[Davies]

Phantasmagoria 2 is one of my all-time favourites, although I was a bit let down by both of the alternative endings. (I've never yet played P1.) My personal favourite scene is near the beginning, when

Spoiler:

Curtis is at the computer and is struck by an invisible force

That is really shocking in the quick make-you-jump sense, and then more deeply frightening as you realise

Spoiler:

it's got to be real -- it drew blood and Trevor can see the injury

Thinking about it still makes the hairs prickle at the back of my neck.

The reconstruction of

Spoiler:

Bob's murder in the office

is a scene I'll probably never forget, either. Not entirely in the good sense.

The infamous "alien machine" puzzle near the end is not as difficult as some people make it out to be, if you approach it with strict logic and the spirit of trial and error. Figure out what each part does individually, then work out how to put them together in the sequence you need. It takes time and a little perseverance, but it's not a mindbender.

[MoP]

Well, finally finished it (the installer is flawless, and the cinematics look much better without the scanlines). Very fun and engaging interactive movie.

But the endings... the story unfurls in such an enthralling way just to be concluded in this very contrived and uneventful fashion (in my opinion at least...). Very Fahrenheit-like...
The whole

Spoiler:

alien dimension

felt really forced and illogical. But, for some reason, I breezed through that final 'puzzle', never heard of it before and got through it really fast. I thought it was pretty well thought out actually...

And boy oh boy, 480 points of easter eggs. I'll be definitely playing again to check those out.

[Henke]

This game brings back memories, it's still really fun. The gameplay is rather static. But the beuty of it is seeing the story move along by your interaction and the fact that you never know when a bizzare movieclip is coming up.

When you figure out how the game works there are only a few "puzzles" that challenges you (and that includes the final one).

I wonder if there is a windows-installer for the first one as well? I'm also feeling the urge to pick up the Gabriel Knight games again. Avoiding Dos-box would be nice.

[AndreaDraco83]

Here you can find the patches to run Gabriel Knight natively under XP.

I've heard of an installer for A puzzle of flash, but after the huge amount of work I've done to run it in DOS Box, I'm gonna stick with it

[Fantasysci5]

I remember when I didn't even know what a DOS Box is. I love it, for playing old games like "Dr. Quandray" and stuff. It's pretty easy to use. If only the C64-windows "apllication" would work that easy. If any of you have that, I'd appreciate some freakin' help.

Anyway, do you guys think the 2nd Phantasmagoria is better than the 1st...?

[AndreaDraco83]

It's different. The first was more a classy/elegant horror tale with a subtle vein of sexuality. The second is a C-movie with load of sexuality/splatter and a plot all but not elegant

I think I like them both

[Fantasysci5]

The first one sounds like a plot I would like! I know what you mean, though, by it's hard to pick one because you like both!

[AndreaDraco83]

If I'm forced to choose, I think I'll stay with the second one - somehow, it managed to stuck with my imagination longer than the first one (and, let's say it, I hated Adriane and her ridiculously orange/black outfit )

[Fantasysci5]

Who is the main character in the 2nd installment, like personality, etc.

[Henke]

Both are fun games. Although if you judge them by their gameplay the first one is superior IMO. It got more locations to explore (and in a cool gothic castle). The plot moves faster and more explicit in the sequel though.

It's hard to explain the main character in the second one without ruining the plot.

When I first played Puzzle of Flesh I thought it was fun that the actor looked alot like me, not anymore though since now I got long hair and a beard.

[AndreaDraco83]

The game-play stay almost the same in both games: perhaps, a little better in the first one, but not so much. And this is the main flaw of both games: they never were challenging - you can easily turn off your brain while playing, or concentrate on other things, 'cause your gray matter will never be stimulated. Although, both of them remain very funny ^^

@ Fantasysci5: Curtis Craig is a thirty-something employer of Wyntech Corporation, a big computer company. Regardless a history of mental illness and an unfortunate childhood, now he's (or, at least, he seems) quite normal: good job, nice co-worker lover and good friends. That's obviously before the very game begins...

[Davies]

Originally Posted by Fantasysci5

Who is the main character in the 2nd installment, like personality, etc.

Just to make clear, although both games came out under the Phantasmagoria "umbrella title", they are completely unrelated. Don't think of A Puzzle of Flesh as a second instalment.

Am I right in saying that Sierra's original idea was to have a whole line of adult FMV horror stories under the Phantasmagoria name? But for various reasons it stopped after two.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by Davies

Am I right in saying that Sierra's original idea was to have a whole line of adult FMV horror stories under the Phantasmagoria name? But for various reasons it stopped after two.

There was talk, back in those years, of a third title to be designed by Roberta Williams again; there was even a little argument - at least, so does tell Ken Williams - about making it FMV or full 3D real time. At the present time, yes: the two games are totally unrelated, even if the in-game reference to Adrienne Delaney in the second game could be an hint to the fact the two games take place in the same world/mythological universe, that's saying that maybe, if a third chapter would have been done, there are more connections between the two games.

[Risingson]

I couldn't help remembering this game when I was playing Overclocked: the way the characters look, feel, and how you engage with the story when a FMV game is well driven cannot, ever, be emulated by an engine-driven game, where someone says a sentence [pause] another sentence [long pause] and the other character says a phrase that ends with ... [2 seconds of pause] and then the other character talks.

Phantasmagoria 2 has its flaws. Still, it is a much more honest game than its first part: it is also just an explotation gruesome story, but better written and a bit more original. And the FMV parts look awesome. And the main character is hot. Only the ending drags.

[Henke]

I kept getting an error message while playing through the first Phantasmagoria so I put it on hold (came to chapter 4 without problems though).

With the risk of going a bit off topic here, now I've started playing through the Gabriel Knight games instead. Just finished Sins of the Fathers. It's still one of the best games ever IMO. The urge for playing Gray Matter is increasing. I'm also thinking of getting Jensen's book Dante's Equation. Have anyone here read it?

[Gledster]

Oh thanks for this thread. Thanks to this (and someone earlier mentioning the XP patch) I'm re-installing the game as we speak.

I remember loving it when i first played it a long while ago, especially as it starts off slipping subtley into horror, which is the way I prefer it. The acting wasn't TOO bad either.

I hope this XP patch works *crosses fingers*.

[marshal99]

Never did finished the game , i got stuck on that last puzzle (i think) and eventually gave up.

It's a shame that the era of FMV games are gone , would have love for some interactive full fmv horror titles , something like the Japanese fmv horror game "The fear". I am a sucker for horror and it isn't the same with cg characters.

The Fear FMV game trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Qob-DIYlQ

[tastebud]

Originally Posted by marshal99

It's a shame that the era of FMV games are gone , ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Qob-DIYlQ

Well there's always this lol http://www.conquerthislife.com

[marshal99]

Originally Posted by tastebud

Well there's always this lol http://www.conquerthislife.com

Didn't know they paid the hoff to advertise Red Alert 3 , thanks for that.

Red Alert 3 has FMV cutscenes , yes. Probably one of the last few games to have that. I want a FMV revival especially with the technologies of today.

[AndreaDraco83]

You can always check out Casebook