Ace Attorney Investigations Collection review- another ace Capcom collection

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is yet another Capcom banger, and contains possibly my favourite entries in the Ace Attorney series.

This time around, the collection only features two titles: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit.

Check out the trailer for game collection below

In these games, you’re not playing as the legendary Phoenix Wright, rather his rival and fellow lawyer Miles Edgeworth, who players will likely remember as a prosecutor in those games.

While the Investigations games have a shared DNA with the other entries, the way they separate themselves is the way in which the player gathers evidence and approaches a case. In these games, you’re given free roam of the various crime scenes, and rather than looking at a solid picture of the room, you have the freedom to walk around and interact with whatever catches your eye.

It could be nothing, or it could be a clue, but it’s up to you to seek it out and check as you’ll be using what you find to piece together what happened and who’s to blame.

I really liked the more explorative gameplay the Investigations games offered. In my opinion, it’s a subtle but necessary evolution from the Phoenix Wright games, as I felt like I was actually doing something rather than just pointing at various pictures.

Putting the pieces together and finding inconsistencies with what the culprit was saying and what the clues said otherwise was also just as much fun as it is in the other titles.

The writing was also on-point, and the game’s story does a good job of balancing the silly and whimsical nature of the Ace Attorney world, alongside the more serious and darker side of things. I loved Edgeworth in the previous games so I was especially fond of seeing more of him in these titles and learning more about what makes him tick, and hearing him reference Phoenix Wright and their battles of wits.

Capcom

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is a remaster, so it features all the bells and whistles the previous Capcom collections have included up to now.

Both games are readily available from the start so you can play them in whatever order you choose, and you’re more than welcome to play specific chapters if you fancy it. Included alongside the games is a variety of bonus features, like artwork from the games and its soundtrack if that’s your sort of thing.

The biggest change is the graphics, of course. These games were originally released on the Nintendo DS, so the sprites have been replaced with the HD artwork we’ve grown accustomed to over the years. That being said, you are given the choice of how you’d like the game to look, so you can return to that DS aesthetic if that’s more your cup of tea.

You can also mess around with the text, including how quickly the text moves across the screen and whether you’d like it to move automatically or at the push of a button.

Like previous collections, there’s also an option to have the game play itself. This will advance all dialogue as well as automatically interview suspects, find clues and piece the evidence together on your behalf. I found this feature was best used for times when you just can’t figure out what the game is trying to tell you, but if you’re there for the story only there’s nothing stopping you from leaving it on for the whole game. You can turn this setting on and off in the pause menu, so it’s readily available whenever you want/need it.

Capcom

The only negative I could really gleam from the experience was the fact we’ve only got two games this time around. That’s not a huge problem as only two Investigations games were made, but it might feel like a less extensive package compared to the two full trilogies we’ve received in previous collections.

The gameplay itself might also not be everyone’s cup of tea, as while I enjoyed having to look around and find clues in the environment itself, others may prefer the simplicity of having the scene laid out before you. It’s all about personal preference, and while I vibed with I can’t guarantee long-time fans of the Ace Attorney series will as well.

All in all, Ace Attorney Investigations is a simple and efficient package. Collecting two games that weren’t received well on launch and giving them an HD makeover.

If you’re a fan of Ace Attorney games and haven’t played these titles, this is a fine way of doing so with the bonus features and gameplay options being the cherry on top of the cake.

Pros: Graphical touch-ups are nice as is the option to revert to pixel-art, another fantastic story, investigations are fun and engaging

Cons: Two games as opposed to the three we got in previous collections, some fans may prefer the more traditional gameplay compared to what these games offer

For fans of: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Professor Layton franchise, Famicom Detective Club games.

8/10: Excellent

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection launches for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (version tested) PC and Nintendo Switch platforms on 6 September. Review code was provided by the publisher. Find a complete guide to GAMINGbible's review scores here.