Phantasmat: The Endless Night
Developer: Eipix Entertainment (third game, third developer)
Publisher: Big Fish Games
Date: January 10, 2015
Series: Phantasmat (3/13)
Plot: 3.5/5 This one had a much more interesting storyline compared to the second installment of the Phantasmat series and could have scored much higher but it felt like they didn’t make full use of the story that they had available. If they’d pushed some of the concepts just a tiny bit more, they could have had something truly thrilling and unsettling. Unfortunately they chose instead to water it down and draw it out by adding completely unnecessary areas like the amusement park. Also a portion of it seemed confusing and tacked on at the end, as it is mentioned that the main character’s father was a part of the tragedy that happened in the past but throughout the whole game you get almost no clarification on how he was involved, only that it was because of him that she was there.
Mechanics: 4/5 This one had good hidden object scenes and puzzles and it gave us a map (!), so all is good there. I had to lower the score due to the finikiness of some of the interactions. More than once there was a barrier that I had to get past to progress and I felt sure that I had solved it but my solution did not seem to work. After running around and getting frustrated I would finally resort to a hint and it would turn out that my initial solution was correct after all by I hadn’t clicked in the exact, tiny spot necessary to trigger it. Listen, I’ve played more than my fair share of HOGs so I’m not making this complaint lightly. It was a little ridiculous.
Art: 2.5/5 Ok, granted, that score may be slightly harsh, but this game fell prey to one of my cardinal sins in HOG design, which is the weird amalgamation of photographed actors and art that never looks natural or appealing. The scenery was fine but the awkwardness of the characters were far too distracting.
Sound/Music/Voice Acting: 4/5 Nothing to complain about but nothing to write home about either. Voice acting was adequate and the music was unobtrusive. It didn’t feel as if it built the suspense as well as it could have, but it didn’t get so loud it hurt my ears at weird times either, so I have to appreciate that.
Overall: 3.5/5 A good game that could have been so, so much better. I wish that HOG weren’t afraid to really push the limit on their scariness factor because if they hadn’t glossed over some of the more horrifying aspects of the story, it could have been amazing.
Please. Please don’t do this.















