In 2001, the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan, and while it took four years before it finally made its way to North America, it did so on Nintendo's new DS system. The game became something of a cult hit, and it grew so popular that Capcom not only decided to translate the other games and bring them stateside but did so at a pace that narrowed the gap between each regional release. After the release of the final game in the series to date in 2017, Capcom started putting these games into compilations for modern platforms. This leads us to the release of the final collection of games in Ace Attorney Investigation Collection.

The collection consists of two games, both of which originated on the Nintendo DS and were released two years apart. The first game is Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth; players take on the role of the titular character, who is known to most fans as one of the major antagonists and rivals of the game's first star, Phoenix Wright. The story starts with you returning from an overseas trip and stumbling onto a murder scene that occurred in your office. Despite it being the middle of the night, you immediately jump into the fray and help lead the investigation to identify the murderer and how they committed the crime. This is then followed up by four other cases that all seem to be stand-alone in nature but slowly reveal themselves to be interconnected.

Part of the appeal of the stories doesn't lie in finding out who committed each crime but figuring out how to prove how they did it in the first place. In a way, it feels like some detective shows in that these discoveries become more exciting than the conclusion. The other appealing part of each case comes from all of the secondary characters that assist you along the way. There's a mix of old and new faces, and each one is likable in their own way thanks to the writing, which has a good balance of humor with serious moments. Despite some of the character designs and situations, the game never feels like a farce, and that sense of balance is one of the main things that has made the series lovable.

The thing that will stand out the most about the gameplay is something you won't notice until you finish the first episode. At no point in the game do you ever enter a courtroom. The entire game has you out on the field with a partner collecting clues and talking to witnesses and suspects. It's a strange thing to see a prosecutor acting more like a detective for each case, but it makes this feel a little different from the other Ace Attorney games.

Despite the lack of a courtroom setting, the game still uses most of the series' same mechanics. You'll be able to look for clues at each crime scene that involve looking at and examining the environment and items. All of those things and the details you find will come in handy when you interrogate people for more information or implicate them in the crime. The key is learning when to present the evidence or call out someone on a fact that conflicts with what they'd previously mentioned. To prevent players from stumbling upon the correct answers via brute force, the game provides an energy meter and subtracts some with any wrong choices. Lose it all, and it means starting a case from your last save. This isn't so bad, considering that you can save at any time; the autosave system kicks in frequently enough that you're rarely in danger of losing a ton of progress.

The new gameplay mechanic introduced in this game is Logic. Not all of the clues in each scene are physical; some are tucked away as little bits of information to keep in mind. Eventually, you reach a point where you can connect the bits of info to make a logical conclusion to move the case forward to the next puzzle. It's an interesting mechanic in that it feels like its purpose is to get people attuned into analytical thinking rather than opening up a new revelation, but it never feels like a chore to use. Overall, it's a fine addition.

The second game in the collection is Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path, and it is perhaps the one that longtime fans are most excited for, as it was the last game in the series to finally get an official translation. The game starts off with the attempted assassination of a foreign president, causing Miles to get called immediately to help solve the crime. Like the previous game, this case ends up leading to a bunch of others that are connected, but the stakes are much higher because they lead to Miles going on the defensive and ultimately questioning the purpose of the law.

For the most part, the game mechanics are very similar to Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and there are two things that make this game different from the previous. The first one is Mind Chess, which initially plays out like the series' classic interrogation scenes minus the presence of evidence to help out your argument. Instead, you use the various dialogue choices, which include staying silent to break through a stubborn person's defenses to get the info you need. The mechanic works out nicely, but there is some added pressure of being able to take the correct dialogue path thanks to the presence of a timer that constantly ticks away whenever you're making a choice. It can initially feel constricting, but it only becomes debilitating once you're stuck and constantly making bad choices, but failure doesn't completely derail you from each case.

The second element is the game's length. Even though there are five cases, each one feels like it takes longer to complete. Some players may feel like the game drags on a bit too much because of it, while others will relish the fact that they get more character exposition and backstory. The length also makes this game a throwback of sorts, as some of the episodes have you returning to the courtroom, a nice thing for longtime fans to see. Overall, the length is helped out by a stronger story than the first game, making this a title that will feel rewarding for those who opted to not go for the fan-translated version years ago.

The first of the Ace Attorney collections was barebones, as it just featured the games with the HD facelift that originally came from the iOS version. Since then, the compilations have added a few quality-of-life features that have mostly made their way to this game. There's a gallery section that lets you look at the various artwork and character animations and listen to the songs featured in both games. The History section lets you look at every line of dialogue spoken for each scene in a case. There's also a Chapter Select mode, so you can dart around to whichever episode you please instead of having to do them all in order. The game features Autoplay for text, so you aren't mashing buttons all of the time. The big feature for many newcomers will be the Story mode, which can be toggled at any time and allows the game to play on its own, solving every puzzle for you and going through the correct path at the expense of being able to obtain Achievements and unlock stuff in the Gallery. For those who are stumped by a puzzle or want to treat the game like a true visual novel, this is for them.

One new feature present is the ability to toggle the graphics. By default, the game goes for the HD look that all of the other compilations have used, and the character designs and animations look quite good. However, you can change this to use the original graphics from the DS version, which are upscaled enough to mimic the original look without appearing like a completely jumbled mess of pixels. While the feature is focused more on the characters, the backgrounds get a little bit of a graphical downgrade — if you look hard enough. The feature is neat to have, but the only complaint is that you can't switch it on the fly, as the game forces you to quit to the title screen before selecting the option to change styles.

The previous compilations of Ace Attorney have all played well on the Steam Deck, and this is no different. The game runs at the device's default resolution of 1280x800, and while a high frame rate for this kind of game isn't necessary, it's reassuring to see that MangoHUD reports it running at a locked 60fps anywhere outside of load screens. Cloud saves are supported, but the most important statistic is battery life, as the game averages a little under five hours on a full charge.

Just like the previous compilations in the series, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is an awesome set for visual novel fans and mystery fans alike. The focus on actual investigations more than courtroom drama may throw some people for a loop, but it also shows off how well the series mechanics work. The logic puzzles are good, but the Mind Chess sections of the second game are a tad more exciting. Best of all, the characters and writing remain top-notch, while the various new quality-of-life elements make this one of the more approachable entries yet. While it would be nice to finally see a new entry in the series, it is good to know that at least this release means that anyone can experience all of the games in this series on one platform.

Score: 8.5/10