What might come as a surprise is that Ghost Trick is closer to an Adventure game than it is to a pure puzzle game. The trial and error aspects to each puzzle, the narrative that is happening around each puzzle, and most obviously, the dialogue and occasional dialogue options give Ghost Trick a little more depth than the standard collection of riddles and photo hunts that most puzzle games are shallowly comprised of. That being said, this works both for and against this game. As it’s on a handheld device, the supposition is that it should be played on the go, in small bite sized chunks. The puzzles are bite sized, but like taffy from a freezer, sometimes they require excessive gnawing to realize the solution (in the taffy situation, it’s apply heat). Fortunately there are also plenty of opportunities to save the puzzles mid play so they can be picked up at a later time if the solution just isn’t coming. The puzzles, for the most part, require the player to utilize the powers of the dead to prevent a character’s demise.
By Griff Hoffmann The unusual puzzle solving gameplay of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is balanced by quirky characters, robust animation, and a compelling murder mystery story. The spirit world of Ghost Trick works well on the handheld but isn’t for everyone. The puzzles require an impressive amount of devotion since failing and having to replay them is a common occurrence. The game’s story is nested deeply in the far-fetched but gets even crazier as time goes on. Given a generous willful suspension of disbelieve and tenacious interest in the mystery, this game is extremely enjoyable and remarkable in it’s ability to marry puzzle and story. You play as bizarro Ronald McDonald What might come as a surprise is that Ghost Trick is closer to an Adventure game than it is to a pure puzzle game. The trial and error aspects to each puzzle, the narrative that is happening around each puzzle, and most obviously, the dialogue and occasional dialogue options give Ghost Trick a little more depth than the standard collection of riddles and photo hunts that most puzzle games are shallowly comprised of. That being said, this works both for and against this game. As it’s on a handheld device, the supposition is that it should be played on the go, in small bite sized chunks. The puzzles are bite sized, but like taffy from a freezer, sometimes they require excessive gnawing to realize the solution (in the taffy situation, it’s apply heat). Fortunately there are also plenty of opportunities to save the puzzles mid play so they can be picked up at a later time if the solution just isn’t coming. The puzzles, for the most part, require the player to utilize the powers of the dead to prevent a character’s demise. Real talk Ghost Trick tells the story of a murder, actually many murders, but most importantly the murder of the main character. Upon dying, Sissel, the player, is given the powers of the dead to turn back time four minutes before a person’s death, travel through phone lines, and most importantly, “trick” inanimate objects. With these powers, Sissel is on an expedient journey to figure out how he died before dawn. Along, the way, he finds an even crazier mystery tying his fleeting life to a detective, death row inmate, and a dog. In between preventing murders, the story keeps the game interesting and the intertwined history of all the characters is revealed in a fulfilling ending. It's always Christmas in Japan The gameplay of Ghost Trick is primarily puzzle based. As a ghost, Sissel can only manipulate inanimate object near him. Therefore, the puzzles are much like giant Rube Goldberg machines either needing to be ushered to their death preventing end or stymied at the right moment to stop the swinging Sword of Damocles falling any further. In other situations, characters must be escorted to safety or in even more complicated puzzle must be solved by teaming up with unlikely partners. It’s these variations that keep each instance of gameplay feeling fresh and provide a new level of challenge as the game progresses. Phantoms see in predator vision The basic puzzle has Sissel stretching from the “core” of one object and to move to another. He can manipulate the object in a very simple way while inside of it, such as possessing a cupboard door and opening it or while inside a lamp, turning it on. It’s though these “tricks” that he can move closer to his goal of saving a recently deceased person or finding the next clue to his own death. While moving from object to object, the world around him freezes as time stands still but when “tricking” an object, time flows freely. Thus it is possible to miss opportunities and actions to take in a specific window. Each time the world is changed significantly, more time is allowed to solve the puzzle. The puzzle can be retried at anytime from the beginning or from the most recent time extension. Aside from the puzzles, there are a few occasions where topics of inquiry become available. Selecting what to ask sheds light on the story as a whole. These dialogue investigations give the game an even more Adventure game flavor. Not a good way to find a corpse It is this emphasis on dialogue that slows the game down considerably. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective has two major flaws, the first is the pacing of speech and game play. The puzzles take about half of the time spent with this game, the other half is spent reading dialogue or thoughts of the characters. It is complicated since the story and dialogue are a high point and keep the game moving forward through revelations to the mystery. The problem is it drags a little too much. The pace could be a little quicker especially because a handheld title isn’t suited to long and unskippable exposition. The second comes as a result of tweaking the goal of the puzzle. Occasionally the newly added aspects of the puzzle aren’t clearly explained leading to a lot of failure through trial and error. All in all, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective succeeds where few games do by joining puzzle solving with story. The murder mystery drives the unique puzzle types and ends with a very fulfilling conclusion. The music, characters, and robust animation add plenty of aesthetic quality to a game that has only a few flaws. Ghost Trick is worth picking up if at least just to try the novel Rube-Goldberg style puzzles
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