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So lets hear it. This is an easy one for me - but I will wait till we get some replies!

This time it's really difficult, since neither of them is one my favorite games, but I guess I'm gonna say A Puzzle of Flesh: tacky and corny, but (hellishly) entertaining and, furthermore, way sleazier (and more twisted) than the first one!

Phanta1 has its great moments, scary (the murders of Carno's previous wives; the finale; the first time in the greehouse) and tender ones (mainly in the beginning and the very end: ah, that little snowman!), but - overall - it felt to me a bit too stereotypical and, whilst surely more classy and elegant in its scares than Phanta2, a bit too dated for my tastes.

And it is really too easy to play through, never challenging nor thought-provoking. Phanta2 shared these same problems, and has a really annoying protagonist, but I liked its perverted mood. A guilty pleasure: not a success as a game, but a good B-movie to watch/play in an empty afternoon or two.

By the way, I guess I'm more a fan of the light-hearted Roberta Williams, than I'm am of her "darker" side.

For those interested, I also wrote a review of Phanta2 for AdventureGamers. Here:

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,905

I'm a bigger fan of "Puzzle of Flesh" myself. Both games resorted heavily on just being in the right places to get the story progressing, but with PoF, there was a lot less green-screening and a bigger sense of being a character in a movie. Not to mention all the pointless jump scenes I got every five minutes kept me laughing.

Have both, but I've only played the first one, and that was about 10 years ago at that. It's probably because I wasn't old enough to really respect the games (even though it was about the same time as I played The Beast Within, which I loved even then), but I just didn't enjoy it that much. To me, Phantasmagoria should have been a movie. I still feel this was even today when I get on YouTube and watch the runthrough of it (by ADVRipper?).

Who knows. Maybe one day I'll give it another chance.

Im going to say the first one because it was everything that was typical of a Roberta Williams game. Near the End of chapter 7 scared me the most with that monster that took over Don. The 2nd one had more blood and gore than the first one but 2nd one really didnt appeal to me. I totally agree that PH1 should have been a movie it would have been a perfect fit for a movie.

I am going with Phantasmagoria 1. Now the reason is - my wife, and my then best friend and his wife - all of us played the first one together. I had introduced them to Sierra games (imagine that - their lives were pointless until this point) - and he had just bought a new PC and wanted to push it - so he didn't want to play something like PQ, SQ, LSL, etc - he wanted something to show off the graphics. So we threw in Phantasmagoria. So we played it and loved it! It was such a great memory. When we went and got Phantasmagoria II - it was just... eh... too over the top. Like the random sex scene. A lot more bloody. In the first one, it was creepy and scarey. The second one was like every other movie sequel - went over the top in every aspect to out do the original - and in the end failed. But we played it - till you get the character to hell or whatever - and then BLAM! - crashes to dos with an error. And back then there was no real internet. You would have to dial into the Sierra BBS forums (which was a long distance call). Needless to say we never found the fix back then and thus never finished the second one.

I love them both, really, but there's pros and cons. The first one had an excellent interface and navigation system, similar to every other Sierra title, which made it fit pretty well. Compared to A Puzzle of Flesh, though, the movie quality was rather poor in some areas, and so was the sound. The second game had excellent film quality and character animation, leaps and bounds over Phantasmagoria 1 which was achieved in only a year's time; although, most people complain about the 'style of play,' as P2 was more of an interactive film rather than adventure game than the previous entry.

Technical details aside, both plots are great, but I would have to give the upper-hand to A Puzzle of Flesh. This is due to the fact that the original has a kind-of predictable ending, as opposed to P2 with the twist ending... ... that Curtis is mearly a copy of his actual-self who is still suspended in the Other World.

They also both have pretty cool vocal themes: Consumite Furore as P1's opening with Take A Stand as the closing piece, and Rage! as P2's ending theme.

My Favorite of the Series has to be Phantasmagoria 1

The_Roger_Wilco wrote:My Favorite of the Series has to be Phantasmagoria 1

So lets hear it! What was it about Phantasmagoria 1 that snared you?

I agree with Tawm. The first one had a bit more 'umph' to it mostly because it was a Roberta Williams game.

The second lacked that Roberta 'essence' and it could've done without the random sex/gore scenes. The other thing was the ending. It just got weirder and weirder.

Phantas 1. It scared the crap out of me so badly that I didn't dare play it. And I'm amazed at the large amount of available dead ends in Ch 7. By comparison, Phantas 2 is very bare. I also prefer 1's acting, it's build-up, it's story-line... And it gave me a nice argument why I hate foie gras.
Phantas 2, on the other hand, is primarily a game I consider ridiculous. But entertaining nonetheless.

BBP wrote:Phantas 1. It scared the crap out of me so badly that I didn't dare play it. And I'm amazed at the large amount of available dead ends in Ch 7. By comparison, Phantas 2 is very bare. I also prefer 1's acting, it's build-up, it's story-line... And it gave me a nice argument why I hate foie gras.
Phantas 2, on the other hand, is primarily a game I consider ridiculous. But entertaining nonetheless.

I knew I liked ya for a reason BBP! Couldn't agree more!

On all accounts!

I've never played Phatasmagoria. Perhaps it will eventually be available from one of the sites where you can purchase online and download it. I wouldn't mind playing it at some point, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on eBay.

Maiandra wrote:I've never played Phatasmagoria. Perhaps it will eventually be available from one of the sites where you can purchase online and download it. I wouldn't mind playing it at some point, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on eBay.

Ah my dear! I do believe you would love the first one! (The second one I strongly disliked...)

$18.99 too much?