Ghost Trick

[Dante]

1Up -

Following up today's big Okamiden reveal, Capcom formally announced another big Nintendo DS project set to make its debut at the Tokyo Game Show in three weeks.

 

The title of the game is Ghost Trick, and it's worth paying attention to for the people behind it -- Hironobu Takeshita (Mega Man 9) is the producer, and Shu Takumi, main writer on the Ace Attorney series, is handling director duties.

 

Like Ace Attorney, Ghost Trick is chiefly a mystery adventure, but the resemblances end pretty quickly. The game stars Sisel, a flashy-looking guy in red who's just been shot to death for reasons unknown. He's currently in soul form, robbed of his memories, and he has to reconstruct his life and death in the few hours he's allotted before his soul disappears for good.

 

"I first thought of this idea about five years ago," Takumi told Famitsu magazine. "We were working on the third Ace Attorney and figured it was time to start thinking about the next thing. So I came up with a plan to make a new type of mystery, something different in style from Ace Attorney. I chose a portable platform because it matches well with the style of my games -- the close range between you and the small screen creates this in-the-game-world effect which I like."

 

Dying has given Sisel a remarkable amount of detective tools to work with. For one, he's allowed to go back and forth in the general timeframe around his death, witnessing previous events and reuniting with both his old friends and the hitman that ultimately killed him. He's no passive observer, though -- use the touch pen to drag his soul on top of other objects (umbrellas, ladders, bicycles, whatever), and his soul can possess the object, taking it over and moving it around. Combined with the time-jumping, this allows Sisel to rewrite his own history and even save the lives of others.

 

How all this unfolds will hopefully be revealed for good at TGS, where a playable version should be on display.

 

Scans:

[mcj metroid]

nothing to say here I guess.. but the ds shows no sign of slowing down does it

[Dante]

I cant believe that DS has been on the market for five years.

[Dante]

 

Game|Life Hands-on:

TOKYO — Lost Planet? Resident Evil? Nah: Capcom’s game of the show is Ghost Trick.

 

The next Nintendo DS adventure game from the creators of Ace Attorney takes things in a radically different direction. The game begins with you, the main character, dead. A mysterious man has just killed you, and now he’s going to shoot a girl who was standing in the street with you. You’re thinking you can’t do anything to save her — right?

 

Wrong, says a voice inside your head, because ghosts have powers.

 

 

The brief demo is an introduction to the mechanics of the full game, which will be available in the U.S. in 2010. As a ghost, you can send your “core” into a variety of different objects that lie around your dead body. You can use the touch screen to move your core, a ball of bluish glowing light, into different objects. For example, in the demo, by moving your core into a guitar and making it play, the man trying to kill the girl will become distracted briefly, allowing her to run away.

 

You’ll have to use objects in sequence in order to move your core around, since it can only move a little at a time. The puzzles would thus seem to revolve around not only using the correct objects to cause the effects that you want, but using them in such a way that they get you physically closer to the other objects you need to interact with.

 

 

It’s Ghost Trick’s graphics that really impressed me, though. The 2-D character portraits are stylized and cool, but the 3-D characters in the field are amazing, built with what seem to be tons of polygons and smooth, fluid animation that makes me think of the game Out of This World.

 

While the TGS demo didn’t have very much gameplay, it was more than enough to illustrate that Ghost Trick could be quite a compelling new experience. Let’s hope it’s sooner in 2010 rather than later, although with Ace Attorney Investigations on the way in the first quarter, that’s probably not going to be the case. Oh well.

[darksnowman]

nothing to say here I guess.. but the ds shows no sign of slowing down does it

 

I cant believe that DS has been on the market for five years.

 

Yeah exactly. DS keeps going from strength to strength.

[Dante]

Yeah but no one cares about the game from the creators of Ace Attorney?

[Jonnas]

Hmm...I like the concept. I wonder if the dialogue will be quirky like in AA...

[Dante]

[James McGeachie]

Can't believe I hadn't noticed this until now. Looks like a great concept and it's being directed by the guy behind Phoenix Wright? Now that's definitely a factor that makes it interesting for me.

 

It'll undoubtedly sell like shit though sadly. Even in Japan. They don't care how good an idea is now.

[Ike]

UK release is 14th January, Nintendo have gotton the distribution rights for Europe:

 

29th October 2010 – Nintendo, a worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment and Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today confirmed that they have entered into a distribution agreement for the forthcoming game Ghost Trick Phantom Detective to be made available on the Nintendo DS family of handheld consoles.

 

Under the terms of the agreement Nintendo will be responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of the game throughout European territories, with Capcom remaining as publisher. Capcom will remain as the distributor in Australia and the Middle East. Ghost Trick Phantom Detective is scheduled for release across Europe on the 14th of January 2011.

 

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective will cross players over into the spirit world of Sissel, where an intriguing and humourous storyline and an array of logic puzzles await. Brought to you by Shu Takumi, the original creator of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series, Ghost Trick Phantom Detective allows players to take on the role of the protagonist, Sissel, a murder victim who has lost his memory and returned as a ghost to solve the mystery of his suspicious demise.

 

On his search for the truth, he realises that he can talk to other recently deceased spirits, as well as going back in time to four minutes before the victim died. As Sissel’s ghost you have until dawn to possess and manipulate items found in the real world, such as a bicycle or doughnuts, to solve the captivating puzzles he encounters on his quest for the truth.

 

Using the Nintendo DS stylus players will need to complete puzzles and carefully choose the path for Sissel to travel. Possessing specific objects & items along the way will allow you to alter the fate of other victims and begin to unravel the strange truth about who Sissel is and why he was murdered. Help Sissel eavesdrop on people to gather crucial information then transport him between locations by possessing phone lines and calling the desired destination.

 

 

The distinctive visual flair, bright block colours, rich animation, unique character designs and quirky cartoon-like elements make Ghost Trick Phantom Detective a distinguished offering for Nintendo DS.

 

“We are very happy to be working with Capcom to bring this key game to the European market,” remarked Laurent Fischer, Managing Director, Marketing & PR for Nintendo of Europe. “Ghost Trick Phantom Detective represents our continued focus on quality Nintendo DS games with fun, engaging and enjoyable gameplay experiences."

 

Michael Pattison, Senior Vice President Marketing at Capcom commented: “We are really excited about partnering with Nintendo, who will distribute Ghost Trick Phantom Detective across Europe. Nintendo has recognised that this title is a key release in the Nintendo DS range of consoles’ line up for next year.”

 

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective is a captivating and intriguing story-based puzzle game for the Nintendo DS family of consoles which launches across Europe on the 14th of January 2011, distributed by Nintendo and published by Capcom.

 

About Capcom:

Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Devil May Cry. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Tokyo, Korea and Hong Kong, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom can be found on the company website.

 

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2010/nintendo_signs_distribution_deal_with_capcom_for_ghost_trick_phantom_detective_in_europe_19470.html

 

Can't wait, looking forward to this.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Ike

[Ganepark32]

Well done Nintendo for getting behind this game. Looks fantastic and everyone I've spoken to who has managed to play it only has positive things to say about it.

 

Really looking forward to it and I believe it's out on the same day as KH: Re:coded on the DS so looks like that should be a good weekend.

[Funktion]

Anyone tried the demo yet?

The game seems like a lot of fun! I already had the game pre-ordered, but if I didn't, the demo would have sold me on it.

 

The character animation in this game is lovely.

[Jonnas]

I liked that demo. Cool stuff.

But I probably won't get the game for a long time, considering everything else I need to play first.

[nekunando]

I didn't realise there was a demo.. but I'll definitely be trying it out Thanks for the information..

[D_prOdigy]

There's no demo... What is this trickery?

[Funktion]

There's no demo... What is this trickery?

There is a demo! But it's a flash demo (I should have been more specific... :p).

You can play it here. It's awesome.

[D_prOdigy]

So it's a little bit like Geist, but without the shooting?

 

I'll probably pick this up, though I'm not really a fan of the art style. Characters look a little... bland.

[nekunando]

Unlike D_prOdigy, I actually quite like the style of the game and will almost certainly pick it up at some point in the new year The demo was promising

 

I haven't picked up a DS game in what seems like quite a long time (apart from Scribblenauts, which has failed to inspire me early on ) but I can see things picking up for me again in 2011 with this, Okamiden and Inazuma Eleven.. and I still need to get Last Window: The Secret of Cape West and, although it isn't out quite yet, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn!

 

All of these, along with the likes of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Kirby's Epic Yarn on Wii are more than enough to lead us towards the 3DS

[Fused King]

:hehe:Demo is brilliant!

 

Consider me hyped:grin:

[Happenstance]

Just finished playing the demo. At first glance I didnt really like the art style but once you saw it with movement it just seemed to become amazing! I loved that demo and really cannot wait for the full game now.

[James McGeachie]

I liked the demo. The only thing I still don't really like is the style of the character portraits. I don't think they tie up as well as they could with the overall visual presentation of the rest of the game. It doesn't feel as cohesive as Phoenix Wright anyway.

[Ike]

Demo's on the Nintendo Channel!

[nekunando]

Is it the same demo..?

[D_prOdigy]

It's not, it's a specially-made trial level. It seemed to have potential, but I kept failing to complete it. I was stumped and it has a pretty strict time limit...

[nekunando]

It's not..

 

Thanks

 

With that in mind, I'll have to download it this evening and give it a go