Publisher: Capcom
Platform: Nintendo DS, iOS
Cert: 12+
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle

Released early last year on the DS with little acknowledgement from the buying public, the latest game from Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi has come to ios systems. The game starts with a damsel in distress but uniquely the hero, Sissel, is indisposed as he is already dead. The amnesic Sissel soon learns that he has inherited the powers of ghost tricks and can interact with the living world but, unfortunately, only has this night to figure out who he was... for come the morning he will cease to exist.

Gameplay is simple. In the ghost world you can move to nearby objects and then in the real world interact with them (open doors, move tires etc). Staying in the real world has the problem that time is no longer frozen, a serious issue if you are only seconds before a person’s death. Fortunately, if you find a dead body you can rewind to four minutes before their death and attempt to avert their faith.

Simply put, some people will love this game, some will hate it. Fortunately you can download the 1st two chapters free of charge before deciding to spend money on this. Those, like me, who enjoyed the Ace Attorney series will love the unique gameplay, the characters and the wonderful score. This is because we are capable of overlooking the large flaws this game has as we get hooked into the story.

For many, though, gameplay will be overly linear (there is only one solution to any situation), repetitive (challenges get more difficult and interesting but are largely more of the same) and you will be forced to wade through some serious amount of dialogue before you actually have any control.
The problems with the game is probably highlighted by the fact that the strongest sections are also it’s weakest. Figuring out how to undo a death by travelling back in time and manipulating the surrounding objects to stop it can be every bit as satisfying as finding a contradiction in the Ace Attorney series. Personally, I found it riveting. You will, however, have to watch each death unfold a number of times. First you watch the deaths / murders occurring with no means of interacting. When you do gain control, events unfold with a time limit and usually there will only be one check point and no means of rewinding, so failure results in you potentially having to re-watch the scene over and over again. I found it bothersome but not a deal breaker but I have a far higher tolerance for repetition than most.

Although I found the plot loses its way towards the end and it will not be for everyone, I highly recommend downloading the free chapters to see if this is a game for you. There are nothing like this on the market and if you can get by the flaws you may just find yourself excited every time you find a certain red headed detective murdered knowing that you must save her once again.

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Graphics: 3/5
Replay: 1/5
Overall: 3/5

Reviewed by: JP Gallagher