Reviews

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  good.golly2234

  Feb 21, 2022

  A good old game from the era of point and click adventures. Decent acting for the time and I remember the graphics at the release as being top notch for the generation of "real actors in green screen gaming". Probably one of the first of its kind in adventure horror gaming. Definitely worth a couple of bucks and a few hours of fun.
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  Chicken Chaser

  Jun 15, 2022

  Old FMV Point and Click from the 90s. If that's your style, great, but if it isn't, don't let that dissuade you from getting this. The narrative alone is enough to keep you captivated, intrigued, and yearning to play more. Husband and wife move into a big mansion whose interior design resembles something out of a fever dream. In fact, at moments, it does feel as if you are playing through a dream, or rather a nightmare. Spooky things begin to happen and you slowly begin to unravel what exactly makes this place so unnerving and the history behind the Carnovasch estate. One of the better horror experiences I've greatly enjoyed. Wholeheartedly recommended to any fans of the horror genre, FMV games, or point and clicks in general.
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  eric.corley27

  Sep 3, 2022

  Alright kiddies, not to disclose my age (let's just say the Thriller album and I share the same birth year), but I have a fondness for the mid '90s FMV era of gaming. I know computer graphics have advanced to the point in which you don't need live actors anymore; I also realize the confined nature of FMV games usually meant nothing more than pointing and clicking your way through an adventure; still, that was part of the charm. Phantasmagoria was a huge project at the time and the reception...let's just say it wasn't exactly hailed as a classic. Nostalgia is a powerful thing but I have such fond memories of controlling Adrian (your quite attractive avatar) as you explore Carno's mansion, uncovering its many dark secrets. The haunted house scenario is full of cliches (and not exactly subtle references to The Shining) but I love the atmosphere and quite stirring moments. Do yourself a favor and embrace the camp, enjoy the journey and eat a little Halloween candy along the way :)
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  Ouijabored

  Aug 30, 2016

  I took a chance on this one and I'm glad that this worked for me as I'm running it on my Win 10 x64 Enterprise/I7-6700K/32gb RAM/GTX 1080 PC. I never did have a chance to play this growing up but its an FMV game like the 7th Guest without the 7th Guest type puzzles. You're playing as the female protagonist, basically exploring and picking up items and clues to uncover the mystery behind the mansions previous inhabitants and the supernatural ongoings of your environment. It's reminiscent of the game Scratches or the Crown series but with dated full motion cinematics. The music composition definitely complements it's horror themed atmosphere. Overall, it's a nostalgia invoking story-driven point and click FMV game that may or may not be worth the asking price of $9.99. I like it so far.
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  Paul Boland

  Sep 4, 2016

  This is one of the BEST computer games ever made! Yes, it's from the 1990's, very dated by games of todays standards, to but to this day it's one of my all time favourite computer games! You take on the role of a young lady as you start to settle into your new life with your husband in your new home. But the new house you have moved into is full of mystery and also houses an evil that will really shake things up! I originally bought this game on it's first release. It came on seven discs! But when I sat down to play it, I just couldn't stop!! I am delighted to see it on Steam and will be playing it for many more years to come. If you a very intriguing, very compelling, very scary interactive horror story, Phantasmagoria is the game you want!!
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  cutekitty

  Sep 15, 2016

  i love this game so much i played it all the time too when i was alot younger and im 31 now and still love it alot, such beautiful graphics and etc and its so much fun to play and never gets old its the best old sierra classic game ever made, roberta williams did an amazin job.
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  citizeninsane99

  Dec 5, 2016

  Impressive, still. I played this game back when it first came out, beat it, and have not played it since. This game left such an impression on me as a child/teen that I would think about it randomly as the years passed by. I found this game here and knew I had to get it. Still has its charm and is very playable today. Great game, do yourself a favor and get it, you wont be dissapointed.
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  baphomette

  May 10, 2017

  I bought and re-played this because I played it when I was much younger and wanted the feeling of nostalgia (and to properly finish the game). When I was a kid, the game was more difficult and much scarier - it's also become more clear that I should not have been playing this at the silly age of 10. Phantasmagoria marks an interesting time for Sierra and Roberta Williams. They ramped up the gore and horror, especially when considering it's basically watching a 'film'. Implied non-consensual sex is not something that is prominent for games in the 90s (heck, not even for today), but Phantasmagoria has it, and that's... well, that's saying something, I guess. I did enjoy replaying it. It was, of course, much easier. And the game wasn't nearly as scary as I remember it being. That being said, it's a worthwhile experience if you can get it on sale. The horror is cheesy, the acting isn't very good, and the puzzles are fairly weak (in all honesty, this game doesn't actually have any puzzles - it's very easy to progress). The interface is fun, the music is overly dramatic but works very well, and the gore special effects are surprisingly effective; particularly the failure scenes during the finale of the plot. All in all, I recommend it if you want to have a small bit of cheap fun, but don't expect too much. The good: - Cheesy, B-grade horror (if that's your thing) - Funny acting (if that's your thing) - Silly, but fun plot (if that's your thing) - Good gore effects - Fun interface, with a cool 'hint-master' - Cool soundtrack - Decent sense of narrative progression throughout the game The bad: - Cheesy, B-grade horror (if that's not your thing) - Funny acting (if that's not your thing) - Silly, but fun plot (if that's not your thing) - Dated FMV that can take time to get used to - No real puzzles, which makes it fairly easy
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  ImWhiteDynamite

  Mar 19, 2018

  oh the memories. Im 36 years old as of writing this review, but I was 12 or 13 when I first discovered this game and lemme tell you it had a huge impact on my life. The FMV craze of the early 90's was short lived and almost universally panned, but I was in awe of the ability to see and control real people on real video instead of a mess of blurry pixels and horrible 16 bit audio. There was amazing CD quality sound and sometimes like in this games case there were GOOD voice actors! Most FMV games are in the category of so bad they are good, but this game is genuinely good. I replayed this from begining to end and it brought some great memories back of me and my school buddy rushing home at 3pm to get back to this game and its very complicated puzzles. it took us months to beat. remember we were just dumb kids at the time. For gamers of any age and any generation i highly suggest you buy this game and see what FMV was at its best.
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  WhiteTopaz

  Jul 1, 2019

  1995 classic. I highly recommend this game. Entertaining and engaging. Revisiting this title years after its release, just as fun now as it was back then. Though i must say the ending of course leaves a bit to be desired but cant have it all.
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  ☭ comm-nya-nism

  Jul 4, 2019

  got to pet a dog and a cat 10/10
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  bingecroft

  Jul 8, 2019

  Poor Don. He was the real victim of this story. He just wanted to fix his damn bathroom.
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  [2.FJg]An0nyM0us3

  Apr 23, 2020

  I remember playing this game with my dad when i was about 10 years old and it scared the living daylights out of me (i'm not sure he realised how graphic it was back then but once he'd started letting me playing it with him, he wasn't going to let me stop). This really was ground breaking back in the day and, although it has aged, it still holds up reasonably well. The puzzles are somewhat simple - although i have played through it a few times before, so that may account for why - but it is a great nostalgic game to play over again and again.
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  Asshole

  Apr 27, 2020

  It's a great blast of nostalgia from when I was younger. Probably not suited for someone without the nostalgic connection to it though. It's paced far differently then most games today. It is a bit slower. But if you like horror computer games from the 90s, it's great!
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  gruel

  Aug 5, 2020

  what in god's name did i just play
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  Mashadaar

  Aug 12, 2020

  What an incredible game. IT'S FROM 1995 PEOPLE!!! I am personally shocked that I never knew anything about this game until now, considering I have probably spent more time playing games than doing anything else in my life. I booted it up to check it out as a break from another game and was instantly hooked. Didn't stop playing it till I beat it. It's a live action point-and-click game (DOS-BASED FROM 1995!!!) And it is so fucking good. The history of it is super cool too. The creator is responsible for multiple advancements in games and the creation of game genres! Seriously, the woman needs a damn documentary, she is so amazing. Buy it, full price or sale, but buy it. Truly way ahead of its time.
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  shiaakuma

  Sep 20, 2020

  This is a conditional recommendation, because I can see younger or more "modern" gamers not being thrilled with the more dated aspects of this game. There is a strong nostalgia factor for people that have played it before and I can see it having appeal for anyone who either enjoyed the old-school FMV/point-and-click games of the mid-90s, or who's discovering some retro games for the first time. For me, having played this not long after it came out, it was a creepy stroll down memory lane. The story is a lot of fun and the FMVs, although cheesy in parts with hit-or-miss acting, are still great to watch. The music and sound works well with the ambiance and the occasional Latin chanting, although admittedly cliché, fits just fine with the mood of the story. Puzzles are generally not terribly difficult if you explore around, examine everything you can, and talk to everyone you can (multiple times if necessary). While I'm not sure it's worth the full $9.99 price tag, given its age and dated elements, I would say grabbing it on sale would be worth it for certain. Some helpful troubleshooting if you do decide to play this: The "black lines" issue in the movie cuts can be solved by going to options and changing "Movie Detail" to "ON" which improves the quality a lot, although it doesn't increase the size of the movie window. The problem with alt-tabbing freezing the game into tiny windowed mode is easily solved by hitting Alt+Enter to force it to return to full screen. There is no Steam Overlay but I had no reason to want it. The inventory "examine" function is a little wonky as items rotate VERY quickly, but using quick clicks allowed me to still view the items. Only one or two items require interaction in the "examine" pane, and I was still able to do what I needed with them after some careful fast clicks. Save often, as you can move your bookmark to wherever you are at any time. I only encountered one glitch in the game, which only happened twice through almost 7 hours of play, but it froze the cursor and necessitated a forced quit and lost my progress. If you simply save the game after cutscenes and puzzles (not a bad idea in any game, really), you won't have to repeat anything should you run into a cursor glitch. Overall, worth a replay for nostalgia gamers and worth a first play for anyone who enjoys old-school games that isn't picky about dated elements. This was a groundbreaking game at the time it came out!
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  Panekake

  Nov 11, 2020

  If you have a thing for the older games, and you like horror - this is the game for you. Brought to you by the same person who wrote Kings Quest and Mystery House this game is really more like a B-movie which you control, but the whole thing is really fun in a quirky sort of way, and there is blood at the end. Just played through it again and its been 20 years since I played it last, you can expect about 4 - 5 hours of game play and at this price I say go for it.
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  nascar3

  Mar 10, 2021

  This Steam Games Cut Scenes Are Terrible. I Had The CD Version Which Played Normal. Good Game Though.
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  diegosouza1978

  May 3, 2021

  A very fun and easy adventure game that is suited for novice players. The most enjoyable part is exploring the beautiful mansion and finding its secrets. The downside is the hammy FMV acting which may turn some people off unless you don't take the story too seriously. I also noticed that most of the times there are few interactive spots in each scene, which makes the gameplay sometimes feel too empty, even though the scenarios are pretty to look at and explore. Also worth of pointing out is the inventive and adrenaline filled chase during the final chapter, which is presented in an unique style of interactive movie.