Hey y’all! I’m in the mood so I’ll be writing another review for the second Ace Attorney spin-off game and the sequel of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth! The game is referred to as Gyakuten Kenji 2 (though some say Investigations 2) as it never was released outside of Japan back in 2011 for the Nintendo DS. Wait, how come I’m reviewing it then? Well thankfully a fan was kind enough to translate the whole game! Look it up if you want to play it yourself, it’s called Ace Attorney Investigations 2: A Prosecutor’s Path

Gyakuten Kenji 2 follows the same playstyle as Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Just like in that game you get to walk around crime scenes, play around with Little Thief, and interrogate suspects.

There is one big change however as in addition to the Logic system, we now have Logic Chess as well! Logic Chess is basically a series of multiple choice questions or options and you’ll have to find the right string of answers within the time limit! It gets harder though as some witnesses require you to take a string of questions that’s about something completely different before tackling the main problem at hand. You can also opt not to say anything, which can sometimes be a smart strategy against hot headed opponents. If you answer incorrectly you’ll receive a penalty to your time so be careful!

That’s it for changes and similarities, let’s get on with the actual review!

Sound - 11/10

Yeah I did that. This game’s OST is so off the roof fantastic that it deserves more than a mere 10. I mean the emotion they put behind the music is unbelievable. See when it comes to video games I always take a second to appreciate the soundtrack as I feel like it frequently goes unappreciated. I was doing that with this game as well and every new OST I fell in love with the game even more. Ultra fantastic job to the artists.

Graphics - 10/10

The game came out very shortly after the original Investigations game and as such pretty much has the same style of graphics as that one. I do want to add that the whole Logic Chess game looks absolutely amazing. The blue background gives off this mind explosion effect that makes the whole thing look way more epic than it should be.

Depth - 9/10

This game felt long to me. Maybe it’s the fact that once again, every case is part of the story, so it feels more like playing through one big storyline rather than a couple smaller ones like in the main series. Ace Attorney games will never have a perfect Depth score as frankly, they are limited in the amount of time it takes to beat them, but with this game I didn’t really experience the “oh it’s over already” feeling some of the other Ace Attorney games like Justice for All give me. I could feel the end coming and when it did come and I completed the game I was left satisfied, not disappointed. That’s good enough for me.

Addictiveness - 9/10

I’m giving it a high Addictiveness score because the game is just so much fun to me. Every time I play it it feels like it’s my first time playing all over again. The game is not too long to the point where you don’t want to play it again because it would take too much of your free time, yet it’s not too short to the point where you’d rather play something else. If you’re a fan of the series you will always find enjoyment when picking this game up, I promise you.

Difficulty - 10/10

This game, from my experience, was easier than the first Investigations game. The problems were easier to solve, the Logic Chess was - to my surprise - never a challenge. I mean seriously, even the final few Logic Chess matches I did without getting a single option wrong. I’d like to think I’m pretty smart but I think it’s the game being too easy. It was still enjoyable nonetheless and it didn’t take away from the experience.

Story - 10/10

This game is a continuation of the first Investigations game so please play that one before you play this one. The game starts of with a speech given from a president from Zheng Fa, the country Shi Long Lang grew up in. During the speech however an assassin makes an attempt on the president’s life! Luckily Edgeworth was close by and your first task is to find this assassin and bring them to justice! This case is only the first stepping stone to a game with wild plot twists and betrayals. The final antagonist was probably one of the biggest shocks I’ve ever had playing Ace Attorney. I mean I started suspecting it in a certain case but I wrote it off as me looking too much into it. Cue my shocked pikachu expression as the truth came to light. Please take a seat before playing haha.

Overall - 9.7/10

That brings the final score to a 9.7. And very much deserved, if I do say so myself. If you're looking for a fantastic Ace Attorney game to play, please choose this one! But only after playing the first investigations of course.
That’s it for this review, hope you enjoyed it!

Hoi der Muffin here. 

It's a good review of Ace Attorney.  indeed it is... you go into depth about a lot of the core things the game brings and you clearly enjoy the game a lot.

I have a question, a curiosity if you please... 

Why did you give the difficulty a 10 if you say its an easy game, Like is it just a typing mistake or do you view difficulty in a different way from 10 being super hard to 1 being super easy... 

I'm in a goofy mood.. so sorry about the random textual composition of this post and i look forward to your response x

Sonicmcmuffin : Thank you!

I gave the difficulty a 10 on purpose. I don't like the typical 1 = super easy and 10 = impossible style as I honestly don't think it brings a lot of value to the review. It also has a sometimes negative effect on the final rating as let's say Minecraft for example would have a difficulty of like 2, which when counting up the total scores would make the end value max out at 8.7. 

I value my difficulty rating based on two separate questions. "Was this game intended to be this hard?" and "Did the difficulty take away from the overall experience?" A game like Minecraft or Pokepark Wii, which I recently reviewed, aren't meant to be insanely difficult. Minecraft offers creativity and Pokepark Wii offers mini-games. They don't need to be challenging. Likewise with the second question. If I still had a great time playing an easy game, why should I give it a low 1 or 2 rating? To me a 10/10 means a perfect difficulty, not an impossible one.

Then again that's just my style I guess. I just think it brings a lot more value and insight rather than "a 7 because it's slightly above average difficult". If other people prefer that method, more power to them. It'd be boring if everyone did the exact same thing every time.