Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

After returning from a business trip overseas, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth enters his office to discover that something has been stolen... as well as a corpse! With his faithful (but slightly dimwitted) detective partner, Dick Gumshoe, as well as his own sharp mind, this is one criminal that will regret being so brash as to cross Prosecutor Edgeworth. The crime in Edgeworth's office is but one of the numerous murders that Edgeworth will have to solve throughout the game's five chapters.

In Ace Attorney Investigations, you become Phoenix Wright's prosecuting rival, Miles Edgeworth. Unlike previous Ace Attorney games, you do not take part in courtroom battles. Instead, Investigations plays like a classical 3rd-person adventure game, where you explore crime scenes, examine various areas and talk to people. Along the way, you store items and important information in your organizer; evidence can often be examined in 3D, where you can view the item from any angle and examine specific parts. Typically, each chapter consists of a number of investigation segments where you thoroughly explore a specific area, and between them you get to explain your findings to other people and shoot down their theories.

Some places in the investigated areas can be examined in an up-close, detailed view. This often allows you to "Deduce", i.e. point out a part of the examined object that contradicts your current evidence. The game also contains an "Argument"/"Rebuttal" system, identical to the cross-examination mechanic from previous Ace Attorney games. When someone provides their "Argument" to offer their theory of how the crime happened, you then proceed to deliver a "Rebuttal", where you ask them to elaborate on specific points, and present evidence that proves a specific part of their argument false.

Learning information in dialogues or exploring specific locations in crime scenes will make Edgeworth store an idea in his memory, under a "Logic" section. When enough ideas are formed, the player can link up related ideas up to gain a better understanding of the case and progress in the game.

Edgeworth has a "life bar" which takes a hit when the player connects the wrong pieces of logic, presents wrong evidence during rebuttals, or makes some other mistake. The life bar is refilled after successful completion of an investigation segment, but if it ever runs out, Edgeworth becomes unable to continue his investigation and the game is over.