Ghost Trick
With the NDS you can expect game’s to be extraordinary and I can tell you I am not surprised that this is another title that can just do the job. Ghost Trick were released near the end-life of the NDS and by the very same team that brings us the Phoenix Wright series. They are known to have great storyline and gameplay so I was very anticipated with the game’s release. It’s a adventure point and click based game which will demand our logical thinking on solving the puzzle itself. So let’s not waste more time and proceed with the retro review.
Storyline
The core of a good puzzle game to me is a strong and interesting story to carry it. Ghost Trick didn’t failed on this segment as the game is just like any typical Japan manga...you will never know what hit you. It all started out as you getting killed...yes..you read me right, you startup dead and play as a dead guy for the rest of the game...not the best start one can get. You are a spirit who is fresh from dead. So you end up in the crime scene with lost memories being murdered by a detective except your name were Sissel. So after you were briefed by a fellow spirit that you got the power to manipulate things like a poltergeist for the whole night until sunrise, you are off to an adventure to remember who you are and what happened that night. You will encounter a detective who killed you and you saved her a few times to reveal that another detective were to be executed that night for murdering his wife, which you will save as well as you found out he is innocent. You will save a few characters as well such as the Minister of Justice from his heart attack when he knew his daughter were kidnapped and was demanded that Detective Jowd must be executed. We will save Detective Jowd’s daughter and her dog Missile as well. Seems like there’s a lot of people to save, huh? Then only you found out all this was planned by …. SISSEL. Ya, I was shocked to when I saw the real puppeteer behind the whole deal is a guy which you thought you were....Then it reveal that Sissel was a victim of Detective Jowd’s case and hit by a meteorite on the faithful night. With the meteorite, he is kinda immortal and able to control people. So he planned the whole things to get revenge on Detective Jowd and whoever who framed her on that night including the girl you saved earlier and Inspector Cabanela. Then he will sell his power for moving out from the country to another country before realizing he was double-crossed at the very last hour. This is the pivotal point of the story when Sissel realized all his actions were wrong and we were able to go back to 4 min before the event thanks to your power. All ends well at the end where the whole incident were able to be prevented.
Gameplay
It’s a puzzle game at heart with the use of stylus. Inside the game you played as a spirit which have the ability to control and manipulate non-living objects like poltergeist (hence named Ghost Trick), but you have no ability to move on your own other than jumping from item to item. So you will rely on the items lying around for transportation while fulfilling the stage’s goal which normally involves saving one’s life to checking certain items in the game. It doesn’t get bored at all after a few stages but it does get frustrated though as it takes a lot of trial and error with limited of help from the game itself. Later part in the game you will be able to control different souls which will grant you different abilities as well to make the game a little bit more challenging than before. But it’s also have it’s downfall as it’s a very linear game whereby you have no more than 1 way to solve the puzzle meaning the replay value of the game will drop and may not be as attractive on the second play. Nonetheless, it’s still one heck of a great game not to be missed.
Graphic
Even with the limited power in the NDS, it’s still a great eye-candy with those smooth 2-D animation. The whole game is played from the 2D side view so it’s like the whole building or vehicle is cut into half so you can really see what happen inside. It looks real cool and each of the characters have their own style of movement and animations to give identity to each of them. Colors are used wisely to create a comical but detective-noir feel in it. You’ll never get bored watching this game and animation as well.
Sound
NDS’s game size doesn’t really allow it to keep large sized music file but yet the developers just managed to do their charm in each of the game, the BG music fits every stage like a glove and the sound effect though is cartoonish but it just fits the game well. No voice-over for this game but it’s not like this game will need one anyway.
Overall
The game itself is a keeper with limited gameplay time. 16 Stages will average around 16 gameplay hours depends on your trial-and error skills. The game itself will charm you with it’s interesting story and unique gameplay with it’s one of the kind graphic. A definite charm for every NDS lover.
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