With me having a bit of free time, over the weekend I finally got to playing Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
I've been familiar with Shu Takumi's work thanks to the Ace Attorney series, which is one of my favorite game series out there. So it's a little surprising to me that this Ghost Trick didn't show up on my radar till recently. Granted, it didn't sell well initially, but thankfully due to its cult status and the recent remaster it was brought back to light.
And now that I've played and finished it...wow!
Like with the AA series, this game has a batch of quirky characters, good humor, spiritual shenanigans and some sheer absurdity in the mix, which is a bit of a given considering what the story and concept is.
For those unaware, the story/concept is you're a recently deceased spirit who's trying to figure out who they were, why they were killed and has until dawn to figure it all out. And they just so happen to have the ability to manipulate inanimate objects, and if they find a recent corpse not of their own, they can go back in time 4 minutes before that person's death to try and prevent it.
The spirit mechanics are pretty neat, and they add to it and switch things up fairly nicely as the game goes on. Some parts near the end get a little hectic, but it's nothing that totally derails the game.
And as for the story, this is definitely one of the strongest aspects of the game. The Ace Attorney series tell some pretty good stories, though that series is episodic, and the quality of the stories can be hit or miss depending on the cases and the characters in them. With Ghost Trick, its laser focused on one story with its cast of characters, so there's time for it to really build and for the characters to develop which makes this story all the stronger. The whole mystery hooked me in very quickly and it didn't let go until I finished it. The twists and reveals in this story are really well done, and it all neatly wraps up in an ending that absolutely sticks the landing.
All in all, this is a really good game and I can absolutely see why it gained a devoted following. It's pretty easy to get since the remaster is out on Switch and Steam, and if you do play it, I highly recommend going in as blind as possible, especially with the story. That's what I did, and it made all the twists better when they happened!