Phantasmagoria is a graphical adventure game released in the mid 1990s. - Viewpoint: Third Person - Style: Graphical Adventure - Mood: Supernatural Horror - Type: TYPE - Developer: Sierra On-Line - Publisher: Sierra On-Line # Notability Was, at the time, perhaps the most explicitly violent sexual game to ever hit the mainstream. Maybe to this day. Was banned by some retailers and countries. Was one of the games blamed for youth violence in the late 90s, despite being very up front about its content and warning away children in its marketing. Wildly expensive for the era, hosting 4.5 million dollars - over 6 times what [[Myst]] cost - due largely to the live action filming done over 2 years in a custom-built studio. Was written and designed by Roberta Williams, co-founder of Sierra On-Line, and designer of possibly the first graphical adventure game Mystery House in 1980, as well as the wildly successful King's Quest series. # Philosophy # OS Support # Features - Most of the game was live-action FMV, directed by classic low budget violent b movie director Peter Maris # Foibles I remember watching family members playing it, and I thought that compared to Myst it looked cheesy. I think the use of FMV throughout when FMV encoders were just not up to the same level quality as Myst's stills is the reason. # References # Inspirations # Legacy While there was a quick followup sequel, the original designer was busy working on another game contract at the same publisher at the time, and it was not as well received. Additionally, the publisher was acquired by a company that did not approve of the violent content and didn't market the sequel and did not approve a third game in the series. The same year the game [[Shivers]] was also released by Sierra, another supernatural horror game designed by a woman with Williams acting as creative consultant.