Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Silhouette illustration by me.
Brief Summary
Some spoilers ahead, so I highly encourage you to play before you read! If you enjoy mystery puzzle games, dogs and DILFs you will love this game! The plot follows a ghost, looking to solve the mystery of who he once was and who murdered him by using his ghost tricks that make up the puzzle sections of the game, but only having one night to do so! The story is mostly presented in a visual novel style.
The remaster recently came out which is why I'm talking about it as that's how I got introduced to it as it was on offer on the steam halloween sale, but originally it was for the DS, which I have also played for the sake of comparison. There isn't much difference between the two so you aren't really missing out on much if you play the DS version. Although my blog post is focused on the remastered version and I personally recommend it for reasons I'll get into.
Good Points
The best part of the game is first and foremost it's engaging and well written story, there's no loose ends (despite the ending coming across as rushed but by no means bad). There's a perfect balance and flow between its humorous and serious moments, which I will be taking inspiration from for my own projects moving forwards as it's something I've been struggling to balance myself. Also, I really like how seamlessly the puzzle sections fit into the game with the mechanic of going back in time (as I also have an interest in making games involving time travel) and the uniqueness of the apporoach to puzzles, with the ghost tricks being to manipulate objects.
Not only are these cutscene sections helpful for figuring out the puzzles that come afterwards but also the perfect way to provide backstory and context. Smaller puzzle sections also help to move the plot along, for example when you need to show Lynne you're with her or travelling through the phone lines, without the need for exposition or time wasted on filler moving the characters from place to place.
It has a good knack for making callbacks to throw-away bits and gags and making them crucial points to the overall mystery without it feeling forced. Take for example, when Lynne dies (again) and she thinks she's Inspector Cabanela, I was surprised when this joke was a massive hint towards the main mystery. Which is why the game has very good replay value for things like this, along with the introduction of achievements to unlock extras like concept art. Perfect for completionists and people who were already big fans of Ghost Trick, which is my main reason for recommending the remaster.
Another reason being, the game just looks a lot nicer in the remaster, despite the complaints I've seen, in-game models and backgrounds look great, especially the character portraits look crisp and vibrant compared to the DS version. An excellent job was done translating the original's dual screens seamlessly into one that it's barely noticeable apart from the game's square resolution but I personally don't mind this. Also I find it a lot better to play the game on the controller now that there's the option too, as movement while performing Ghost Tricks flows better than compared to the stiffness of the DS's controls, same problem with the new keyboard controls.
My critique
As previously mentioned, I feel the presentation of the game's final chapters were rushed, despite the story being solid. Even though I'm a big fan of visual novels, Yomiel's exposition dumping is just way too much. I feel it would've been better if the dialogue between Jowd, Yomiel and Sissel after Jowd's death on the submarine could've been broken up. Achieving this by either having a small puzzle sections as a breather or perhaps a double 4 minutes before death section, on the discovery of Yomiel's shell being reset when you click on it.
Which this section technically does but other sections of the game do it better. Same with the game's final moments, especially with the reveal of Ray's true identity. That story wise I love but it's just sort of dumped on us at the end. I feel the game would have greatly benefited from something like an epilogue chapter for better pacing and puzzles, as I also feel the very last puzzle section was lacklustre.
On the topic of the puzzles, the game is quite hand-holdly when it doesn't need to be or sometimes can be too cryptic when the puzzles are quite challenging. While I enjoy the harder puzzles for replay value and achievements it can be very annoying sometimes to have to cycle through the hints over and over. While it's nice to have the option to fast forward this dialogue, I feel it would have been much more beneficial to have the option to turn in-game hints off.
Back to the visual novel elements of the game, which for most of the game is good, but I feel that when Sissel is questioning those that have recently died, these sections would be much more engaging if there were dialogue branches. Questions and dialogue options you can pick during the conversation, rather than picking a question off the menu, watching the dialogue play out then going back to that menu to rinse and repeat for what can be a while sometimes, at best it doesn't flow well and at worst it's boring to cycle through.
Posted: 01/11/2023
Brief Summary
Some spoilers ahead, so I highly encourage you to play before you read! If you enjoy mystery puzzle games, dogs and DILFs you will love this game! The plot follows a ghost, looking to solve the mystery of who he once was and who murdered him by using his ghost tricks that make up the puzzle sections of the game, but only having one night to do so! The story is mostly presented in a visual novel style.
The remaster recently came out which is why I'm talking about it as that's how I got introduced to it as it was on offer on the steam halloween sale, but originally it was for the DS, which I have also played for the sake of comparison. There isn't much difference between the two so you aren't really missing out on much if you play the DS version. Although my blog post is focused on the remastered version and I personally recommend it for reasons I'll get into.
Good Points
The best part of the game is first and foremost it's engaging and well written story, there's no loose ends (despite the ending coming across as rushed but by no means bad). There's a perfect balance and flow between its humorous and serious moments, which I will be taking inspiration from for my own projects moving forwards as it's something I've been struggling to balance myself. Also, I really like how seamlessly the puzzle sections fit into the game with the mechanic of going back in time (as I also have an interest in making games involving time travel) and the uniqueness of the apporoach to puzzles, with the ghost tricks being to manipulate objects.
Not only are these cutscene sections helpful for figuring out the puzzles that come afterwards but also the perfect way to provide backstory and context. Smaller puzzle sections also help to move the plot along, for example when you need to show Lynne you're with her or travelling through the phone lines, without the need for exposition or time wasted on filler moving the characters from place to place.
It has a good knack for making callbacks to throw-away bits and gags and making them crucial points to the overall mystery without it feeling forced. Take for example, when Lynne dies (again) and she thinks she's Inspector Cabanela, I was surprised when this joke was a massive hint towards the main mystery. Which is why the game has very good replay value for things like this, along with the introduction of achievements to unlock extras like concept art. Perfect for completionists and people who were already big fans of Ghost Trick, which is my main reason for recommending the remaster.
Another reason being, the game just looks a lot nicer in the remaster, despite the complaints I've seen, in-game models and backgrounds look great, especially the character portraits look crisp and vibrant compared to the DS version. An excellent job was done translating the original's dual screens seamlessly into one that it's barely noticeable apart from the game's square resolution but I personally don't mind this. Also I find it a lot better to play the game on the controller now that there's the option too, as movement while performing Ghost Tricks flows better than compared to the stiffness of the DS's controls, same problem with the new keyboard controls.
My critique
As previously mentioned, I feel the presentation of the game's final chapters were rushed, despite the story being solid. Even though I'm a big fan of visual novels, Yomiel's exposition dumping is just way too much. I feel it would've been better if the dialogue between Jowd, Yomiel and Sissel after Jowd's death on the submarine could've been broken up. Achieving this by either having a small puzzle sections as a breather or perhaps a double 4 minutes before death section, on the discovery of Yomiel's shell being reset when you click on it.
Which this section technically does but other sections of the game do it better. Same with the game's final moments, especially with the reveal of Ray's true identity. That story wise I love but it's just sort of dumped on us at the end. I feel the game would have greatly benefited from something like an epilogue chapter for better pacing and puzzles, as I also feel the very last puzzle section was lacklustre.
On the topic of the puzzles, the game is quite hand-holdly when it doesn't need to be or sometimes can be too cryptic when the puzzles are quite challenging. While I enjoy the harder puzzles for replay value and achievements it can be very annoying sometimes to have to cycle through the hints over and over. While it's nice to have the option to fast forward this dialogue, I feel it would have been much more beneficial to have the option to turn in-game hints off.
Back to the visual novel elements of the game, which for most of the game is good, but I feel that when Sissel is questioning those that have recently died, these sections would be much more engaging if there were dialogue branches. Questions and dialogue options you can pick during the conversation, rather than picking a question off the menu, watching the dialogue play out then going back to that menu to rinse and repeat for what can be a while sometimes, at best it doesn't flow well and at worst it's boring to cycle through.
Posted: 01/11/2023