This was a game I adored way back when I played it in 2010 on a DS. This is a game I adored replaying in 2023, remembering the big twists but having forgotten the details of the story. It is Shu Takumi's magnum opus, one of the greatest games to come out of its generation, and would still be even if it came out today. A lot of people will mention the usual detective story stuff about going in blind for maximum impact, so I'll mention something else:

Ghost Trick is a beautifully animated game. You'd expect this from the same team that brought the Ace Attorney series to life, but Takumi and his team poured their heart into each and every single of this game's characters and how they move. And it is everything - from your detective friend wolfing down a whole chicken to a poor rat getting brutalised inside the walls of an exotic apartment. From a well respected investigator's extravagant moves to what's basically known as the Panic Dance - you'll know it when you see it. From deadly contraptions to setting up your own life-saving contraption. And on a more mundane scale, even the way everyone walks, climbs, crawls their way through the game is worthy of praise.

Also you'll meet and fall in love with Missile the Pomeranian, the singular best dog in video games. I'm not spoiling that character in particular.

This game is (still) one of my favourites.

Dragon Quest is a game that is almost forty years old. I played a version of it that came out more than two decades ago. And while today it resembles more an ideal first project for a young kid given RPG Maker, Dragon Quest became one of the most pleasant gaming experience I had this year.

The game gives you a simple objective – slay the dragon lord – and then drops you into the world and lets you figure it out. And for how simple the premise is, for how simple fighting monsters is, for how simple exploring is, it all works in favor of the game itself. There was a joy in taking my knight as far as I possibly could into uncharted territory, to find a new town to visit or a section of the world with tougher monsters, sometimes both. And then to either come back to a nearby town with my findings, or push too far and be forced to recall back to the castle, or simply die and revive back to the King with half my gold gone – it helps to wander when the only penalty for screwing up is having to travel a bit more and/or losing resources that are easily replenished. In town, the goal was to upgrade my equipment the best I could and query the population for gossip: a girl in a cave, a secret buried beneath a tree, what golems are weak to. Taking notes, then venturing outward with this knowledge. Repeat until the dragon lord is defeated, with a few detours along the way to get to him.

Once again, it is a very simple game. But even multiple console generations later, it works because the simplicity of it all and the general lack of consequences let my curiosity take over to piece the entire quest together. Even if I am not a Japanese salary-man in the 80s, I can easily see how such a game could enchant a country this well, even decades after the fact. The enchantment still had its effect on me after all.

I recommend you play this game.