Keep It or Delete It?: Pushmo (3DS eShop)
Keep It or Delete It?: Quasar Quinn: Escape from Zargnon (Android)
Keep It or Delete It?: Mutant Mudds (3DS eShop)
Final Cut: Hetalia: World Series (Season 3) (DVD)
Keep It or Delete It?: Paper Monsters (iPad)
Capcom released their fifth English version of the Gyakuten series in North America on February 16th under the title Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. This is also the fifth game Ace Attorney series to make an appearance on the Nintendo DS (only the second specifically made for it, though), but this time, the series heads in a different direction. Instead of playing a defense attorney and spending most of your time in court, you play Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth as he investigates crime scenes and interrogates witnesses with Detective Gumshoe and other assistants. With a totally different focus, does the latest installment in the series lose its charm?
Since you’re not in the courtroom this time around, the gameplay does have some differences. You still get to use evidence to refute testimonies and arguments like in the previous games; you’re just not dealing with people on the stand. When you’re not involved in conversations, you get the freedom to actually walk around from place to place as Edgeworth, checking out crime scenes for evidence. Some of the evidence you collect can be examined in the organizer, allowing you to rotate the item and use the touch screen to search for markings, fingerprints, etc. You also have the freedom to use the microphone to shout “Take That!” and “Objection!” just as in the Phoenix Wright titles. Along with compiling evidence and testimonies in your organizer, Edgeworth also keeps certain poignant facts in a separate “Logic” section. Using “Logic,” Edgeworth can combine two observations to derive motives or events that occur during the crime. This allows Edgeworth to dismiss innocent people as suspects and zero in on what really happened in each case. It’s a neat addition to the Ace Attorney gameplay arsenal, and I hope to see it used again in the future. Unfortunately, like the previous incarnations, the game does railroad you somewhat towards the proper goal, not letting you get too far off track. Edgeworth has a truth meter that decreases every time you make an improper logic correlation or present the wrong evidence. When it gets to zero, you get a game over. For the most part, you can think your way through what needs to be said or done, but there are one or two leaps of faith you have to take. On occasion, you will know what you want to say to disprove someone, but you might not be able to present your evidence yet because you’re not on that topic. But in the end, most of the dialogue happens in that order for a reason.
With the exception of the requisite flashback case, most of the game actually takes place within the span of a few days as Edgeworth returns from a vacation. As far as the Ace Attorney global timeline goes, it seems that the other four cases occur shortly after the final case in Trials and Tribulations. In the opening case, Edgeworth returns to his office only to find a murder has occurred and some of his files are stolen. What follows are four more cases that all interweave nicely into a 10 year battle between the police and an international smuggling ring, and a struggle between justice and law. You actually don’t experience the five cases in remotely chronological order, but that does serve to make things far more interesting. Since you play some of the later incidents before the earlier ones, an observant gamer can figure out how things end up pretty quickly, making some of the earlier cases a little easier. It certainly doesn’t ruin the game, instead adding another layer of thought to it. Some of the game’s plot twists are easier to see coming than others, but all in all it makes for an enjoyable story.
More than anything, though, what makes the Ace Attorney series enjoyable are the characters, and for those familiar with the Ace Attorney series, there are quite a few cameos to enjoy. Along with Edgeworth and Detective Gumshoe, characters like Franziska von Karma, Wendy Oldbag, Larry Butz, and Maggey Byrde once again get caught up in the cases. Sadly there is one major character who is absent in this game, but considering when this game is supposed to take place (warning: MASSIVE spoilers), it’s understandable. They are all joined by newcomers such as Kay Faraday, a 17 year old girl who claims to be a great thief, and Detective Tyrell Badd, a veteran of the force who is in charge of investigating the infamous Yatagarasu. Each one adds a little something different to the game experience, helping to keep a somewhat simplistic adventure game pretty fun. The science on the other hand, is a bit far-fetched. The speed with which some of the test results come back makes CSI look realistic, and at one point, you gain access to a holographic device that helps you re-create crime scenes. The game is set in about 2019; while it’s possible for these advancements to occur by then, it’s highly unlikely. If you can accept these without it destroying your enjoyment, then you’ll have no problems, but if you are the type to pick apart scientific flaws in movies and games, your head just might explode.
The graphics have been updated, but they’re still not fantastic. The character drawings used during dialogues are much improved over the other Ace Attorney titles, but the graphics while you’re walking around still aren’t stellar. The areas you walk around in are not highly detailed, but when you’ve zoomed into examine crime scenes, the quality improves greatly, making it much easier to search for clues. It’s definitely a move in the right direction, but there’s still plenty of room for growth. The background music is also improved. The character themes are pretty enjoyable, including some remixing and rearranging of older character themes. Some of the background music is either the same or very similar to previous titles, though. The music certainly doesn’t hinder the experience, but it isn’t necessarily something you’ll be looking for a soundtrack CD of either.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is definitely a great spinoff of the main series. If you’re a fan of the originals, you’ll still enjoy this one, and people who enjoy old adventure games like Maniac Mansion will probably derive some enjoyment from it too. However, if you have trouble suspending belief for some unrealistic science, you might not enjoy this as much. Ideally, Capcom will eventually make an Ace Attorney title that combines all the elements from all the games into one masterwork. But even now I can’t raise many objections about them.
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Ace Attorney Investigation 2 Announced with Screenshots | G.A.M.E.S. on 12 Sep 2010 at 1:17 pm #
[...] only been half a year since the first Ace Attorney Investigations came stateside, but Capcom knows that Edgeworth fans need their fix on a regular basis. [...]
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Bundle Coming To Japan | G.A.M.E.S. on 03 Nov 2010 at 12:05 pm #
[...] you’re lucky enough to be able to read Japanese and enjoyed the first Ace Attorney Investigations game, you might want to consider picking up the sequel when it hits Japanese retailers on February [...]