One lengthy night time

2011’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective feels prefer it’s at all times been a little bit of an oddball. The DS title was Ace Legal professional director Shu Takumi’s shot to create one thing new, a “totally different sort of thriller” from the courtroom battles of Phoenix Wright and buddies.

Although obtained effectively, gross sales appear combined; it was a best-selling Nintendo DS sport in Japan the week of its launch, however Capcom would later notice it struggled. All of this helped construct, no less than in my notion, a cult-classic vibe round it. It wasn’t the most well-liked DS sport, however these within the know who dug the DS extremely valued it.
In order that’s the place we discover Ghost Trick now, because it’s getting a revival on fashionable consoles. A demo is at the moment out there, containing the primary two chapters. And alongside an opportunity to play that part a little bit early, we had the chance to talk with the event group behind the remaster. In correspondence with director Atsushi Maruyama, producer Shingo Izumi, and the unique director Shu Takumi, we obtained to be taught a little bit bit about how this all took place, what the challenges have been, and what the group’s hopes are for this new model of a cult traditional.

How did the pitch for a brand new Ghost Trick remaster come about? When did discussions first begin, and what was the drive behind it?

Shingo Izumi: We’re at all times discussing and contemplating what titles we will carry again. Inside these discussions, I believe discuss of remastering Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective took place within the latter half of 2021. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a title that many have requested to be remastered, and plenty of who’ve performed it charge it very extremely. We actually needed to provide those that haven’t been capable of play it over these 13 years a possibility to take action, and that was the explanation we determined to re-release it. That’s additionally the explanation we’re releasing the sport on a number of platforms and have additionally added further languages. 13 years have handed since Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective initially launched, but it surely retains a common enchantment no matter your age, nation, or {hardware} you play it on, which is one other massive consider our determination to re-release the sport.
What have been your objectives for remastering Ghost Trick? How devoted did you wish to keep to the unique when updating facets just like the decision?

Izumi: I actually needed to protect that common enchantment that I beforehand talked about. Since we’re re-releasing the sport on a number of platforms, I needed to ensure that we achieved the identical stage of high quality no matter which {hardware} you play it on.
Atsushi Maruyama: My purpose was to have the sport transformed to excessive definition so {that a} participant would really feel fully pure enjoying it immediately.

Ghost Trick first launched on Nintendo DS with dual-screens, after which got here to iOS, with touch-screen controls. With that in thoughts, have been there any sudden challenges in bringing Ghost Trick to a controller-driven platform? What sort of work did you do to adapt the gameplay, if that’s the case?

Maruyama: The most important problem was adjusting the person interface (UI) of the sport. On this sport, “the place” and ”how” info is displayed has a big impression on the gameplay. Inside that, a very tough component was displaying info referring to the “trick” motion. It’s essential to grasp whether or not you’ll be able to trick an merchandise after possessing it, and what you are able to do. We approached the design with the participant’s perspective in thoughts to create the UI that you simply see within the sport.
How did it really feel to return to Ghost Trick now, 13 years after it first launched? Did something particularly stick out to you whereas revisiting this work?

Shu Takumi: In fact, it was very nostalgic returning to the sport 13 years later, however I nonetheless play Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective as soon as each few years or so. Due to that, I nonetheless keep in mind the content material of the sport very effectively. For this re-release, I supervised the rearrangement of the sport’s music. It was the primary time I labored with Yasumasa Kitagawa since The Nice Ace Legal professional, and I additionally met once more with the composer of the unique sport’s music, Masakazu Sugimori, which was very nostalgic as effectively.
For the precise remaster of the sport itself, I left it within the fingers of the event group, and I used to be indirectly concerned. I’m trying ahead to enjoying this refined model on a big display screen alongside everybody else as soon as it releases.

This remaster features a new tune from the unique composer, Masakazu Sugimori. Why did the group wish to embrace a brand new monitor, and what do you are feeling it brings to this new model of Ghost Trick?

Izumi: We needed one thing that will be new even to those that’ve already performed the Nintendo DS or iPhone model of the sport, which is why we added a brand new tune. The brand new tune is titled “Ghost World” and similar to the title, actually captures the mysteriousness and environment of the sport. I hope you get pleasure from it!
Maruyama: So as to add to that, I believe the brand new tune does an amazing job of capturing the sensation of the Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective world and matches completely with the primary artwork for this sport. Listening to it makes you are feeling such as you’re experiencing the world of Ghost Trick much more.

After going again to Ghost Trick, is that this one thing you’d be excited about persevering with sooner or later? Do you are feeling like Ghost Trick is a one-off, or that it is likely to be value exploring extra video games like this?

Izumi: Proper now, we’re dedicating all we’ve to ship Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective to as many gamers as attainable, so we haven’t had time to consider what we’re going to do after that. However I hope the quantity of people that play this sport is massive sufficient that it makes us wish to contemplate a sequel!

Eric Van Allen

Senior Information Reporter – Whereas Eric’s been writing about video games since 2014, he is been enjoying them for lots longer. Often discovered grinding RPG battles, digging into an indie gem, or hanging out across the Limsa Aethryte.

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