Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Review – It’s Only Logical

When the Apollo Justice collection released earlier this year, I remember thinking, the developer is finally done re-releasing the entirety of the series on modern platforms. Surely the only thing left for the franchise at this point would be the long awaited Ace Attorney 7, right? As it turns out, no, the developer had another bullet left in the chamber to delay the inevitable. The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is the actual final piece of the puzzle, bringing two games starring series’ regular protagonist Phoenix Wright’s regular antagonist and nemesis, Miles Edgeworth. This collection, much like The Great Ace Attorney, has a certain special significance for long time series fans – it is the first official release of the second Investigations game globally. Previously, while the first game saw a release in the west, the second one never got localized, meaning that outside of fan-translations, this is the first time a sizeable part of the series’ considerable fanbase will have had access to an entire game included in this package.

The presence of that whole new game alone changes the calculus for this collection quite significantly. Unlike most of the other Ace Attorney collections that the developer has released, this one isn’t just re-releases. I mean, it is in a technical sense, but functionally speaking, you are getting a game you have never even had the opportunity to play before as part of the package too. That means that assuming you are a series fan, that alone guarantees a recommendation for you for this collection. It’s a brand new adventure in the IP! And it’s a pretty dang good one too. If you ever played the original Investigations game, these titles differentiate themselves from the mainline games by putting you on the other end of the legal equation – you are a prosecutor now, which means the way you approach the facts of the case are a whole lot different as well. Chiefly, the game involves you gathering facts via investigations and interrogations, and then using Edgeworth’s trademark “logic” to put facts together and see if they shed new light on what may have happened.

"Unlike most of the other Ace Attorney collections that the developer has released, this one isn’t just re-releases. I mean, it is in a technical sense, but functionally speaking, you are getting a game you have never even had the opportunity to play before as part of the package too. That means that assuming you are a series fan, that alone guarantees a recommendation for you for this collection."

It’s a really cool gimmick, to be honest, allowing for an interesting spin on how these games usually play, while also remaining true to, and reinforcing, Edgeworth’s character. It helps, as well, that the games are well written with some great stories – or, well, the second one is. The first one is definitely on the weaker side as far as Ace Attorney games go, with the writing and the story both feeling less sharp and consequential than the series’ finest outings, and the Logic mechanic not explored to its fullest. The second game has a much stronger story (which, it is great that we finally get to experience this outside of Japan without hunting down a fan translation) and in every regard trumps not only its predecessor, but also most other games in the series. I would argue that the first game is still worth playing, if only so that the brilliance of the second one can be properly appreciated. I won’t go into many (or any) spoilers about these games here, but a lot of what happens in the second game does substantiate what happened in the first one.

"This certainly is the definitive way to play either of these games – unless you really miss the DS’ touch screen/dual screen setup for these games."

The games themselves come with all the bells and whistles you have come to expect from these collections at this point. You get a collection of concept art, promotional art, an OST player that includes tracks not just from games but orchestral arrangements from celebratory concerts as well, a Story Mode has been added which basically solves all the puzzles for you, and there is even a Chapter Select so that you can jump into any chapter of the story – certainly useful for replays. You also get a feature that les you swap between the original pixelated sprites, or HD remastered “cleaner” ones. You can pick whichever you want and swap whenever you want – much like pretty much every other option and bonus that I listed here. Along with support for a lot more languages than even the official release of the first game got back on the DS and some cool in-game achievements, this certainly is the definitive way to play either of these games – unless you really miss the DS’ touch screen/dual screen setup for these games.

With the release of Investigations 1 and 2, we finally and actually have all of the Ace Attorney games available on modern platforms. There is Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, to be fair, but that crossover title is a spin-off that was published by Level-5, meaning that one may be out of the purview (and honestly, that one is considered to be a fairly weak outing that squanders the potential of its dream crossover to begin with). Every other game in the series is now available on at least PC, PlayStation, and Switch. Meaning we, and the developer, are out of games to re-release. Hopefully this indicates that the next release is Ace Attorney 7 – which has been a very long time coming. And if not that, then at least a new instalment of any kind. It is great these legendary games are available on modern systems so readily, especially when you consider how many new fans to the series may have been made thanks to these re-releases. But playing through this franchise again has only impressed upon me its brilliance, and how there really is not anything else like it on the market. I sincerely hope that a new Ace Attorney game is on the way some time soon now – until then, I am glad we at last got to play Investigations 2, and got to play one of the best titles in the series as a result.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.