15 Years Ago, Capcom Released Its Most Inventive Puzzle Game Ever

"The Nintendo DS was a treasure trove of puzzle games, producing perhaps the greatest era the genre will ever see. The system's touchscreen and dual-screen format allowed developers to get wildly inventive, and there are two dozen games I could name off the top of my head that are unlike anything else I've ever played. But the game that feels most emblematic of this special moment in gaming history is the little masterpiece called Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Overlooked at the time, Ghost Trick has aged into one of the best puzzle games ever made."

"Arriving Stateside 15 years ago, Ghost Trick is a fascinating one-off from Capcom, a company that's since proven to be wonderfully experimental in the face of a largely homogenous AAA industry. Ghost Trick is particularly interesting because it comes from the mind of Shu Takumi. Takumi is best known as the creator and longtime director of the Ace Attorney franchise, and you can see that same quirky, abrasive sense of humor in Ghost Trick."

"You take on the role of a spirit named Sissel, who wakes up in a junkyard and sees a man's corpse. Realizing the body is likely his, Sissel assumes he just died, and is greeted by another spirit named Ray that's inhabiting a desk lamp nearby. Ray teaches Sissel how to possess inanimate objects just in time for him to save a young detective named Lynne from an assassination attempt. Sissel sets out to protect Lynne and solve the mystery of how he died, tasks that prove to be connected."

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a puzzle-adventure that uses the Nintendo DS touchscreen and dual screens to enable inventive mechanics. The player controls the spirit Sissel, who awakens in a junkyard, discovers a corpse he believes is his own, and learns to possess objects through a spirit named Ray. Sissel uses possession to prevent deaths, notably saving detective Lynne, and pursues answers about his own murder. The game balances quick, snappy writing and vibrant characters, including a Pomeranian sidekick and the flamboyant detective Cabanela. The narrative weaves comedic elements with a tragic central mystery. The game represents Capcom and Shu Takumi's experimental creativity on handheld hardware.

Read at Inverse