Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, or GODDAMMIT LYNNE NOT AGAIN
If you thought Ace Attorney was wacky, Ghost Trick is all of the typical nonsense of an Ace Attorney game crammed into one night and on steroids. Every single one of this game's 18 chapters threw me for a new loop and I was so hooked I physically couldn't put the game down. Normally with things like this, they're never able to stick the landing and satisfyingly explain and wrap up everything, but Ghost Trick has a surprisingly graceful dismount. Even the big twist has a ton of foreshadowing peppered in if you're paying close attention.
Gameplay wise, conceptually it's like an old school point and click adventure game where you need to make use of various objects throughout the room to come up with some convoluted solution to your situation, but the execution is extremely unique. I've never played anything else quite like it. The gameplay itself contributes to the racketing tension of this game, and also contributed to me being unable to put this game down.
Do I even need to say the presentation is fantastic? The soundtrack is banger after banger, the art style and character design are excellent, and the animated style through which the game shows events is unique and has a lot of charm. Characters have such distinct, exaggerated ways of moving that stick with you.
The characters, however, are the one thing I'll really fault this game on. Comparisons to Ace Attorney are a little unavoidable, and while characters in those games were silly but ultimately had a very real core and a lot of heart, the Ghost Trick characters feel more like vehicles for the story to take place. I suppose that's a consequence of only knowing them for one night and not being able to see much change or alternate sides to them. When the plot works this well, I can't complain too much. Besides, it's not like they're unlikeable at all. Shu Takumi can keep throwing weirdgirls at me and I'll keep standing there like a dog stands in front of a garden hose.
It's such a shame this game failed commercially. I think this story got extremely tightly wrapped up and there's no need for a continuation, but I would love another game in this world featuring these mechanics.
If you thought Ace Attorney was wacky, Ghost Trick is all of the typical nonsense of an Ace Attorney game crammed into one night and on steroids. Every single one of this game's 18 chapters threw me for a new loop and I was so hooked I physically couldn't put the game down. Normally with things like this, they're never able to stick the landing and satisfyingly explain and wrap up everything, but Ghost Trick has a surprisingly graceful dismount. Even the big twist has a ton of foreshadowing peppered in if you're paying close attention.
Gameplay wise, conceptually it's like an old school point and click adventure game where you need to make use of various objects throughout the room to come up with some convoluted solution to your situation, but the execution is extremely unique. I've never played anything else quite like it. The gameplay itself contributes to the racketing tension of this game, and also contributed to me being unable to put this game down.
Do I even need to say the presentation is fantastic? The soundtrack is banger after banger, the art style and character design are excellent, and the animated style through which the game shows events is unique and has a lot of charm. Characters have such distinct, exaggerated ways of moving that stick with you.
The characters, however, are the one thing I'll really fault this game on. Comparisons to Ace Attorney are a little unavoidable, and while characters in those games were silly but ultimately had a very real core and a lot of heart, the Ghost Trick characters feel more like vehicles for the story to take place. I suppose that's a consequence of only knowing them for one night and not being able to see much change or alternate sides to them. When the plot works this well, I can't complain too much. Besides, it's not like they're unlikeable at all. Shu Takumi can keep throwing weirdgirls at me and I'll keep standing there like a dog stands in front of a garden hose.
It's such a shame this game failed commercially. I think this story got extremely tightly wrapped up and there's no need for a continuation, but I would love another game in this world featuring these mechanics.