History VideoGame / GhostTrick

* FourthWallPsych: Played for scares. When someone tries to talk to a ghost and they aren't using the ghost world, their sprite will turn and directly face the viewer as if talking to the player themselves. [[spoiler:And when Yomiel does it, catching you in the act of trying to save Cabanela, it's fucking terrifying.]]

* AnAesop:
** [[spoiler:Be good to your pets, and they'll be good to you.]]
** [[spoiler:If you're under suspicion from the police, [[WrongfulAccusationInsurance running from them]] [[SubvertedTrope will only make things worse]]. ''Especially'' if you're innocent.]]
** [[spoiler:Revenge will lead you to a ruinous end.]]

* MagicMeteor: [[spoiler:It grants Ghost Tricks to people and animals who die next to it. It also has further effects on those killed by it, so long as the meteor piece remains in the body.]]

* {{Motif}}: Theater. The levels are set up like they're being viewed from the FourthWall, the props, character designs, and animation are all supposed to be clearly "readable" from a distance (or on the DS's screen), the characters act campy and theatrical, spotlights appear during cutscenes when the game wants to draw attention to things, and the ability to rewind time is equivalent to rehearsals, which you keep doing until you get it "right". The art and speech bubbles add elements of the comic book to this.

* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: What kick-starts the plot.

* WorldOfHam

* BloodlessCarnage: Every death in the game, except the heart attack (which is also bloodless, but it's the one of the few deaths not hidden by a FadeToWhite).

* GuideDangIt: The final puzzle of Chapter 15 can fall under this on the non-DS versions. [[spoiler:You're hinted you need to swap a bullet with another object with the same shape. On the DS version, the second screen provides a clear visual of what the shape of the bullet is. On every other platform, you do not, and thus need to resort to TrialAndErrorGameplay to find an object with the same shape.]]

** Two of [[spoiler:Lynne]]'s deaths occured because she tried to get someone else out of the way of an imminent danger, namely a speeding van and debris falling from the ceiling.

* NoOSHACompliance: The Chicken Kitchen's, er... kitchen, is so caked in grease that the switch to turn on the fans tends to get stuck. And said kitchen gets very smoky on account of the humongous chickens being cooked whole, ''on a stove top, uncovered, with what is presumably alcohol''. Even disregarding the clear violations of health code, it's a wonder the place hasn't burned down yet.

* CollateralDamage: A stray shot missing it's intended target and hitting another target is a major plot point. [[spoiler:it's what killed Sissel the cat.]]

''Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective''[[note]]known simply as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Ghost Trick]]'' in Japan[[/note]] is an AdventureGame from the minds behind the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, developed for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. It was released on June 19, 2010 in Japan, and in January 2011 in the West.

The game was later made available for iOS, being released in December 2010 for Japan and February 2012 internationally; the mobile version features the first two chapters as a free download, with the rest of the game locked behind purchases. An [[UpdatedRerelease HD remaster]] for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} was released on June 30, 2023; this version features remastered music, an art gallery, and an assortment of animated [[FifteenPuzzle slide puzzles]] that were originally exclusive to the iOS version.

* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: Inspector Cabanela, full stop. Done to comic effect with Bailey's conga-drum "Panic Dance."

* DeadfootLeadfoot: Detective Rindge was driving to Chicken Kitchen while spying on the blue kindappers when he suddenly received an extreme feedback on his headphones, rendering him unconscious. The van he was driving kept accelerating, and crashed into the restaurant. The crash made the giant chicken decoration in the restaurant lose balance, and it fell on top of [[spoiler:Lynne, killing her]]. It's ironic, because the one who put the bug on the kidnappers' food was an undercover policewoman from [[spoiler:Lynne]]'s precinct.

* DisasterDominoes: The climax of the game turns into one of these. [[spoiler:The heroes attempt to save Yomiel's past self from being killed by the Temsik fragment by putting a giant Mino statue in the path in order to divert its course. It works, but the new trajectory makes the fragment pierce through Jowd's ankle instead, which causes him to accidentally fire his gun at Yomiel. Missile swaps the bullet out at the last minute, but the momentum pushes Yomiel into the pole that's barely holding up the Mino statue, impaling him. He somehow still lives, but the force causes the Mino statue to begin falling on Lynne. Since can't get there in time due to his ankle, and the ghosts are unwilling to let Lynne live with the memory that she died, it takes future Yomiel possessing his unconscious body in order to rescue Lynne (at the cost of being crushed under the giant statue himself, albeit somehow still alive).]]

* RubeGoldbergDevice: The game may as well be called ''[[JustForPun Rube Ghostberg Contraption: The Game]]'', though a literal example is seen as well. [[spoiler:And central to the plot itself, as you later find out.]]