VisualNovel The first game: The Weak Link In The Series
This review is only for the first game. I wish the two games had separate works pages, but c'est la vie.
The Ace Attorney has had its highs and lows, but the first Investigations spinoff is probably the lowest point, since it has the most flaws and the fewest strengths to balance them out.
The story involves Edgeworth returning from abroad and being caught up in a series of murder incidents that, along with one he encountered at the start of his career, all tie into a smuggling conspiracy. The plot is one of the weakest in the series, up there with the almost nonexistent plot of JFA, due to the Contrived Coincidences driving the story and less interesting conflict.
There's more investigation in AAI(which I find less interesting than the trials) compared to the main series, although there will be times when you will be forced to confront an uncooperative witness, someone with a faulty theory about the murder or the culprit, which plays out the same as the cross-examinations.
The game has a new Logic mechanic, in which you connect two related clues to gain a new insight and advance your investigation. Usually, the connections are rather obvious, but it's fun to make the connections on your own and uncover more clues.
AAI's gameplay is rather easy(but I didn't mind, as it was my first AA game). In most games, a mistake costs you at least 20% of your life, but here, most mistakes will only cost you 10%. This isn't entirely bad, but Edgeworth will often give hints as to what you much do taking away some of the challenge.
The cases are probably the weakest in the series- two are bad, two are OK and one is good but not great.
Case 1 works well as a tutorial case, but has a forgettable villain.
Case 2 is a bit of a step up from the first one, especially when it comes to the culprit, but unlike many second cases in the series, doesn't do much to establish the plot.
Case 3 is one of the weakest cases in the series, with a poor villain(a recurring trend here), the murder having little to do with the overall plot(typical for Case #3) and a few other flaws.
Case 4 is the best of a bad lot, since it has good characters, emotional moments and a hilarious part where you cross-examine the judge. That said, it also has flaws, such as a witness with a bad case of Be as Unhelpful as Possible.
Case 5 is far too long, and ends with a lackluster Big Bad, making for a disappointing finale.
AAI is also a bit of a missed opportunity when it comes to Edgeworth, since he doesn't undergo much Character Development here. Case 4 has you play as him in his "Demon Prosecutor" days, but the only way he's different from the present is that he's more arrogant and obsessed with perfection- he goes about the investigation completely fairly. It's a shame that a spinoff focused on Edgeworth doesn't do more with his character.
All in all, AAI isn't a bad game, just one that neither lives up to the rest of the series nor realizes its potential as a spinoff.
VisualNovel Eureka! The ideal spin-off!
Taking the best parts of the main series games and choosing not to rely on old triumphs yet making sure they don't release a comparatively "lesser" product, the Ace Attorney Investigations games are very much the ideal end product of what all spin-offs should aspire to become. Based around the titular character (who pretty much all playing the main series game became attached to in some way), the duology explores more facets of his personality and continuing struggles with an f-ed up legal system and his very own motivations for doing what he does. Edgey being a little more, shall we say, "intellectually precise" in his approach to law makes for a refreshing change of pace from ol' Phoenix.
This is not to say the games ain't suffused with that wacky humor that gives Ace Attorney its appeal; far from it. It sacrifices some of the truly big laughs from the main series in order to achieve a higher level of balance between comedy and drama, but it works just fine. Miles getting another classic spunky sidekick sweetens the deal considerably.
Unlike the main series has gone on to do, however, they don't experiment too much with the gameplay formula. The first game introduces us to the Investigations series' distinctive concept of "no trial sequences", and seems to stick with just that. The sequel has question branching segments in the form of "Logic Chess", that in the end just becomes repetitive, less intuitive versions of the Psyche-Lock sequences of earlier times.
The first game suffers somewhat from being just a little forgettable, and after an endgame that long overstayed its welcome, it ends up feeling a bit too impersonal and inconsequential for its own good. The sequel, however... oh boy! Lemme just give a quick shout-out to the brave guys 'n' gals that ensured the rest of the world would be able to experience one of the most tightly woven narratives in Attorney history with their ingenious fan translation. Oh, uh, I guess I kinda already outlined its awesomeness right then, huh? Oh well.
Investigations refuses to get stuck in the shadow of its main series cousins, and at times even outshines its roots. Capcom made a dick move by not localizing the sequel, but thanks to industrious fandom, it's fine. Those lads might've very well beaten the localization team at their own game, after all.
VisualNovel The second game: A Massive Improvement
This review is for the second game. I will repost it on the second game's page when and if Gyakuten Kenji 2 gets its own trope page
The original Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth was a spinoff that suffered from many problems, from poor overall cases to a lackluster overarching story. The sequel(known as Gyakuten Kenji 2) fixes many of those problems and ends up being one of the better entries in the Ace Attorney series.
It's hard to summarize the plot without spoiling it, but like the first game, Edgeworth finds himself caught up in several murder incidents over a period of a few days, all of which are linked to each other. Through it all, he comes under investigation by the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee, which wants to strip him of his badge, and must consider whether he wishes to stay as a prosecutor or follow in his father's footsteps as a defense attorney. This game probably is the best use of Edgeworth's character since Justice for All.
The basic investigation formula from the first game remains intact, but there are a few nice additions. You will sometimes have to face off against witnesses in Logic Chess, in which you must ask the right questions(or remain silent when appropriate) to get uncooperative witnesses to talk. It's fast-paced, challenging and requires you to choose your responses carefully.
Like with the first game, the penalties are relatively generous, with most taking 10% of your influence gauge, but there are a handful of occasions when mistakes are punished more severely.
The cases are overall quite good, and I don't think any of them are bad.
The first case is surprisingly high-stakes for an introductory level, featuring an assassination attempt on a foreign president.
The second case begins with a nice twist, and has some interesting characters, particularly the return of the culprit from "The First Turnabout."
The third case is one of the best in the game, particularly that part of it takes place in the past, in which you play as Miles' father Gregory on his final case.
The fourth case is easily the Darkest Hour of the game, and serves as an effective turning point, with some twists that lead into the final case.
The fifth case is one of the largest and most complex cases, effectively ties the plot together. The final showdown with the Big Bad is satisfying without being too drawn-out, unlike the previous game.
Unfortunately, the game has not been localized into English, and most likely never will be, so I ended up watching a playthrough on YouTube. Despite this, the game has a masterful fan translation effort that captures the spirit of the original script and feels as though it was done by the official localizers(especially the way the Punny Names were done), so I recommend that Ace Attorney fans experience AAI 2, regardless of how they end up playing or watching it.