Phantasmat

Phantasmat
by Codeminion - January, 2011

Series links: Phantasmat, Phantasmat 2: Crucible Peak, Phantasmat 3: The Endless Night, Phantasmat 4: The Dread of Oakville

Available at:
Codeminion as Collector's Edition
Alawar as SE
Big Fish for PC as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Big Fish for Mac as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
iWin as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
GameHouse as Premium Edition / Standard Edition



After  crashing your car in the middle of nowhere, you stumble upon The Drowned Dead Hotel, a lonely forgotten structure leaning from a cliff. Beneath lies a dark and cold lake that used to be a lively town. What  secrets are buried at the bottom of the muddy waters? Who are the  mysterious inhabitants of the hotel? Dive into Phantasmat, an incredible  Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game, and get to the bottom of a long  forgotten tragedy.  

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Bonus adventure
  
• Wonderful wallpapers
  
• Replayable levels
  
• Interesting backstory
  

Blog Walkthrough at Big Fish

Click images to enlarge
   

think of this as a place marker till I get to do an update   

Mixed Bag, Better Than Average****
December 11, 2011

Game Style: Good balance of HO and puzzles, though I found the adventure part of the game frustrating at first.

Not enough scenes though, with too much repetition.

New Ideas: The game is saved from being ‘just another HO’ with some radically different ideas. It is worth trying just for the chance to swap from HO to Match 3 mid-scene. Found this was particularly fun when stuck on that one last item, or just for a change of pace. A number of the puzzles were new to me too – and just the right degree of difficulty.

Levels of Play: This is always a great addition to any game, and Phantasmat offers 3 choices, with a good explanation of each level.

Artwork: Another way in which this game stands out is its atmosphere - creepy. Clever use of animation and sound combine to get you reaching for a warm coat and umbrella. The gloom and rain was inescapable, with nasty unexpected little shocks popping up. Eventually that started to wear thin, but even then, I felt more involved in the story because it was so oppressive. I wanted to get out of that cursed town too!!

Story: The story’s a potentially great one, but fell flat because it was too slow, and collapsed entirely at the ending (which was totally unconvincing).

Replay: The game has good replay value for many I think, with the different levels of difficulty, awards and scores, and the match 3 option. But the gloomy atmosphere won out with me, and I don’t know if I could face that environment too often.

I recommend this game!

Did I write this? I must have swiped it off someone else, surely? Doesn't even sound like me...

I just got around to playing this one recently.  I has to be one of my fav games, although I have no idea why.  I absolutely loved the old lady.     It had one too many HOS for my liking but I went with the flow and my handy dandy flashlight and did fine.  Or was the flashlight in Shiver?  I played both of them back to back.

Shiver for flashlight I think. I have played this game a couple of times since I wrote this and I love it heaps now! I remember scene after scene of downed town and constant rain - not new, but it really gets on my nerves in this game. I see that as a plus nowadays - involving and atmospheric   

I think you hit the nail on the head.  It was the atmosphere of the game.

I LOVED playing Phantasmat! Creepy yet cheesy, atmospheric as hell and the girl resembled Madonna and the innkeeper Bill Nighy so it was kinda like a late night B-movie for me.    Shiver was excellent too though it took itself much more seriously.

That's IT! The secret ingredient! Phantasmat was wonderfully atmospheric, but it was also a little tongue in cheek. Wonderful!

The sequel is excellent at recreating a creepy water-logged (snow, ice, water, all the same to me - cold and wet!) story, not so big on the humour. But loved it too.

I never played the Phantasmat sequel.. or any of the Shiver ones either come to think of it.  

Hmmm... missing some awesome games there...

Duly noted, Justie! I shall have to rectify this situation.  

Yes, the cheesy factor !!!   I loved the Phantasmat sequel.  Shiver, the sequel, I'm playing now and am struggling through.  I think I've been playing it for days and just can't get into it.  And once I start playing it an hour here, an hour there, I totally lose track of the game.  I think it's called Poltergeist.  I may have to start it over or maybe it's just a disjointed game.  I AM glad that Artogon kept the Shiver series.  I have the next one too, hope they're the developer.  Everyone have a great night and a wonderful day tomorrow.   

I wasn't crazy about Shiver: Poltergeist, either. It was good, but not as gripping as Hitchhiker was.

Good night to you, too!

And the moonlight/wolf Shiver 3 was better than Poltergeist too. That's my personal fav.

I have the Shiver 3 one.  I'm still plodding through Poltergeist.  Maybe one day I'll actually be fully awake enough to comprehend what I'm playing LOL.