This Whole Court Is Out of Order!

I have a soft spot for the Ace Attorney series. They're frequently ridiculous but almost always fun games; even when the stories extend a bit too long, they're still some of the best evolutions of the classic point-and-click adventure genre on a modern handheld. But as much as I enjoy the individual games, they each have their own shortcomings which keep them from being as good as they could be. The latest entry in the series, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, keeps up that trend: It presents an engaging story and better mechanics than previous versions of the game, but it still hits the same small pitfalls.

For the first time in the series, you take on the role of a prosecutor: fan-favorite Miles Edgeworth. And instead of collecting clues to bring out in court and defend your client with, you now have to scour crime scenes to find the real culprit. You still grill suspects by listening to their testimony and pointing out contradictions, but Investigations introduces a new "Logic" mechanic: Edgeworth stores certain facts in his memory that you can later piece together for more insight into what happened.

Occasionally, these new puzzles make the case more interactive. Piecing together disparate clues from different areas pulls you further into the game's interactive story. But when you find a key that's right next to a keyhole, and you have to "Deduce" that putting the key in said keyhole will open the door, it feels a tad silly.

But the story is the reason you play these games. If you don't like to read, then the Ace Attorney series is not for you, and Investigations is no different. The pacing is as inconsistent as ever: One moment you'll be racing through action set-pieces and snappy dialogue, and the next you'll be bogged down by an unnecessary chat with a character who's not going to say anything you don't already know. Things are helped immensely by a handy fast forward button -- if you've heard the dialogue you're reading already, you can hold down B to skip through at a quicker pace.

But for the first time you read it, the text scrolls by too slowly. In lieu of voice actors, you'll notice the text crawls by at different speeds -- or even stops on specific words momentarily -- to give you the effect of a dramatic representation. But this only holds my attention for moments at a time; I read faster than the game displays text, and I'd at least like the option to go at my own pace.