Reviews

Posted by: jkdmedia

Capcom’s Ace Attorney franchise has long been a staple on the Nintendo DS, offering up some truly unique adventure-style gameplay, a quirky cast of characters, and some interesting dialogue. Now, for the latest entry to the franchise, Capcom is taking things in a slightly different direction, giving players a new character to play as and taking the drama out of the courtroom and onto the crime scene.

In Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, you play as the titular prosecutorial prodigy as he teams up with his Detective sidekick Dick Gumshoe to solve a variety of crimes while using his logic and deductive abilities. Even though the game features a new setting and protagonist, this is unmistakably cut from the same cloth as other Ace Attorney games, and feels like more of the same, for better or worse. Still, if you’re a die-hard fan of the series, this entry gives you enough new features to stay on board.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth begins with a murder occurring in the title hero’s office. Edgeworth, a highly-decorated and intelligent (if somewhat eccentric) prosecuting attorney and rival of series regular Phoenix Wright, returns to his office from a trip abroad, discovers the dead body and begins his investigation, discovering that this was more than a simple one-off murder but a larger conspiracy.

Many of the same elements of other Ace Attorney games are present here in Miles Edgeworth’s adventure. You’ll gain evidence and present it at key moments, investigating the crime and finding flaws in other attorneys’ arguments. You’ll have to pay close attention to the evidence presented and also what suspects and witnesses have said in order to proceed and keep the truth from falling by the wayside. The game’s story and dialogue are quirky as ever, featuring flamboyant characters with a firm sense of justice butting heads and saying some pretty weird lines. It can be corny, to be sure, but it does have a unique charm that long-time fans will definitely appreciate.

As the name would imply, in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, you’ll spend a good amount of time performing the investigatory side of your line of work. You’ll examine crime scenes using your stylus to look for important clues and information, examine evidence, talk to witnesses (and potential suspects), and use logic to combine thoughts of note to come to a better understanding of what took place. When you talk to suspects, you’ll have to find holes in their stories by pressing them for more information and presenting them with evidence to the contrary.

While Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth adds some gameplay changes to the mix, the problems that plagued other entries to the series are still around. Solving cases isn’t as intuitive as it should be, resulting in a lot of trial and error. The game’s logic puzzles are hit and miss, and at times they make a lot of sense, but other times they are frustrating. Additionally, there is a lot of superfluous text that you’ll have to weed through to get the real information, making cases go on much longer than they need to. Another inherent problem with the franchise is the replay value, or namely the lack thereof. Once you’ve gone through the game’s five episodes, there’s little reason to go back and do them again.

Miles Edgeworth’s adventure boasts the same kind of anime-esque aesthetic. While there isn’t much to the look outside of some sprites and static images, the look is still quite clean. The sound is also pretty barebones aside from a musical score and the occasional yelled “Objection!” or “Hold it!”, but the score does a fine job of accenting the mood of the proceedings and the overall theme.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth isn’t a gamechanger, and if you haven’t been a fan of the Ace Attorney series yet, this one isn’t likely to change your mind. The same problems that have plagued the series in the past, namely lack of replay value and trial and error gameplay, are still here. However, if you’re a fan looking for something that changes the formula a little bit, then Miles Edgeworth should have just what you’re looking for.

Gameplay: 7.5
This entry to the Ace Attorney franchise takes things out of the courtroom, having you investigate crime scenes for evidence as well as cross-examine witnesses and potential suspects. However, the changes are pretty minimal, and this game still plays out pretty formulaically. The logic puzzles are inconsistent, with some making sense and others being trial and error.

Graphics: 7.0
Not much to look at, but the static images look decent.

Sound: 8.0
The game’s score does a fine job of accenting the on-screen action, but the sound effects are pretty sparse.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.0
The dialogue is cheesy but charming. The Ace Attorney franchise is beginning to show its age.

Overall: 7.5
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth gets props for changing up the setting and providing a new protagonist for the franchise. However, the gameplay is pretty standard for the Ace Attorney series, and brings with it the same flaws from other entries.