Back on the Nintendo DS, I remember thinking that this game was a masterpiece. It was funny and it had quirky characters, an interesting storyline, and awesome music. I guess for a Nintendo DS game, it was a big deal. At the time, the gameplay felt innovative. Unfortunately, now that I've replayed it on Xbox One, I don't feel as positive about it.
In this game, you play as Sissel, a ghost who's trying to find his lost memories. Being a ghost, you can't directly interact with people, but you have a special ability (called a "trick") to act on small objects. You can do things like, for example, turn off a lamp or press a button.
The game's goal is to solve "puzzles" using these "Ghost Tricks". The puzzles are varied, but most of them involve saving someone's life or helping someone escape.
The good:
The game is addictive. Every chapter is interesting and ends in a cliffhanger, making you want more.
The puzzles are fun to figure out. You can move different objects and it's always fun to see how interacting with something will affect the stage.
The music is good. There are exciting and sad tracks which capture the mood of the scenes. It sounds very similar to Ace Attorney's music.
The animations are fluid and the art is varied and colorful.
The bad:
The story was a complete disappointment. It's full of plot holes and for a mystery game, this had a very unsatisfactory conclusion. The story deals with time travel, so by the end it's confusing and nonsensical. I'm not a fan of inconsistent time travel stories and couldn't really look past its flaws this time around.
The sliding puzzles which are an optional feature added in this release, are boring and add nothing of value to the game. Plus the music in them is repetitive.
The game also has a 4:3 (I think) aspect ratio despite being in HD. I think the reason for this is that the developers thought making the game widescreen would ruin the puzzles? Not sure about it but it's disappointing.
Finally, the controls suffer on the transition to home consoles. On the Nintendo DS, you could move Sissel using the stylus, so it was easy to accurately move him from one object to another, but here you need to use the stick and it's not as precise.
Conclusion:
I can't say that I didn't like the game, but I liked it less than the first time I played it. However, I think it was nice of Capcom to give such a niche game a second chance. I just feel that, after playing multiple visual novels and adventure games, this one didn't land as well for me. If it gets a sequel, I hope we get a better story.
In this game, you play as Sissel, a ghost who's trying to find his lost memories. Being a ghost, you can't directly interact with people, but you have a special ability (called a "trick") to act on small objects. You can do things like, for example, turn off a lamp or press a button.
The game's goal is to solve "puzzles" using these "Ghost Tricks". The puzzles are varied, but most of them involve saving someone's life or helping someone escape.
The good:
The game is addictive. Every chapter is interesting and ends in a cliffhanger, making you want more.
The puzzles are fun to figure out. You can move different objects and it's always fun to see how interacting with something will affect the stage.
The music is good. There are exciting and sad tracks which capture the mood of the scenes. It sounds very similar to Ace Attorney's music.
The animations are fluid and the art is varied and colorful.
The bad:
The story was a complete disappointment. It's full of plot holes and for a mystery game, this had a very unsatisfactory conclusion. The story deals with time travel, so by the end it's confusing and nonsensical. I'm not a fan of inconsistent time travel stories and couldn't really look past its flaws this time around.
The sliding puzzles which are an optional feature added in this release, are boring and add nothing of value to the game. Plus the music in them is repetitive.
The game also has a 4:3 (I think) aspect ratio despite being in HD. I think the reason for this is that the developers thought making the game widescreen would ruin the puzzles? Not sure about it but it's disappointing.
Finally, the controls suffer on the transition to home consoles. On the Nintendo DS, you could move Sissel using the stylus, so it was easy to accurately move him from one object to another, but here you need to use the stick and it's not as precise.
Conclusion:
I can't say that I didn't like the game, but I liked it less than the first time I played it. However, I think it was nice of Capcom to give such a niche game a second chance. I just feel that, after playing multiple visual novels and adventure games, this one didn't land as well for me. If it gets a sequel, I hope we get a better story.