Geist | DJcube

A supernatural possession adventure

NA release: 15th August 2005
EU release: 7th October 2005
JP release: N/A
Developer: n-Space
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: 61%
Mods Used: None

n-Space were a developer that mainly dealt with licensed games,such as multiple Rugrats and Mary-Kate & Ashley games. They heard that Nintendo wanted a unique first person shooter for the GameCube. n-Space submitted their idea of playing as a ghost to possess people and Nintendo liked it, although it was Miyamoto that suggested the core gameplay element of using objects to scare before you can possess people. As the game carried on development, n-Space carried on making it as a first person shooter while Nintendo were hoping for something that was more of a first person action-adventure.

And they really should have listened to Nintendo, as the shooting parts of the game are just ok. You don’t get much choice when it comes to guns as there’s literally one part of the game where you can choose a gun. And they’re the three most interesting guns in the game, so you’ll miss out on two of the best weapons. If this game was simply a first person shooter, it would have been instantly forgotten.

But, luckily, there is more to it. You play as Raimi, a rather bland special ops scientist that is also a silent protagonist (in a jarring way that makes no sense). You get captured and the villain uses a device to separate your spirit from your body. You get put in a virtual world designed to brainwash you when a friendly ghost called Gigi helps you escape.

You get to hover around as a ghost. Walls are still obstacles, but you can go through some objects. However, the key ability is possessing things. For inanimate objects, you can possess them with no issue, but animals and humans need to be scared before you can possess them. It’s a great idea, requiring you to look at your surroundings for what you can use.

The biggest issue of the game is a complete lack of freedom in how this works. Instead of being able to experiment with different ways of scaring people, it’s just a case of using the two or three objects you can possess in the room. This game really needed to let you play around with more stuff, having to work out what scares your target (I’d have it so you can find files or possess computers to find out more details). It’s a missed opportunity due to trying to keep it as mostly a shooter.

There are quite a few sections of the game when you have to use a specific host. If they die, it’s game over. You can still leave their body to complete puzzles. One section early on has explosive boxes you can use, creating an opportunity to leave the body you need to decide enemy numbers, but these fizzle out as the game goes on, leaving with large sections of never using the core mechanic of the game.

Miyamoto would later get to play with possession again in Super Mario Odyssey, which gives you a ton of things to control and is a ton of fun. Geist still has lots of great little moments, but it could have been so much more.

Fun

Geist is patchy and wildly inconsistent. It’s trying to be too many things to too many people. One minute you’re playing a generic shooter, the next you’re treated to – no, teased by – some brief flashes of brilliance.
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #111

Remake or remaster?

A remake of the game properly taking advantage of its core mechanics would be amazing. Or even a different game that uses the idea.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to buy Geist