Playing A Game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth NDS

Edgeworth is very much an Ace Attorney game. If you've liked the series, you will like this. If you haven't, then you probably won't.

There are three notable differences between this game and the rest of the franchise:

1) It stars Miles Edgeworth. No kidding. Since Miles already became a likable hardass in earlier Ace Attorney games, he doesn't possess the development arc that made Phoenix Wright an interesting character. But, he does have his own charms, e.g. his inner-voice's superiority complex.

2) It's about investigating (whoa!). In two chapters, I haven't set foot in a courtroom once. AAI instead places a heavy emphasis on crime scene action: the Logic system (comparable to the psyche-lock system) allows Miles to connect observations and thoughts, forming leads to follow-up on. You'll still interview people and scrutinize in-the-field testimony, pointing out contradictions and presenting evidence, but - at least so far - there are no gavels.

3) You can walk around. This is the most visible new feature of the game, but really, the least consequential. Static portraits and navigation menus have become isometric fields and connected entrances/exits (although it should be said, most of the game does the scene-to-scene navigation for you). Instead of tapping to investigate, you walk to it and Examine. This can lead to some awkwardness in positioning Edgeworth properly to examine particular objects, but the maps are designed well enough that it's almost never an issue.

If there's any meaningful difference between this game and its predecessors, it's that there's less of an emphasis on the diverse Ace Attorney cast, and more on the crime scene. But it's no deal-breaker - if you're interested in keeping up with Gumshoe and Franziska, Ace Attorney Investigations does not disappoint.

For what it's worth, I was more impressed by the first case than the second. They were both enjoyable, but the second case involved a few slightly-dubious leaps of logic.

Progress: Starting the third case

Rating: Good