Returning to new-gen/old-gen consoles it’s the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. Developed and published by Capcom this collection features two games from the Ace Attorney series; Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth and Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Prosecutors Gambit. Featuring new quality-of-life features and improved visuals the game is set to make a mark for both younger and older audiences of the series. However, will these features provide any evidence to prove its importance or will this collection bring the same level of quality as the originals? Let’s explore this case together.
Since Ace Attorney Investigations Collection features two games that already came out Ace Attorney fans might already be aware of Miles Edgeworth’s two solo adventures after leaving his rivalry with Phoenix Wright and the courtroom behind, but in case new generations may not be familiar with the story this review will provide brief non-spoiler synopsis of both games.
Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth: After leaving his rival and the courtroom behind, Edgeworth became determined to uncover the truth of a crime scene that was committed in his very own office that might be more than just a simple murder case. After investigating the crime scene Miles is convinced that there is more to this case than murder and that it could involve a case he was a part of a while ago. How deep this investigation progress however will be up to how far Miles Edgeworth is willing to go for answers. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Prosecutor’s Gambit: After the events of the first game, Miles Edgeworth is left wondering if he should continue his pursuit of the truth as either a prosecutor or as a defense attorney. Whatever he chooses will be his ultimate choice.
The gameplay of Ace Attorney Investigations Collection involves gathering clues and evidence against rebuttals and alibis in court cases or debates. The game prioritizes logic, focus, and patience over pulse-pounding action sequences and gunfighting, however, that isn’t a negative as the sequences that play out after gathering enough evidence and proceeding to demolish the opposing parties’ statements and views with previously gathered facts give the player a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment and success. Every level takes on a different case in a different location while still having an element of a story that factors into the overall narrative of the game. The Logic system takes clues and evidence whether they are locations where the crimes took place, key essential items needed for the case, or even important elements that can poke holes in witnesses’ arguments/testimonies that reflect what occurred. These separate clues allow the player to combine certain elements to create an important piece of evidence for the overall crime. Another feature that was introduced in these games was the Little Thief (Crime Scene re-creation) a little handy device that is used to recreate events that take place during crime scenes after inputting known details into the device. Another gameplay mechanic only featured in Ace Attorney 2 is Mind Chess where Miles will engage in a game of mental chess with someone to press information out of them. Mind Chess will require players to think fast and decisively when attempting to probe information as there is only a limited amount of time Miles can press them for information.
The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection also includes many new quality-of-life features for its modern-day rerelease. The game now has HD graphics and all the characters were redesigned by the original character designer Tatsuro Iwamoto to be much more expressive and smoother than the original game. However, if players wish to replay these games as their previous designs there is an option to change the graphics and designs into their more pixelated style. There are also many other new features added including; Chapter Select, a Story Mode where all the puzzles will be solved automatically if toggled on, History an option to view previous dialogue from characters, 5 new arrangements of classic tracks of the original games that can be changed between the original or the new Arranged soundtrack for a fresher experience. Finally, the games can now be experienced in 7 different languages (English, Japanese, French, German, Korean, and traditional and simplified Chinese) for a fresh experience that anyone can enjoy regardless of where they are around the globe.
Overall these re-released classics still hold up and are incredibly fun, especially with the new features that add new fresh experiences to two classics that old and new fans will enjoy.
Score: 9 out of 10
Reviewed On: PlayStation 5