Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – NDS – Review

Capcom’s Ace Attorney franchise has
long been a staple on the Nintendo DS, offering up some truly unique
adventure-style gameplay, a quirky cast of characters, and some interesting
dialogue. Now, for the latest entry to the franchise, Capcom is taking things in
a slightly different direction, giving players a new character to play as and
taking the drama out of the courtroom and onto the crime scene.

In Ace Attorney Investigations:
Miles Edgeworth, you play as the titular prosecutorial prodigy as he teams up
with his Detective sidekick Dick Gumshoe to solve a variety of crimes while
using his logic and deductive abilities. Even though the game features a new
setting and protagonist, this is unmistakably cut from the same cloth as other
Ace Attorney games, and feels like more of the same, for better or worse. Still,
if you’re a die-hard fan of the series, this entry gives you enough new features
to stay on board.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles
Edgeworth begins with a murder occurring in the title hero’s office. Edgeworth,
a highly-decorated and intelligent (if somewhat eccentric) prosecuting attorney
and rival of series regular Phoenix Wright, returns to his office from a trip
abroad, discovers the dead body and begins his investigation, discovering that
this was more than a simple one-off murder but a larger conspiracy.

Many of the same elements of other
Ace Attorney games are present here in Miles Edgeworth’s adventure. You’ll gain
evidence and present it at key moments, investigating the crime and finding
flaws in other attorneys’ arguments. You’ll have to pay close attention to the
evidence presented and also what suspects and witnesses have said in order to
proceed and keep the truth from falling by the wayside. The game’s story and
dialogue are quirky as ever, featuring flamboyant characters with a firm sense
of justice butting heads and saying some pretty weird lines. It can be corny, to
be sure, but it does have a unique charm that long-time fans will definitely
appreciate.

As the name would imply, in Ace
Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, you’ll spend a good amount of time
performing the investigatory side of your line of work. You’ll examine crime
scenes using your stylus to look for important clues and information, examine
evidence, talk to witnesses (and potential suspects), and use logic to combine
thoughts of note to come to a better understanding of what took place. When you
talk to suspects, you’ll have to find holes in their stories by pressing them
for more information and presenting them with evidence to the contrary.

While Ace Attorney Investigations:
Miles Edgeworth adds some gameplay changes to the mix, the problems that plagued
other entries to the series are still around. Solving cases isn’t as intuitive
as it should be, resulting in a lot of trial and error. The game’s logic puzzles
are hit and miss, and at times they make a lot of sense, but other times they
are frustrating. Additionally, there is a lot of superfluous text that you’ll
have to weed through to get the real information, making cases go on much longer
than they need to. Another inherent problem with the franchise is the replay
value, or namely the lack thereof. Once you’ve gone through the game’s five
episodes, there’s little reason to go back and do them again.

Miles Edgeworth’s adventure boasts
the same kind of anime-esque aesthetic. While there isn’t much to the look
outside of some sprites and static images, the look is still quite clean. The
sound is also pretty barebones aside from a musical score and the occasional
yelled “Objection!” or “Hold it!”, but the score does a fine job of accenting
the mood of the proceedings and the overall theme.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles
Edgeworth isn’t a gamechanger, and if you haven’t been a fan of the Ace Attorney
series yet, this one isn’t likely to change your mind. The same problems that
have plagued the series in the past, namely lack of replay value and trial and
error gameplay, are still here. However, if you’re a fan looking for something
that changes the formula a little bit, then Miles Edgeworth should have just
what you’re looking for.

Review Scoring Details for Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Gameplay: 7.5
This entry to the Ace Attorney franchise takes things out of the courtroom,
having you investigate crime scenes for evidence as well as cross-examine
witnesses and potential suspects. However, the changes are pretty minimal, and
this game still plays out pretty formulaically. The logic puzzles are
inconsistent, with some making sense and others being trial and error.

Graphics: 7.0
Not much to look at, but the static images look decent.

Sound: 8.0
The game’s score does a fine job of accenting the on-screen action, but the
sound effects are pretty sparse.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.0
The dialogue is cheesy but charming. The Ace Attorney franchise is beginning
to show its age.

Overall: 7.5
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth gets props for changing up the
setting and providing a new protagonist for the franchise. However, the gameplay
is pretty standard for the Ace Attorney series, and brings with it the same
flaws from other entries.