Phantasmal is one of a few tragic games that I really want to like. Each component sounds great, but the execution and shoddy nature in which most aspects are presented keep it from being a game that I can truly recommend.
Developer: Eyemobi ltd.
Price: $14.99
Platform: PC
MonsterVine was supplied with PC copy for review
Reviewed on GTX 970, i5-4690k & 12GB Ram
I’d like to first give credit where credit is due. Many of Phantasmal’s concepts are pretty enticing. Particularly the odd blend of a partially procedurally generated map within a linear title was impressive on a technical level, and always kept me on my toes. There was a short time when Phantasmal legitimately scared me, and if the game’s other elements played out well then maybe it still would be, but the constant reliance on confusion, darkness and sudden noise make the scares easy to overcome.
Most of the game is actually fairly simple and logically mapped out. Your character, a private investigator, can carry one melee weapon, a sidearm and a few tools like explosives or flares. This sounds like a simple set up, and it is, but unfortunately this simplicity is marred by the visual style and attempted minimalism of the UI. What appears to be a hand drawn pentagram and a few other symbols in the top right of the screen turns out to be all you have to see your vitals and inventory. After hours of play I still don’t know if the color of the pentagram represents your health or your sanity, or if there’s even a difference. The icons for items aren’t particularly clear, and there is nothing showing what other items or weapons you’ve got besides what you have selected.
Phantasmal has an inkling of a sanity system here. As far as I can tell it’s supposed to be functionally similar to Amnesia as the more time you spend in the dark or looking at spooky things, the worse things become for your mental health. But for the life of me I can not figure out exactly how it works, or if it’s connected to the giant squid that will inevitably suck the life out of you.
Stealth also plays a role here. It’s best to stay in the shadows and remain silent but the total darkness, which is unrealistically and annoyingly black even when lit, is nigh impossible to navigate in. You can turn on the oddly spaced wall lights or toss flares, although neither make it bright enough to warrant the onslaught of enemies that are drawn to it like moths. Noise is also a no-no but as long as you avoid the abnormally placed bottles and don’t go gun-happy you should be fine. Eventually if you disturb the silence enough something akin to Cthulhu pops in and crashes the party.
The constant threat of insta-death at the tentacles of a giant octopus can be chilling, but there’s too much wrong with this system for it to induce any sense of fear. Multiple times I’d be by myself in some corner when I seemingly tripped some misplaced trigger queuing horror music and the arrival of the beast, which did not feel intentional. The lights aren’t worth turning on, the flares create a gross shade of green as opposed to brightening much up. Distracting visual artifacts that show up when light is shined on the environment were just a bit too common. The game’s rather easy if you stick to wooden planks and small flashlights.
Graphically, Phantasmal doesn’t look bad, but the visuals are clearly outdated. The gunplay feels a bit clunky and although the melee attacks are quite satisfying, the limited and simple enemies make combat more of an annoyance than anything. The story is presented in a small yet appropriate manner, but the voice acting and artwork are far from modern standards. What is perhaps the most difficult thing for me to overcome is the setting. The entirety of the game revolves around searching for your ex-drug addict aunt in her apartment complex in the Kowloon walled city. Somehow this apartment complex divulges into a vast, underground Chinese city filled with possessed druggies, satanic monsters and unassuming tenants. The environment just doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.
The Final Word
Its procedural level generation, player progression and survival horror should be a match made in heaven but poor presentation, bizarre design choices and flawed systems reveal Phantasmal as an amateur attempt at an interesting survival-horror concept.
– MonsterVine Rating: 2.5 out of 5 – Mediocre
