Anyone that has played the first game in Phoenix Wright’s story remembers Miles Edgeworth; the smooth, forceful prosecutor who didn’t take any nonsense from anyone and made it his goal to ensure all defendants were found guilty, period. Easily the game’s most memorable character beside Wright himself, it was probably only a matter of time before Edgeworth got his own game on the DS. While remaining true to the general theme and presentation of previous games in the series, Ace Attorney Investigations has a good plot and just enough innovation to make it more than just a cheap cash-in.

The key thing to know is that this is called Ace Attorney Investigations, not ’Prosecutions.’ This means the focus isn’t on the court room like it is in previous games, and instead you control Edgeworth as he explores various crime scenes to discover what really happened. Just like other Ace Attorney titles, you’ll quickly discover that the truth is buried in a series of plot twists and witnesses who either don’t have the full story or are outright trying to lie to Edgeworth, so it will be up to you to figure out what clues are accurate and which are red herrings to lead you astray. Much of this is done in a style of a point and click adventure game, very much like King’s Quest or Sam & Max in game mechanics.

Each case tends to follow a basic flow of establishing the crime, showing how Edgeworth gets tangled up on it, then having you explore an area to find clues. This is actually done by moving him around the screen (rather than clicking around at a static image), so you can go up to items to inspect them, talk to witnesses, and so on. Despite the shift in presentation, the game mechanics are surprisingly similar to the other Ace Attorney games since there will be times when you zoom in to a static image to look at something in more detail, and cross-examinations have been replaced by ’debate’ segments where an individual presents their side of events. Edgeworth must then figure out which part of their claims is false, and present evidence to prove what really happened.

Along with the visual change, there are a few changes to the actual game formula worth noting. First, you no longer have a dedicated partner such as Maya or Trucy from the other games; Edgeworth does get a partner to bounce ideas off of, but who exactly it is changes from case to case and most of them are anywhere from being fun and enjoyable characters to at least tolerable. The other major change is the Logic mechanic where you discover things that aren’t material items, but are instead facts relevant to the case. Any one fact on its own means nothing, but combining it with another fact you learn in your investigation can lead to a whole new understanding of the situation and move the plot forward. Most cases use this mechanic very well, doing things like helping you figure out the real murder weapon or culprit, while one case is full of insultingly obvious uses of the Logic mechanic; virtually anyone knows "I have a key" plus "this object is locked" adds up to "use the key on the lock", and it stands to reason that Edgeworth should be able to make such conclusions without the player having to explicitly do it for him. Still, the problems are far more rare than its successful uses so it works out just fine.

There are five cases in total, each lasting about one to two hours; Capcom’s statements suggest the game will last about twelve hours, though I disagree slightly and think it’s closer to ten. Nonetheless, that’s not a bad total for the high quality writing most of these cases offer. Some cases also offer interesting mechanics unique to just that case, adding a nice variety to things. Even those that don’t have a unique gimmick manage to be well written and have a plot that you can figure out if you apply decent thinking to it; the sole exception is the third case which is riddled with situations where the game either completely fails to tell you important things, or only hints at them in extremely vague ways and forces you to make wild guesses at what the solution is. The only other serious game play problem is one the series has always had, that certain segments of an investigation or debate (the equivalent of witness cross-examination in this game) expect a very specific answer, yet you can use two or more items to establish that point. Nonetheless, you might not pick the exact item the writers intended, and the game will penalize you because they didn’t expect you to reach the exact same conclusion they did but from a different angle. Fortunately this problem is somewhat rare; I only encountered it a half-dozen times in my play through.

As far as actual game play goes, I can admit that Ace Attorney Investigations is weak; so is every other game in the series, and so are most games in the point and click adventure genre that this spin-off takes inspiration from. So if you buy this game, you’re buying it for the story, characters, and excellent presentation through dramatic music and sharp statements. Those familiar with the series would probably expect that Edgeworth makes a great ’straight man’ to the insanity around him, and he does. In a stark contrast to Phoenix Wright or Apollo Justice, Edgeworth puts up with very little nonsense and is quite willing to use his wit to sarcastically mock uncooperative suspects, clearly hostile witnesses, and other twits who need to be put in their place.