One of this year’s stand-out games has been Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi’s DS adventure,
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. The game is equal parts adventure, puzzle, and visual novel, combining a lengthy story with fast-paced action sequences.

That's about the size of it.

The game tells the story of Sissel, a recently deceased guy trying to solve the mystery behind his death. As you might have guessed from the name, death is an important theme in Ghost Trick and you’ll witness the deaths of several characters during your adventure. In fact, Ghost Trick turns gaming conventions on their head and makes death the start of each level, instead of the end.

It’s because of Sissel’s powers of the dead — his “Ghost Tricks” — that allow him to possess and manipulate the objects around him. Nearly every object in the Ghost Trick world has a Trick associated with it; for example, Sissel might be able to “open” a cupboard or choose to “spin faster” if he’s possessing a ceiling fan.

And it’s not just objects Sissel can possess. If he interacts with a fresh corpse, Sissel can travel to the time four minutes before its owner’s death and attempt to alter their fate. The game shows you a video of the death, so whether it’s a murder or an accident you’ll know right off the bat what you’re supposed to be preventing.

Afterwards, actions begin to unfold in near-real time, which gives the game an action-packed feel despite its point-and-click adventuring roots. The controls are touch-based and really intuitive: there’s a “Ghost” button that stops time and transports Sissel to the Ghost World, where possess-able objects are marked with glowing cores. You move Sissel by drawing lines between the cores, and the top screen displays the action that can be performed using the current object. Once Sissel’s back in the real world, a carefully-timed tap of the “Trick” button executes the action.

Things won’t always go to plan, but the game is pretty forgiving and you can replay the four minutes as many times as you want. In some cases, you’ll actually need to fail the puzzle to find the information you need to complete it, which is kind of a neat touch. Characters are aware of their surroundings, and will react to loud noises and sudden movements, so it’s important to decide on a strategy instead of charging in to the puzzles. Sissel can only move from one object to another, and he can’t possess far-away objects, so often the biggest challenge is getting where you need to be without raising the suspicions of the characters.

The 2D animations are surprisingly detailed.

Speaking of the characters, this is easily the best-looking 2D game available on the Nintendo DS, with pixel-perfect character sprites and stunningly fluid animations. Like the Ace Attorney series, Ghost Trick has a diverse supporting cast and all the characters have their own quirks to show off, so just immersing yourself in the game’s world is a joy. Sissel’s in-game companion Lynne and her young roommate Kamila do a lot to lighten the mood, and even their dog Missile plays an important role in the story.

But while Ghost Trick shares Ace Attorney’s good qualities, it also shares its bad ones. The story is almost entirely linear, and when you deviate from the writers’ chosen path the characters will not-so-subtly point you in the right direction. You’ll sometimes feel like you’re playing with an interactive storybook instead of a video game, but thankfully the writing is sharp and humorous enough that you won’t care. There is a lot of reading in-between the puzzles, so if you’re not a fan of story-based games Ghost Trick might not be for you, but I personally never found the game too slow-paced. Information is steadily revealed right from the start, and the game races towards an outcome you absolutely will not see coming. Add to that a dramatic, pounding soundtrack and some truly ingenious puzzle design, and you’ve pretty much got yourself a classic.

The Verdict

 4 ¾ – Great

Ghost Trick loses points for its linear gameplay but it’s a beautifully presented, engaging game that successfully fuses the puzzle and adventure genres. As far as I’m concerned, Shu Takumi has once again proven he’s the king of video game story telling.

Want to solve the mystery for yourself? Buy Ghost Trick now from Amazon.co.uk.