Phantasmagoria
- Platform:
- Release: Aug 1995
- Developer: Sierra On-Line
- Publisher: Sierra On-Line
- Composer: Jay Usher, Mark Seibert
- Genres: point-and-click - horror - graphic-adventure
- Other platforms:
September 26, 2025
Save yourselves!
Roberta Williams, one of my favorite video game designers, broke new ground by creating an FMV (Full-Motion Video) horror blockbuster that had never been seen before in the industry.
Phantasmagoria is a mysterious and intriguing adventure, at times unsettling and downright disturbing.
It was a controversial game due to certain scenes, banned in Australia, and even released with an option to censor it using a password.
Phantasmagoria is a game full of personality and, even today (2025), it remains highly enjoyable, though definitely not for everyone.
What I liked the most
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The game gives you control very quickly: after a short intro and a simple premise, it lets you explore the environment, learn the controls, and provides all the tools you need to enjoy the experience without any unnecessary explanations.
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The ability to skip video scenes whenever you want. Often, you’ll want to skip through the walking animations, for example.
- Usually, when these animations play, the mouse cursor automatically moves over the “fast forward” button on the UI (although sometimes it doesn’t align correctly).
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How much we empathize with our beloved protagonist, Adrienne Delaney, someone who, even when everything is against her, shows infinite patience and never gives up, fighting to the very end.
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All the little details that, while not advancing the story, add atmosphere and charm:
- The idle animations that trigger when the protagonist stands still for a few seconds.
- The moment when she uses the toilet (she closes the door and we just wait, staring at the fixed shot of the bathroom door).
- Being able to use the bathroom mirror to wash her hands, put on makeup, or use the towel keeps us on edge, expecting something to happen at any moment.
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The fact that the game is divided into chapters:
- Makes it easier to follow the story, giving a sense of progression as we gradually unlock new areas and meet new characters.
- The tension gradually builds: everything becomes more hostile yet more intriguing, and we grow more familiar with our surroundings.
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The game’s overall pace is quite relaxed, allowing you to explore at your own rhythm without pressure (except in the final chapter).
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I love that the final chapter is so different from the rest; it feels like a brilliant way to conclude the game.
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The UI, while initially a bit confusing (that “Eye”!), is something I like for being so minimalist and easy to use.
What didn’t win me over
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The CGI of the final enemy pulled me out of the story a bit. I would have preferred something done more traditionally, though it’s understandable that at the time they wanted to innovate.
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Although I enjoyed the game, there are a few isolated scenes that struck me as unnecessarily gratuitous in their violence. I believe the horror could have been achieved without being so explicit.
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Some interactive areas, where you can click to interact with the game, are too close together, making it easy to miss an item because it feels like just one clickable spot (for example: the bone for the soup and the information sign).
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I would have loved it if, when hovering over items in the inventory, their names were displayed somewhere in the UI.
