A detective who has just died, with a single night to work out why.

On gut feeling, Ghost Trick already edges past nearly three quarters of games, and the detail explains the love. The art style, the soundtrack, the attachment, all lodge up high, ahead of anywhere from 80 to 97% of titles. And the wish to rediscover it for the first time brushes the very top, which says a lot about a game you'd give anything to relive fresh. Then, plot twist, one criterion collapses: on a desert island, it lands right at the bottom, near dead last. Fun over a marathon session stays low too. The contradiction is crystal clear. A narrative puzzle game is savored once, for the story and the twist. Once you know the solution, you don't haul it to an island to loop it forever.

Against other adventures penned by Shu Takumi, it's the same magic: the writing, the style, the surprise. A gem to live through, not a companion to replay endlessly.

So, who's it for? For you if you love a story that catches you, a singular style, a soundtrack that lingers. Much less if you're after a game you reload indefinitely for pure mechanical pleasure.