- Tested on PS5.
- PS5 code transmitted by the publisher.
- Finish both titles after 40 hours of play, approximately.
- Automatic History and Mode mode tested.
- Home captures.
- I discovered the trilogy Ace Attorney, centered on Phoenix Wright, DS at the time.
Do we still have to present the license? Ace Attorney ? The millions of players who have travelled through the adventures of the famous defense lawyer Phoenix Wright, surely remember the attraction of the series, between luscious situations, rock-capped characters and memorable OST. How can we not remember the charismatic prosecutor Benjamin Hunter? A separate character who will have the right to his own adventures on the portable console as early as 2009, before a sequel follows suit. 15 years later, language barriers are no longer and, thanks to Ace Attorney Investigations CollectionThe Duology centered around the prosecutor can now be discovered in Molière's language. A privilege that does not refuse!
An angry man
Small reminder of the facts. On the basis of his experience with Capcom, the main act of which remains the realization of Dino Crisis 2Shu Takumi became friends with the great Shinji Mikami who, very quickly, gave him the opportunity to carry out his own project, the future license: Ace Attorney. While Takumi directed and staged the first three opus of the series, initially thought as a trilogy around the lawyer, he will nevertheless remain in the script on the 4th episode appeared in 2007, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, thus abandoning the realization. It is this episode that will introduce a new character and hero.
From this moment on, Shu Takumi will step away from the franchise, having finished sharing what he had to tell, especially with Wright, and letting his collaborators take over. This is why he will be absent from the spin-off around Benjamin Hunter, deployed in 2008. The project is partly sponsored by Takeshi Yamazaki, who was already working on Apollo Justice, as well as by the producer Motohide Eshiro (known for producing Onimusha 2 and actively participated in the reboot DMC Theory) at the origin of the idea. The latter germinated in his mind during the development of Trials and Tribulations, opus concluding the Phoenix Wright arch.
Iteration imagined by Eshiro and his colleagues is different. One Ace Attorney Yes, but with the name « Investigations ». Indeed, for these spin-offs, the teams wanted to radically change their proposal. Far from thinking, initially, of putting ourselves in the skin of the Hunter prosecutor, the idea of starting was mainly to create a game of investigations and investigations, while focusing on environments. Before the hero's choice is finally found. Duology therefore left the courts to place us on the daily ground where verbal confrontations will be legacies and no less intense and exciting to live than those before the jurors.
What also shines to the eye in this mill is the possibility of moving in the environments thanks to the controller. Benjamin Hunter walks and can interact with specific elements of the decor. The approach is much less cumbersome than that of the opus with Phoenix Wright who suffered from the phases of harvest of indices as they approached. Clearly, everything lacked life and dynamism. In addition to these readjustments that refresh the formula, some exclusive gameplay features are added.
Theft over a nest of lies
Let's cry out loud, yes, magic works, Ace Attorney Investigations manages to find everything that did, and still does, the charm and quality of the license designed by Shu Takumi. Completely crazy characters we like to discover the caricatureal gesture tics, when they are not tics of languages, not to mention the quality of writing games. Although the first part does not manage to find the maestria of the best Phoenix Wright, we stay on a solid set.
The first part invites us to go through five chapters forming a coherent but not chronological whole. The overall plot remains interesting, despite avoidable lengths and ellipses that were expected to be more present. Even as the challenge is in no way at all, it's all too simple, quickly giving the impression of wasting unnecessary time. Thus, the possibility to play in history mode, so that the game unfolds its intrigue and plays in your place to enjoy the scenario, is not deceiving. For it is really only during verbal confrontations, reminding of the confrontations in court, that one really has fun. In a playful sense.
The second episode corrects almost everything that might be missing from his predecessor. History is always structured in five chapters with a global link, however the lengths are less apparent here. Still as chattery, but with a gallery of characters that is constantly growing with new, appreciative faces, not to mention the surveys themselves, more haletante, the result is up to the expectations. Especially as Benjamin Hunter gets pushed, the stakes are greater than what Phoenix Wright had been able to confront up to Trials and Tribulations.
The first opus was already trying things with a smuggling case involving murder and kidnapping. The follow-up manages to go further. Without saying too much, let's say that the basic premise might be that Peter Hyams' film, The Night of Judges (1983). Let us guess a dark machination with very real and visible repercussions. We feel that the teams had more time to focus on playing and writing, as the concept and the bases were already installed. Be aware that staff members have come together in a hotel room to write the script of the second installment.Ace Attorney Investigations, taking up the method commonly used by Akira Kurosawa with his writers.
An Intimate Conviction
A way of working that can be considered atypical, but which offers a most convincing result. The narrative qualities of the franchise have greatly contributed to its popularity and success, precisely the writing of the characters, main and secondary. Without exception to this excellence, the mere fact of incarner Benjamin Hunter is a considerable asset for Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. If it is possible to appreciate and understand the two games without having previously completed the trilogy Phoenix WrightThere is no point in saying that connoisseurs will be all the more charmed.
The famous prosecutor was until then only a rival, a formidable antagonist that was finally known only through confrontations in court, or through gossip in the corridors and elsewhere. Hunter was in fact only an impression, a succession of judgments, although man inevitably arouses a minimum of respect. Because his charism and confidence in him are equal only his devotion to justice and the search for truth. This is what guides prosecutor Hunter's actions, devotion and unwavering determination to his values.
Its apparent calm hides a lively spirit that turbines constantly. As everyone knows, Benjamin Hunter is a man of mind, his sense of logic superior to the majority of the population in the world of franchise – and competition is not harsh – allows him to be so formidable in the debate. Hunter is a boxer of words! All the subtlety of his demonstrations lies in the art of the word to better take to the collision of the mind of others. In order to rewrite this much less ostentatious personality as well as the cross characters like Phoenix Wright, its negative, the studios adjusted the gameplay accordingly.
In addition to the usual verbal duels where the target will have to be forced to speak and then contradict his remarks with previously collected evidence, as well as moments « puzzle » in which one finds oneself in the psyche d'Hunter and where one has to connect information together to advance the plot, the second part ofAce Attorney Investigations brings a great asset: the Mind Chess. As the name indicates, there will be more strategic moments, let us say, during which Hunter will face a recalcitrant individual refusing to speak. Revelation is then symbolically represented by chess pieces to be destroyed with a relevant sentence.
The unfolding is simple, you have to choose to silence and listen to seize the opportunity to counter attack with a sentence, and thus destabilize the opponent. These verbal joustes have the merit of bringing from renewal to formula and gameplay, while making sense with the prosecutor's intellectual faculties, who also loves chess games. These are also live situations with a time gauge reducing over time. « part ». Intensity, all relative given the ease of play, brings significant added value.
The Speech Force
On the side of the coucacs, we will notice some inaccuracies with the interactions in the decor, or the fact that the evidence, like the ideas to be connected in Benjamin Hunter's mind, cannot work with any logic other than that predefined by the game. Even if two evidences can theoretically work, only one will be accepted, the second will be counted as an error. Nothing dramatic, but it happened that once or twice our logic and that of the game do not immediately coincide.
Collection obliges, some bonuses are of the game: artworks, musics, not to mention that it is possible to play with the graphics of the time but, unfortunately, impossible to change on the fly to compare. Ace Attorney Investigations Collection forces the party to revive for this. The charm of DS pixels is undeniable, but it is difficult to pass by the small graphic redesign pleasant for the eyes.
The soft gains in immersion by offering an aesthetic in high definition; So we take more advantage of the environments that, we recall, were from the beginning one of the important elements on which to focus with spin-off, in particular to stand out from the franchise and its omnipresence in court. We go through a variety of places, with enough detail to communicate what it takes to players, players.
The NPCs are not neglected either and have brief gesture loops, often a simple body movement, but sufficient to breathe a little life into the whole. Despite its obvious belonging to the visual novel genre, games never seem static or frozen. Finally, musical scores composed by Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia) do a very good job. Once again, the first part does not manage to touch the genius of the compositions of the series, but the sequel raises the level with some tracks that remain at the top of the hours after playing.
Fans of the license, you can't miss Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. Taking on what the series knows best, especially in terms of writing, the duology brings a new breath thanks to a substantially different proposal. Exits the courts, places open debates. However, thanks to a gamedesign intelligently designed to match the personality of Prosecutor Hunter, the games embark us so that we don't let go. If only for the second opus and its considerable contribution to the lore, for the evolution of the prosecutor, the gameplay enriches, the collection deserves to be explored!
For
- Writing (intrigues and characters)
- Effective and controlled narration
- The specificities of gameplay
- The humour signature of the license
- Convincing visual recast
- High quality OST
- Benjamin Hunter, quite simply
- A second part of the franchise
Against
- A first opus that drags a little in length
- Lack of challenge (especially on the first game)
I loved the trilogy Ace Attorney, I had even reworked it on DS (or 3DS I doubted) a decade ago. I'm adding this new collection to my list!
On the other hand, the first opus of this Ace Attorney Investigations Collection With a more mixed track record, do you think I could directly attack the second episode without having too little context?
Unfortunately, you're going to have to pass on the first. New characters are introduced into the latter and reappear in the 2nd (some are even developed mostly in the 1). So to grasp everything and appreciate as it should be casting is still better. Indispensable I don't know, but strongly recommended.
It is also a way of seeing the evolution between the two titles. Benjamin too. I also point out that, even if I type the first one, it's still a good game. I just think he suffers from less interesting and exciting investigations (especially the first ones) compared to the best in the Phoenix Wright trilogy. In addition to suffering from the comparison of the suite which, she puts herself in the top of the franchise. In my opinion 🙂
Okay, I note, thank you for the detailed answer!