Ace Attorney Investigations Collection review

Back in 2009, Ace Attorney had just finished its first major trilogy and was already shaking things up with Apollo Justice - bringing a new protagonist to the series. However, one of the franchise's lead designers, Takeshi Yamazaki, wanted to shake things up even more, shifting the game perspective and even the way you play the game.

This all led to the creation of the series' first significant spin-off, dubbed Miles Edgeworth Investigations. 15 years later, both that game and its sequel have been plucked from the Nintendo DS and given the same stunning treatment every other title in the franchise has had. 

When the first title was released on DS, I became an immediate fan; this felt distinctly different from the Phoenix Wright-led games and let me control my favourite character in the series. So, to see that game brought back and looking better than ever is a treat. However, what’s most exciting about this two-game package is the inclusion of its sequel, Miles Edgeworth Investigations: Prosecutor's Gambit.

Until this package, Prosecutor's Gambit has never had a Western release. Fans have gone to extreme lengths to translate the text themselves, but for the most part, this title was inaccessible for almost 14 years. It makes me very happy to say that it was worth the wait. 

TAKE THAT!

Kicking things off Miles Edgeworth Investigations puts you in the shoes of the titular Miles Edgeworth, an early antagonist of Phoenix Wright. Miles was known for having a perfect win record in trials and would do anything to make sure he got his guilty verdict. It was an attitude which gained him many fans, myself included. 

The story is set between the timeline of Phoenix Wright's Trials and Tribulations and Apollo Justice. It follows the prosecutor through what I can only describe as a very rough week in his career. Across five separate cases, you’ll solve multiple murders and one bizarre kidnapping case in a theme park. This is then tied together by an overarching story about a mysterious smuggling ring.

Being a spin-off title means that gameplay differs slightly from the usual Ace Attorney affair. Your aim is still to solve different cases by talking to suspects, putting together clues and presenting evidence to back up your claims. 

This time, there’s more to do than skip through text boxes and sift through point-and-click scenes. For example, during investigations, you’ll be able to control a sprite version of Miles around various crime scenes. This is a huge departure and allows you to interact with objects and people that can help solve the case. Just being able to explore like this is such a breath of fresh air, especially between very long stretches of dialogue, and it was something I especially latched onto when I first played the game on DS. 

Of course, Miles Edgeworth has his own special ability, like all main characters in the Ace Attorney franchise, and he is all about a system called 'Logic'. Miles can find clues around crime scenes that aren’t always relevant to the case in hand; however, by going into his mind palace, he can pair up the clues and create something he can present when the time comes. It’s essentially a way to make mini problem-solving activities while exploring crime scenes, and it helps you feel like you are solving this case.

In fact, what both of these games do best is make you feel like you are Miles Edgeworth. Phoenix Wright is supposed to be a character you can project onto, whereas Miles is more personality-driven, which shows in the game's writing. Over the course of the first game's five cases, you’ll encounter multiple different zany characters, and despite the crimes themselves being pretty bland in nature, the rest of the world makes them exciting.

Turnabout Visitor, the first case, is essentially a tutorial about a murder in Miles’ own office. But in it, you face up against an eccentric sports-obsessed prosecutor desperate to accuse you of the crime. He’s a worthy opponent and a great entry point to the game's mechanics. It’s characters like this that make every chapter a blast, whether you are invested in the crime or not.

WAIT!

One of the game's most significant changes is that despite being a series all about the law, Miles rarely steps foot inside a courtroom. The cases themselves are almost exclusively solved at the crime scene themselves, and instead of a traditional courtroom structure, the game uses 'arguments' to prove points.

While these work the same as other Ace Attorney games, the change in locale for each is a unique addition that I appreciate. Each location is typically just as exciting as the characters you meet. Turnabout Airlines takes crime to the sky with a murder in an aeroplane, and Kidnapped Turnabout is about freeing a kidnapped associate by delivering a ransom to a theme park. 

The first three cases are by far the most engaging, but there’s still plenty to enjoy with Turnabout Reminiscence, which takes things into Miles's past, allowing us to see a different side to the characters we’ve met so far. The final chapter, Turnabout Ablaze, is a great way to wrap up the overarching story but drags a little in the final act. 

Miles doesn’t take on these cases alone, as he’s often partnered up with the bumbling detective Gumshoe or the rather eager Kay Faraday. Both provide a comedic edge to bounce off Miles' more serious tone. As you get deeper into the story, you’ll become just as attached to these side characters as to Miles himself.

It’s another testament to the excellent writing of each of these stories that when these characters do find themselves in trouble, you really care about what happens to them. Kay became a character I grew to love in the game's later chapters, and I still miss her can-do attitude. 

GOTCHA!

The really exciting part of this collection is Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit, and after waiting over 10 years to play this title, I’m very impressed. The story is once again split into five distinct chapters; the first is another tutorial-based mission, and the following four are much longer in-depth cases. 

While the first game's overarching story was about a smuggling ring, this is about Miles facing off against a judge who is purging weaker prosectors from duty, making Miles question his whole career. The Captive Turnabout takes things to an animal-infested prison, and its unique setting makes it one of my favourites out of both games. Turnabout Legacy allows you to play as Gregory Edgeworth, Miles' father, and you’ll be flicking between timelines to solve a case.

The two final chapters also have their own unique quirks, but you’ll have to discover those for yourself. What I will say, however, is the game's final chapter has quickly become one of my favourites in the entire franchise (Phoenix Wright included). Not only does it manage to wrap up multiple complex storylines somehow perfectly, but it also creates some of the most earned twists in Ace Attorney history. It’s criminal THAT we had to wait this long to be able to play it. 

It’s not just a new story, though; by the time you get to the sequel, Miles will have a new investigating mechanic called 'Mind Chess'. Mind Chess is a timed battle of wit against an opponent, and it sees you trying to break through a lie by saying the correct statement at the perfect moment. You’ll have to choose to either bide your time and wait for your opponent to slip up themselves or attack head-on, all depending on their personality type.

It almost feels RPG-like at times, as you really have to think about the way you approach each character you face off against. It’s a shame this is only in the game's sequel, as it is a wonderful change of pace from traditional arguments that allows for way more interactivity.

HANG ON!

While I can gush for hours about the writing and how creative this game can get, the collection's biggest issue is not one exclusive to these two titles but one that the entire franchise has never managed to fix. That’s how infuriatingly obtuse solving puzzles can be.

As much as I love the literal eureka moments of figuring out what is happening to a case, I am completely stopped in my tracks by a conversational roadblock all too often.

The game's interrogation system requires you to present items against specific statements, and the majority of the time, the solution isn’t obvious. It becomes a game of trial and error, one where you are punished for error; later on, in cases when you have 20+ items you can present, finding the right one can be nearly impossible.

It’s even more annoying when the solution is obvious, but you can’t find the right item to back up that point. Like in the early 90s point-and-click adventures, there is normally only one exact solution to a situation, even if that doesn’t seem like the case on paper. 

I often found myself knowing what the outcome would be but not knowing the right combination of items to get to that solution, which left me frustrated until I eventually got lucky. Thankfully, this new package comes with a story mode, which removes the punishment element. Unfortunately, it also removes any autonomy that you have; all puzzles are automatically solved, the correct evidence is always submitted, and you can’t make a mistake.

While I’m glad this option is here, a more in-depth difficulty system would have been appreciated. It would have also been nice to include a more obvious hint system; with how obtuse some sections of these games are, anything would be better than nothing. Even just the ability to remove health bars would have made some sections way more enjoyable.

GOT IT!

While that level of control would be a blessing, the game still has plenty of great new quality-of-life features. You can now select any of the cases whenever you want, jumping into specific moments even if you haven’t already beaten them.

There’s a music player filled with jazzy soundtracks, a gallery with new artwork, and an achievement list that pushes you to see some weirder elements of the game. I mentioned it briefly at the start, but of course, this is a remaster and a DS remaster, too. Every scene here looks gorgeous, even when blown up on my 4K TV. There are over 100 new sprites that look incredibly clean, and this makes this game truly pop. 

This is the fourth collection of Ace Attorney games to get this remastered treatment, and whatever they are doing is working. If, for some reason, you don’t like the brilliantly executed art style, you can also switch the sprites back to the DS pixel style. On the flip side, this looks a little rough when blown up on a big screen, but it’s still nice to have the option for purists.

The Verdict

The Miles Edgeworth Collection is a stellar product. It features some of the series' best writing, varied gameplay, and unique set pieces. Not only is this the best way to play these games, it’s one of the only ways to play the fantastic sequel. While the guesswork puzzle-solving can be frustrating at times, all too often, I'm too entirely captivated by Miles and the gang to be that bothered. 

4.5/5

Reviewed on PlayStation 5. Code provided by the publisher.