I didn’t like some of the timed sequences in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. I did use a walkthrough to get through two of the challenges. But apart from that I loved this game!

You start the game being dead. A desk lamp sends you on a mystery journey to work out who you are (or were). Your first task is to save a redhead called Lynne from joining you in that state. You will need to save her (and others) a number of times during the game.

Being dead has some advantages. You can manipulate objects and also rewind time just before someone dies. Puzzle solving is against the clock and repeated attempts will be needed. The puzzles are about arranging objects so things happen in non-lethal orders.

The writing is very clever and witty, as funny as the Ace Attorney games which the game’s author Shu Takumi also created. There is a wide cast of memorable characters, and scenes range from submarines to parks to junkyards to kitchens.

The graphics are colourful cartoony 2D scenes, I found them immersive enough.

Main menu

There are 16 chapters

You start off rather unhealthy

The first problem

A ghost eye's view

Ready to do a ghost trick

One of the scenes