LogFAQs > #895805330

67. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Axl_Rose_85)


Thankfully, during the dark period after Apollo Justice when the future of the series remained uncertain before Dual Destinies was announced, we were not bereft of Ace Attorney entirely. We were given a couple of spinoff games starring Miles Edgeworth to tide us over. They were self-contained and had no real impact on the main canon of the series since they were set in that window of time after the third game but before any of the events of the fourth game occurred. Eventually, the second Edgeworth game would become the missing link that Ace Attorney 5 had been at the time since it still hasn't been localized and may never be, but more on that later. The point is that I was glad to have anything at this point since it gave me hope that there would be more in the future, and I've made it a policy to buy just about everything Ace Attorney there is to make sure we keep getting more. It's one of the few series I make a point to support that way.

Anyway, Ace Attorney Investigations was a different type of game than the mainline series besides just playing as a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney. It wasn't just a point and click game, but now there were actual sprites and the ability to physically move Edgeworth around the crime scene. It was a cool change of pace, but with the first game, it feels like they didn't quite know what all they wanted to do with this format yet. I've often said that AAI1 is the prototype and AAI2 is the finished product. That's not to say AAI1 is a bad game. I enjoy it a lot, and I was actually playing it today, in fact! It never reaches the lows Apollo Justice did, but at the same time, it never reaches the highs of the original trilogy either. It's somewhere in between.

Playing as Edgeworth is great (I'm convinced the reason this game exists at all is because how much people loved his playable segment in 3-5), although honestly, he's a little too smart compared to Phoenix or Apollo. He sometimes drops big hints himself about what he knows the contradiction is, which is usually reserved for your partner. Ace Attorney Investigations does introduce some really good new characters, most notably Kay Faraday (because everyone needs an energetic female assistant, even Edgeworth!) and Agent Lang to play the rival role that Edgeworth himself would normally occupy. It also makes a boatload of references to the other games and brings back several characters as cameos, so it can give you a nostalgia rush as you play, provided the returning character isn't terrible (like, say, Mike Meekins).

Most of the cases are good but not great. The finale has moments when it borders on greatness, but it really overstays its welcome and hurts itself in the long run. Many people are fond of the flashback case, but I have several issues with it that I won't elaborate on here for the sake of space and spoilers. The third case is really cool, largely because I love the amusement park setting and the Little Thief simulation of the Haunted House is fantastic (Oh right, Kay has a special gadget called Little Thief that enables her to recreate crime scenes and events to help the investigation along, which is a pretty neat gimmick). The first two cases have their moments, but they're largely nothing special. I will say that Ace Attorney Investigations might have my favorite soundtrack in the series though. The music here is excellent. It feels like the series' first attempt at a full-scale soundtrack, and they did a really good job with it.

Bonus Question: Which Ace Attorney game has your favorite soundtrack?
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