Ghost Trick: How to immortalize your love for your animal friend
My jumbled thoughts on how Ghost Trick shows us one of the purest forms of love there is.
“Play Ghost Trick!” is such a popular phrase on the gaming side of the internet, especially for fans of puzzle games and Ace Attorney games. When you ask them why, they usually say they cannot tell you why it’s so good, but you just have to trust them. That’s also how I was convinced to play the game 2 years ago.
As Ace Attorney is my favorite game series of all time, I keep up with the fandom discussions and kept seeing people talking about Ghost Trick. “It’s so good!” they say. “You just have to experience it.” Seeing as Shu Takumi is at the helm of both Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, it’s easy to see the overlap between the fandoms.
I didn’t understand the secrecy behind this game back then, but now I do. Now that the remaster is out, this is the perfect opportunity to talk about one of the loveliest gaming experiences I’ve ever had while trying to convince you, the reader, to give this game a try as well.
Beware of mild spoilers. This game is very difficult to talk about without going into spoiler territory, but I’ll try to be as spoiler-free as I can.
Ghost Trick is about an amnesiac ghost, Sissel, who is trying to find out how he died. With his powers to control some of the objects in the real world, you are thrown into a 10-hour experience with some wild plot twists, fun shenanigans, weird characters and lovely, lovely character and environment designs. This game was originally made for the Nintendo DS, and it is so wild to me that they managed to put so many good animations in the game. All the characters are lovingly rendered, colored, animated.
Everyone, here is our main character’s introduction:
See what I mean?
And below is the introduction of one of the most notable characters in the game (I preferred to use the gifs from Nintendo DS and not the remaster, as it is a great example of how fluid the animations were on such a limited hardware):
On the DS, I am used to 2D games with little to no animations, or 3D games with blocky art-styles. It’s honestly a wonder that they were able to animate this smoothly on a Nintendo DS. The work that went into this must have been incredible. All the characters have a certain charm to them, and you cannot help but wonder what other silliness is waiting for you in the store.
And now, onto the best, and I mean the best, character in the game: the top Pomeranian himself, Missile.
Any Ace Attorney fan would know that Missile is the name of the main developer Shu Takumi’s beloved Pomeranian, as Missile also features in that series, albeit with a much smaller role and as a different breed, a Shiba Inu. His most memorable moment is when he completely devours Larry’s hot dogs. A hilarious moment, and one that has surely been ingrained in the minds of Ace Attorney players. I think Takumi named his real dog after the dog in Ace Attorney, actually.
Missile appears in Ghost Trick with a much greater role in a very fun fashion. When you meet him in the game, you completely understand why he’s hyped so much. Spoiler alert, you can talk to him. His excitable, bubbly personality is just what you expect from a dog who loves his owner so much. One of his favorite things to do is barking at everything, and he would do anything, anything, to protect the ones he loves.
“Because that’s what doggies do!”
The way Missile is written is so good because it’s so… dog-like. He barks, he chases things, and he zooms around (and in a way that makes sense in the gameplay too!).
Look at him - have you ever seen something so perfectly shaped??
It is made abundantly clear that Missile’s role in the game is big, and without going too much into spoiler territory, rest assured that you will be spending time with him a lot. And as you play the game, it is also very clear that Shu Takumi loves his dog so much. To be frank, I have not seen anyone who doesn’t like Missile. Honestly, I know that dogs in media are always beloved and Missile would have been a winner of hearts anyway, but specifically the way he’s written is what separates him from the rest and makes him a great character, rather than just a beloved pet.
There is also another character I want to talk about, but I REALLY can’t talk about them without spoiling, but a lot of the things I talked about earier also apply to this character as well. If you know, you KNOW.
Takumi is always great at creating memorable characters with some wild, wild plot twists, and I consider Ghost Trick to be his Magnum Opus. Short, conscise, great characters and some crazy events, combined with a unique gameplay and heartfelt story. The game becomes even better on a second playthrough as you catch bits that probably escaped your attention on your first. Takumi evidently went into writing this with a clear goal in mind, and wow does he succeed in great fashion. He is not a perfect writer, and there are some issues I take with some of his games, but he is great at what he does and isn’t afraid to try new ideas.
I also need to give the necessary kudos to the fandom itself. As spoiler heavy as this game is, it would be so easy to give away spoilers to newcomers, therefore ruining their fun of the game. However, the fandom is extremely strict about the no spoilers rule, and even some crumbs of spoilers are usually met with a frown. I’m not even sure that this post is considered spoiler territory, but I really had to talk about this game or I’d explode.
The real Missile has unfortunately passed away, but thanks to Shu Takumi, he lives on in the hearts and memories of so many others.
Excuse me while I cry.