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Casual Playthrough—Phantasmat
I saw the man as he came to answer the door and the face in the window above the door, too.
“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.” -Bill Watterson
This part may not have revealed a great deal storywise, but ...
That’s not entirely true. In one of the flashbacks we saw a girl in a wedding dress. I’m inclined to think that this is the assistant, who “stayed in town” during the flood because she was left at the altar and kept waiting for her husband-to-be.
I suspect we’ll even find her corpse in the church (although that would probably confuse all my theories about who is dead and who isn’t).
And I think her husband-to-be didn’t show up because he was killed (the guy with the wine glass on the floor, lying on a chess set). Was he the bank robber? Did the old lady kill him, or was it the proprietor?
Edit:
Flash of brilliance (even if I do say so myself 
):
The three characters are the only ones who actually died in the flood (and thus didn’t evacuate).
When our car got off the road in the beginning of the game, it ended up in the lake, and we’re actually drowning. We’re having a close encounter with death and now these three ghosts want us to solve the mystery of the drowned town so they can supernaturally save us when we do (and then “go towards the light” themselves).
Edit edit:
That doesn’t explain the adventurer’s presence.
OK, now I’m just confusing myself. 
Let me wait a few days and find out for real, instead… 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
OK, now I’m just confusing myself.
Let me wait a few days and find out for real, instead…
Now you’re confusing me, and I KNOW what happened! 
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Now you’re confusing me, and I KNOW what happened!
Well, on the plus side, the game’s gotten under my skin. I’m really enjoying it. 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
In one of the flashbacks we saw a girl in a wedding dress. I’m inclined to think that this is the assistant, who “stayed in town” during the flood because she was left at the altar and kept waiting for her husband-to-be.
She is wearing the same wedding dress as in the picture I posted earlier, so yes it is most definitely her.
and I think her husband-to-be didn’t show up because he was killed (the guy with the wine glass on the floor, lying on a chess set). Was he the bank robber? Did the old lady kill him, or was it the proprietor?
I read that scene as he killed himself, committed suicide out of guilt and grief, after he had abandoned his love at the alter and she drowned waiting for him 
I’m not entirely sure it is 100% correct, and I wish there was an option for seeing that scene again, but I do think it is a much better story than the one you concocted.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
I have played the game several times but I have never thought of some of these theories. And in fact, I may know what happened but I may also know it wrong. This is like being able to play the game for the first time more than once.
Much will be clear once you’ve completed the underwater scene.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I’m not entirely sure it is 100% correct, and I wish there was an option for seeing that scene again, but I do think it is a much better story than the one you concocted.
Call it a side effect of me frantically trying to fit the bank robbery in there somewhere…
Props to Codeminions for slowly building towards a big reveal. They may have started by throwing us into a creepy yet obviously supernatural/horror setting, but it definitely feels like they have a well-thought-out plan for their story… That’s something that couldn’t be said of Angelica Weaver (which completely fell apart near the end). Phantasmat seems to slowly come together and is all the more intriguing for it.
Sorry for constantly comparing to Angelica Weaver - my casual AG knowledge is just that poor…
Oh, and allow me to finetune this theory somewhat:
The three characters are the only ones who actually died in the flood (and thus didn’t evacuate).
...
these three ghosts want us to solve the mystery of the drowned town so they can supernaturally save us when we do (and then “go towards the light” themselves).
To quote paraphrase The Sixth Sense: We see dead people. They don’t know they’re dead.
I think the purpose of the game (for us) will be to make all three of them realize that they’re dead (I’m still going with “drowned in the flood”), so they can “move on”.
No idea how it ties in with our car crash and that adventurer, though, but we’ll find out in the next couple of days anyway…
This is like being able to play the game for the first time more than once.
Yay for community playthroughs!
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Props to Codeminions for slowly building towards a big reveal. They may have started by throwing us into a creepy yet obviously supernatural/horror setting, but it definitely feels like they have a well-thought-out plan for their story… That’s something that couldn’t be said of Angelica Weaver (which completely fell apart near the end). Phantasmat seems to slowly come together and is all the more intriguing for it.
Sorry for constantly comparing to Angelica Weaver - my casual AG knowledge is just that poor…
Marginally forgiven since this is the second CG you’ve played. I think the “problem” with Angelica is that it left people without absolute certain knowledge of what had transpired. (Even with the addition of the Bonus material.) I don’t view that as a bad quality. Considering the amount of discussion the ending generated, I would consider that to be a good quality. At least as it relates to a playthrough. Fear not. There will be an ending that everyone understands with Phantasmat.[:
I’m a bit surprised that we haven’t been given the go-ahead for the next chapter yet. But I know Becky is trying to schedule things for a Halloween finale. (I’m preparing my costume as we speak.) I’m as anxious as everyone. Not because I know the answer, but because I’m curious how everyone will feel when they find the answer.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I was going to post the introduction to Segment Four at a minute past midnight my time (as early on Tuesday as possible).
But it occurs to me that I COULD post it at after midnight AG forum time.
Like, right about now. 
PHANTASMAT PLAYTHROUGH – SECTION FOUR
You’re gathering essential goodies for your quest, and some of them seem to fit that très chic diving suit. Anyway, it’s a good excuse to navigate through the sewers.
Keeping your mind in the sewer should help you forget those disturbing visions of wedded bliss.
What we have here is a world that’s not only underwater, but also going to pieces. Perhaps you can sort through the clues, or piece together the fragments of a lost vision.
For Section Four, play until you’re forced to leave the underwater area because you’re running out of oxygen. Once you’re out of the sewer, stop. You’ll have 7 keys and an illegal substance in inventory, but don’t use them yet.
If possible, finish this section before Halloween, Friday, October 31st. You’ll have an extra day to complete this section. This will allow those who are behind to catch up. Or an extra day to agonize over the Big Reveal that is about to take place. Whichever happens to suit you. (Cue creepy music and maniacal laughter.)
The fifth and final section, which begins on Halloween, has a suggested dress code. Come prepared to play the finale while wearing a costume.
I’m curious as to your opinion on a few matters. To be answered only after you’ve completed Section Four.
1. Are we, the player(s), dead or alive?
2. We caught a glimpse of the Proprietor and the Socialite before meeting them. Did we also catch a glimpse of the girl before meeting her?
3. In what ways can the characters affect their environment?
4. In what decade did the Socialite leave the mansion and move into the hotel? In what approximate decade did the flood occur?
Assuming you are in your suit and ready to enter the sewer….you are faced with a series of three numerical puzzles. A red light tells you the number you selected is wrong. A yellow light tells you the number you selected is correct, but in the wrong position. A green light tells you that the number you selected is correct and in the right position.
I once had a problem with this type of puzzle. But I found a “brute force” way of solving it that guarantees a solution in nine moves or less. If you get frustrated, but don’t want to use a Skip, let me know.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
1. Are we, the player(s), dead or alive? I think I’m alive. Just as I did in Angelica. My car is pretty beat up, but doesn’t seem to be underwater.
2. We caught a glimpse of the Proprietor and the Socialite before meeting them. Did we also catch a glimpse of the girl before meeting her? I think I caught a glimpse of the proprietor per my front door screenshot. And I think Becky caught a glimpse of the old lady in her screenshot. Neither saw the other’s “glimpse.” I don’t recall seeing the young girl prior to the encounter outside the shed on the way to the hotel.
3. In what ways can the characters affect their environment? I don’t think they can. I think they expect you, the protagonist, to change their environment for them. Example is the first puzzle, the water bottle puzzle, that restores their electricity. You do all the work.
4. In what decade did the Socialite leave the mansion and move into the hotel? In what approximate decade did the flood occur? This is purely a guess, but I’m thinking the old lady left the city sometime in the 1920’s or early 1930’s. (There was a date on a diary entry in the old lady’s secret room, But that doesn’t signify anything other than when she killed her husband. Maybe someone can confirm this date. Unlike other sites, once you leave the sewer, you can’t return.) If it were later, as in the 1940’s there would have been some mention of war in the newspaper clippings. Just by judging the clothes and décor, I’m thinking the flood occurred sometime in the 1950’s.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
FWIW, I Photoshopped the image to lighten it up a bit. This is the result.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Done - Yeah I know that was fast, but I happened to see you first post giving the go ahead, just as you posted it 
Regarding your questions:
1) I don’t for a second believe we are dead.
2) Yes we (I) did!
There has been several glimpses of a white ghost roaming about, and I’m fairly certain that it is the young girl in her wedding dress haunting the place. I am however not quite sure when I first saw the ghost, but then there are also the eyes we see in the rear view mirror before the crash, which could have been her! BUT most important I just replayed the opening to check, and we actually see a quick glimpse of her right at the beginning of the game, right after the crash.
3) Not 100% sure. It doesn’t appear like they can pick things up and stuff like that, but the rapid growth at the end of the underwater scene, and what happened next (yes I “accidentally” played a bit further than I was expected to and opened the locked door), makes me believe they have some other way of manipulating things.
4) That one is tricky!
My initial thought was that the flooding had to have happened a long time ago. The old style dress of the girl both wedding dress and normal dress, and especially the old style gangster ways of the hotel owner, with a tommy-gun and everything, had me thinking prohibition time.
BUT then I realised that there are also more modern elements, like the relative modern bathroom, the payphone, hotel phone, aquarium etc. So now I realised that it can in no way be earlier than the 50s, and most likely later.
HOWEVER there is one decisive piece of evidence that allows us to date this relative precisely - and that is the CAR at the bottom of the lake!
[spoiler]It is clearly a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, which Rolls-Royce didn’t start producing before 1968![/spoiler]
I also remember having seen pictures and movies [spoiler]from the 70’s, where people was wearing clothes similar to the young girl and the hotel owner, I even believe my dad had a suit similar to the hotel owners (it wasn’t all flower-power in the 70’s) - So I can say with almost a 100% certainty that the flooding happened in the 70’s[/spoiler]
As for the when the old lady poisoned her husband, felt bad about it and moved to the hotel, well basing on the picture I posted earlier, she has to have been at least 30 and most likely 40 years younger, so I would say that it happened in the 30’s. But I now wish I had pay more attention to her diary as it might have contained a date or year that I didn’t notice.
BTW: We now know that at least one more person drowned in the flooding, and that is the poor driver of the wedding car!
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
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