Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh

It’s technically a sequel, but it’s a wholly unrelated story so you don’t need to play the first one. And in fact I’d say, save your time and skip the first one. But the second one actually did some things pretty well. It was advertised to me as an adventure game, but in truth it plays a little more like a graphic novel, because most of the puzzles are really simple, just bringing the right item to the right person, or combining items and the like. But there is one puzzle at the end that comes out of nowhere and is really convoluted and not at all well explained. It stumped me for like half and hour, but most of the time the game isn’t very complicated. It’s also an FMV game, so obviously the graphics and presentation look pretty dated, although there are some decent performances, especially from the main character’s best friend, who brought in a belivable performance for me that made me buy his relationship with the protagonist. So why give this game your time of day? The atmosphere. Without revealing to much, the protagonist suffers from some mental problems, and his mind unraveling is portrayed in an intriguing way, at least for the first third of the game or so. There are specifically some things that kinda like flash in the corner of your vision for a split second, leaving you wondering if you actually saw something, and what that was exactly. I found it to be pretty effective in building tension. The story overall is... well, it kinda fizzles out in the end in my opinion, and involves some plot twists that didn’t really fit, but the inciting events and the initial buildup is pretty atmospheric, as is the music that helps build the mood. If you want to see how it plays, or maybe just watch it (as I said, it’s kinda like a graphic novel), you can do so on my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihl0nNoiz4w&list=PLp4TpsJ7HUWWUA6NGTZB8YNmiT8VGcldH

I remmember playing this game back in 97 when I was really into the whole horror genre. I expected it to be cheesey since hey, it's a FMV game, you're not gonna get grade A acting. If you're expecting a game with block buster action, sheer terror, and adrenaline pumping scenes,.....meh....go play something else. However, if you wanna play a game with goofy puns, so bad it's good murder scenes, and B movie style acting, give this game a shot. Be warned, don't take this game seriously and try to remmember, this was made back in the 90's where FMV was all the rage. Oh...and one more thing "I heard that Curtis"

It's no different than one of the many B-Horror flicks I used to rent in the 80's, when my goal was to work my way through the "Horror" section at the local Mom & Pop video store! There's something special about the FMV era of the 90's. Yes, it was terrible, and we all knew it then, but there was something really cool about controlling real life people! I think I have come to appreciate those old FMV games because they were at a time when the adventure game on the pc seemed limitless. Even back when I was 7 years old, playing Atari's Adventure in 1980, I love it, but secretly wished for something deeper. The C=64 nurtured my love for a deep adventure, but it was the pc games of the 90's that really made me feel like there was a clear beginning and end to every great expedition! I played through both Phantasmagoria games, and since, I thought I would never see them again... Thanks you G.O.G.!!

As the title suggests it's the sequel to the original game yet fails to be greater nor even match it's predecessors awesomeness. The video quality is a lot clearer however and the acting isn't as wooden as the former. The storyline is the dealbreaker though and doesn't help the game prosper at all.

This is nothing short of a masterpeice, a flawed one, but a masterpiece non the less. what inspired me to get into film-making to be honest with you. :)