Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Originally posted at IDKIYKT's Phile on 2011-08-25

Ghost Trick is from the man who created Ace Attorney, and it shows.  There's plenty of the same mix of quirky characters, humor, unfolding mystery, and the paranormal.

But where Ace Attorney games very much feel like an interactive story, Ghost Trick actually has puzzle gameplay as you use your limited ability to hop from item to item and spur them into action--your ghost tricks--to save peoples' lives.

The biggest problem is when these two fail to perfectly mesh.  In Ace Attorney, reading the text IS the game.  In Ghost Trick, it sometimes feels excessive since it's just what comes between the gameplay segments.  Or there are points in the gameplay segments where control will be suspended while some important bit of action takes place--which can be frustrating when you're thinking "NOW'S the time I want to be influencing something!"  However, these aren't negatives that overwhelm the positives.

4/5