Phantasmagoria
2 tales of Sierra magic
In another life (while I was in uni) I screenshotted that severed head and used it as the background of my computer for like a year. I just remembered that, after playing the Phantasmagoria games again, back to back.
This is mostly to write down my thoughts on the games and notes of what game mechanics are (still) exhilarating, yet are put aside in today’s video gaming world in favor of “better”, more action oriented, more militaristic one would say, game mechanics.
Play all versions
Failing is OK. I would lose intentionally to see the dead ends. You just return one step before and try again.
Being bad is bad
Today there is complete freedom to be bad. Removing the punishment makes doing the wrong thing mind numbing.
Predictable puzzles
Isn't life great when you only have a handful of objects and you can figure out a puzzle without a walkthrough? I mean, what’s the point of a difficult puzzle if you have to RTFM?
“Woke” hero
In some shots the semi-animated (animated sprites actually) character would pan their head around as you move the mouse. This seems like an old school way of doing what we've seen in later games done much better, although it’s not a feature utilized enough. The avatar is expected to be admired and attention is from the user to the screen, not the other way around.
This all American classic adventure with FMV inlays is still worth playing if not for the 90s style, definitely for the return before video games were solidified to their present state. Like an old Hollywood movie or music on vinyl, there’s something to gain for the young and old alike.
