Hilarious dialogue, interesting characters and a great story make it a must play for anyone with (or without) a pulse.

User Rating: 10 | Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective DS
With so many great selections to choose from on the Nintendo DS, it's still somehow hard to find a truly original and inspiring title. Nintendo consoles have the sad knack of being full of franchise spin-offs of their most popular characters or classic remakes like Ocarina of Time or Resident Evil. Capcom has already proven with titles like Phoenix Wright (probably one of the games that most assured the console's success), that they are totally capable of bringing original and remarkable titles to the console with more than just a cute gimmick or two. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is much more than a gimmicky puzzle game. It is without a doubt one of the most creative titles I've had the chance of playing on the DS. Spectacular gameplay mechanics, a compelling story, some hilarious dialogue and a set of the most interesting characters ever are meshed together here to make this a must play for absolutely anyone with (or without) a pulse.

You start off as a ghost with supernatural powers, who becomes a key witness in the death of a young red headed girl. In the midst of witnessing this crime, you intervene and discover that you have to the power to manipulate objects by possessing them. Not only that, but you can travel from place to place through phone lines and even go back in time, 4 minutes before the death of someone in an attempt to change their fate. With the insight of a spirit hanging around the scene of the crime, you are soon informed that you have only until the next sunrise to do what you've gotta do, before you cease to exist forever. The game constantly keeps you on edge, giving clues as to what's going on and then blowing your mind with new revelations and points of view in the story. As time goes by and you progress through more than 15 chapters, you uncover your protagonist's mysteries as he seeks the truth behind his death and his relation with the people around him.

The gameplay is basically like this: You move around areas moving through objects. You can't walk freely and you can't possess just anything, only lifeless objects. While possessing an object, you can perform a Ghost Trick, which is then played out with that object. One example would be that if you're currently possessing a guitar and perform the ghost trick, you'll strum the guitar. The majority of puzzles have you strategically timing your movements in order to achieve a certain goal, which is mostly if not all of the time, saving someone. The soundtrack is also a thumbs up here, really fitting in with the humorous yet eerie atmosphere of the game. The visuals are great, especially the character designs and the portrails of the characters when they speak. They have different faces depending on the situation. One of the most awesome effects in the game has got to be when you switch over to the ghost world (where you can move freely from one object to the other). The screen filters red and the objects' "cores" appear. Your soul is visible too, represented by a glowing blue flame. All this, plus the wonderful action scenes shows off the real effort made in making this game not only look and play good, but really stick out from the rest. I completely recommend this new favorite of mine.