Phantasmata

About

A surreal dark-comedy RPG set in an alternate-reality American dystopia! Witches, nightmarish creatures, conspiracies - oh my!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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80%

Audience ScoreBased on 15 reviews

humor3 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features a unique art style and engaging character designs that stand out from typical indie RPGs.
The dialogue is fun and often tongue-in-cheek, adding to the overall charm and humor of the game.
The atmosphere and tone are captivating, with a mix of quirky mechanics and high-energy music that enhances the experience.

The combat system can become tedious due to reliance on timing mechanics and frequent enemy encounters, leading to a repetitive experience.
There are numerous technical issues, including crashes and bugs that can disrupt gameplay and cause loss of progress.
The story can feel directionless and confusing at times, making it difficult to follow objectives and fully engage with the narrative.

story
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The story is described as engaging and unique, featuring themes of witches and distinct characters, but it suffers from incoherence and a lack of direction, making it difficult for players to follow. While some appreciate its surreal nature, others find it reminiscent of typical RPG Maker fanfiction, with predictable plot elements and underwhelming boss encounters that detract from the overall experience. Balancing issues in gameplay also impact the narrative flow, as players often rush through battles to reach the story's conclusion.
- “Less time focusing on trying not to lose and more time focusing on the story!”
- “Controls are simple & easy to get the hang of, the characters are distinct & (very!) stylish, the story so far is very engaging.”
- “Has a unique style that sets it out from the rest as well as really cool characters and a cool storyline.”
- “There's some theme about witches or something which slightly differentiates this abandoned RPG Maker template job from the usual anime fan-fictions, but not much; the plot is still very much what you would expect from RPG Maker fanfictions... high school anime club reject garbage.”
- “The story's a bit incoherent, too, at times, but that just adds to its surreal nature.”
- “I found it hard to follow the story and objectives.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game's graphics receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its unique art style and quirky elements, while others criticize the low-quality visuals, likening them to amateurish designs and retro pixel art. The lack of modern graphical support and options further detracts from the experience for dedicated gamers. Overall, the visuals may appeal to those who enjoy unconventional aesthetics, but many find them lacking in quality.
- “It's not quite like any other piece of media out there and the combination of different art styles, charming writing, and surreal settings alone makes it worth picking up and playing for a while.”
- “If you like weird RPGs with unique aesthetics and lots of weird little quirky things sprinkled in, then you'll really enjoy what this game has to offer.”
- “I enjoyed the artwork and had a laugh over the dialog and some of the enemy names.”
- “The artwork here is terrible; it's a blend of old retro pixel art used as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics, and some of the most amateurish MS Paint/'baby's first Wacom tablet' style drawings I've ever hurt my eyes on.”
- “It's unclear if this is due to a lack of budget to hire someone who can do graphics properly, or a lack of talent; regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is extremely low as a result of these decisions.”
- “As with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is consistently high-energy and features a vibrant mix of jungle, breakbeat, and EDM-inspired tracks that enhance its personality. However, some players noted that certain tracks, particularly in specific areas, can be jarring or off-key, detracting from the overall experience. Overall, while the music is generally praised, it can occasionally be overwhelming or unpleasant.
- “The music never misses and it's always very high energy, featuring a lot of really neat jungle/breakbeat/EDM inspired tracks.”
- “The music, some was amazing.”
- “The music bangs, the enemy designs are a special kind of ugly in the best way imaginable.”
- “Only nitpick complaint is that while the colors and music add a whole lot to the personality of the game, it can be a little rough on the brain.”
- “Others (like the 'music' when you enter studio 7, was just horrible off-key noise that prompted a headache)”
- “Sometimes music just sounds like horrifying background noise.”
gameplay
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The gameplay is criticized for its low-quality visuals and a lack of engaging mechanics, leading to a frustrating early game and a monotonous late game where players can easily overpower enemies without utilizing the diverse character skills and customization options available. While the variety of recruitable characters adds potential depth, the overall experience is marred by repetitive combat and a lack of challenge.
- “There's a lot of different recruitable characters that you can find and get to join your team with a myriad of different skills and personalities. Beyond that, there are mechanics that allow you to further power them up and tailor them to your liking.”
- “Like most RPG Maker shovelware and asset flips, the game features extremely low-quality, copy-pasted 2D retro pixel art, looks awful, and has even worse gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is repetitive and lacks depth, making it feel like a chore rather than an enjoyable experience.”
- “The controls are clunky and unresponsive, which significantly detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the humor in the game, highlighting the amusing NPC dialogue and the quirky, hand-drawn art style that adds to the overall charm. However, some feel that the lengthy maps and frequent enemy encounters can detract from the enjoyment of the humor, suggesting that a more balanced approach could enhance the experience.
- “Another thing that soured me a bit was just how long some of the maps were, a lot of the areas were pretty much just very long hallways filled with enemy encounters and junk to occasionally walk around, walking back and forth between different areas and exploring felt like a massive chore but I still did it anyway because I really enjoyed finding secret characters or funny NPC dialogue.”
- “- hilarious 'hand drawn' art”
- “You are thrust into an exceedingly interesting side-scrolling world that is full of wonderful colors, hilarious (yet obnoxious) characters, and memes.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, as the reliance on a timing mechanic for combat leads to a slog in the early stages and a mindless experience in the later stages. The need to farm for resources can detract from the enjoyment of exploring the game's diverse skills and mechanics, resulting in a repetitive gameplay loop.
- “The combat relies on a timing gimmick to achieve max damage, which becomes quite tedious when it's used for every single attack.”
- “In my playthrough, this basically made the beginning of the game a huge slog where I struggled to find enemies to farm money off of, and then the end of the game tedious and braindead as I auto-attacked everything to death within one turn. I had each of my characters equipped with decent weapons and an accessory that allowed me to attack twice in a row, so I didn't really have a need to engage with any of the different skills or classes or any of the other cool mechanics they implemented.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
150%
While the game's colorful visuals and intriguing character designs are praised, there is some confusion regarding the depth and progression of character development.
- “I really adore this game so far; it is very colorful, and all of the character designs are very intriguing.”
- “The character development is confusing and lacks depth.”
- “I found the character development to be shallow and unengaging.”
- “There are missed opportunities for meaningful character growth.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised as a key selling point, with reviewers highlighting its intriguing tone and immersive quality.
- “Like most of the reviews would tell you, the atmosphere and tone of the game is really what sells it.”
- “The game creates an interesting atmosphere that draws you in.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Phantasmata's monetization has been criticized as a cash grab, with a $20 price tag that many users feel is unjustified given the availability of older AAA games for the same price.
- “Phantasmata has the cash grab/scam level price of $20 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, as it pushes players to spend more money for basic features that should be included in the game.”
- “I was disappointed to find that many essential items are locked behind a paywall, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra.”

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