Aviary Attorney

In a lawless land, only one man (with a distinctly avian name) stands between hapless defendants and ineffectual policeman, corrupt prosecutors, and indifferent judges, fighting for truth and justice against insurmountable odds.

Hmm, where have I seen this before...?

Aviary Attorney wears its inspiration on its sleeve, and, even though it was a neat idea to use classical illustrations and music and Aviary Attorney nails the witty banter of its namesake, the game falls short in nearly every other respect. I doubt Ace Attorney fans will be able to resist the temptation of such an obvious tribute, but just make sure to purchase Aviary Attorney on sale and temper your expectations.

Edge

Suzuki Kouji’s Edge is about Saeko Kuriyama, a freelance journalist who has been brought onto a project to do a TV special about the missing Fujinuma family. The Fujinuma case had captured national attention a few weeks prior, when they appeared to have vanished into thin air. They were a perfectly normal family—father, mother, son, daughter—and the state of their house implied that all four members disappeared in the middle of a perfectly normal evening. Despite the intense national scrutiny, absolutely no dark secrets or typical causes for disappearances (such as debt) came to light, and in fact no evidence or testimony of any kind was obtained. Even though this is Saeko’s first time officially working on a missing persons case, she has plenty of experience since her own father disappeared without a trace 18 years ago and she investigated his whereabouts thoroughly (to no avail).

Although the driving thrust of Edge is a disappearance, don’t mistake it for a fair-play mystery. If you allow me a video game comparison, this is much more Zero Escape than Ace Attorney. We aren’t investigating crimes; we’re logically diving into bizarre happenings with regular metaphilosophical tangents and a hefty slice of horror. (Suzuki also wrote Ring, by the way.)