Chase Down the Truth - Noriyuki Iwadare (From the 'Ace Attorney: Miles Edgeworth Investigations' soundtrack)
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I should probably start this by saying that I played 90% of this game on the iOS port. It was HORRIBLE!! do NOT play the fucking iOS port. There's no text skipping, it's always online and the saving constantly bugs out. Another thing to mention is that I started playing this in December of 2023 (!!) and have been on-and-off beating cases since then. Last year I went on a really long trip and played about 80% of it on long haul flights, which was actually really fun. Especially the case that takes place on a plane!! I played that one from start to end when I was on my way from Hawaii to Japan. I'm sure I have to be one of like 20 people to have done that, it was very cool.
Anyway, obviously I really like this because it's Ace Attorney. AA: Miles Edgeworth Investigations is a spin-off that takes alot of the central mechanics from the mainline games and recontextualises them. The main games typically follow a simple pattern: Gather clues, go to court, gather more clues, go back to court. This works really well, but I think it can be a bit restrictive and formulaic. AA:MEI takes the same systems used during the clue-gathering and court sequences and smashes them together. There is no courtroom anymore!! You just argue with random people in the street!! Instead of the typical formula, you transition between investigating and presenting in a very fluid manner. There's no knowing how long each section is going to take, and it really helps the narrative pacing. Sequence lengths ebb and flow, with higher-stakes confrontations taking even longer than some do in the mainline games. I think I might actually prefer this to the typical formula, I'm really excited to play the next one!!
A year has passed since I played the majority AA:MEI, but I just played the (extremely long) final case in the past few days, this time on the PC port. It was definitely the right call to buy the remastered collection, because there is NO WAY I could have gotten through that long ass fucking confrontation at the end without text skips. It was awesome though!! You literally just argue with a guy in the lobby of a building for 3 hours and it's some of the best AA content I've played. The narrative stakes aren't as high as they are in Trials and Tribulations, but it does call into question the same moral principles surrounding the pursuit of justice. Over the course of the game, Edgeworth shifts further from the cold-hearted prosecutor he was in the original game into a man in pursuit of the truth. Playing as him is a really refreshing change compared to Phoenix or Apollo, his personality is so different the writing almost completely shifts in tone.
I was really happy to see the return of so many side characters from the original trilogy. It's so much fun to see what they're up to now, even if it's an extremely minor appearance. There's a tonne of them, too!! Maggey Byrd, The Judge, Larry Butz, Wendy Oldbag and Lotta Hart were some of my favorites from the trilogy and they all make appearances here. The new cast are really memorable, too. Tyrell Badd, Shi-Long Lang and Cece Yew are definitely up there for me if I was gonna make a tier list. I think the fact that there's an overarching narrative that encapsulates all 5 cases really helps the characters shine. On top of that, It really elevates the narrative too!! It made it a little harder for me to remember what the hell was happening when I would take a break for a year, but it feels like a much more complete package compared to the AA games (except T&T though it is perfect in every way)
I think if I'd played this in one continous timeframe I'd probably structure this page like the one I made for AA:T&T, but I'm struggling to remember what I thought of most of the cases so I'll just dump my thoughts in an unstructured paragraph. I'm not a huge fan of Turnabout Visitor because I remember it being a little slow, It takes alot of time introducing the gameplay mechanics. A good AA first case should be intriguing for returning players and accessible for new ones. It's great for teaching new players the mechanics but failed to hook me until the end. Turnabout Airlines was definitely a highlight for me. Aside from the fact I played the whole thing on a real plane, I really liked the open-endedness of the level design and the gradual unfolding of the explorable areas. It's the first case to really introduce the overarching conspiracy you'll be chasing the whole game and it does a really good job. The Kidnapped Turnabout is the one I remember the least about, but I remember liking the setting? I think it also introduces Lang and Kay for the first time? They're both really good characters and I like them alot. Turnabout Reminiscence is definitely one of the weaker cases in the game, but I liked the idea of an entire case taking place in the past. Seeing Von Karma and Fransiska before the events of AA is really cool, and the judge gets a tonne of screentime. I love the judge!! Turnabout Ablaze is freshest in my mind, but I think it's the standout here. Everything that's happened over the course of the game comes to a head here, resulting in a crescendo of bombshells and twists that kept the entire case extremely fun to play. It doesn't have the emotional levity that the final cases in the original trilogy had, but I think it actually ends up coming out better off, especially since the cast of characters is so new.
This is probably the weirdest way I've ever played a game, and its definitely the longest I've ever taken to finish a game. I can hardly remember some parts, but I'm pretty confident that I liked it. AA:MEI toys with the traditional AA formula, and is able to make something that feels new, yet familiar. Part of me is disappointed they didn't just start using this as the formula for the main games, too. It also debuts my new favorite AA track, which is playable at the top of this page. As usual the soundtrack is great all-around, and the writing is really funny. I'm grateful the translation team put so much care into making sure these games are actually coherent in english, it can't have been easy. I am now going to play the first 20% of AA:MEI2 and then finish it in 2027. see you then!!
