Gaming Going hands-on with Ace Attorney Investigations

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Ace Attorney Investigations is the last compilation of the extended Phoenix Wright universe that we needed to have the full set on modern consoles. That in itself is a good reason to pick it up for completionists, but I would imagine that many people will also be interested in this collection because it also includes an (effectively) all-new game to play.

Prosecutor's Gambit, the second title in the collection, was never formally released outside of Japan. So, while we are still technically waiting for a proper new game in this series, for many of us this will be an all-new experience. It's also off to a very good start, based on the opening case that I played of it.

One of the most obviously interesting qualities of both of these games is that the time you spend in the courtroom is actually relatively limited. Rather, playing as the prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth, you'll actually be spending a lot of time exploring scenes and interviewing witnesses and suspects. It's more point-and-click than the visual novel approach of Phoenix Wright, and it's well made, with some solid logic behind the puzzles and detective process that you need to follow through… at least in the early stages (which, of course, track with the general quality of the series).

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What you do is essentially the same as the Phoenix Wright games. You find clues, interrogate witnesses, and then put things together in such a way that you can highlight contradictions and deduce key pieces of information. By doing that you advance the plot. The difference is just location. Rather than getting to the bottom of whether a person is guilty or not from the court drama, here you're looking to solve the crime in the first place.

It's a testament to the enduring quality of the writing that these games remain as compelling as ever, after so many years. Miles is a different kind of character to Phoenix – he's more arrogant and blatantly inspired by Edogawa Ranpo's characters (Japan's Arthur Conan Doyle, basically). The cases have all the expected twists and turns that you'd expect, and they genuinely work as mysteries – you're going to be kept guessing about your own assumptions of what's going on even as you work through all the puzzles. There's also plenty of humor and the kind of over-the-top hyperbole that has always given the series great energy.

Finally, there's some great work done to modernize the game. The developers have gone and re-drawn all the in-game art to provide HD sprites, which look great on the Switch in either docked or handheld mode. Alternatively, though, you can switch back to the original pixel sprites for the authentic experience. It's not the first time I've said this and it will be by no means the last, but I do wish that with HD remasters, where the underlying game isn't really changed and there's just a superficial facelift more developers realized that some people do like the original aesthetics and allowing them to swap back to that is a good thing.

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It's a little odd previewing a retro collection. Most people will know what to expect, so other than to confirm that it works – and I can confirm that – there's not a whole lot more to say. There is a "new," previously un-translated game in this collection, though, so that by itself will make it worthy, and there are some neat little gameplay innovations that it throws in. Once you play around with the "Mind Chess" mechanic of this "new" game, you'll be left hoping that we get more Miles Edgeworth in the future. And perhaps we will if this collection keeps interest in the series strong.