Travel back in time with a tricked-out remake of a beloved game that had its lease on life cut short but is now resurrected on all platforms! Find out more in our Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review!

With the Ace Attorney series enjoying renewed interest through various compilations released by Capcom. It was only natural for the publisher to resurrect another game from Shu Takumi, the brains behind Ace Attorney. Say hello to Ghost Trick Phantom Detective, this one-off adventure game that suffered the grave misfortune of releasing during the twilight years of the DS and was ultimately buried by the excitement for Nintendo’s next dual-screen system.

Too bad this can’t be real life.

Capcom has grabbed a shovel, dug up the source code for Ghost Trick, ported the game to the RE engine of all things, and dropped it on every viable ecosystem under the sun, including PC. However, has Ghost Trick found a new lease of life on modern systems? Or has the time come for it to give up the ghost and be shipped straight to the morgue? Find out in our Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review!

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review – Story

Ghost Trick opens with our main character, Sissel being stiffer than someone flicking through a Playboy magazine. With no pulse to speak of, you’re deader than the Tasmanian Tiger. On the upside, your death has enabled supernatural powers like stopping time, travelling between telephone lines, and manipulating inanimate objects. Using your toolbox of ghostly powers, you must uncover the mystery behind your death before passing onto the next life at sunrise.

He obviously got a microtransaction for the gold shotgun skin!

The act of murder has always been a popular mechanic for video games. Like any self-respecting gamer covered in Doritos dust, I’ve racked up a massive virtual kill count to keep harp manufacturers in business for over a decade. Although it’s rare we see a game where the narrative tackles the actual concept of death. It’s probably a by-product of most societies being built on Judeo-Christian values where death is feared. While the Japanese, have a more sobering approach to our mortality in media.

It’s impressive how Ghost Trick can juggle its nuance approach to our mortality with its comedic, anime-like undertones. This is a hilarious game that will tickle your funny bones but makes no bones about it’s more serious themes. Like the original DS release, the game forgoes voice acting, but the characters are brimming with so much personality you will easily be able to apply voices to them in your head.

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review – Gameplay

The gameplay loop is akin a point and click adventure game where you have obstacles to overcome in puzzle like scenarios. You can stop time and hop between inanimate objects. In addition to these ghostly powers, you can possess objects and manipulate them by pushing the trick button. Occasionally you will come across a telephone and trace the previous call to unlock new locations in the city.

Not sure what other tricks he has…

Perhaps the most intense part of the game is when you’re tasked with saving the life of the recently deceased. Sissel can turn the clock back four minutes prior to the person’s death which becomes a race against the clock to change their fate. These sections of the game are largely trial and error but you when finally yield a solution, you’re awarded with an amusing conclusion.

The trick is to turn into a ghost! Who would have guessed…

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review – Audio and Visuals

Compared to the original DS release, the visuals have received a massive upgrade thanks to the increased polygon count and high-resolution backgrounds. The game’s visuals still hold up thanks to the superb art direction and slick animation. The framerate has also been increased from 30fps to 60fps with the Switch version offering touch screen controls like the DS original. While the PC release on the other hand is rather barebones with no graphics menus and the framerate capped at 60fps. Furthermore, the PC version contains Enigma Protector and Obsidium DRM, which might impact the game’s compatibility on hardware in the distant future.

This shouts bad guy lair.

For the remaster, Capcom has opted to retain the original 4:3 presentation with the empty screen real estate being occupied by the wallpaper of your choice. Rendering the game with a widescreen canvas would have required a full-on remake. On the bright side, a newly arranged soundtrack has been included alongside the original score. Furthermore, Capcom has done additional localisation work for this remaster with the game being playable in Cantonese, Chinese, and Korean for the first time.

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review – What Else?

The game is broken into 18 chapters and will take around 10 hours to complete. Finishing the game unlocks the new Ghost Puzzle mode added especially for this remaster. This extra mode offers a series of sliding puzzles and solving them will unlock additional illustrations for you to enjoy. The other bonus is the jukebox, where you can listen to any piece of music from the game. None of these special features are particularly interesting, but it’s the thought that counts.

Talking dogs are always a winner.

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Review – Conclusion

While the bonuses included in the remaster aren’t of much note, this is still a superb re-release of one of the best games on the Nintendo DS. If you’re up for a murder mystery adventure game with riveting characters and brain busting puzzles. Ghost Trick Phantom detective is still well worth it, especially now that its on every current console.

So, why should you play Ghost Trick Phantom Detective?

• Love murder mystery stories
• A fan of the Ace Attorney series
• Enjoy playing point and click style adventure games

So, why shouldn’t you play Ghost Trick Phantom Detective?

• If you didn’t the original DS release
• Don’t like the casual approach to the subject of our mortality
• A PC gamer that doesn’t like DRM

A review code was kindly provided by Capcom and for the purpose of our Ghost Trick Phantom Detective review.  You can check out our latest reviews here and if you haven’t already, be sure to join the Qualbert Discord to find out about the latest game and review updates!