There really isn’t a game designer like Takumi Shu. Capcom’s veteran creator of the Gyakuten Saiban series, like few other designers, understands what makes a good mystery and how to design mechanics that deepen the player’s connection to them. doing. I love the Gyakuten Saiban series dearly, but this is his lesser-known standalone DS game and I consider it Takumi’s best work. And after 13 years, the game is finally back, polished and definitive. For those already familiar with the game’s tricks, the Switch version of Ghost in His Tricks: Phantom Detective is the perfect version to relive its twisty narrative and vibrant characters. For first-timers, a truly special experience awaits you.
Death is usually pretty much the end of the game, but Ghost Trick starts with death. You play as Sissel. Sissel is a soul who suffered severe amnesia and just died in a junkyard at night. Being a ghost, Cissel has the ability to control the world of the living by performing ghostly tricks, just kidding. These tricks can affect objects in the world to rotate, swivel, fold, twist, rotate machines, and more. Your goal is simple. Finding out how and why you died. Unfortunately, the only clue seems to be a detective named Lynn. Lynn herself has also been targeted by hitmen and she has just died. However, Sisel’s soul travels back to her four minutes before her death and can use that trick to change Lynn’s fate. From there, the story twists and turns as you slowly learn about the strange events and deaths happening around town. Ghost Trick has a lot of great scenes that bring the world to life (yes, this one too).
The gameplay of Ghost Trick consists of two segments. On the other hand, there are also discoveries that I call discoveries. During these moments, you’ll use your ghostly powers to traverse rooms and obstacles, find certain people to interact with, and learn more about what’s going on in the story. As a soul, lines can be traced using a touch screen similar to the DS version, or by moving a joystick between the soul and the core of another object. Entering the other core allows you to exit the ghost world and trick objects. For example, you can extend a folding ladder, open an umbrella, or ring a bell. Most of the time, this attracts the intentions of those around the scene and presents new routes to reach the destination. Here, learn more about the characters and how they interact with other people and the world around them. This knowledge will come in handy when working with cadavers.
Ghost Trick turns into a detective game in earnest when Sissel encounters a dead body. You can turn the clock back 4 minutes before death, and with ghost tricks at your disposal, you can prevent death from happening and change a person’s fate. The game really shines in this moment where you learn in real time how death happens and how you can stop it. Each death is set up like a Rube Goldberg machine, where you can trick individual pieces to change the outcome. At some point, it changes the fate of the people involved, greatly moves the scene, and opens up a new path. The game is completely linear in its solutions, but the combination of a ticking clock in solving death changes the approach every time. Applying that knowledge is key to learning how each murder can be prevented.
But it’s not just the puzzles that make Ghost Trick a cult hit. At its heart is a truly eclectic cast of characters. These range from Lynn’s incredible optimism and determination to perhaps the greatest animal sidekick in all of video games, Missile. As you meet more people involved, you’ll see connections between the characters and how Thistle relates to them. Even if he’s a character who only appears in one or two scenes, the animation and script are immediately recognizable, whether it’s Inspector Kabanera’s wild dance moves, the way a missile hops, or the junkyard janitor communicating with a pigeon. pitch the character to The music, too, is a suspenseful fusion of jazz and electronic in his beats, which does a good job of conveying the situation Sissel finds himself in. It doesn’t have as much tension or variety as Gyakuten Saiban games are known for, but it’s a well-rounded soundtrack. some great songs.
Ghost Trick is an amazing experience for first-time players, but this remaster is a bit bare bones for those expecting new chapters and stories. The game has his gallery of great unlockable art that any big fan of the game will love. There is also a jukebox with both original and newly arranged soundtracks. The real new content here is the puzzle mode. In this mode, you simply solve a series of sliding puzzles within grids of some size. There are some in-game achievements that can be unlocked by playing these, but don’t expect any substantial new content. I like some of the UI changes, but no matter what version of this game you play, whether you’re playing the original his DS release, his mobile port, or this new remaster, You can’t go wrong. The biggest upside here is that the game looks even better in HD and it’s great to see the ghost tricks returning for new players to experience for the first time.
Replaying Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective reinforced my feeling that it is still one of the best mystery stories ever told in the medium. The gameplay is original, reinforces the idea of how objects relate to each other, while every trick feels surprising and new. But it’s the cast of “Ghost Trick” that will endure year after year. To find out what happened to Sissel, how Lynn is involved, and how everyone is involved in this strange night. The story feels like something the TV series and movies won’t tell, but it really stands alone as a game. It doesn’t come as a surprise to me that Shu Takumi seems to be revisiting the game often to reflect on how he’s grown as a designer. If you’re already familiar with the game, you won’t miss out on any meaningful additions by skipping this release, but if you’re new to Ghost Trick: Detective Phantom, it’s definitely a must-play. It’s one of those games that doesn’t need a sequel or prequel, but it’s a completely self-contained story that hasn’t really been a day. I couldn’t be happier that “Ghost Trick” is back again.
