Adventure games typically don't have much 'game' in them, in the ludic sense. Most games in the genre, even the challenging ones, are interactive stories in which the player solve puzzles and 'does stuff' along the way. We're not choosing our own adventure insofar as we are choosing the way a predetermined adventure proceeds, within usually relatively narrow parameters. As such, most games in the genre live or die by the quality of their story, their puzzles, and the skill with which those things are delivered. I'm happy to say that The Phantom Fellows nails it on both counts. Although it looks and feels like a classic adventure game, or an homage to one, The Phantom Fellows greatest success is that it is a singular experience. In a genre where so many games strive to recreate the feel or style of their predecessors ("I'm selling these fine leather jackets!"), Phantom Fellows flourishes as a one-of-a-kind experience. You will never have played a game that tickles your adventure game bone quite like this one. This success can be completely attributed to Paul Korman, the game's sole developer. He writes with, to use the word again, a singular voice. His brand of humor -which permeates almost every facet of the game's dialogue, yet somehow always feel natural and never overbearing or obtrusive- is distinctly his own; and it feels like a lifetime's worth of Paul's almost Seinfeldian observations on life, and what-all inhabits life, have been gently massaged into each conversation and environmental inspection that his wonderful characters make. The Phantom Fellows is not a game that one rushes through. First of all, to do so would be to miss a large part of what makes it so enjoyable. Second of all, you'd probably miss out on some crucial details that are necessary to solve any of the game's abundant puzzles, most of which are challenging enough to satisfy any classic adventure game fan. My only criticism of TPF is that, like this review, it ends on a cliff ha...
