Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is one of the last missing Ace Attorney games we’ve been waiting to appear after many years. Developed by Capcom, the Investigation collections are the version of the Ace Attorney series that has us playing as Miles Edgeworth. A very beloved character from the series that a lot of fans (including myself) were happy to see get his own game.
Even though we did get Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth in the West, we never got what fans dub Prosecutor’s Path (real title Prosecutor’s Gambit) which was the sequel to the first game. Unlike the reason the Great Ace Attorney didn’t come over to the West which was copyright reasons, the Miles Edgeworth games had poor sales on not only the first game. but in Japan, It had poor sales as well.
Honestly, when I saw the trailer for the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, I actually shouted so loud, that I woke up my wife. Getting to finally finish every globally released Ace Attorney game gives me peace of mind but lifts the heavy weight off me for waiting so long to play the second game.
The Lessons of the Turnabouts
The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection might be a part of the Ace Attorney series, but we actually do something completely different from previous titles. And that is, we never go into the courtroom. Each turnabout will start like this, we’re greeted with the preamble of the case, start to put our brains into the investigation, and place all our collected knowledge of the case and begin to use Logic to solve the case.
The Turnabout Knowledge
Throughout the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, you play as Miles Edgeworth (and sometimes you play as one of his two companions). Being in the wrong place sometimes being the right time or the wrong time mostly. Miles is mostly doing these investigations to try and get either himself or someone he knows out of trouble. Or what I think, it’s to give the defense team a lot less work. This game would appeal to those who love a good puzzle and some good twists. Or you could also be like me who loves the series and plays everything they release.
Turnabout Sounds
Now, I’m part of the few people who have a few Ace Attorney OSTs in their playlist on either YouTube or Spotify. Yet, I’ve already had most if not the entire OST of the series playing when I need to really focus on something. Heck, I currently have it blasting into my ears while typing up this review.
I will say that there are small changes to how the music and sound effects when I compare it to the original 3DS variant of the game. Sure, the tech between then and now is completely different, but at least they did this collection a favour by not fixing what was never broken.
The Look of the Turnabout
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection was given the wonderful treatment of not only having an upgraded look and design to the whole game but allowing us to go back to the pixel art style it had with some sharper edges. Being able to play the game in its original pixel art style on my Steam Deck felt a lot more familiar and better than it was on a PC with a controller. It gave me a strong nostalgic feeling of when I played Ace Attorney Investigation: Miles Edgeworth on my 3ds.
Turnabout Gears
The controls ran as smoothly if not better than their 3ds counterpart. Switching between my Steam Deck and my 3DS copy of Miles Edgeworth to better compare this review was honestly a heavy task. Comparing the feel and ease it was from when we had two screens to do everything and are now conformed to playing everything on one screen.
Veterans who’ve played the other collections in the series or only played their 3DS variant should adapt pretty easily to having to switch to having only one screen to play on. Though if Capcom did manage to find a way to make the game split two screens, I feel Nintendo would have a few words to say to them.
There is something that I don’t know how to feel about its inclusion in the game since I never felt the need to use it and that’s Story Mode. Story Mode pretty much solves any of the hard puzzles for you, so that you can stay immersed in the story uninterrupted. For me, I loved going through the evidence and piecing together the whole solution and the motivation behind the case. Yet, the autoplay mode is wonderful for those who want to read the lines and not have to press A to continue the dialogue over and over and over again.
Returning to the Turnabout
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection does have some replayability with the addition to achievements you can earn on Steam and other platforms for those completionists out there. I’m actually one of those weird people who like to play this game after completing it about a year or two later to both relive my experience with the title and keep my brain sharp with their puzzles.
The Final Turnabout
I’ve spent a good 90 hours playing both titles in the collection and that feeling of having my patience paid off and my curiosity satisfied when finally played the translated Prosector’s Gambit. The fact that it took over a decade for us to finally receive this version translated.
It honestly took long for this to happen over the Great Ace Attorney games to finally reach the Western market with the Chronicles/Collection. If you’ve read all the way to this point and wonder if you should get Ace Attorney Investigations Collection or not, just know that Ace Attorney Investigations Collection was completely worth the wait and I’m glad this collection exists for everyone to enjoy.
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Trailer
Written by Ruddy Celestial
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