Master storyteller Roberta Williams challenges you to experience the ultimate interactive nightmare.
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Its kitchen-sink approach to horror is occasionally brutal but ultimately silly; it's way more effective as an erotic thriller, a subgenre that rose to popularity at around the same time Roberta Williams's career began to get some traction. Beyond just the sideboob and the harrowing rape, Phantasmagoria's tale of multigenerational domestic abuse fits the erotic thriller's interest in deconstructing the artifice of domestic life, and while its inciting incident is far more fantastical than the likes of Basic Instinct or Body Double, how better to convey artifice than plastering your Real Life FMV Woman protagonist across an array of insane CGI backdrops? Even when the character writing seriously stretches the story's credibility and the acting falls short, the marriage between aesthetic sensibility and thematic preoccupation deftly carries the game home. As someone who finds little intrigue or value in adventure game logic, the relatively simple puzzles are also a huge plus for me.
The final chase scene made me despise this game.
I expected a cryptic game with moon logic, and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't. The hint button is a great addition that save me from a lot of frustration. I was expecting to be pleasantly surprised.
That was until the final scene of the game. Hours of build up for that load of bull?? It honestly soured the whole experience for me.
I expected a cryptic game with moon logic, and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't. The hint button is a great addition that save me from a lot of frustration. I was expecting to be pleasantly surprised.
That was until the final scene of the game. Hours of build up for that load of bull?? It honestly soured the whole experience for me.
As a huge fan of Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh, I knew one day I'd have to play the original game. Hell, my copy of both of these games is the Stagefright double pack that includes both games. I bought it because I was so interested in Puzzle of Flesh but since it was coming with both games I grabbed it up.
A lot of years went by before I finally played the original game and I found it to be all right but nothing special when compared to how much I loved the sequel. Still, it was nice to add it to my game completion list for posterity's sake.
A lot of years went by before I finally played the original game and I found it to be all right but nothing special when compared to how much I loved the sequel. Still, it was nice to add it to my game completion list for posterity's sake.
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This review contains spoilers
I went into this expecting some real Sierra Adventure Game bullshit, but as it turns out, this is a surprisingly benevolent one of those: unlike many of its contemporaries, Phantasmagoria features a hint system you can use at any time without penalty. Perhaps real adventure game sickos would hold this against the game, but to any normal person this is a much more enjoyable experience than getting immediately frustrated and sticking to a guide for the rest of the playthrough. I briefly glanced at a guide at the very end of the game, but otherwise found it to be quite breezy and fun.
As far as the story and all that, well, it's as cheesy as you'd expect from FMV games of the era, but it's got its moments. Getting deeper and deeper into the mysteries your weird ass house contains is sincerely intriguing, and the subplot of domestic abuse is handled with surprising gravitas. I do, however, find it to be undermined by the supernatural element that supposedly caused it: I do not believe the demons of Phantasmagoria are analogous to, say, BOB's stand-in for the evil brought into the world by mankind—or even that it's making all that salient a point on a controlling relationship at all. Rather, it just kinda seems that your Good Husband went Bad because some ghosts got his ass or whatever. I don't know. Feels like some great lost potential, even if it gets some things right along the way.
Nevertheless, it's a worthy experience for sure, and engaging to a degree I never expected when I went into it.
As far as the story and all that, well, it's as cheesy as you'd expect from FMV games of the era, but it's got its moments. Getting deeper and deeper into the mysteries your weird ass house contains is sincerely intriguing, and the subplot of domestic abuse is handled with surprising gravitas. I do, however, find it to be undermined by the supernatural element that supposedly caused it: I do not believe the demons of Phantasmagoria are analogous to, say, BOB's stand-in for the evil brought into the world by mankind—or even that it's making all that salient a point on a controlling relationship at all. Rather, it just kinda seems that your Good Husband went Bad because some ghosts got his ass or whatever. I don't know. Feels like some great lost potential, even if it gets some things right along the way.
Nevertheless, it's a worthy experience for sure, and engaging to a degree I never expected when I went into it.
This review contains spoilers
definitely a wild ride. i feel like i bonded with the protagonist..... i'm always just distraught, standing there and looking around the room too.
edit: i feel like this review is too jokey. so here goes again: yes this game is an FMV game and has all of the issues that come with it, but it's remarkably smooth for a 90s point and click, and the team really wanted to have a game that was frightening and mature. at times the violence against women seems gratuitous, but I think the fear Williams is getting at is the fear of seeing a boyfriend or a husband transform by jealousy into something violent and unrecognizable. Adrienne and Don's relationship turns from one based on love to one about control. a poignant plot detail is that Adrienne almost leaves the house before the final confrontation and decides not to when she remembers how good her relationship with Don was, but staying in the house is what leads to her killing Don. the theme of abusive husbands is what keeps it tied to reality and gives the frights power.
I have some small nitpicks and compliments too--cyrus and his mom (oops what is her name) are a bit uncomfortable in their characterization and don't provide the comic relief the writers think they do. on the flip side, the scene where the mom coughs up talking goo is fucking awesome. also, I love the bizarre 3d renders of fake Maine.... I love Nipawomsett
edit: i feel like this review is too jokey. so here goes again: yes this game is an FMV game and has all of the issues that come with it, but it's remarkably smooth for a 90s point and click, and the team really wanted to have a game that was frightening and mature. at times the violence against women seems gratuitous, but I think the fear Williams is getting at is the fear of seeing a boyfriend or a husband transform by jealousy into something violent and unrecognizable. Adrienne and Don's relationship turns from one based on love to one about control. a poignant plot detail is that Adrienne almost leaves the house before the final confrontation and decides not to when she remembers how good her relationship with Don was, but staying in the house is what leads to her killing Don. the theme of abusive husbands is what keeps it tied to reality and gives the frights power.
I have some small nitpicks and compliments too--cyrus and his mom (oops what is her name) are a bit uncomfortable in their characterization and don't provide the comic relief the writers think they do. on the flip side, the scene where the mom coughs up talking goo is fucking awesome. also, I love the bizarre 3d renders of fake Maine.... I love Nipawomsett