FGC #677 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Osgood Perkins
Writer and Director of Longlegs
Reddit AMA
August 14, 2024

My name is Goggle Bob, and I am a publicly avowed beater.

… Wait, that sounds terrible. Let’s make this a story you don’t have to beat.

I have never thrown out or otherwise “traded in” a single piece of media in my life. My videogame collection is not some massive eBay lot I purchased at the end of a console generation, it is the slow accrual of games tracing back to the NES. I have at least one cartridge that was puked on by a cat that has been dead for 20 years! But this same collecting (/hoarding) applies to other pieces of media, too. I tossed VHS tapes of home movies or McDonald’s promotions only after digitizing those treasures, and I have scanned in every picture and filmstrip going back to my grandparents’ age. And books! Give or take a few that got lost or otherwise left near flood waters along the way, I have books on hand that go straight back to my childhood. Some are for performing weird-ass science experiments meant to teach a toddler about the concept of “sticky”, and some are strategy guides that remember MC Hammer. And, of course, I have a million volumes of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Goosebumps, and various Choose Your Own Adventure tales that all direct you to turn to page 32 to be immediately decapitated. I read so much horror as a kid, it is a wonder I don’t live my life like a Mortal Kombat kharacter…

But as I peruse my childhood books, I realize something: I stopped reading “scary stories” sometime around high school. It is not about maturity: I have practically an entire shelf of King novels that was accruing around when I was 12 (when my parents thought I was finally old enough to grapple with how the terror of Thinner is kicked off by fellatio). But the collection stops right about the time I started worrying about girls’ opinions of my rattail. And, from there, the next 25 years or so of books barely ever contains a straight-up scary story. I have John Dies at the End novels, but their horrors are blunted by (excellent) comedy and societal observations (and when Jason Pargin switches to sci-fi-comedy with the Zoey Ashe series, I don’t miss the soy sauce or cosmic horrors). I have the occasional comic-horror anthology, but that is more or less because my brain finds that picture books go down smooth, and I will buy damn near anything with pretty (and possibly gory) illustrations. And that’s about it. All done with horror by the age of 15 or so.

What happened? Well, being a jerkass teenager is right about exactly when I started trying to “beat” damn near everything. And videogames didn’t help!

I am an unapologetic cheater. A significant reason for this is that I like to win. I have plenty of conflicts in my own life, and I do not need that kind of nonsense when I am attempting to slay a digital Dracula. I am not someone that thinks all games should be completely frictionless (guys, I am tarnished so bad), but I do not want to be crippled with choice paralysis by a branching ability system that may impact whether I can beat the final boss. I play videogames predominantly for entertainment, and I enjoy myself more when the experience doesn’t require firing up a spreadsheet to track my appointments across a 70-hour game. Just give me Morning Star now, Persona.

But “winning” has many definitions. Everyone knows that practically every other videogame since 1995 has had the bullet point of multiple endings. And that fries your brain! Imagine fighting tooth and nail to beat a difficult game, and you finally cross the finish line, but your main character dies! Or succumbs to a curse! Or is controlled by a shiba inu for some reason! What was even the point!? And, while the obvious “cheating” route here would be to look up the solutions before even starting the game (this may be the exact reason I used to buy strategy guides immediately with any game purchase), that method tends to deflate the joy and surprise of a good story. So, in a desperate bid to save my own time, I never let my analytical mind rest for a moment. Where once I was a child and had the joy and excitement of new experiences, now I must compare everything to what has come before to fish out the exact twist or turn that is coming up. I need to know everything that is happening, dammit, because a surprise could mean I am wasting my life.

So if there is a woman who wears a scarf all the time, I am going to pull that thread until her head falls off. If someone is joyfully wishing on a monkey’s paw, I am keeping my distance in anticipation of an ironic comeuppance. If there is a lottery people are shying away from winning, it is going to end in blood. These were all cool stories the first time, but became experiences that I would apply to find any similar twists in any other media. I have been old and wise since I was 16, and I know what’s coming! Keep watching for these clues, keep sussing out the source of the horror, and you won’t get tricked by any ghost stories.

Today’s game is Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. This is a recently rereleased 15-year-old Nintendo DS title. The gameplay is wholly unique: you are a spirit, and you can possess items to perform tricks. This is not Geist or Avenging Spirit, though. You do not get to possess dangerous assassins or machinegun turrets. You are stuck possessing items like “fridge” or “trash umbrella”. Generally, your goals as a ghost are to either scurry around an area by jumping from object to object (and occasionally rolling things over to create makeshift bridges), or constructing elaborate Rube Goldberg machines that… Well… The first level ends with a murder, one way or another. While there are a few targets that just need a nudge of medication or alike, the most dynamic activities in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective involve rewinding time four minutes to prevent someone from being actively murdered. And turnabout is fair play! So get ready to drop wrecking balls on would-be murderers. It’s okay! You know they were going to do something bad, because you saw their alternate futures! Also: they’re blue. This may be some kind of racism, but I do not trust people with blue skin, and neither should you.

But once you make it past the wonderful/unique gameplay, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is basically a visual novel. This is one solid story featuring distinctive characters attempting to continue living through the events of one wild night. While “story is key” is essential to many games, the presentation here, complete with leads taking intermissions to explain key plot points, makes it clear that the writing is the focus. You are meant to empathize with the good guys, hate the bad guys, and maybe change your mind on a featured player or two as they have their changes of heart. And speaking of turnabouts, this story is a mystery, and everyone is a suspect. There are two adorable moppets and a dog that are never in any danger of going into police custody, but once you get past those three, nearly every character can be presented as a hero or villain intermittently throughout the tale. Is that cute redhead a victim in all this tragedy, or literally the woman that murdered you? Is that squeaky-clean detective watching an old friend die only because he doesn’t want to soil his record? And, while we’re asking all these questions, just who are you, spirit? Are you a bad guy, too?

And here is where we are going to get into some heavy spoilers for Ghost Trick, because we’re going to do the twist.

Ghost Trick does not have multiple endings or anything you can “miss” if you are not paying attention. However, as a ghost story, it has plenty of twists available for the finale of the story. The ostensible bad guy of the piece made one bad (terrible) decision, and circumstances dominoed from there. He’s mostly alright! A rival nation is up to no good, but they are bunglers who lucked into victory in a divergent timeline or two. And the biggest twist of all? “You” are not “you”, and Sissel the Ghost has been experiencing a case of mistaken identity all along. He is not the man in red. He is not even a man at all! He’s a cat! A randomly dead cat that was tricked by a dog-lamp into saving the day!

Yes you are. Also, you’re not any kind of guy.

And I called it! I totally called it! When Sissel first materializes as a ghost, he is way too quick to adopt the nearby body as his “self”. When Lynne first materializes as a conscious spirit, she accidentally adopts Cabanela’s persona as a similar mistake (before Sissel corrects her). When the cat appears to knock over Yomiel’s body, the cat is seen as the only creature at the junkyard not accounted for by the story. And this is a very tight story! There cannot be so much as a loud neighbor woman without wrapping her up in a plot to kidnap a minister’s daughter. Of course the cat was going to be the secret identity of Sissel! We already established that helpful dog for a reason!

I am the greatest! I beat Ghost Trick!

But Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a case where the media is better eaten.

Ghost Trick is a mystery ghost story that has more twists and turns than your average minotaur maze. Fortunately, it also has more heart than Ricardio the Heart Guy. The tale here is one of betrayal and murder, but it is also a story of love. People make mistakes, but they are supported by others that care about them. A mother is lost, but a daughter is aided by friends. A father serves time for a crime he did not commit to protect his family. A frightened child becomes a competent detective through the support of a mentor. And, of course, the day (night) is ultimately saved because of an extremely dedicated dog. They all do it for love.

And our main character? The illiterate cat? We learn there is a timeline where this jackass didn’t do a damn thing to help anybody. However, in this world, the newly hatched Sissel is initially told they will find the answers they seek if they lend a hand to a victim or nine. They do, and along the course of the night, Sissel learns to care about these goofy characters. By daybreak, Sissel has learned not only their own true origins, but also how to love the people around him. It’s maudlin, but it’s about the best outcome a little immortal cat can ask for.

And if I didn’t see it coming the first time in 2010, I certainly knew all of this going into my recent replay of the remaster. I might not have remembered every last puzzle solution (and, if I’m being honest, I had some weird kind of secondhand anxiety that someone would judge me for not retaining exactly how prevent a murder by utilizing a beanie), but I certainly remembered the twists of who had secret identities, and who was covertly a good(ish) guy all along. And the funny thing? Now that I didn’t have to beat it, I was happy to eat it. Since I didn’t have to spend all my spare brain energy trying to sniff out the enigmas of this plot, I was free to enjoy this story, these characters, and all the things, good and bad, that happen over the course of this excellent game. It was maybe the best experience I have had with a videogame in a long time. And I play a lot of videogames.

Man, I wish I could do that with other media.

But, for better or worse, I always try to beat it, never eat it. I am haunted by the specter of somehow “losing” to an author. And that makes me the vicious monster at the end of this tale.

… Wait. Was that a twist?

FGC #677 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

• System: For a time, it was believed that this touch-y game would be tied to the Nintendo DS (or maybe an iPhone) forever. But we got the rerelease for Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in 2023, and all was well with the world.
• Number of players: Even when there is a second controllable spirit, you are limited to one controller.
• Port-o-Call: The remake makes an already pretty game gorgeous. And, while it may be blasphemy, I enjoy the “feel” of spirit-extending around the room with an analogue stick a lot more than the stylus. My only complaint is that “tv play” is hampered by the frequent screen flashes during dramatic moments. I didn’t even notice those strobes when my viewing size was three inches…
• Favorite Character: I do not understand “the deal” with Curry-Loving Jailbird, but he is adorable. His whole “prison escape via spoon-tunneling” situation is a well-worn trope, but how he got in jail is a significant question. Yes, he was possessed and raided a police station, but he also took a flamethrower to the place, which seems like a conscious reaction to spicy curry. And escaping from jail isn’t an innocent move, either! Anyway, he really licks that spoon with gusto, so he’s got my vote.
• Second Favorite Character: And now Bailey shall perform the dance of panic.
• Say Something Mean: I have never enjoyed “stealth mechanics” sneaking into a videogame, and escorting a prisoner out of jail in Chapter 9 sticks in my craw as the worst part of Sissel’s adventure. And, no, you cannot bribe me with Jowd’s adorable rolling animation!
• Did you know? I am featuring this game for my annual Halloween article, but the events of Ghost Trick clearly take place opposite the Christmas season. I’ve been tricked into the wrong holiday!
• Would I play again: Just like eating, I am probably going to play Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective again. My stomach is grumbling for it.

What’s next? Random ROB has chosen… Hebereke! Whatever the hell that is! Please look forward to it!