Ghost Trick Phantom Detective was originally released on the Nintendo DS more than a decade ago in 2010. If you somehow missed out on one of Capcom’s greatest murder mystery titles, now’s your chance to finally play the game in fully remastered glory on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One.
Ghost Trick Phantom Detective isn’t just any run of the mill murder mystery game though. It’s a game that will stick with you. It’s just so masterfully done that you’ll be left feeling awestruck after playing this game because of how great it is. So what exactly makes it so enjoyable?
Sissel
Players will take on the role of Sissel in Ghost Trick Phantom Detective. Sissel however is dead. This is a problem of course but miraculously, you’re able to use your soul and possess inanimate objects. Things get interesting when Sissel sees a red headed lady in distress and a mysterious voice compels him to save her.
After a brief introductory chapter, players will learn to possess inanimate objects and use their “Tricks” on them. These tricks can be anything from making them move to making them play sounds or do something else in the “Real World” as opposed to the “Ghost World” where you can just move between objects.
Tricky situations
Ghost Trick’s entire premise therefore revolves around solving the mystery behind your death while trying to keep the redheaded woman alive. As the story progresses, things really escalate and the levels get progressively more difficult. It’s done in such a way as to ease you into the situations. At first, solving puzzles is quite easy but later on, you’ll have to really use your brain to avert disaster in levels.
Should you fail though, not all is lost. Sissel has the ability to rewind time up to 4 minutes after a death occurs and can still save the day in the process by doing something different. Therein lies the beauty of Ghost Trick Phantom Detective. Each level comes across as a challenge while also being incredibly story driven with lots of character dialogue and text to get through.
The storytelling in Ghost Trick Phantom Detective is fantastic and it immediately grips you. Even though the game has some mechanics that may seem confusing at first, it’s really straightforward once you get going and get into the rhythm of things. Every death that occurs doesn’t feel like an overly harsh thing either because Sissel can still save the victim. In fact, you’ll need to witness some deaths in order to progress because of the information you’d obtain which will ultimately help you save the victims.
RE Engine
Capomc have remastered the game using the RE Engine and it shows through with every single detail being crisp and beautiful. The game uses a 4:3 aspect ratio with sidebars that display time and other info. You can scroll through levels and your vision is purposefully obscured by the aspect ratio to keep you focused on the task at hand. Carefully planning your possessions and what actions you’re going to take is important in progressing in Ghost Trick Phantom Detective.
Visually, the game is stunning with an art style that is dripping with character. Every single character in this game is great and they are visually represented in such an over the top manner at times. This is great because the overall tone of the game comes across as whimsical instead of super serious despite having to deal with death on the regularly.
If you’ve played any of the Ace Attorney games, you can definitely see that Shu Takumi was at the helm here with some similarities shining through in the writing and storytelling. Especially with the way the mysteries unravel themselves. It’s really fantastic and Ghost Trick Phantom Detective’s chapter based gameplay works to its advantage.
Unfortunately there’s no voice acting in Ghost Trick Phantom Detective but the soundtrack of the game is excellent. Each and every single track in the game is well done and some are really quite catchy to listen to while solving puzzles.
Final Verdict
Ghost Trick Phantom Detective is a gem of a game that you really should pick up if you’re a fan of puzzle solving games with story driven gameplay. Capcom have also been generous enough to include some bonus material in the game in the form of the soundtrack with both normal and arranged versions of the tracks used in the game. They also included a gallery as well as bonus “Ghost Puzzle” mini-game to play. Ghost Trick Phantom Detective gets a solid recommendation from me and is a title that everyone should at least try to play. It’s remarkably endearing and even has a demo available on Steam if you’re still on the fence.
Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Trailer
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