of the spikey-haired lawyer who started this franchise, and you can still have fun and feel very few out-of-the-loop…objections.
Despite some unexpected plot twists, the gameplay in each of these five chapters plays out more or less the same—a high percentage of interactive visual novelization with a bit of point ‘n’ clicking. The latter are your snoopfest investigation phases, in which you’ll sniff about for potentially damning clues. From there, you move into rebuttal phases, where you “nuh uh” quirky, caricature suspects who push back with their very best “‘fraid sos.”
you “nuh uh” quirky, caricature suspects who push back with their very best “‘fraid sos.”
Those conversations typically loop around to let you identify the lie and link it to some irrefutable logic and/or evidence. Making incorrect assertions will incur a penalty, so paying attention and using lateral thinking is paramount. Oh, and occasionally using a ‘Little Thief’ device—basically a virtual crime scene recreator—is a cool, palate-cleansing mechanic that you’ll not have seen elsewhere in this franchise.
On the topic of doing things differently, Capcom did just that with the follow-up, Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit. Though the basic flow of the lawyering is similar, the Little Thief grew in importance and function, most notably with an ability to build “what if” mini-Matrixes set in different time periods. Bringing in some 4D detective work, along with reintroducing a sniffer dog, fingerprint work, and video evidence scrubbing? Mighty cool stuff.
The biggest new bolt-in, however, was Mind Chess—an almost flowchart-style conversation mechanic used against anybody unwilling to cooperate with you. The fact that you’re bound by a time limit here, with the danger of cocking up and then losing an important avenue of inquiry, makes it pretty compelling mentalist-type stuff.
Honestly, I think Prosecutor’s Gambit is quite brilliant. I’d always falsely assumed that it was never translated to Western markets because something went amiss with the new mechanics, or the story was rubbish, or some other nonsense. Nope. It’s a rock solid entry that got the kibosh purely due to localization costs being forecasted as higher than the return—no doubt a consequence of this title being released at the tail end of the DS life cycle, when punters were clamouring for anything 3DS instead.
Even after all of this time, the basic skeletons of both of these games are more or less timeless, thanks to great writing, quirky characters, and the immutable “Dick Wolf” addictiveness of the crime scene snoop / confession chase one-two-punch. The only reasonable doubt I had with the viability of this redux was in the graphics department, because the DS versions sure were basic in the visuals department. This too was unfounded.
I wouldn’t say the remastering has a new coat on it fancier than Mile’s iconic jacket, but some frills have definitely been added to make these games way more stylish than their stylus-bound, handheld-spec original incarnations.
way more stylish than their stylus-bound, handheld-spec original incarnations.
As is obvious from those screenshots, the once lower-res portraits and backdrops have been sharpened up to sumptuous, hand-drawn manga-levels of detail (plus some remixed music to complement this). I also love that some effort has been made to preserve the pixels, with an option to have faux-DS character models as opposed to the slicker modern ones.
There’s also the matter of a new Story Mode function. At any time you can simply tap your touchpad to engage an autopilot that will play the game for you (obviously to the loss of all trophy acquisition). I started up a post-finish save to test it out—works well with a beer in your hand. I imagine it’s a good way to lure in gun-shy non-gamers who love their police procedural TV shows but are afraid of getting stumped and stuck halfway in a case.
When the gavel fell on my twin playthroughs of this package, I was very glad that I circled back to a spin-off road not taken. Yes, the dearth of actual courtrooms may come as a shock, and Edgeworth can be pitted against some of the most teeth-grindingly annoying characters in the series, but the former makes the whodunnit smoother and more engaging, and the latter makes their comeuppances all the sweeter.
The final verdict reached: Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is guilty of being the best (and final) remastering of this beloved handheld-based series. You should sentence yourself to roughly 40-odd hours of often hilarious investigatory gaming.
This review was made possible by a digital code provided by the publisher.
