Fantasmagorie

About

Fantasmagorie is a single player platformer game with horror, fantasy and drama themes. It was developed by Needlepoint Productions and was released on August 9, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

“It’s simple enough to make the puppets move–that’s not what makes them special. You see, when children watch our shows, they believe what they’re seeing is real. To them, the puppets are alive.” Journey through a distorted puppet theatre held together by the fragile mind of a grieving puppet master. Take the stage as Viviette—a music box ballerina who's mysteriously free from the puppet master's …

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80%

Audience ScoreBased on 140 reviews

story18 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Beautiful and atmospheric visuals with impressive art style and design
Innovative and interesting gameplay mechanics, especially the needle and thread system
Engaging and bittersweet story that evokes emotions and has potential for expansion

Clunky, floaty, and inconsistent movement and jumping mechanics causing frustration
Problematic camera angles that hinder gameplay and cause disorientation
Technical issues including bugs, softlocking, performance problems, and broken achievements

story
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
38%
9%
The game's story is praised for its beautiful, atmospheric, and emotionally compelling narrative, often conveyed through visual and environmental storytelling. While the short length limits depth, players appreciate its unique premise and desire a longer, expanded version. Some criticism notes a lack of explicit context and helpful guidance, but overall the story is considered charming and intriguing.
- “The story and the gameplay is to die for!!!”
- “The story is compelling, and I’m eager for more of this game.”
- “The story was intriguing and had good pathos.”
- “No storyline given and no helpful advice or tips when you're stuck trying to put the pin into every place in the room.”
- “Control is bad, lots of bugs, sometimes the camera gets stuck at an unplayable angle, achievements are bugged and won't unlock, and there's practically no story at all; you just start running with no context.”
- “If you fixed movement, camera, sound issues, achievements, major bugs, and expanded the story, then it would be a charming short piece with a lot of potential.”
graphics
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
32%
9%
The game's graphics are widely praised for their beautiful, atmospheric art style and strong visual direction, evoking a moody and immersive aesthetic. However, several reviews note performance issues and clunky controls that can detract from the experience, with some recommending lowering graphic settings to improve fluidity. Overall, while visually impressive, the graphics shine most when paired with smoother gameplay.
- “Beautiful game in visuals, design, and story.”
- “The graphics, animations, and sound/voice track are very atmospheric as is the (short) story.”
- “A nice short experience with beautiful graphics, wonderful music, creative level designs, and a sweet locomotion system.”
- “Only after battling my way through the game did I see the comment on the store page saying to turn down the graphics settings to fix this.”
- “One quick thing though, the in-game settings don't save at all so graphics and sound cannot be changed.”
- “The graphics in this game are passable, but could be better.”
gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
53%
10%
The gameplay is praised for its innovative and unique needle mechanic, combining puzzle and platforming elements with intriguing environmental storytelling. However, several reviews note issues such as unresponsive or "yanky" controls, bugs, and occasional disorientation due to the 3D-in-2D perspective, suggesting the gameplay feels rough around the edges and could benefit from refinement and better control support. Overall, while the mechanics are fun and promising, the gameplay experience is hindered by technical shortcomings.
- “The core gameplay with the needle is an innovative mechanic.”
- “The needle mechanic is well implemented: you can use it to grapple or pull things towards you.”
- “The gameplay is a mix of puzzle and platforming and visually gorgeous.”
- “I'm recommending this for those who either like the aesthetics (and don't mind the slow-motion gameplay) or for those who are budding game devs. An unresponsive experience can detract from an otherwise stellar presentation.”
- “Gameplay is rough around the edges and there's a lot of bugs and spots that you can get stuck at but that's to be expected for a student game.”
- “The controls are yanky, the enemies detecting the player seem more random than anything else, and the 3D world in a 2D perspective is disorienting and makes for a lot of issues when it comes to the gameplay.”
atmosphere
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
93%
7%
The game is widely praised for its impressive, dark, and eerie atmosphere, enhanced by strong visuals, sound design, and character creativity. While the short length and occasional control or camera issues are noted, the overall mood and immersive vibe stand out as key strengths.
- “It has a great dark atmosphere and it looks extremely impressive.”
- “The atmosphere and characters you come across really give it an eerie and unsettling vibe.”
- “The graphics, animations and sound/voice track are very atmospheric as is the (short) story.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
17%
25%
The music is widely praised for its beauty, creativity, and eerie yet captivating atmosphere, often enhancing gameplay moments and linger in players' minds. It complements the game's visuals and story well, contributing to an overall immersive experience despite occasional criticism of sound effects and controls.
- “A nice short experience with beautiful graphics, wonderful music, creative level designs, and a sweet locomotion system.”
- “The music is eerie and yet beautiful; the game's graphics are nice, and I like that we unlock/find out the story in a unique way.”
- “Beautiful visuals, clever ways of moving through the environment, fantastic soundtrack, great voice acting.”
- “The other thing was the music box stage, when you're climbing up the spiral piano, it pulls out way too much and the white blinds me and I'm praying I don't fall off.”
- “It's got some wonky controls and music/sound effects leave more to desire, but for a short story game it's very good.”
- “The sounds that are individually placed... the details.. music...”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game's optimization is generally poor, with frequent bugs, performance drops even on high-end hardware, and occasional issues like broken achievements. However, adjusting settings to medium can improve performance, making the experience more playable. Despite these flaws, many find the game still worth playing, especially considering its price or free availability.
- “I have noticed some performance drops on my Steam Deck, but they disappear on medium settings in Full HD.”
- “Optimized to a point, but if you think you have a beefy computer, you might only need to play on medium or high settings.”
- “Horrible optimization and controls with a lot of bugs.”
- “I played your game and I can say that the game came out pretty good, but I noticed terrible optimization (I have an RTX 4060 and on ultra settings it loads at 100%, which I think shouldn't happen); also, achievements sometimes don't register.”
- “The optimization isn’t very polished and has its rough edges, but for a completely free game, it’s easy to forgive the flaws.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a heartfelt and touching emotional experience, often described as an emotional roller coaster that can even bring players to tears. While visually impressive with a strong concept, some gameplay mechanics and controls feel wonky or need clearer explanations, slightly detracting from the overall emotional impact.
- “Some mechanics need a bit more explaining, I feel, but overall, it was an emotional roller coaster.”
- “Omg this is so well... also you made me cry... thank you <3”
- “Cute, touching, a bit wonky controls but nothing to stress over.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has several stability issues, including bugs and glitches that can cause unexpected character deaths and require repeated attempts to progress. While generally playable, players may need to reload or restart due to these occasional technical problems.
- “A couple of the achievements seemed a bit buggy and required repeated playthroughs.”
- “In my opinion, the game is a little buggy and I couldn't get past the spider part because I was on the wooden floor and somehow my character randomly died.”
- “The game is playable, just understand that you will encounter glitches and sometimes you aren't sure what to do.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is enhanced by the ability to move during cutscenes, leading to unexpected and funny moments, contributing to an overall fantastic experience.
- “You can keep moving during the cutscenes and get some hilarious unintended results in the process.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is well-received, with players appreciating the character designs and the overall atmosphere, despite some minor issues with controls and sound effects.