‘It Would Be Difficult To Create A Sequel’ And More Details From the Creator Of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Shu Takumi is a Capcom veteran of nearly 30 year. He has directed many Capcom games, including Dino Crisis 2 as well as multiple Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice titles. He even provided Wright’s voice in the original game. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for the DS, released in 2011 (2010, Japan).

The game, which was originally released on DS, has been ported onto iOS, and will be available for consoles later in the month. Ghost Trick is coming to PC, Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on June 30, where you can play the game without touching a touchscreen. It will also receive an upgrade in terms of visuals. Ahead of the release we spoke over e-mail with Takumi, producer Shingo Izumi, and the director of the port, Atsushi Maruyama, about Ghost Trick’s legacy, how the game was originally conceived, and the potential of a sequel.

Play InformerHow did the first version of Ghost Trick appear?

Takumi : I originally had a concept for a story involving a lot of people, and a game that you’d play to discover the secrets of the characters you saw from outside. I had originally envisioned the game to be played in an apartment complex. You’d be observing the residents and discovering what secrets they held. Then I thought about what sort of character could observe this in such a way.

From there, I had the idea for the ”Powers of the Dead,” and the question of what those powers are. These ideas eventually evolved into Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, and the pursuit of the truth about your own death in one night.

It was always intended to be its very own game or part of the Phoenix Wright Universe?

Takumi: I worked on the concept of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective after Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations was finished. From the start, I knew I wanted to create a game that would be different than Ace Attorney.

Since fantasy is a strong element, I wanted to use art and names of characters that didn’t establish a particular country or time period. For example, the character in question, who happens to be a ghost, does not have any lettering. It’s the same reason there’s no lettering on any of my background images.

Sissel is an interesting character. Did that element of the story exist from the very beginning?

Takumi says that when I think of a story mystery, I begin at the end. Then work backwards. First, I was thinking about the character of the protagonist. If he really is an ordinary person who lives his life as usual, then that’s probably not that interesting.So I thought about it for a long time. The next question I considered was “What are the powers of the dead?”

As I wrote the story and created the plot, many elements were altered. In the end, I was able to determine the identity of Ray, the lampstand who is seen early on in the story. The journey of creating a mystery is filled with its own surprises.

You may have thought about a sequel after revisiting the original game. Would you be interested in a sequel to the game?

Takumi: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective tells the entire story in one game. I don’t think it is possible to make a sequel. This game’s introduction of powers from the dead may be a possibility.

How difficult was it to create the original game and what were the challenges?

Takumi, the first thing that came to mind was the plot. After that, I considered the systems of play, presentation and design. A game involves combining many elements. It is the balance of these different elements that determines whether a game works or not. Looking back on it, I wonder even now how we were able to achieve such an excellent game.

…am i being overly proud of my work?

Do you believe that if this remaster is successful, a sequel may be on the horizon?

Izumi said: We are currently putting all our efforts into delivering Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective as widely as we can, and we haven’t even had the time to consider what comes next. The number of people playing this game will hopefully be large enough for us to want to do a follow-up!

It was difficult to adapt a game for a system that did not feature a touchscreen?

Maruyama : Thanks to our U.I. team and their skills, we were able port the game onto a platform without a touchscreen. The design team and the programmers.

What is the Ghost Trick animation? What makes it so unique and good looking?

We couldn’t have used 3D visuals because Takumi Ghost Trick Phantom Detective originally was designed for Nintendo DS. I was still determined to have the graphics look stunning. For this, we created high-resolution models, animated them then rendered the results into pixelart, which is displayed in the game as 2D Animation. This process allowed us to create visuals far beyond the capabilities of a handheld at that time.

This time we could make the high-definition animation because at the time we had created it with 3D high-resolution models.

When we made the original, in 2010, motion-capture wasn’t used to its full extent. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective features 90% animation done by hand. It’s unlikely that this would happen in the modern world, but because it was created by hand, I believe the movements are unique.

What is (or will be) Ghost Trick’s legacy?

Takumi. As game creators, we only care about providing a fun experience for the players, and I have no idea what legacy Ghost Trick Phantom Detective will leave. It’s something I want to hear about from people who have actually played the game.

Are you a fan of horror games?

Takumi: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective to me is both a mystery, and a comedic.

Since I am not very good at handling scary material, I never intended to do anything in the horror category.

People who played the game have told me that it’s a scary one, so there may be some crossover in horror. Perhaps I’m just a weirdo when it comes to genres.