Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Spotlight Review

December 2013's Spotlight Review goes to Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, a brilliant adventure game released in the winter of 2011, at a time when there was much hullabaloo over Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, and LittleBigPlanet 2. The game received near universal acclaim, but because of its release window, did not meet the sales expectations of Capcom and was actually cited as one of the contributing factors to Capcom's low sales during that year's first fiscal quarter. The game was released internationally for the iOS in February the following year.

 

The Short Version

Why You Should Play This Game: Brilliant puzzle design, enchanting characters, and a rich, darkly comedic story assemble to create a spectacular adventure.

What You Can Play It On: Nintendo DS, iOS

Developed and Published by: Capcom

Released: January 11, 2011

The Long Version

Death. Some fear it, others embrace it. It is an inevitable part of our tiny existence. Such is the fate of Sissel, an enigmatic and eccentric yellow-haired man whose life was abruptly cut short following a strange encounter with rookie female-detective Lynne. But as the saying goes, death is only the beginning. As the newly-deceased, Sissel finds himself awakened to strange, otherworldly powers: an ethereal phantom looking down upon his own corpse, his memory now a clean slate of his past and his future hanging on the brink. He is determined to find out what happened to him, and why he was killed, but in his new form, he has just one day to exist. The following morning, he will pass on from this world and the tragedy will remain unsolved.

Some faiths believe that death is a cycle, that when one passes, their soul moves on to another budding reality. In Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, such is not the case, because as Sissel the Friendly Ghost, you will go around bringing people back from the dead in order to solve your own murder. Unfortunately, yours is not a corpse that can return. Such are the ways of the ghostly world. The story evolves slowly as you first try to discover the identity of the female detective present at your murder, but unravels into a grand plot of secret organizations and grand revelations. Handled with just the right amount of dark humor, Ghost Trick does not take itself too seriously, but during its serious moments, you’ll be sure to pay attention.

First and foremost, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is an adventure game similar to the point-and-click classics of yore. Its puzzles are more trial and error then they are complex riddles or brain teasers. Much of the game actually unfolds as a visual novel of sorts, which is likely given Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi’s involvement. But the interactions, when present, are an ingenious mechanic, if sometimes a little too inconspicuous for their own good. The answer may not always be obvious to the player, so expect to play through some of the puzzles more than a few times before making any progress.

As a ghost, Sissel is able to possess objects with his spirit: not all objects, you see, just ones that contain “blue cores” as visible in the ghostly world. While in this phantom state, time is at a standstill, allowing you to jump back and forth between objects close-enough without wasting precious seconds in the real world. This is important because Sissel’s powers of resurrection only allow him to go back four minutes prior to the deceased person’s time of death. In these last four minutes, you must change the surroundings enough to prevent the death of whomever you are trying to save: whether it’s moving things in the environment to get this person out of harm’s way, or directly affecting the thing that is going to kill him or her. Typically, there is only one way solve to these puzzles, which is where the many errors will come into play.

Should you fail, you’ll be given the option to go back and try again. Sometimes this can be a bit too frustrating, because you might have made a good deal of progress during the trick phase, only to make one tiny unforeseeable mistake which results in failure. However, on certain cases, generous checkpoints are set up that will allow you to return part-way through the puzzle should you fail. These checkpoints are conveniently known as “Fate Changed,” wherein you will slightly alter the fate of one or more people involved, but not completely avert their destiny of doom.

Sissel’s trick powers range from possession and manipulation of certain objects to transportation through telephone lines. Such is the way Sissel is able to go from one crime scene to the next. On one particular case, you will even need to travel in the midst of a puzzle over a closed line from one floor of a building to the next. Similarly, in many puzzles, your manipulation of objects must be one fluid, continuous move. You must string together various tricks in order to reach places otherwise untouchable, or to gain the attention of the desired person. Experimentation is key just as much as failure. If at any time you feel you’ve made a mistake, or you missed an opportunity, you can hit the restart button which will immediately take you back to the beginning of the crime (or a checkpoint, should you have reached one) to try again. You needn’t wait until the actual death to restart, though death may sometimes be a necessary evil. One of the primary motivations for Sissel is the discovery of who he was. Just as well, should you let someone die, you might discover something that can help you prevent that death the next time.

It’s not until more than half way through the adventure where the player’s control over objects changes as a result of the added companionship of a new partner. Up until then, Sisslel’s manipulation of single objects starts to grow thin and repetitive after you’ve solved your first handful of puzzles. Luckily, before the game falls too deep into the abyss of stagnation, new powers are granted, allowing you to swap the position of two objects of similar shape. This adds tremendous complexity to the puzzles from thereon out, but unfortunately much of the game is already finished by this point. Perhaps an earlier introduction of the mechanics could’ve helped keep things fresh all the way through, but despite this the game still remains interesting with its clever cast and fascinating story.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a strikingly beautiful game vaguely reminiscent of pop art great Andy Warhol’s colorful and vibrant paintings. The world evokes a classic noir feeling but seems to contradict itself with lush colors and exaggerated landscapes. The characters are incredibly atypical of what you might expect someone in a similar position to be; Sissel is more nonchalant and level-headed then you might assume, and Lynne, for being the bright-eyed and brainy detective, is quite free spirited. More than that, their actual representations are gorgeously crafted caricatures that move with fluid animation across static backgrounds. Every character in the game is a joy to behold, ranging from the two aforementioned main characters to the King of Rock-and-Roll, Elvis wannabe Inspector Cabanela, who is a personal favorite of mine.

The story is rife with great dialogue that never once feels stale or excessive, a fault many games of this type too easily succumb to. When the matter calls for it, the characters are persistent and diligent: otherwise, you’re treated to some genuinely humorous self-referential comedy and sharp wit. The music is appropriately jazzy with a crime noir spin, though never strays too far from an uplifting, up tempo beat to keep the pace of the game exciting. And that’s just it - the game remains exciting all the way through, nary a dull moment in the story to make you lose interest and with plenty of exciting twists to keep you engaged.

The point-and-click adventure genre has seen a dramatic decline since its golden age, and that’s partly because of its refusal to evolve with the times. What Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective brings to the table is the classic feeling of puzzle solving found in those games with a new and brilliant mechanic unlike anything seen before: couple that with a gorgeous world, thrilling story, and memorable characters, and you come to realize that the ghostly world is not such a terrible place after all. Its reliance on trial and error may create a minor bump in the road, but drive over that and the game is sure to provide one of the best experiences you’re likely to have on the DS.