Review: "Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth"

I wanted to review another Ace Attorney game but couldn't because its past 4 installments hardly have anything different between each other other than a couple of gimmicks and obviously the story itself. 'Ace Attorney Investigations' was a rather refreshing change, while keeping the story just as great as its predecessors.

Remember how the Ace Attorney series used to follow a strict pattern of: Investigate -> Courtroom -> Investigate -> Courtroom? Life is really pretty tough on Phoenix Wright back then just to prove his client innocent. Now you play as the prodigy Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, where he brings the courtroom everywhere he goes.

Edgeworth brings the courtroom with him

There are a total of 5 chapters, and you hardly get to see the courtrooms we are so used to. Most of the time, you will be confronting various people at various places as Edgeworth sees fit. Like I mentioned, the courtroom is everywhere, so the courtroom battles we are familiar with happens everywhere, finding contradictions as Edgeworth walks around.

You can WALK now! WALK!

One of the changes is how Edgeworth moves around. Instead of just examining a picture of every area, Edgeworth gets to walk around, observe things around him, talk to people, etc. Although it's not that a drastic change, it is still a nice breath of fresh air. To me, I find that it's better than just tapping on locations to go. Feels more RPG-ish this way.

Piecing logic together...

The main difference is the 'Logic' minigame. As you find more clues, you get pieces of 'Logic' (essentially questions are sentences) added to your list. You can piece two pieces of 'Logic' together if they are related to form a new clue or 'Logic'. Like making mistakes in Ace Attorney games, piecing two pieces of 'Logic' with no relation to each other busts your health bar.

Now we move on to the plot. To me, this installment of the series has the best overall story of all. All 5 chapters are very very connected to each other, the first 4 loudly leaving questions unanswered. You will meet some old characters (Gumshoe, Ema Skye and much to Edgeworth's disgust, Wendy Oldbag) as well as new (Kay Faraday, Agent Lang).

Throughout the game, you see everything through Edgeworth's eyes. He is calmer and more serious, unlike the more willful Phoenix or Apollo. However, he does has his soft and comical side, especially when he meets up with Wendy Oldbag and seeing his hero, the Silver Samurai.

Symbol of the mysterious Yatagarasu

Last but not least, the story has a pretty huge spoiler regarding the Great Thief Yatagarasu, a mysterious entity that Edgeworth encountered. Who or what exactly is this Yatagarasu? It's the biggest question waiting to be answered for 5 chapters and trust me, it won't disappoint.

And the final chapter is pretty epic. Longest faceoff I ever played and the most persistent bastard I ever encountered. Enjoy the game!