When you know, you know. That’s a phrase I used when I first took flight with Capcom’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective preview demo weeks ago. Why that phrase is important in this puzzle-driven adventure game about a deceased man playing detective to his own death is that every scrap and ounce of essence on this game smelled of Shu Takumi’s Ace Attorney. From the structure of the puzzles, all the way up to the dialogue delivery and patient demeanor of the gameplay design waiting for the gamer to logically walk to the right answer…this was a Takumi creation.
What’s even better about this ‘revelation’ is that Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is equally as entertaining as Takumi’s Ace Attorney series. The puzzles are difficult, the humorous dialogue helps keep the frustration of puzzle-solving from the gamer, and failure just means that you’re learning how to play the game and logically eliminate what seemed like correct logic patterns. That’s why Ace Attorney is so popular it challenges the gamer and inserts entertainment to keep them hooked and guessing for solutions. Ohh. I’m getting such early DS E3 vibes of me pilfering the Ace Attorney coffee machine when I first discovered that series sitting lonely in the corner in an E3 Capcom booth. It just makes me happy on the inside.
Anyway, let’s get into this preview and bring out the dead for examination.
Deadly fun
The story behind Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a good one. You play a dead man named Sissel who has no idea who he is and why he was shot and killed. His only guidance is a Pixar-like lamp that wants Sissel to solve the mystery of his own death. The lamp arms Sissel with the knowledge of how to possess inanimate objects while also somehow mustering up the strength to use said objects to change the course of Sissel’s fate, as well as everyone who is connected to his demise.
Admittedly, I missed this game when it was first released in North America in 2011. I think I remember hearing of it, but I never made the 1:1 connection with Takumi and his previous masterpiece Ace Attorney (a cross-generational work of art). Much like a fingerprint left behind at the scene of a crime, Takumi’s blueprint of entertainment is present all over this game. There is so much similarity between logic, reason, and ultimate conclusion with Ace Attorney that one can’t help to be hopeful that everything in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective plays out as equally entertaining.
Goldberg Gameplay
The gameplay of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective revolves around possessing objects to circumvent sticky situations. You are presented with a scenario, such as the immediate death of another character, and you are given the option to rewind the situation back four minutes to try and prevent their unnecessary demise. While Sissel cannot communicate with anyone or possess living creatures, his ability to possess inanimate objects provides an option to prevent the death of a human or creature in a proper puzzle-solving fashion. While our preview content was limited, it gave enough insight into how well this type of gameplay design worked. To put it simply, it works remarkably well.
Essentially, the gameplay mechanics are a Rube Goldberg machine, where you must put the right combination of inanimate objects moving together to achieve a certain goal. This could be as simple as possessing an umbrella to open at the right moment for a character, or as complicated as opening a cabinet to send an object launching to successfully save someone’s life. How you get these objects to work is just as important as when you get them to work. The how and when play together with each other in the gameplay structure.
To have Sissel possess an object, you hit L1 on the controller. This turns the game into ‘Ghost’ mode. From there, all objects in the room become silhouettes and small balls of light appear in the objects Sissel can possess. You can jump from object to object by connecting literal dots. Having that type of movement available to possess an object is vital, especially when time is of the essence. Now, the game does feature moments where your ability to connect to another object is impossible due to distance. In the demo, the range for Sissel to get from object to object was short. To circumvent this problem, you must figure out how to use the objects you can get to release or make inaccessible the objects somehow accessible. That’s a good portion of the logic puzzle-solving in the game.
Now, to gain access and to use any object, you must get to it first by going into ‘Trick’ mode (a quick button push) and then come back to a non-possessed reality where you become the object and can use it in some way. This could be becoming a bike wheel in ghost mode and then going to trick mode to spin the wheel. Spinning the wheel might allow Sissel to move closer to another object, or it could be as simple as moving a lamp to create a bridge to get to another object. Building the connection from object to object is a necessary piece to the overall logic problem set of scenarios in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, which makes the experience brilliantly delightful. Much like Ace Attorney, this sort of logic-puzzle gameplay is equally stimulating and incredibly well-designed and directed. People who enjoy the AA series will certainly feel that same rush of high sensation value from successfully figuring out how to get a set of objects moving in a certain way to prevent a potential death or take down a baddy.
It’s so good for the brain.
As I stated at the beginning of this preview, I had never experienced this game before, but I can see the potential it holds in its full adventure when it is released. One of the aspects of the game that I think will cause the most fun calamity is the ability for Sissel to travel through phone lines. Jumping from location to location only requires a working phone, which means you can instantly travel to a location should you the moment call for it. Imagine how much potential chaos is going to come from that mechanic. Oh, the possibilities.
On that note, that’s all I can say about this game preview.
Conclusion
While we didn’t get to spend a long time with Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective we saw and sensed enough to keep us frothing at the mouth for more. This gameplay is going to be stupid addictive, and hopefully, this leaves the door open for more new content down the road to extend this series out.
Until we get a full game and can see everything in action, just enjoy the preview of what’s to come.
Stay tuned.
