Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
By Marc Saltzman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Clever, challenging murder mystery for teens.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this game.
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What’s It About?
In Capcom's GHOST TRICK: PHANTOM DETECTIVE you're the ghost of a murder victim named Sissel who must possess bodies and manipulate items in the real world in order to solve the mystery surrounding your untimely death. But there are a few challenges that stand in your way: you can't directly touch anything in the physical world; you've got amnesia, so you don't recall anything from your previous life; and you've only got until dawn before you have to leave the supernatural world for good. How will you succeed?
Is It Any Good?
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a great Nintendo DS title. The clever concept, thought-provoking puzzles (which require some trial and error), and huge cast of characters you'll interact with makes for a refreshingly entertaining mobile adventure. Particularly fun is when your disembodied soul possesses other victim's bodies and rewinds to four minutes before their deaths, so you can try and prevent them from happening (this helps gather clues related to your own demise). While the theme sounds morose, the game is quite light-hearted because of the zany characters, silly dialogue, and often-humorous death scenes (such as possessing a guitar so that the strumming noise distracts a hit man from killing his target). Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective offers a lot of enjoyable head-scratching gameplay for discerning Nintendo DS players.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about game designers like Shu Takumi (the original creator of Capcom's Ace Attorney series) and how they take a chance on delivering a more unique game concept. Do you want to try daring and original interactive experiences? What did you think of playing as a character who is already dead?
Talk about the difference between watching violence in a game and committing it while acting as a character within a game. How is the player's gaming experience changed when he or she is an aggressor as opposed to an audience?
Game Details
- Platform: Nintendo DS
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Capcom
- Release date: January 25, 2011
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating: T for Mild Language, Mild Violence
- Last updated: August 30, 2016
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Play
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate