Operation Backlog Completion 2024
Jun 302023
 

The Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective remaster is out now, so if you never had a chance to play this game, there’s never been a better time.

Capcom led up to the remaster’s release by tweeting the “Four Prologues,” four short prologues set just ahead of the start of the game, which were originally exclusive to Japan.

These four prologues follow Sissel, Lynne, Nearsighted Jeego, and Ray. Personally, I would have picked a lot of characters to get a prologue before Jeego, but since they’re specifically about the characters in the junkyard, it makes sense. While short, they were fun to read.

So, why am I making such a big fuss about a remastered DS game?

The original Ghost Trick was one of the titles I included on my list of must-play games/series back in 2016. Parts of that list might be outdated by now, but Ghost Trick still deserves its spot.

I also reviewed the remaster for MonsterVine, where I called it a masterpiece. I can’t say enough how much I love this game. It has great puzzles, an excellent sense of humor, and an absolutely fantastic story.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is out now on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and I couldn’t be happier. A game that was once tricky to recommend to anyone who didn’t want to play the mobile port is now available on every major console.

It’s a digital-only release in the west, unfortunately, but if you’d prefer a physical copy, you can buy Ghost Trick from Play-Asia with English on the cart/disc.

Play-Asia has both a Japanese copy for $29.99 and an Asian copy for $39.99, so you might wonder if there’s a difference. I certainly wondered what the difference between them was, so I asked customer service, and they said the price difference is just a regional thing and all the content itself is the same.

(I subsequently preordered a copy, although it hasn’t shipped yet since I ordered it alongside an item that has been delayed.)

Meanwhile, the creators said in an interview with Game Informer that they hope it sells well enough for them to consider making a sequel. I’d love to see a Ghost Trick sequel with a new cast of characters, so here’s hoping! I’ve done my part.

Play Ghost Trick! It’s a fantastic game, and its remaster is out now!

Mar 102023
 

Yesterday featured both the Level-5 Vision 2023 showcase and a Capcom Spotlight showcase later in the day, so we have quite a few things to talk about.

Level-5 Vision 2023

In Level-5’s showcase, they reiterated their new commitment to releasing all of the games showcased worldwide, in multiple languages.

All are planned for 2023 or 2024 releases (and since everything was given a 2023 window except for Professor Layton, that’s probably a 2024 title).

They started with another trailers for Decapolice, which looks like it should be a lot of fun. A detective investigation game with turn-based combat sounds like it was made for me. They also had a new trailer for Fantasy Life i (the “i” stands for “island,” “Internet,” and “individual”), and while it does look like it has more of an emphasis on customization than the first game did, it still looks like it will follow the original game’s direction. I’d like to see more of the game world beyond the town, but I’m excited.

Next came Megaton Musashi: Wired, a mech game that is an updated re-release of the previously Japan-exclusive Megaton Musashi X.

Then the fourth game Level-5 showed was the one I was waiting for the most, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam (with proper capitalization in its title and logo now). It still feels like a dream that we’re getting a new Professor Layton game, and while the new trailer is short, we do have some more details to work with.

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam is set one year after the events of Unwound Future and features Layton and Luke reuniting in America, in a town called Steam Bison (seriously). No one in America knows who Professor Layton is, while Luke has already solved mysteries there and become known as a detective, so that’s an entertaining way to play with the usual dynamic.

This trailer gives us our first look at Luke, as well as art showing some new characters and steampunk devices.

Curiously, the trailer says, “This time, it seems like the more puzzles you solve, the more the city will develop.” I don’t entirely know what that means, and some fans are worried it will feel less like a Layton game, but I’m intrigued by the potential. What I hope for from that concept is a Professor Layton game that progresses like usual, but earning more picarats and solving optional puzzles makes the city change and grow. The games always have some sort of side mini-game, and I could see city development taking a similar form.

One more detail from this trailer is that the puzzles are being developed by a group called QuizKnock. I’m not familiar with QuizKnock, but a fan on Reddit who follows their content had a lot of praise for them, so that’s the best thing I’ve heard about this new game so far. Layton’s Mystery Journey suffered from both a weak story and weak puzzles, and the puzzles are what I was most concerned about going into a new entry. So although the original Puzzle Master, Akira Tago, is no longer with us, the fact that Level-5 has called in a team of accomplished puzzle designers to work on the new game fills me with much more optimism.

The trailer also claims this adventure will “go beyond your wildest imaginations,” and I sure hope so. After Layton’s Mystery Journey, I want this one to return to form with an intense mystery culminating in an absurdly bizarre twist.

Finally, Level-5 concluded their show with Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road. I never got into the Inazuma Eleven series, but this game stood out to me for the past several years as a sign that Level-5 might be in trouble. First announced in 2016 as Inazuma Eleven Ares and expected to release in 2018, it was delayed repeatedly and then renamed to Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes and announced for 2020, only to be delayed multiple times again before being announced for 2023 as Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road of Heroes. Now it looks like it’s finally on track, so I’m happy to see this game escaping its troubled development.

Capcom Spotlight

That was it for Level-5’s show, and then Capcom had a showcase later in the day! Their release dates all leaked ahead of the show, but at least that meant I learned early that Ghost Trick would indeed be getting a release date. The remaster of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective will be out on June 30, and digital preorders are available now.

Preorders also come with some bonus digital content, four backgrounds and two extra music tracks. The game itself features a remastered soundtrack and some other extras.

I love Ghost Trick, so I already preordered. I still wish it was getting a physical release outside of Japan (especially since Japan is getting a special edition), but I’ll absolutely buy a digital copy if that’s what we’ve got, at least to show support.

Now, they said during the pre-show that there wouldn’t be any new game announcements, so I dampened my faint Ace Attorney hopes. Ghost Trick is pretty much all I cared about from the showcase, since I’m not the biggest fan of Resident Evil 4 and therefore didn’t care about the Resident Evil news as much as usual.

(Ace Attorney did appear in the showcase when they announced their upcoming digital theme park to celebrate Capcom franchises, though. Some people think this is a means to sell NFTs. I won’t buy NFTs even for Ace Attorney. I’d much rather spend money on new Ace Attorney games, or perhaps merchandise like these adorable things if they would just please start selling them here.)

Ace Attorney 3DS Closing Sale

But while there wasn’t any Ace Attorney news, we do have reason to discuss Ace Attorney. With the 3DS eShop shutting down on March 27, Capcom put all of their 3DS games on sale, and it’s an even better sale than the last few 3DS sales they’ve had. You can now buy any of the 3DS Ace Attorney games for $2.99 each from now until the eShop closes. The DLC episodes remain $5.99 each, however.

Phoenix Wright Trilogy: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-trilogy-3ds
Apollo Justice: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/apollo-justice-ace-attorney-3ds/
Dual Destinies: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-dual-destinies-3ds/
Spirit of Justice: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-spirit-of-justice-3ds/

(I picked up Apollo Justice during the last $4.99 sale just to have an extra copy, because I thought that was the best sale it would get.)

I still hope they’ll port the later games to modern platforms, but if you’ve been meaning to get the 3DS games, at least they have one last sale to close out at a great price.

Conclusion

Phew, we ended up with a lot to talk about today. What did you think of Level-5’s showcase and the new Professor Layton news? And are you excited for Ghost Trick getting a release date?

Mar 032023
 

Capcom has announced a Capcom Spotlight live stream to be held on March 9 at 2:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM ET.

It will be 26 minutes long and showcase their upcoming games.

The following games have been confirmed:

  • Resident Evil 4
  • Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection
  • Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
  • Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
  • Exoprimal

I’m excited to see Ghost Trick being featured, so I hope we get more than just another trailer. Maybe a release date? While it might seem unlikely to get a release date only a month after the game was announced without one, Capcom has made stranger decisions in the past (like when their not-E3 showcase last summer featured Dragon’s Dogma, but only to announce an anniversary video for a week later, which is where they announced Dragon’s Dogma 2).

There’s a chance it will just be another trailer to show off Ghost Trick to players unfamiliar with it, but I can’t help but hope for more.

Likewise, I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up for any Ace Attorney news at this event, but since they didn’t specifically say it’s only for previously announced games this time, maybe we have a chance.

With that said, I feel like they might not make any Ace Attorney game announcements until after Ghost Trick comes out. The official Ghost Trick webpage advertises it as “the supernatural puzzle-solving thriller from Shu Takumi, the mastermind behind the Ace Attorney series,” and the Japanese Ace Attorney Twitter account is temporarily the Ace Attorney & Ghost Trick Twitter account, so they’re associating the two enough that they might not want Ace Attorney news distracting from Ghost Trick.

All the same, I’ll still be waiting with bated breath for even a shred of Ace Attorney news. …Maybe we’ll get to see Phoenix’s silhouette in the intro and have it come to nothing again.

(March 9 is also the date of a Level-5 showcase, which will feature their recently-announced games, including Fantasy Life and Professor Layton. It’s at 3 AM PT / 6 AM ET, though, so I doubt I’ll watch live.)

Are you looking forward to Capcom’s showcase? Do you expect any surprises?