Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh
Description official descriptions
Curtis Craig is a thirty-year-old man whose distorted childhood is filled with horrors. His father was involved in an illegal, top-secret experiment for a company called WynTech Industries. Nearly nothing is known about the true nature of this experiment; but something in it affected the sanity of Curtis' mother, eventually driving her to suicide. Curtis' father was later shot, leaving the poor little boy with serious behavioural disturbances, and eventually in therapy.
Now, a year after having been released from the mental institution, Curtis is employed at WynTech Industries, whose manager, Paul Warner, has seemingly taken it upon himself to take care of Curtis. He tries to find the cause of his psychotic episodes and the mysterious murders that break out all around him, all the while discovering more and more about his past life and his father's fate.
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh is not an actual sequel to the original Phantasmagoria, but rather a follow-up that has similar themes and visual concept. The game is more heavy on puzzles and traditional adventure gameplay than its predecessor. The gameplay involves standard activities found in adventure games, including extended conversations with the characters featuring selectable dialogue topics, collecting and manipulating inventory items with the environment, etc. It is possible (and often necessary) to call characters on the phone, as well as check and answer e-mails accessed by Curtis' computer at his workplace.
Like its predecessor, the game has a simple point-and-click interface and employs video sequences with live actors as cutscenes. Short movies are usually shown after each action performed by the protagonist.
Spellings
- 幽魂 2 - Taiwanese spelling
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Videos
Add Trailer or Gameplay Video +1 point
See any errors or missing info for this game?
You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.
Credits (DOS version)
164 People (105 developers, 59 thanks) · View all
Executive Producer | |
Line Producers | |
Director | |
Producer | |
Game Designer and Screenwriter | |
Director of Photography | |
Art Director | |
Composer | |
Editor | |
Second Unit Director of Photography | |
Principal Cast |
|
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 65% (based on 27 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 78 ratings with 10 reviews)
Where Insanity Becomes Normality
The Good
Well, I haven't played "Phantasmagoria" first part much, but I know that this is one of the games that may look unatractive or unwilling to try, but its bait is more than juicy once you're hooked. Painful experience, but regarding nevertheless. Let's start up with a few facts about the story...
You're playing Curtis Craig, just an ordinary kind of guy who has a job, girlfriend, nice cousy appartment, and a rat. Now, the game starts one year after you've been released from mental institution. You don't remember what actually happened while you were there, or even before that, not as much, but you'll winning your memories back as you'll play throughout the game even more than you'll wish to. Seems like strange things are happening around you, and you seem to be the only one able to see them... and stay alive afterwards. But border between sanity starts to become blur to the point that you question youreself for those horrible deeds. But once murders start to happen, you begin to question a company you work for, and start searching for clues. That's where everything falls on your back.
I'm really a sucker to stories and games that own certain point of confrontation of 'good and evil' within youreself, within your main character, so that's probably the point that attracted me the most... beside the sex scenes, of course, hehehe, just kidding, but they were nicely done nevertheless ;))
I remember playing this game back when it first came out, but I guess I was too young to be able to enjoy something so horrifying, and besides, my thought back then were too different, as I only played shooters or racing games, not anymore, though :) So, when I saw this game, just a few days ago in a local store, I had to take it, plus, it was the last box on the shelves ;))
First thing I spotted was acting. Okay, I know that many reviews, magazines and sited were spittin' upon this game bigtime, but acting in this game was really on a professonal level, or so I've got the impression. Dialogues are interesting, story unfolds very quickly, you can easily notice who are your friend and who aren't, and who wants more than just being a friend. Plus, I checked and noticed that the gal who plays your girlfriend played in quite a few erotic movies, some of them Playboy's, so that's why scenes with her are so well done, hihihi :)
Beside acting and the story, which both suited me very well, only thing I spotted was the music because only by listening to it you could pre-define when will something happen, anyway. A very big plus is that this is 3rd-person point-and-click adventure, my favorite genre ever, so go figure why I liked this game so much. That, and I've learned that people who review games on magazines or such sites, and renowned critics are all a bunch of morons who doesn't care about anything, which is one of the reasons why I never seek an opinion to buy a game in such sources, but rather check MobyGames and some personal opinions from the players. I mean, who can help you the best but a fella player, right?
Oh, one more thing, the graphic. The graphic looked so old and so screwed, I mean, "The Beast Within" was from 1995, and this game is from 1996, so how could they make so crappy quality in newer game? On the other side, I started to like it very soon after I played the game, 'cos it kinda gave me the atmosphere of that year, a certain spark of oldness in a good sense of way. Hey, maybe I was doomed to play in such quality 'cos I only managed to install the game under DOS. But when I finally managed to install it under Windows 98, whow, then it was perfect, hehe, and Sierra is known to make games that do not use DirectX, but are rather windowed in Windowses ;)) That's cool, 'cos you can be on the Internet same time, or writing some text in Word, hehe, I mean, it doesn't focus you solely on the game unless you want it, though :)
Also, this game is really easy, with no hard puzzles at all. Seems like everything's unveiling by itself, though there are some parts that may be tough to guess (some computer codes) due to thing that you must remember some word from way before the point where you'll have to actually use it. But otherwise, this is one easy adventure, more text, less puzzles, and that's simply great!
The Bad
Well, I hate horrors and anything related to such stuff, but in my humble opinion, and good driven story can make a horror game or a movie sink aside, presenting us what we really want - a good compelling story. Though, the atmosphere was intense, but still, they shouldn't use such gruesome elements in such quantity, though, now that I remember, I played it password protected in fully uncensored mode, hehehe.
The Bottom Line
I haven't played such an extraordinary game for months. Beside the fact that I rally enjoy playing adventures with live cast and blue-screen technology, this game without a doubt provides you with fine acting, intriguing story, high levle of atmosphere, tingling music and way too easy interface. But the fact is, it's still somehow more movie than a game itself, so if you, like me, enjoy to watch bunch of FMV scenes and dialogues between characters, you should at least try it, 'cos beneath the horrifying story is hidden another one that will unravel it all.
In general, what this game has to offer is:
DOS · by MAT (240968) · 2012
Worth a playthrough, if your expectations aren't too high
The Good
A Puzzle of Flesh surpassed my expectations. Sierra delivers an enticing sci-fi/horror concept with intense and gritty scenes, some fun moments, and at times Hollywood-esque slasher suspense.
Stepping in for Roberta Williams, writer Lorelei Shannon approaches the Phantasmagoria concept with unprecedented (and arguably unsurpassed) maturity. The game's subplots and secondary subject matter are nary seen in today's grittiest movies. Unlike the first game, Shannon doesn't approach the "Mature" rating like a novelty or a crude standard to be pushed for pushing's sake, but rather uses it as license to create dynamic characters who face real problems.
The characters are portrayed in a remarkably lifelike fashion for the FMV subgenre, a style typically plagued by painful F-list performances and zero interactivity. The characters themselves are people you know in real life, not video game caricatures. The interface and puzzles are, by and large, simple and logical, and the game focuses more on main character Curtis Craig's internal problems rather than on exploration and puzzle solving.
The Bad
That said, the puzzles are either brain-numbingly simple or absurdly illogical. The TRUE puzzles, as opposed to other random clicking that results in a cinematic, are few and far between, and about half of them are guessing computer passwords.
For a movie-based game, the locales are visually uninteresting and markedly unatmospheric. While the game's environment is a huge step up from the cheesy computer generated backdrops of the first entry, it doesn't make up for the fact that most of the scenery is recognizable as the hallways and storage closets of a cheap motel. Moreover, there are only about a half dozen locations in the game. This means virtually no exploration and lots of backtracking.
While the characters are pretty intricate, the plot doesn't really unfold; rather, it's revealed through lots of reading of password-protected emails, which really takes the bite out of cinematic reveal.
Just as well, the plot itself is pretty weak. You assume the role of an Average Joe with a troubled past working for a omnitechnoconglomerate that's, surprise surprise, covering up secret and illegal experimentation. A couple people get murdered, and just when a legitimate twist pops up involving the character's self-doubt about his own involvement, he unveils a half-baked paranormal plotline that's not worthy of the 2:00 PM Sci Fi Channel timeslot. Sufficed to say, without spoiling anything, it gets incredibly ludicrous toward the end (or ends, in this case -- you get a choice between two equally unsatisfying story conclusions).
The Bottom Line
A Puzzle of Flesh is a great concept delivered with above-par acting for the genre and gritty maturity. If the main plot were more intricate, the puzzles more involved, and the scenery more visually interesting, Phantasmagoria 2 could have had a place in gaming history as the one that broke the mold and pushed the envelope for content maturity. As it is, it remains a playable made-for-TV movie. Hopefully someone will try to do this again with greater success, but for now A Puzzle of Flesh is a decent adventure game worth a playthrough for fans of the genre. Just don't expect too much.
Windows · by jTrippy (58) · 2008
The Good
For those people to young to remember, it was not too long ago that computer games were made on floppy disks and video games were made on cartridges.
The CD-ROM revolution slowly, and with plenty of goofs and pitfalls, forever changed both industries because CDs and DVDs can store much more programming then a disk or cartridge and still be profitable for the software developer or published.
One of the first major differences was that CD based games could now have full motion video or even CGI animated sequences.
It did not take long before a slew of games attempted to bring the, mostly, computer world of adventure gaming into this new age.
Characters would be brought to life with voice actors, in environments that reflected the CD storage capacity.
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of the Flesh was one of the more daring and ambitious projects to combine full video and CGI graphics with the traditional 'point n' click' graphic adventure games. Technically, the game is a masterpiece with the game environment brought to life with B-minus actors, full motion video, digital images and even some CGI animation.
The story itself is also groundbreaking for a computer game. It beautifully weaves together dark horror and science fiction elements with something taken out of “The Office” and tosses in a soap opera love triangle, kinky S&M nightlife and an identity crisis to boot.
The Bad
Yup, this computer game was taking us to a more ‘adult’ and ‘realistic’ environment then had been possible prior to the CD-ROM revolution. However, it was not without its minor and rather huge faults.
The difficulty level involved with the puzzles was uneven. Most were pretty easy except for illogical limitations, i.e. you can only open mail in your apartment’s living room. Other puzzles were nothing more engaging in a series of conversations with your co-workers.
Yes, the co-workers are certainly an interesting bunch of people. You have your two girl friends, the overweight office bully, the gay best friend, the friendly supervisor and the totally insane and corrupt boss. There are plenty more characters to interact with, but it can get a bit tedious talking to the same people all over and over just to get little bits of information or to help move the story along.
On the flip side, some of the puzzles are too hard. I am thinking of two in particular; one involving a seemingly simply tool chest and the other, near the end of the game, can only be solved by sheer dumb luck or reading a walkthrough online.
The Bottom Line
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh demonstrates a tremendous amount of ambition and it shows.
The graphics and sound are amazing, the storyline is, for the most part, engaging and the game shows a real desire to appeal to an older demographic with its graphic violence, blood and gore, workplace puzzles, soap opera love affairs, mental illness, gender identity, gay best friends and a wild techno S&M nightclub.
It would have been nicer if some of the puzzles were a better developed, if some of the lines were a bit less corny and if their was more exploration possible.
DOS · by ETJB (428) · 2010
Trivia
Australian version
The Australian version of Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh suffered the same fate as Duke Nukem 3D: The censorship feature is turned on permanently.
German index
On March 31, 1998, Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.
German version
In the German version, one video with Therese at the water tank is missing. The game shows the scene in which Curtis drinks water twice instead. There is also a slight difference during another scene in Therese's cubicle.
Phantasmagoria
The only connection between Phantasmagoria and this game is that at the beginning of Act 3, Curtis receives a letter about a book signing by Adrienne Delaney, the main character in Phantasmagoria. It is impossible to meet Adrienne, however.
UK version
In the UK version, the videos of Bob's and Therese's deaths are based on the "low violence" game setting by default. They are also some additional cuts during the scenes.
Video
The Windows version of Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh displays 16-bit videos, while the DOS-edition can show only 256-colors.
Sexual content
If you are able to play an uncensored edition of the game, be prepared for a fair share of sexual content, which, at least at the time, was pretty taboo for the gaming industry:
Curtis has sex with both of his female coworkers, one of which is into S&M and invites Curtis to a S&M techno-nightclub. In therapy, Curtis confronts his gender identity issues, his mother forcing him to wear a dress, and his romantic feelings for his gay best friend.
Information also contributed by Ajan, B14ck W01f, Virgil and Xoleras
Analytics
Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!
Related Sites +
-
Puzzle of Flesh Hints
These Phantasmagoria 2 Hints will help you finish the game
Identifiers +
Contribute
Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.
Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Derrick 'Knight' Steele.
DOS added by MAT.
Additional contributors: Tomer Gabel, MAT, Jeanne, chirinea, Daniel Albu, Sciere, Xoleras, Paulus18950, ETJB, Patrick Bregger, Maner76, Shamal Jifan.
Game added March 28, 2000. Last modified April 3, 2024.