Capcom is full of properties that have felt like they’ve been lost to the annals of time. When we do get one back, especially a cult classic like the Nintendo DS’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, it feels like a great treat now that it’s being ported to modern consoles and PC. The touch-screen-focused mechanics feel good on a controller and the puzzles feel great. After playing the first two levels, I can’t wait to play more.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective involves a spirit waking up with no recollection of his life. He sees his body on the ground but does not remember how or why he died. Thankfully another spirit nearby named Ray is here to help. The spirit quickly gets thrown into a mystery involving killers taking out supposed helpless people and why this happened to him. The spirit isn’t a helpless bystander. He can manipulate the world by controlling objects and go back in time to stop the hitmen from taking out their targets and learn why this is all happening.
I was given the opportunity to play the Ghost Trick demo on PC, which involved the first two levels. These two levels covered the basics of rewinding time, changing fate, and manipulating objects through the “ghost trick” ability. It also was a good introduction and gave a taste of how wacky this game can be. Most importantly, it shows that this game works in the modern age. There are no real issues with controlling the spirit and dragging it to new objects. It all flows as expected, and controlling objects to solve all the different puzzles are fun! This is surprising when coming from a game that relied so much on a touch screen to control to, well, this. Honestly, if you were going in fresh into this demo or its final release, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking this is a brand-new game from Capcom. And with the first two levels beaten, it has its hooks in me, and now I can’t wait for the full release.
The biggest gimmick of the game is its “ghost trick” ability. It is the crux of the puzzle aspect of this puzzle adventure game. How are you able to get from point A to wherever in an environment to save someone within five minutes? You do this by manipulating objects to do a very simple task. This can lead to sounds being triggered, objects moving, or adjusting slightly to reposition the spirit to a more favorable location. For instance, if you possess a bicycle, you can control its wheels to spin to push it. You can also take over the bell to ring to startle someone. It all happens on a simple 2-D plane and is only triggering events. In other words, you’re not actively moving the bike to a position you want it to be. It’s simple, but this was all done on a touch screen on the DS.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective feels right at home on modern consoles and the PC, thanks to Capcom’s upcoming remaster. The controls translate quite well from a DS touchscreen to a controller, and it is really fun to play. With fun puzzles, an interesting story, and enjoyable cartooney graphics, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is poised to get a second life.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective releases June 30th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
