Ghost Trick
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''Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective'' is a 2010 puzzle
adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
video game developed and published by Capcom. The story follows Sissel, an
amnesiac Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use o ...
ghost with supernatural powers, and his journey to rediscover his identity. Players solve environmental puzzles, interact with eccentric characters, and uncover the truth of Sissel's death over the course of one night. Gameplay is split into two sections: gathering information by navigating through the city, and saving lives by traveling back in time. Direction, writing, and game design were headed by Shu Takumi, creator of the ''
Ace Attorney ''Ace Attorney'' is a series of visual novel adventure video games developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'', was released in 2001; since then, five ...
'' franchise. Development began after the Japanese release of '' Trials and Tribulations'' in 2004, with the goal of creating a mystery beyond what the conventions of ''Ace Attorney'' had allowed. The game was announced at TGS 2009, and released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in June 2010, and in North America, Europe, and Australia in January 2011. An
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port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
released in Japan in December 2010, and internationally in February 2012. An Android port was released exclusively in Japan in November 2012. ''Ghost Trick'' was positively received, with praise for its characters, art direction, animation, music, and story, and criticism for its puzzle design and traversal
mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to object ...
. ''Ghost Trick'' was a commercial failure in Japan, leading Capcom to cite its performance as a cause for lackluster Q1 2010 revenue. The game was nominated for several industry awards, including
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by ''
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'' and ''
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'', and has garnered a cult following. An HD remaster released worldwide for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,
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, and
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in June 2023, and for Android and iOS in March 2024.


Gameplay

''Ghost Trick'' is a single-player puzzle
adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
video game. Players control the character Sissel, an
amnesiac Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use o ...
ghost with supernatural powers, over the course of one night. The story is divided into 18 chapters, each titled after the time of night in which they take place. At the start of the game, only the first chapter is available to play; when players complete a chapter, the next one is unlocked. Gameplay is split into two sections: gathering information by navigating through the city, and saving lives by traveling back in time. Players can press the "Ghost" button to swap between the real world and the Ghost World—an alternate dimension in which time does not pass. In the Ghost World, Sissel takes the form of a blue flame, and can travel between nearby objects. Every interactable object contains a glowing sphere of
essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
called a "core". Players can swipe from core to core to explore the environment. In the real world, Sissel cannot move around, and relies on his ability to possess and manipulate objects: by pressing the "Trick" button, players can perform "ghost tricks", creating paths of traversal or influencing characters in the environment. For example, moving a cart of doughnuts may prompt a character to chase after it, while also giving Sissel access to new areas. Possessing a telephone in use allows Sissel to
trace Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...
the source of the call, add the number to his Phone Book, and travel to the location on the other end of the line. Additionally, certain locations have internal telephone lines, giving players the option to explore multiple rooms within a single area. As long as a functional telephone is nearby, players are free to return to any previously visited location. While moving from place to place, Sissel eavesdrops on characters' conversations and comments on his surroundings. As players interact with characters and discover locations, information about them is added to Sissel's record. At multiple points in the story, players will arrive at the other end of a telephone line to discover the corpse of a character. By possessing the corpse, Sissel is able to communicate with the victim's spirit and travel back in time to four minutes before their death. During these "4 Minutes Before Death" segments, players are tasked with averting the victim's fate, using ghost tricks to manipulate the environment before time runs out. If players fail to rescue the victim, they can rewind time and return to the beginning of the sequence. If players manage to delay the fate of the victim, a checkpoint is created in the timeline. In later chapters of the game, players are able to control
Missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...
, the ghost of a Pomeranian who befriends Sissel. 4 Minutes Before Death segments during these chapters increase in complexity, as Missile's spirit is able to reach further than Sissel's, and has the ability to swap the position of two objects that are of the same shape. Successfully averting a character's fate brings them back to life in the present. Rescued victims also develop permanent cores, allowing Sissel to talk directly with any character who has previously died. Conversations in the Ghost World resemble the investigation sections of ''
Ace Attorney ''Ace Attorney'' is a series of visual novel adventure video games developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'', was released in 2001; since then, five ...
'', providing players with a list of topics to choose from and lines of inquiry to follow.


Plot

At , an amnesiac spirit named Sissel regains consciousness in a junkyard. He sees the corpse of a man nearby, and assumes it is his. Ray, a spirit possessing a desk lamp, tells Sissel about the nature of spirits and "powers of the dead", including the power to travel back in time to four minutes before a person's death. Sissel uses these powers, called "ghost tricks", to save a young detective named Lynne from an assassination attempt. Sissel learns that Lynne came to the junkyard at his request, and decides that she is the only lead to uncovering his identity. Ray warns Sissel that his spirit will vanish at dawn. Sissel and Lynne work together to save other victims as Sissel learns more about his past. Ten years prior, Detectives Jowd and Cabanela arrested Yomiel, a man falsely accused of foreign espionage. Yomiel fled into a nearby park, taking a young Lynne hostage, but was killed by a fragment from the impact of a meteorite named "Temsik". Jowd adopted Lynne into his family, including his wife Alma, daughter Kamila, and pet dog Missile. Five years later, Alma was inadvertently killed by a
Rube Goldberg machine A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction-type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these mach ...
built by Kamila for a surprise party. Jowd hid the evidence and took responsibility for Alma's death to protect Kamila, going to prison under Cabanela's watch. In the present, Sissel and Lynne discover that Sith, a foreign agent, was behind Lynne's assassination attempt. Sith claims to have kidnapped the
justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
's daughter as blackmail to hurry Jowd's execution, unaware that his subordinates mistakenly took Kamila instead. Sissel uses his powers to free Jowd from prison, though Cabanela soon recaptures him. Sissel proves the minister's daughter is safe at home, leading the minister to call off Jowd's execution. He tells Sissel and Lynne his fear that a spirit known as "the manipulator" is behind recent events, including Alma's death. Cabanela is shot and killed while investigating Sissel's body. Missile, now a spirit with ghost tricks of his own, helps Sissel undo Cabanela's death. Sissel learns that his corpse was used by the manipulator to kill Cabanela and escape. Cabanela reveals that Sissel's body actually belongs to the manipulator, Yomiel, whose corpse went missing shortly after his death. The body contained traces of radiation found in the Temsik meteorite, preventing it from decomposing. Sissel, Missile, Lynne, and Jowd follow Yomiel aboard Sith's submarine, rescuing Kamila and cornering Yomiel. Sith confronts Yomiel, extracting the meteorite fragment from his body, and sinks the submarine after fleeing. Yomiel reveals that powers of the dead are granted to those who die in the presence of Temsik radiation. He had been working with Sith's organization to retrieve the Temsik fragment and eliminate all those who knew of its existence, including Jowd, Lynne, and Cabanela. Soon after his apparent death, Yomiel's fiancée—also named Sissel—committed suicide. Yomiel had come to work for Sith as a spirit, and was promised the means to lead a normal life once Sith had the fragment. With no means of escape and dawn approaching, Sissel realizes that the group can travel to four minutes before Yomiel's death, as his corpse was no longer being preserved by Temsik radiation. Sissel, Jowd, Yomiel, and Missile all travel ten years into the past and prevent Yomiel's death, creating a new timeline. In the aftermath, Sissel discovers his true identity—a stray cat Yomiel adopted after his fiancée's suicide. Sissel was killed when a stray bullet struck his cat carrier at the junkyard. Before returning to the present, Ray tells Sissel the truth of his own identity—an aged Missile from an alternate timeline, who failed to prevent Yomiel's death without Sissel's help and waited ten years to ensure his involvement. Spirits persist indefinitely, but Ray gave Sissel a deadline to foil the spies' plot. In the new timeline, Sissel has been adopted by Jowd, Alma, Lynne, and Kamila, while Yomiel waits out his prison sentence to rejoin his waiting fiancée. Because of the characters' actions in the past, Sissel was struck by the meteorite fragment instead, and lives as a spirit with the fragment in his body.


Development

''Ghost Trick'' was developed over the course of six years by a team of 20, headed by ''Ace Attorney'' director Shu Takumi. Shortly after the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
release of '' Trials and Tribulations'' in 2004, Takumi stepped away from ''Ace Attorney'' to create a "new type of mystery" without the restrictions of the series' conventions. He drafted a rough storyline for the project—codenamed ''Mansion''—centered around an ensemble cast of strangers. His priorities were shifted back to ''Ace Attorney'' later that year, split between
porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
the series to the Nintendo DS (DS), writing a fifth episode for the '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'' DS port, and supervising development of '' Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney''. In October 2007, following the release of the ''Trials and Tribulations'' DS port in Japan, the project became Takumi's sole focus. He rewrote his original draft, dividing the story into chapters to make it easier to understand, and full-scale development began. Takumi's initial
design document A software design description (a.k.a. software design document or SDD; just design document; also Software Design Specification) is a representation of a software design that is to be used for recording design information, addressing various des ...
was written for a "different portable console" capable of 3D visuals at the suggestion of Capcom, but was adapted for
2D graphics 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. It may refer to the branch of computer s ...
when development shifted to the DS. The game was tentatively titled ''Ghost Spy'' during pre-production, and tasked players with observing the behavior of mysterious apartment tenants from the perspective of a disembodied spirit. The game's Ghost
mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...
was inspired by ideas Takumi could not fully explore with ''Ace Attorney''s episodic format; namely, delving deeper into the personal lives of the game's cast. According to Takumi, forming meaningful connections with over 30 characters in a single night would prove "very hard... ora character who is alive", and that the "best way is to have a ghost." As development progressed, the spy narrative was scrapped in favor of an amnesiac murder victim in search of answers, placing further emphasis on communication and interaction rather than observation. The title was eventually changed to ''Ghost Trick'' as a pun on , meaning "to possess", and the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "trick", or .


Art and game design

''Ghost Trick''s unique art direction resulted from Takumi's desire to create something that "looked more like an illustration than a game." The team prioritized bold colors, hard shadows, and distinct
silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
s to help character portraits and backgrounds stand out on the small screens of the DS. Characters were also modeled in 3D to populate environments, paired with dynamic animations to evoke the drama of a stage play. Exaggerated poses, deliberate choreography, and fluid motion were used to express the characters' individuality through movement, and to an action element" that was not possible with the ''Ace Attorney'' series. Takumi insisted that characters be animated by hand, as he felt the use of motion capture would detract from their nuance and appeal. The team's first test sample—a short loop of Missile running around while Kamila snacked on a doughnut—convinced him that the process would be worth the effort. Due to technical limitations, however, the team had trouble rendering the 3D character models properly on the DS hardware. At the suggestion of Toshihiko Honda—the game's lead programmer—
pre-rendering Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typic ...
techniques popularized by video games like ''
Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and foll ...
'' were used to
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the models into 2D sprites, preserving the quality of the animation while greatly reducing system load. The game's spotlight animation was also the result of hardware constraints. Takumi found that shifting from 3D development on ''
Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...
'' and ''
Dino Crisis is a survival horror and action-adventure video game series created by Shinji Mikami and developed and published by Capcom. The plot focuses on recurring outbreaks of deadly dinosaurs in closed environments, such as a laboratory on an islan ...
'' to 2D development on ''Ace Attorney'' and ''Ghost Trick'' significantly limited the practicality of using in-game cameras to direct players' attention. This restriction, paired with ''Ghost Trick''s theatrical design language, led to the creation of what Takumi called the "mysterious light" effect, placing emphasis on whichever character or object was pertinent to a given scene. The original ''Ace Attorney'' trilogy was developed for Japanese audiences, and proved notoriously difficult for Capcom to localize for the West. According to Janet Hsu, the game's English editor, the team "knew 'Ghost Trick''was going to be localized and... took that into consideration" during development. Artists completely avoided using written language on buildings, objects, clothing, and other in-game assets. Character and location designs were also kept as culturally and chronologically ambiguous as possible. Apart from easing the localization process, this also gave what Takumi called a "fairytale-like" quality to the game's world. However, much like ''Ace Attorney'', certain characters' names are Japanese puns, specifically relating to concepts of life and death: Lynne's name is derived from , Jeego's from , and Cabanela's from , for example. Lynne and Kamila's living room was the first location created after development began, and served as a prototype for balancing difficulty and establishing the rules of the game's puzzles. Producer Hironobu Takeshita was often asked to
playtest A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...
the game for the team, due to his relative unfamiliarity with puzzle games. To accommodate for a variety of skill levels, a passive hint system was implemented. Those who felt stumped had the option to read additional dialogue in the form of interactable thought bubbles, while experienced players could choose to ignore them. To aid in puzzle construction, the development team would reference a "foreign book" speculated to be
Baby Einstein Baby Einstein (stylized as baby einstein) is an American franchise and line of multimedia products, including home video programs, CDs, books, flashcards, toys, and baby gear that specialize in interactive activities for infants and toddle ...
's ''Wordsworth's Book of Words''. According to an interview with ''
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'', the book contained images of everyday objects paired with names and descriptions, and "whatever caught akumi'seye" would become part of a puzzle.


Music and sound design

According to an interview with ''
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'', the game's sound effects were written directly into the script. Takumi would leave notes at key story beats—detailing when and where to use sound effects—for programmers to reference at later stages in development. Yasumasa Kitagawa, who would go on to rearrange the soundtrack for the 2023 ''Ghost Trick'' remaster, assisted Takumi but ultimately went uncredited. The game's
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
was written by ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'' composer Masakazu Sugimori. Takumi personally requested that Sugimori return, praising his "ability to create an original world" through music. Due to Takumi's hiatus from the project in late 2004, Sugimori was able to compose much of the game's score before development officially started. When full-scale production began in October 2007, he had already left Capcom to found Design Wave—a Tokyo-based music studio—but resumed work on the game as a contractor. Sugimori lists
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and
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as inspirations for the soundtrack, and wrote the game's title theme after seeing concept artwork of the Zone D Waste Center location. He was also heavily influenced by an untitled oil painting he owned of a black and blue night sky. ''Ghost Trick Original Sound Track'', a CD set of the game's soundtrack, was released under the Suleputer label on June 19, 2010 in a limited edition bundle via . It was later distributed digitally through iTunes to celebrate the game's third anniversary on June 19, 2013. In August 2015, Capcom released an artbook bundle, including a compilation album of the game's most popular tracks and an original song written and composed by Takumi titled .


Release

''Ghost Trick'' was first revealed in ''
Weekly Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' during an interview with Takumi in early September 2009. The game was formally announced at TGS 2009 later that month, featuring a demonstration booth themed after the Zone D Waste Center location. On February 12, 2010, Capcom filed a North American trademark for the game, leading several publications to suspect an overseas release date was imminent. On March 11, 2010, Capcom announced that the game would launch in Japan on June 24, 2010. The game made its first appearance in North America at Capcom's Captivate summit in April 2010, with an international release window of winter 2010. This was followed by showcases at
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, E3, San Diego Comic Con,
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, TGS,
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, and CES. In May 2010, Takumi created a
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account under the name "Ghost Tweet" to share exclusive development information and answer questions from fans. In June 2010, Capcom promoted the game on ''Ghost TV'', a short
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in which Takumi and the production team would demonstrate gameplay and provide insight into their development process. Later that month, Capcom uploaded gameplay commentary videos featuring Japanese celebrities, including members of
AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with ...
and
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, to the ''Ghost Trick'' website. Two tutorial demos with altered dialogue and puzzles were also made available; one via the
Nintendo Channel The Wii Menu is the graphical shell of the Wii and Wii U game console, as part of the Wii system software. It has four pages, each with a 4:3 grid, and each displaying the current time and date. Available applications, known as "channels", a ...
and the other via
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. ''Ghost Trick'' was originally scheduled to launch in Japan on June 24, 2010. However, to coincide with new colors and price drops coming to the DS family of systems, a last-minute announcement was made during the team's
wrap party Wrap, as used in the phrase "That's a wrap" has been used by directors since the early days of the film industry to signal the end of filming. Since the 1920s, filmmakers have been using this phrase when principal photography is concluded and the ...
, moving the release date up to June 19. A limited edition bundle was distributed in Japan via , including ''Ghost Trick Original Sound Track'' and a full-color art booklet with exclusive developer commentary from Takumi, Takeshita, and Sugimori. In July 2010, the game was featured in a five-page cover story for ''Weekly Famitsu''. In November 2010, Capcom held a ''Ghost Trick'' t-shirt design contest, followed by a community
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be c ...
contest in December. To promote the webcomic contest, Capcom commissioned popular artists to publish special ''Ghost Trick'' issues of their comics, including ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'', '' PvP'', '' Penny Arcade'', and ''
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja ''The Adventures of Dr. McNinja'' is a webcomic written and drawn by Christopher Hastings, and inked formerly by Kent Archer and after 2010 by Hastings himself. Published three times a week on its own website, it features the fictional adventures ...
''. ''Ghost Trick'' released internationally in North America, Europe, and Australia the following year in January 2011, with Nintendo providing European marketing and distribution on behalf of Capcom. A bundle titled "''Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective'' New Classics" was also made available, and included a copy of the then out-of-print ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'' DS port.


Mobile ports

An enhanced
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
port of the game was released in Japan on December 16, 2010, and internationally on February 2, 2012. Development started after localization of the international DS version was finished, and took just under three months to complete. The port began as an experiment, as the DS team had no experience developing for iOS. Instead of sending the
source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...
to Capcom's
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division, Takeshita was impressed with the team's progress, and urged for development to continue in-house. Capcom initially planned for the game to launch episodically, with each chapter releasing one after another. However, according to Takeshita, "many fans finished the original in one go, and
he team He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
didn't want to make anyone wait." The first two chapters were distributed for free, with the remaining chapters costing extra. The mobile version includes "Ghost Puzzle", a
sliding puzzle A sliding puzzle, sliding block puzzle, or sliding tile puzzle is a combination puzzle that challenges a player to slide (frequently flat) pieces along certain routes (usually on a board) to establish a certain end-configuration. The pieces to ...
minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...
rewarding players with downloadable wallpapers, and a Japan-exclusive feature called , in which Missile would draw an ''
omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fort ...
'' fortune for players once a day. The game launched at #1 on the
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in Japan, and held the position throughout its release week. On September 15, 2011,
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revealed that an Android port of the game was scheduled to release for the
Xperia Play The Xperia Play is a smartphone with elements of a handheld game console produced by Sony Ericsson. With the marketshare for dedicated handheld Video game console, game consoles diminishing into the 2010s due to the rapid expansion of smartphone ...
, followed by a formal announcement from Capcom. It launched exclusively in Japan via the
app store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
on November 1, 2012. The platform has since gone defunct following a merger in December 2017. In December 2023, Capcom announced that the original iOS port of the game would be delisted from the App Store in spring 2024, along with plans to release the 2023 remaster on iOS and Android devices. The mobile version launched worldwide on March 27, 2024.


2023 remaster

A re-release of ''Ghost Trick'' was rated in South Korea on September 2, 2022. The game was officially revealed to be a full HD remaster the following February in a Nintendo Direct, and a demo of the first two chapters was made available on June 12, 2023. To promote the game on Twitter, Capcom translated a collection of short stories previously exclusive to Japan called "Four Prologues", following Sissel, Lynne, Jeego, and Ray leading up to the events of Chapter 1. "Meeting Missile", an unreleased epilogue Takumi wrote in 2010, was also localized for promotional purposes. The remaster launched on June 30, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
(PC), and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, and for Android and iOS on March 27, 2024. A limited edition co-developed with
escape room An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limite ...
company Scrap was made available, including a unique box with reflective embossing and a
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...
designed by Takumi titled . A deluxe edition was also released, including everything from the limited edition plus ''Ghost Trick Original Sound Track 2023''—a CD set of Kitagawa's rearranged soundtrack—and a deck of playing cards featuring character portraits. In September 2023, Capcom released the rearranged soundtrack on
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,
Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...
, and other
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services. The remaster was developed using Capcom's RE Engine, and features upgraded visuals rendered in
1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen ve ...
at 60
frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
. As the development team was no longer restricted by hardware limitations, the remaster uses the high-resolution 3D character models that the original DS sprites were rasterized from. The remaster also includes the mobile Ghost Puzzle minigame, music and concept art galleries, customizable widescreen borders, support for nine languages,
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in the form of "Challenges", a new song composed by Sugimori, and the ability to switch between the original and rearranged soundtracks during gameplay. According to Takumi, conversations about revisiting ''Ghost Trick'' started in 2020.
Yuki Kaji Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to: Places * Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan * Yuki, ...
, who provided the voice of Phoenix Wright in the ''Ace Attorney'' anime, approached him about technical issues with the mobile version after the release of
iOS 14 iOS 14 is the fourteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone and iPod Touch lines. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020 as the successor to iOS 13 ...
. said, 'The iOS version doesn't work anymore!' Due to an update, there was a period where it wasn't playable", Takumi told ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
''. This prompted him to contact original producer Takeshita, setting discussions about the game's future in motion. Producer Shingo Izumi also cited fan requests as a driving factor in developing the remaster, saying, "With the tenth anniversary, and the /nowiki>Change.org.html" ;"title="Change.org.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Change.org">/nowiki>Change.org">Change.org.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Change.org">/nowiki>Change.org/nowiki> petitions, ''Ghost Trick'' ranked first on a list of most-wanted remakes." Many of the original staff members who worked on the DS version remained at Capcom, and began development of the remaster in late 2021 with Takumi serving as a supervisor.


Reception

''Ghost Trick'' received "generally favorable" reviews, according to the review aggregator Metacritic. The 2023 remaster received "universal acclaim" on PC and "generally favorable" reviews on consoles. The game is considered to be a
cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
. The game's story and characters were highly praised. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''s Carolyn Petit said the "comic absurdity" of the plot cleverly spins its tragic themes into comedic moments, and that story beats culminate in a rewarding and memorable conclusion. She also found interacting with the game's characters entertaining, admiring their snappy and engaging dialogue. Carolyn Gudmundson of ''
GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites '' Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and ''Computer ...
'' found the characters endearing and many-layered, comparing them favorably to the ''Ace Attorney'' cast. Gudmundson also called the game's storytelling "Takumi's best work to date", noting Missile in particular as a standout example of character writing. Echoing the sentiments of Gudmundson, Justin Haywald of ''
1Up.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...
'' called ''Ghost Trick''s story a "creative extension" of ''Ace Attorney'' that successfully expanded on the core ideas of the franchise. John Teti of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' lauded the game's complex approach to mystery, likening it to the ''
Professor Layton ''Professor Layton'' is a puzzle adventure video game series and transmedia franchise developed by Level-5. The property consists primarily of seven main video games, a mobile spin-off, an animated theatrical film, and an anime television serie ...
'' series, but found that the thought bubble hint system often interrupted suspenseful moments. Writing for ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'', Daemon Hatfield highly praised the game's art direction and animation, calling it "the most impressive...
e had E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...
ever seen" in a video game, and the best reason to play it. Dan Whitehead of ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...
'' favorably compared the art style to the works of
Éric Chahi Éric Chahi is a French computer game designer and programmer, best known as the creator of '' Another World'' (also known as ''Out of This World'' in North America) and ''Heart of Darkness''. Career Éric Chahi started programming on Oric Atm ...
, citing '' Out of This World'' in particular. He also thought that the theatrical character animation complemented the dramatic stylization of the game's scenery. ''GameSpot''s Petit found that the game's exaggerated approach to animation volumes" about the characters, and helped them stand out against the game's various background environments. Mark Brown of '' Pocket Gamer'' also commented on the strong characterization of the animation, praising the game's ability to reveal insight through actions rather than dialogue. ''
Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...
''s Kate Gray said that the 2023 remaster successfully and faithfully translated the game's visuals to HD, but criticized the pillarboxing that resulted from retaining the DS version's original 4:3 aspect ratio. Critics were divided on the game's puzzle design and traversal mechanics. ''1Up.com''s Haywald thought the puzzles were novel and fun, but occasionally found the "trial-and-error process" of deducing solutions frustrating. He also expressed disappointment in the seemingly limitless potential of interactable objects often having a single, linear route. Cassandra Khaw of ''
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'' praised the game's rewind mechanic, finding that the ability to restart at any point prevented 4 Minutes Before Death segments from becoming too unforgiving. ''
Push Square Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...
''s Stephen Tailby found the puzzles gratifying to complete, despite their relative simplicity and mild difficulty. Nick Chester of ''
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ...
'' largely enjoyed the puzzles, comparing them to the board game ''
Mouse Trap A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch and, usually, kill mice. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. Larger traps are designed to catch other s ...
'', and found them "full of 'ah-ha!' moments" and satisfying outcomes. He also faulted them for their linearity, however, citing a lack of creative freedom afforded to players. '' GamePro''s AJ Glasser took issue with certain late-game puzzles requiring that players wait until the last second to determine the correct solution. Writing for ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'', Joe Juba found the spacing and placement of checkpoints inconsistent, warning that players should expect to rewatch cutscenes and repeat ghost tricks multiple times before solving a puzzle.
Jason Schreier Jason Schreier (born May 10, 1987) is a journalist and author who primarily covers the video game industry. He worked as a news reporter for ''Kotaku'' from 2011 to 2020 and was recognized for several investigative stories, particularly on the ...
of ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
'' was highly critical of the game's traversal mechanics, and found moving from scene to scene "eternally frustrating... due to a constricting gameplay mechanic."


Sales and accolades

''Ghost Trick'' debuted at #2 on the
Media Create is a Japanese company that gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market. Business operations include publishing, market research and consulting. It is a popular we ...
sales charts, and sold 44,000 physical copies by the end of its release month. According to the 2011 edition of ''Video Game Industry White Paper'', the game sold a cumulative total of 81,325 physical copies in Japan by December 2010. Capcom has cited the game's poor performance in Japan as a contributor to low income in the first quarter of its 2010 fiscal year. Publications have speculated that sales were negatively affected by releasing the game at the end of the DS
life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...
, and that it was overshadowed by the announcement of the Nintendo 3DS. The iOS version debuted at #1 on the App Store, and "performed well" according to Capcom's 2011 annual report. The Nintendo Switch version debuted at #5 on the ''Famitsu'' sales charts, and sold 10,449 physical copies by the end of its release month. '' GameTrailers'' awarded ''Ghost Trick'' Best Nintendo DS Game, and nominated it for Best Story. It won Best Handheld Game from ''GameSpot'', and was nominated for the award by ''
X-Play ''Xplay'' (previously ''GameSpot TV'' and ''Extended Play'') is a TV program about video games. The program, known for its reviews and comedy skits, airs on '' G4'' in the United States and had aired on ''G4 Canada'' in Canada (and briefly on Y ...
''. ''GameSpot'' also named it Best Puzzle Game, while nominating it for
Game of the Year Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year. Events and ceremonies British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ...
. It received the award for Best DS Game of E3 2010 from '' Kotaku'' and '' Jeuxvideo.com'', and was nominated for the award by ''1Up.com'', ''GameSpot'', and ''GameTrailers''. It was named Nintendo DS Game of the Year by ''GameZone'', and received a nomination for the award from ''Nintendo Life''. The game was included in the ''GamesRadar+'' list of the "Best DS Games of All Time", ''
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''s "Best 10 Games at E3 2010", ''Game Informer''s "Top 50 Games of 2011", and ''
Adventure Gamers ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1998 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game desi ...
'' "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games". The 2023 remaster earned a Game of the Year staff award from ''Nintendo Life''.


Legacy

In November 2011, Capcom released ''
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom in collaboration with Eighting. It is an updated version of '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds''. The game features characters from both Capcom's video game franchises and comic book se ...
'', an updated version of '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'' introducing ''Ace Attorney''s Phoenix Wright and
Maya Fey Maya Fey, known as in the original Japanese language versions, is a fictional spirit medium in '' Ace Attorney'', a visual novel adventure video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Maya is featured as the main support character to ...
in their fighting game debut. One of the duo's alternate costume sets is themed after the color schemes of Sissel and Lynne, respectively. In December 2017, Capcom released a free content update for ''
Dead Rising 4 ''Dead Rising 4'' is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Capcom Vancouver and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on December 6, 2016, for Windows and Xbox One. It is the fourth installment in the ''Dead Rising'' series. It wa ...
'' called "Capcom Heroes", giving players 17 new outfits based on the studio's video game franchises, each with their own attributes. This mode includes a Sissel costume, and allows the main character, Frank West, to possess everyday objects and use them to attack enemies. In a June 2023 ''Game Informer'' interview, Takumi said that developing a ''Ghost Trick'' sequel would be difficult, and considers Sissel's story complete, but thinks that the powers of the dead introduced in the game hold untapped potential. Producer Izumi suggested that the commercial success of the remaster would ultimately determine the likelihood of a sequel, but that he is open to the possibility.


Notes


References


External links


''Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective'' official website
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