Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective: New Life for a DS Cult Classic review

ghost trick follows Sissel, a recently deceased ghost who has no memory of who he is or how he died. But he can own objects and so builds the mechanical core of the game: he meddles in the Rube Goldberg-like puzzles to save others from their own grisly fate. The game alternates between these puzzle sections and dialog-heavy story sections, where a twisted plot unfolds in sweet, surprising, and surprisingly cute ways.

Originally released for Nintendo DS in 2010, ghost trick didn’t sell very well. But it developed a cult following, especially among those who were already fans of writer-director Shu Takumi’s better-known series, Ace Attorney. Having been involved with the latter fanbase for nearly 20 years, I’ve heard the pleas, “Play ghost trick! Don’t look, trust us!” – since it first came out.

Now that I’ve played it, I’ll concede: you’re right. Maybe I’m not so unconditional in my love for ghost trick as someone who’s been trying to convince people to play it for a decade or more (there’s a really awful stealth section to start with) but it’s a real joyful little gem of a game. It’s satisfying to play around with spooky interactions until the puzzles fall into place, the characters are awesome, including possibly the best dog in video games, and both the music and animation are incredibly characterful and alive.

But while I spent the 12-odd hour runtime feeling glad I finally made it, I couldn’t ignore that either ghost trick is now a massive outlier of his generation. When Nintendo closed the 3DS and Wii U eShops in March this year, access to the game was severely restricted. Still, it was one of the luckier ones, having an iOS port and physical release (although those cartridges will eventually become available). stop working). With thousands of digital-only games, the only way to play them was to already own them digitally or to emulate them, which Nintendo is cracking down on Updates for its already defunct consoles as well as jail terms and large fines.

The remaster gave ghost trick A second try, but it’s not a sustainable solution for every game in Nintendo’s back catalog that’s now prone to – or already is – losing media. And which games are chosen for treatment depends entirely on the whims and financial calculations of the companies involved. Nintendo’s back catalog was patchy available through its online services, but the Switch and DS versions of that service aren’t identical, leading to many of them disappearing again in March. Meanwhile, Capcom recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with a putt playable versions from some of his early big hits, like MegaMan And Street Fighter II, on-line. But while those and others like big hitters Resident Evil 4 may survive through frequent ports and remakes, smaller titles probably not.

The ghost trick Was one of the lucky ones, it feels like a coincidence, like a phantom manipulating things behind the scenes simply that way. Perhaps the persistence of the fandom contributed to the feeling that it would be a financial success to re-release it. But in the current ecosystem, being loved is not enough to prevent art from being wiped out. Returning to Takumi’s library (although he wasn’t directly involved in the fork), Ace Attorney Investigations 2 was never published in English, but a dedicated team put years into it do your own localization. His English-speaking fan base is probably just as large and loud as ghost trickIt’s always been, but it’s hard to imagine there will ever be a re-release of its own.

Even that’s just a game and it’s big enough that I’m aware of it. It’s hard to imagine the scale of the games that are now vulnerable. Check out the animations ghost trick, you can see the consistent care and attention the developers have put into this game. Detectives dancing, puppies jumping, and romance novelists—well, I can’t even put into words the way this woman pulls up a chandelier. The team absolutely participated everything in it while doing ghost trick as stylish and witty and wonderfully over-dramatic as possible. But every game (and other media, like the recent spate of TV shows deleted from streaming) has something similar—something that someone put their whole heart into.

I’m thrilled that the remaster has existed ghost trick a new life. But Sissel spends the entire game making sure nothing falls through the cracks – and that just doesn’t fit with his game’s now solitary survival.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was released on June 30th on Nintendo Switch. The game has been verified using a pre-download code provided by Capcom. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, however Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find For more information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy, click here.