Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective’s Modern Port Became A Reality Thanks to Fan Requests, Including the Japanese Anime VA of Phoenix Wright

Famitsu recently conducted an interview with key staff members of the Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective team. The interview was posted on their No. 1804 July 13 edition of the magazine, which was released today. The interview goes into detail about how Ghost Trick’s conceptualization came to plan, but one particular interaction stands out.

When the interviewer asked Shu Takumi what made the port to modern consoles a reality, Shu Takumi replied that it was thanks to many factors. Still, one coincidental event stood out to him: after the recording of the anime adaptation of the Ace Attorney series, he was conversing with Kaji Yuki, the Japanese voice actor of Phoenix Wright, in the anime adaptation. Izumi Shingo, the producer of the port, also implies that fan requests also played a part in the realization of this port.

The following segment is translated below:

Interviewer: This is the first time a port of Ghost Trick has been released in such a long time. It’s quite a feat, isn’t it? Can you tell us how the idea of porting the game came to realization?

Takumi: Around the time of the 10th anniversary of the release of the game, various coincidences came together to make it happen. Fans signed a petition to have the game ported to modern platforms, but one particular event I personally remember is that after the recording of the anime adaptation of Ace Attorney had ended, I happened to have a chance to talk with Kaji Yuki, who played Phoenix Wright.

He told me that he had recently tried to play the iOS version of Ghost Trick for the first time in a while, but it was not working. I then learned that there was actually a period of time when the iOS version wouldn’t work due to an OS upgrade that made the game incompatible. It was the first time I heard about it, so I asked the original producer of Ghost Trick, Hironobu Takeshita, and asked: Can we do something about Ghost Trick? And I think that conversation might’ve influenced this project in some way. (laughs)

Interviewer: So, did the voices of passionate fans, including [Kaji Yuki], motivate Capcom?

Izumi: That’s actually true. Of all the titles that we received requests for porting or remaking, we had it* ranked first, far ahead of the [titles in] second and third place. Of course, not every title that is requested can be ported, but we are certain that the fans’ voices and enthusiasm played a very important role in the release of this title.

*TL Note: Izumi here doesn’t mention Ghost Trick by name, but given the interview’s title and considering the other questions present, it’s highly likely that he’s talking about Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective here.

Ghost Trick was an adventure game released on the Nintendo DS, in which players control Sissel, a young man who, after awakening as a spirit, realizes he has no recollection of who he is or why he died. “Who am I?”, “Who killed me?” and “Why was I killed?” are the existential quandaries he finds himself facing.

The gameplay has you swap at will between the Land of the Living and the Ghost World and set off on a journey to find the truth to those questions.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective will launch for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on June 30, 2023, featuring high-quality gameplay updates, including enhanced graphics and framerates at 1080p 60fps. Further, compatible platforms will take advantage of touch controls. In the Extras menu, players can now access a collection of newly recorded and arranged music tracks alongside unique illustrations.

In case you missed it, check out our review.