Customer Reviews

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth plays like a love letter to fans of the franchise. It is easy enough for a novice to get into it, but is most definitely geared toward those who have played through the other Ace Attorney games featuring Phoenix Wright. While the Ace Attorney series up to this point has focused on the defense side of the courtroom, we now get to play the other part of the field, taking up the role of Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix's old rival and one of the most skilled prosecutors in the business. For fans of the series, this is a long-awaited chance to play one of the most popular characters through a full game - Miles got a bit of play time as a defense attorney stand-in during Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, but now we get to see him in his natural field as an investigator and prosecutor.

Of course, being a prosecutor makes the traditional courtroom formula a problem. The series so far has focused around a defender seeking to find a wrongfully accused client innocent. Since Edgeworth prosecutes criminals, it makes no sense for the turnabout to occur in the courtroom. As a result, the court scenes have been cut, although the fourth case does have a clever callback to the attorney duels of previous games. On the bright side, the game hasn't lost the over-the-top drama or the cross-examination duels; they've just moved out of the courtroom and into the investigation. Miles will have to break through lies and false evidence to prove the wrongfully accused innocent and find the true culprit behind each crime.

Despite the change in format, the game is definitely an Ace Attorney game, with all the melodrama and humor that entails. The cast of characters features old standbys like Detective Gumshoe, Larry Butz, and Franziska von Karma, but also has clever new characters such as Kay Faraday, an aspiring great thief who makes an unlikely assistant to Edgeworth, and Agent Lang, an interpol agent who hates prosecutors (not unlike how the original characterization of Edgeworth hated defense attorneys). The real highlight, though, not surprisingly, is Edgeworth. He really makes the game different. While Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice are both bumbling, good-natured defense attorneys who bluff their way to success, Edgeworth is smug, clever, and driven by logic. The game mechanics reflect this, introducing a new logic system that allows you to piece together a crime scene through gathering facts as well as evidence, and the dialogue accurately reflects Edgeworth's personality, rather than making him another Phoenix Wright knockoff.

For fans of the series, the game is worth it for the chance to play Edgeworth alone. For newcomers, be prepared for a game that can best be described as CSI meets Abbott and Costello. That's a compliment - the weirdness, humor, and sheer fun of this game makes it well worth a play through.

I am writing this as a veteran of the series, I don't know how new players would fare here. This review is also spoiler free!

Now to start there have been some updates innovations and changes since Apollo Justice. Scenes are most of the time now played out with full pixelated characters on screen rather than the "from the waist up" view. It'll seem odd at first but it does seem to make investigating large areas easier and after a tiny bit it comes almost naturally. Note: during investigations you can move the little Edgeworth with either the control pad or the stylus.

Edgeworth, not being an attorney, also has a different flow to his stories and almost all scenes happen outside of the courtroom. Edgeworth's new tool is logic, wherein you take two nagging questions and link them together to answer them both. It's not a bad addition but is very simple compared to some of the previous puzzles of the franchise.

References to events and items from the previous games are at every turn, and I mean EVERY turn! So if it's been a while it wouldn't hurt to replay the others first. Jokes and humor are great, and in the usual style, and the characters are definitely Phoenix Wright caliber. Edgeworth himself has lost a bit of his gruffness, he feels like a watered down version of his previous self, but this is kind of inevitable as you didn't have to watch the poor guy screw up nearly as often originally when you couldn't control him. XD

As for the stories they're good, yet the murders tend to be a bit more graphic than in previous games. It's not overly graphic, more like it's finally showing the Teen rating. As good as the stories are, the puzzles are rather simple and feels like you're more following obvious connections until the solution is handed to you.

Overall I'm giving it a four because it really is a great Ace Attorney game with good graphics, writing, music, and stories, but it isn't quite up to the high points that Phoenix set for the series. It's still a must play for fans! :D

If you're a fan of the Ace Attorney series, you know that the pattern of point-n-click investigation and courtroom arguements was starting to wear thin. New characters and a few new gameplay options helped to buoy the setup, but after the prior volume, it seemed to have run out of steam. Enter Miles Edgeworth, with a rather impressive revamp.

Graphics and gameplay have rather improved, and the characters are crisper and better detailed. Also, a more interactive setup, including a large environment 2d character motion, has been added, rather than having to do a screen by screen analysis, allowing for more depth and a better feel to the story.

In place of the rather tedious courtroom tennis match that made up the majority of the AA games, the arguments are much shorter and separated, though the climax encounter tends to drag out a tad longer than necessary. Also included are logical jumps, which edgeworth uses multiple evidence pieces to piece together story bits to advance the plot, rather than relying on finding that last piece of evidence or wandering around looking for the new character interaction.

Audio still is a let down, in that theres little to no voice apart from the few cries of "objection" and "hold it," the mainstays of the series. I'm still puzzled that more can't be included, if only a few crucial snippets from the main characters.

Overall, this is a very good revamp. A lot of it is the same true, but the main meat and potatoes has been overhauled, and prevents much of the frustrated searching that bogged down much of the Ace attorney games.

I really enjoyed the Phoenix Wright games, and would find myself always needing to play just a little bit longer, to see what would happen next. I really looked forward to this game, because Miles was such an interesting character. The game has its moments. There are some nice changes. The action unfolds outside of the courtroom setting of the other games. "Logic" is introduced, and it is possible to explore the scenes at times, looking for evidence. This game brings back nearly every familiar character, and while it was fun to see Miles (and others) in the past in one chapter, it wasn't enough to make this as entertaining as I'd hoped.

Perhaps I should have been taking more breaks from this game, but I have been trying to slog through it on and off over a few weeks. And it feels like work at times. It's generally not difficult to figure out what comes next at any given time. Just wade through the dialog, and see what needs to be presented. Sadly, at the very end, it's starting to feel like a chore. Will the bad guy get away? Maybe! No, wait! We have more evidence. But no, he can get around that. No, wait! We have more evidence! Over and over. At this point, I just want it to be done already.

I just don't feel the same interest that I did in the PW games. Those stories seemed far more interesting, and I cared more about the characters, who seemed to have more of a stake in what was going on. I was genuinely curious to see what would happen. In this game, I can foresee no great surprises coming at the end, or major changes for the main characters, though I could be wrong.

Having played every single Ace Attorney there has been in the US, including Apollo Justice (ugh...), I have to say that I eagerly awaited Miles Edgeworth. After all, he's been my favorite character of the series besides Mia. I did read other professional reviews that noted some of the changes in the gameplay from those to this, and maybe I just didn't expect it to be this drastically different.

If you've never played an Ace Attorney game...well, first off, shame on you. Second, this is essentially a text-based crime solving game. You go to different locations, collect evidence, talk to witnesses, and then face them with what you've found. Edgeworth does not deviate from this basic formula, but a lot of core staples of the series were removed in favor of what I can only speculate is an attempt to garner more fans with a less-involved gameplay setting.

The first thing I noticed was that instead of the still imagery where you could imagine yourself as Phoenix Wright or Apollo Justice, you're now navigating a pseudo-3D environment as Miles Edgeworth. In each instance he's attempting to investigate something that's randomly happened in his presence. This is a far cry from Phoenix Wright in particular, where it opened with a mysterious entry and then left you to fill in the blanks as the story unfolded, culminating into a plot twist more often than not. In Edgeworth everything is almost too predictable, because the incidents always happen nearby, and the killer is almost always one of the first people you interview. This detracts from the mystery, and I was left feeling as though the challenge had been dumbed down.

Edgeworth also does the one thing I really can't stand from non-RPG games: It brings back EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER from the Phoenix Wright series in some way, shape, form or fashion, with the possible exception of Mia and some of the criminals. Von Karma, Gumshoe, Oldbag, even the chick with the forensics tools makes a brief cameo appearance. None of these characters with the exception of Gumshoe is really integral to anything like they were in the Phoenix Wright games, and while it was slightly good to see them again, to have them all thrown back in here for the sake of nostalgia was insulting at times, especially with the girl security guard from, I believe, Trials and Tribulations (might be wrong on that).

Lastly, I found very little challenge with the evidence presenting during the interrogation phases. In almost every situation it was blatantly obvious how to proceed; there were only a select few instances where I was stumped and had to guess a couple of times. Generally speaking it was a breeze to figure out what to do, and this is definitely a change for the worse. I'll admit that I did complain about some of Phoenix Wright's stunts with evidence, and the fact that you could only present at certain statements even if the statement had nothing to do with the evidence it wants (Trials and Tribulations I'm looking at you), but I didn't expect it to be THIS dumbed down. There are times you're stuck with over 24 pieces of evidence, of which 7 are presented at any given time, and they're obvious. It's not like it's a stretch to figure out what's going on.

New to the series are the "Logic" and "Deduce" features. Logic captures certain statements from people or investigations, then you need to match two statements that are related in order to figure something out. In my opinion this was very poorly implemented; there are times that you're looking for evidence when what the game really wants is for you to connect some Logic statements. Also, depending on certain investigations, you might need to Deduce something, which relates it to a piece of evidence you own. This is a bit more forgiving and sensible than Logic, but Logic is more prevalent than Deduce. Both feel like steps in the wrong direction - it's obvious why they added these features: to spice up the game, but I still feel they weren't necessary in the grand scheme of things and should have been left out.

I mentioned before that Edgeworth's cases don't feel nearly as deep as Phoenix Wright, and I want to expand on that. In the second Phoenix Wright game, I believe, there is a case where the first thing you're shown is what appears to be Miles Edgeworth holding a smoking gun and standing over a dead body. This automatically leads you to believe that Miles has killed someone. Phoenix takes the case, and eventually solves it, releasing his friend from liability, but the path to get there is difficult and quite lengthy. There are times when all evidence seems to point to Miles as the killer, and it isn't until the end of the game that you find out that he isn't. Other cases involve kidnappings, some involve Phoenix's friends getting into trouble, and all the while you are remembering Mia, your mentor, looking down on you as you solve cases. You even still have the same office you used to. There is a strong feeling of character with Phoenix Wright that can't be explained. Apollo Justice lacked this feeling, and Edgeworth in this game does as well. It's a shame really, because he was such a compelling character in the Phoenix Wright games.

What makes this one stand out above the rest is the overarching storyline. Miles is deep rooted in a smuggling ring that has broad reaching implications. Franziska von Karma is also involved, and every case somehow ties to that arch. It's an excellently told main storyline, better than Apollo Justice, which tried to do the same thing with a gambling Phoenix Wright, but poorly.



In short, do I recommend it? Yes, I do. Despite what I said above, it IS a fun game (note my fun rating). Compared to the three Phoenix Wright games I find it to be a pale shadow. I find it to be superior in storyline to Apollo Justice. If the game had come out before Phoenix Wright I'd probably have a better opinion of it, which is why I still recommend the game. It's not a bad game. It's just not as good as Phoenix Wright was.

After being somewhat disappointed by the previous Ace Attorney game, Apollo Justice, I was cautiously optimistic about this new game. I needn't have worried: this game presents a new direction for the series that has all the charm of the Phoenix Wright games and the fun of the best "Turnabouts." It's great fun to play as Miles Edgeworth - I really enjoyed playing as him in the last Turnabout from "Trials and Tribulations," and having his own game is as fun as I'd hoped.

If you've played the previous games in the series, you'll be pleased (and maybe dismayed by one or two irritating return characters - I'm looking at you, Wendy Oldbag) by the large cast of recurring characters. The first 3 Turnabouts especially are a parade of returning characters. Don't worry, though, the designers have also added a liberal helping of new characters to the game as well, each very well drawn and animated. The new characters are just as well-written and likable as you'd expect from the series, in fact, at several points I got the impression that even the "throwaway" characters who only show up in a single Turnabout were just as well done as the characters who appear throughout the game.

The new formula results in a much more varied game experience. In the previous games, I found that the Investigation and Courtroom phases often took longer than I'd have liked, especially in the later Turnabouts. Sometimes I would find myself wishing I was in the phase that I wasn't in. This new game circumvents this issue by changing frequently between investigation and cross-examination.

For instance, you might be investigating a crime scene, and come across a vital witness. After hearing the witness's testimony, Miles thinks there's something fishy with the testimony, and will then go into a cross-examination mode to get the whole story before returning to Investigation mode.

The translation is excellent overall. The puns and jokes are very well done. I did see several minor translation errors, more than I have seen in any of the previous games, but given the large amount of dialog and the fact that it's always easy to tell what they meant, I elected not to dock a star from my score for it.

All in all, a great addition to the Ace Attorney series, and definitely a worthy addition to the game collection of both Ace Attorney fans and adventure game fans in general.

As a big Ace attorney fan I felt compelled to write a review. I have completed all five Ace Attorney games so I will give my honest opinion about how this game stacks up to the previous games. The gameplay is pretty much structured like the previous Ace Attorney games. Phase 1: You talk to people, Phase 2: Investigate and examine crime scene, Phase 3: Go battle in court. Err except in this game, there is no court room. Instead you're left questioning suspects/culprits for a good amount of time. Just imagine playing Phase 1 & 2 until the case is solved. You do this in every case, which becomes quite tedious. The game lacks the excitement that you would normally get in the court room. It seemed like they were trying to replace the court room by having the player run through Phase 1 & 2 to make up for the time, otherwise the game would be extremely short. As a result, it got kind of boring by the time I reached the middle of Case #3. Another thing, it was ridiculously easy, you're given a health bar that depletes after ~10 mistakes. I'm not complaining about the number of tries you're given, but I felt there was little to no challenge in this game. If Capcom is going to give a lot of chances, I would expect the game to be tougher or at least up to par with the other AA games. Because of it's simplicity and difficulty (or lack thereof), this is a good entry level game if you have never played any Ace attorney games.

However, that's not to say the game isn't fun, it's just not as entertaining as the other AA games. Fans of the previous games will appreciate the humorous dialogue and inner dialogue, you'll also see a handful of familiar PW characters as well as a new cast. There are small references made about some PW characters and easter eggs hidden in the game! Overall it's a mediocre game, but I expected more, especially since it's part of the AA series. I miss the court room, hopefully they will bring it back in AA:I2. I mean who doesn't want to be the prosecutor and convict the bad guys in court for once?

This is the best Ace Attorney game yet. The investigating with the new "Logic" feature is very user friendly and well...logical. No more knowing the answer but getting penalties for not presenting at the exact right time. No more hunting for the clue you missed over multiple locations. I love getting to know Miles better and working from his point of view. I have always been a bit of a Miles Edgeworth fangirl!

Were you one of those people who loved the first three Ace Attorney games? Did the lack of cameos in Apollo Justice disappoint you? If so, you'll most likely enjoy the latest in the Ace Attorney franchise which continues shortly after the third game leaves off.

In Ace Attorney Investigations, you control Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright's friend and rival from the first three games, through a series of murder investigations. During the course of the story, you meet up with plenty of old characters from the previous games as either witnesses or cameos. As such, this game is not very newbie friendly, and unlike with Apollo Justice, playing the first three games is required to get the most out the game.

That's not to say the cast is populated exclusively by old characters; there are a slew of zany new ones to either crack you up or annoy you as you play through the game. The script is a good as ever too, and the fact that all of the cases are directly connected gives the plot a tighter feel than in any of the other games. There are a few more typos than in the previous games, but they aren't frequent enough that it will make much of a difference.

Accompanying the script is a great new score, and while veterans of the first three games might flinch at the major differences made to the music, it proves that change can be for the better. Some of the tracks from previous games return as well, so those longing to hear tracks that they were familiar with during the course of the older games don't have to feel neglected.

The game play is a combination of old and new as well. Investigation sequences have received a revamp, and you can now move the new character sprites freely around the map. Unfortunately, the game now makes you investigate one specific area at a time, so this portion of the game still feels very linear. After discovering a certain number of facts during your investigation, you move on to "argue" with a character about what conclusions you drew from it. This works exactly like the court sequences of the earlier games, but they don't take up as much time, as you only have to deal with one or two "testimonies" at a time and you figure out most of the information needed during the investigation sequences.

This brings me to my next point: the game is easier than any of the previous four games. Whereas Phoenix and Apollo usually work by gathering evidence and piecing it together in court, Edgeworth connects his points of logic beforehand. Even when you can't figure out a contradiction just from the testimony given, he either gives you hints that point you to what you need or tells you that you need to press further. The cases still work well and are fun to play through, but the lack of a real challenge is a bit of a disappointment.

All in all though, Edgeworth makes an excellent debut, and if you enjoyed the first three or four games in the series, you shouldn't hesitate to check this one out. It has its flaws, but it's also a blast to play through, and it has some features that could stand to make their way into the series proper.

My 14 year old son bought this game from his lawn mowing money. I must say that I was very impressed. His previous purchases had been Dead Space and Left4Dead games and when he described the game to me, I couldn't figure out what the attraction was for him. It's a detective game and it requires logic and a good eye for clues to solve. The story lines are straight out of the old Perry Mason series, but with a twist. The only downfall appears to be the direct translation from Japanese to English (with cultural differences included) but that doesn't seem to bother my son. I don't think he's going to decide on the study of law as a career, but it's nice to have him thinking something through to solve it instead of just reacting to something that pops up on the screen.