Phantasmat: The Dread of Oakville Collector's Edition

[b]Phantasmat 4: The Dread of Oakville [/b](IHOG) Options include separate sliders for Music, SFX and Voices, plus Full-screen (auto widescreen) and Custom Cursor. Choice of 3 preset difficulties or Custom Mode, which can be changed at any time. The toolbar can be locked open if you wish. [b]Story[/b]: You have been stranded outside the town of Oakville, but how can you find any help when most everyone seems to be missing? Something dreadful has happened here, but there's no looking back now... https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1892110460 There is NO [b]Journal[/b] to keep tabs on the story, but you won't need to write down clues in order to solve puzzles. That kind of thing will go into your inventory so that you don't lose track. There is also a [b]task list[/b] in case you need it. It feels like parts of the story were done by different people, because both the overall storyline and the behavior of the characters are contradictory from one part of the story to the next. Very confusing. [b]Gameplay[/b]: Keep an eye out for [b]Morphing Items[/b] - one on each scene. There is an indicator on the right side of the toolbar - Gold if you've found it, silver if you haven't. The [b]MAP[/b] can be interactive, and directional [b]HINTS[/b] are available. If the place you need to be is more than one scene away when you click the hint button, you'll get a popup window that gives you the option to insta-transport there, and that reminds me... When you click on a location on your map, it will bring up a picture of that location. You'll have to click on the [i]popup[/i] if you want to jump to that scene. [b]The Hidden Object Scenes[/b] are really the best part of this fourth Phantasmat game. Every time you see one it's going to be something different, from silhouettes, word association, riddles, finding x-number of items to unlock word lists and more. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1896525566 The [b]Match-3 alternative[/b] to the HO scenes is well-designed and fun-to-play, but is not always available... I didn't even see it show up as an option until I was an hour into the game. I really enjoyed the first part of the game, but then they started making us do foolish things in order to progress. I'm all for using whatever tools you have at hand to get the job done -- I'm the queen of makeshift solutions -- but these things just made me want to pull my hair out! Example: [spoiler]WHY do I need to break that glass/crystal with a high vibration? Why can't I just break it with one of the very-believable items in my inventory?? Seriously! >_<[/spoiler] [b]Sights and Sounds[/b]: The voice acting was just all over the place. One person was really good, another completely chewed up the carpet, while another was just dull - I never knew what I was going to hear when a character opened their mouth, and that brings me to a pet peeve of mine... This game has some really spooky moments in it... Moments completely ruined either by the acting or by our own character's total lack of reaction to what's going on around her. "Oh, that's odd, I don't usually see headless corpses floating through town." That dialogue isn't in the game, but it's things like that. Sure it keeps things from getting too scary for people, but darn it, I like my creepy games to be CREEPY! I enjoyed the graphics and the style they used - it was nicely-suited to the environment they were trying to portray. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1896525598 [b]CE Content[/b]: [list] [*]Integrated Strategy Guide (bottom left of the task bar, above the map) [*]43 Morphing Items, can be obtained via the Extras section of the game if you miss them [*]In-game Achievements [*]Bonus Chapter [*]8 Wallpapers + Character development [*]10 Music Tracks (saveable) [*]16 Rewatchable Cutscenes [*]17 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes (with scoring) [*]21 Replayable Puzzles [*]Match 3 Game (five levels, I think) [*]Souvenir Room [/list] [b]Bonus Chapter[/b]: The main game wraps up nicely, but it's not the actual ending of the story! There is more to it than meets the eye, and that is where the extra chapter comes in. I liked the bonus more than the main game, I think, mostly because the tasks we had to perform weren't so asinine. [b]Verdict[/b]: This is a well-made game with many extras, match-3 gameplay in place of finding hidden objects (not always available) and nice artwork. I would recommend this game to fans of the genre, but be aware that there is rampant usage of "game logic".

Bravo! A very good game to play! An intriguing story with a handful of characters, gruesome enemies, malevolent supernatural entity and fun! You are playing as a writer, Anne Clarke, who needs to get on time for a literary event. Suddenly, you find yourself trapped in a tunnel. From there on your adventure begins. It took me about two nights to beat the main game plus the bonus chapter. Apart from the gaming experience and the long-hour run, this game has tones of good things to remember. PROS: - Intriguing story; - Beautiful scenes; - Music + environment sounds are spot-on; - Good voice-acting; - Collectibles in the main game and bonus chapter; - Handful of jumpscares (beware!); - Helpful Strategy Guide; - Fast-travelling map; - Souvenir Room to unlock an in-game achievement; - Long-hour run. CONS: - None. In conclusion, a guaranteed success! A gem of a game. Should be on everybody's list.

Truly one of the best HOGs I have played ever - the story is very cool, the HOGs are not that easy, a real pleasure !

It did not have exactly the most engaging story. The story leaned more toward bland. Still, I would recommend this game as the puzzles were fun, and there was surprisingly a lot to do.

Ich würde dieses Spiel nicht weiterempfehlen. Es gibt mehrere Teile der Phantasmatreihe, doch dieser hier ist bis jetzt der schwächste. Der "böse" Nightingale ist zu besiegen und man muss herausfinden warum in einer Kleinstadt Menschen verschwinden. An sich anfangs eine schönes Spiel. Leider "nur" in Englisch spielbar mit einer mangelnden Story und Charakteren in die man sich nicht hineinversetzen kann. Das Bonuskapitel ist innerhalb von 15 Minuten durchgespielt und bringt die Storyline nicht wirklich zu einem runden Abschluss. Alles in allem also ein Spiel was mich von der Phantasmatreihe sehr enttäuscht hat. :(

A very good made HOP with nice graphics and story. It has lots of different puzzles and spoky background music, with here and there a little jumpscare. You can adjust the difficulty if you want and there is some bonus features. I really liked this HOP

Enjoyed it a lot. Recommended.

Nice puzzles and atmosphere.

Meh

puzzles within puzzles, nice graphics, entertaining story line