Ciph’s Cabinet: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Bi-Weekly Game Reviews

Three more Ciph’s Cabinets to go, and as we head towards that final push of the end of the year, I figured I'd cover various pick-up-and-play titles to help you pace and break up the study grind. With that said, I’m not terribly big on visual novels or puzzle games. There are a couple exceptions, but generally they feel a little too monotonous or repetitive to hold my interest. So imagine my surprise when Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective came out of nowhere with a fast pace, downright enthralling story, and… okay, not the most in-depth puzzles, but clever enough to make you feel accomplished chapter after chapter. 

Right from the jump, Ghost Trick captures your interest. The initial concept of being a ghost able to jump from object to object and manipulate them in various ways is simple on the surface, but the way the story utilises this simple mechanic is ingenious. What initially starts as a journey to uncover protagonist Sissel’s ‘mystery of me’—who he was, who killed him, and why he was killed—quickly gave way to a much grander mystery that kept me coming back constantly. On this journey you will become involved in the stories of several colourful characters, many of whom start out dead, but with his titular ‘Ghost Tricks’, Sissel can travel back in time and use his powers to possess and manipulate things to alter their fates. They’re fairly intuitive puzzles, and I doubt many players would be stuck on them for long, but they always do a good job of making you feel clever with some of the elaborate contraptions you concoct. 

It’s a good thing we save these characters, too. While, personally, the gameplay is just alright, the people are the real joy of this experience. From reckless detective Lynne to Cabanela, the police inspector who couldn’t move without glamour if he tried, there’s not a single character who wasn’t at least interesting. Every one of them, major or minor, has an important role to play, and traveling through telephone lines (yes, telephone lines) you will gradually uncover more and more about these people, Sissel’s mystery, and the conspiracy deeply linked to them all. It takes about 12 hours, roughly the same amount of in-universe time as the real time spent to see this story through to the end. It’s paced across 18 chapters, making it pretty breezy to wind down after a long day of study. Got me through some pretty long weeks at the start of this semester. 

Let me not wrap up without mentioning the game’s style, either. From start to finish, the aesthetic is on point; stunningly animated sprites originally rendered in 3D, thick outlined mugshots, and a soundtrack that just does not stop firing on all cylinders. Even if the game doesn’t sound like your thing, I implore you, please, give its soundtrack a listen. But also, like, totally check it out. It surprised me with the many directions its plot went and subverted my expectations of its genres constantly. 

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is available on PC, Xbox One and Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and originally, Nintendo DS. 

Gameplay: 5/10

Writing: 10/10

Aesthetics: 9/10