Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – a fine remaster for this adventure classic

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective remains one of my favourite Nintendo DS games and I consider it a must-play for Ace Attorney fans. Not because the two feel similar, mind. Shu Takumi’s supernatural adventure swaps courtroom shenanigans for Rube Goldberg machines solved by point-and-click puzzles, retaining that sharp humour and charming cast. 13 years haven’t dulled this classic. Though it’s better suited for touchscreens, Capcom sets a high standard for future remasters.

Playing as Sissel, Ghost Trick begins with your abrupt death. Waking up inside a junkyard as an amnesiac spirit, Sissel’s journey to discover the truth brings us to Lynne, a young detective about to be killed by an assassin. Spurred on by a wise and mysterious desk lamp, Sissel soon discovers he can manipulate inanimate objects and travel back to four minutes before someone’s death. That doesn’t sound like much, but even minor changes can have significant consequences that ultimately trigger a new chain of events.

What follows throughout the evening is a brilliant mystery intertwined with inventive gameplay. Time flows normally in the living world, but Sissel can switch to the Ghost World at any moment, moving across set objects highlighted by blue cores. If a character has recently or previously died, he can communicate with them by linking to a yellow core, which usually leads to several questions. Objects can’t be manipulated when time’s frozen, forcing your return to the living world.

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