Ace Attorney Investigation: Miles Edgeworth
Rating: T
Score: 9.0/10
Who would ever think a court of law would be "fun"? Well, the Phoenix Wright series thought so nine years ago, and the game’s success today shows that gamers clearly agree. If focusing on the intense (although well over-played) courtroom battles between defence attorneys, prosecutors, and witnesses, and all the detective work that shadows such battles appeals to you, you’re in luck. Even today, it's nice to see they haven't lost their touch in the slightest. This game is exclusively available on the Nintendo DS.
The game takes place after Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations (which was released three years ago), and before Apollo Justice: Justice For All (released two years ago). It focuses on the famous prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, the main prosecutor in Phoenix Wright's cases (who is, as you might be able to gather, the main character within the series sporting his name). It deals with the cases where Edgeworth is on the defence, so it's all set out of court (since he's not a registered defence attorney, and prosecutors aren't suppose to defend people in court). He deals with murders, all surrounding a smuggling ring, a great thief, a foggy past, and Edgeworth's loyalty to either justice or the law (and the difference between them). It's certainly a story fans would appreciate more so than non-fans, yet it's doesn't deal with anything you'd need background knowledge to understand (it explains all that when the time comes).
The gameplay remains the same, even though you're no longer in court. You collect evidence, and instead of taking testimonies and cross-examining, you take arguments and form a rebuttal, but the concept is the same: find a contradiction to the facts in the testimony and present it with evidence to support your claim, or press the topic to retrieve more information (and perhaps a contradiction). Of course, it would be too easy if it was just as simple as the facts being black and white. If you get stuck, the game can drop subtle hints if you're careful enough to notice them. The confrontations are still over-played (i.e. screaming OBJECTION at every contradiction), but it retains all the fun in it being over-done.
Because of the new argument-rebuttal system, the game can have more confrontations, which allows for a generally faster flow of game, which serves this series well. Around the end, the pace slows to almost a crawl; nevertheless it holds the freshest surprise for last.
A notable change in the series is the sprites of all the characters: they're no longer facing the screen, they're diagonal; looking between the character they're taking to and the screen. Because of this, all new sprites are needed, so all the characters look much better than they did in Phoenix Wright with more facial expression to boot despite the fact they're still simple two-dimensional people.
Another notable change is Edgeworth's logic, allowing you to make connections between events to find the truth of the original incident. Thanks to this, the game can be sure gamers follow before they move to the next scene.
Music remains addictive, and full of mood-sensitive tunes. Sad moments call for sad, slow music, while exciting, upbeat moments call for nothing less than tunes that are upbeat and quick. That includes the new "Cornered!" theme, which has been in every game thus far yet no two are ever alike.
I doubt any others in the series will take the same route this game has, but it's a great, fresh addition to a growing collection of amazing games. It is an interesting way to use the same gameplay, and the same logic versus reasoning of a witness. We can only hope the next in the series is nearly as good.
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