Phantasie#Phantasie
{{Short description|1985 video game}}
{{lead too short|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Phantasie
| image = Phantasie Coverart.png
| writer = Winston Douglas Wood
| developer = Strategic Simulations
| publisher = Strategic Simulations
| designer = Winston Douglas Wood
| series = Phantasie
| released = 1985
| genre = Role-playing
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Amiga, MSX, FM-7, Sharp X1, PC-98
}}
Phantasie is the first video game in the Phantasie series.
Gameplay
Based on the Isle of Gelnor, Phantasie allows a group of six characters to adventure the countryside and try to defeat the evil Black Knights and their sorcerer leader, Nikademus. Players could choose to be one of six character classes (Thief, Fighter, Ranger, Monk, Priest, and Wizard) and could also choose between the races of Human, Dwarf, Halfling, Elf, or Gnome. By selecting "Random" one could also choose from ogre, troll, pixie, gnoll, orc, lizard man, minotaur, and other races.
The game was notable for taking advantage of a broad mix of styles for the game: a town window which allowed purchasing in various shops, a top-down style dungeon crawl view, a top-down world map, and a separate combat window. Each character class had unique fighting styles and options and all characters could choose their strategy for a particular round in the turn-based combat segments. After a combat, experience was awarded, but the players would have to return to town to purchase their levels if they qualified.
Reception
With more than 50,000 copies sold in North America, Phantasie was very successful for SSI.{{cite web | url=http://www.filfre.net/2016/03/opening-the-gold-box-part-3-from-tabletop-to-desktop/ | title=Opening the Gold Box, Part 3: From Tabletop to Desktop | publisher=The Digital Antiquarian | date=2016-03-18 | accessdate=19 March 2016 | author=Maher, Jimmy}} It was the company's best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987.{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1987-12-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_54_1987_Dec#page/n17/mode/2up | title=The Commodore Games That Live On And On | work=Compute's Gazette | date=December 1987 | accessdate=24 January 2015 | author=Ferrell, Keith | pages=18–22}} Game reviewers Hartley and Pattie Lesser in 1987 complimented the Atari ST version of Phantasie in their "The Role of Computers" column in Dragon #120 (1987), recommending that Atari ST owners should "consider Phantasie as a game well-worth their attention".{{cite journal | title=The Role of Computers | last1=Lesser | last2=Lesser | first1=Hartley | first2=Patricia | journal=Dragon | issue=120 | date=April 1987 | pages=79–82}} ANALOG Computing in 1988 called Phantasie and its sequel the best fantasy role-playing games for the Atari 8-bit.{{cite news | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/analog/issue64/panak.php | title=Panak Strikes | work=ANALOG Computing | date=September 1988 | accessdate=30 January 2015 | author=Panak, Steve | pages=83}} In 1991 and 1993 Computer Gaming World{{'}}s Scorpia called Phantasie "a surprisingly good little game, with many interesting features".{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1991&pub=2&id=87 | title=C*R*P*G*S / Computer Role-Playing Game Survey | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=October 1991 | accessdate=18 November 2013 | author=Scorpia | authorlink=Scorpia (journalist) | pages=16}}{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=111 | title=Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=October 1993 | accessdate=25 March 2016 | author=Scorpia | authorlink=Scorpia (journalist) | pages=34–50}}
Development
Wood stated that the Wizardry and Ultima were inspirations when creating Phantasie RPG game, while basic mechanics of combat and character development were inspired by tabletop game RuneQuest.{{cite web | url=https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=8786 | title=RPG Codex Retrospective Interview: Winston Douglas Wood on Phantasie and Star Command :: RPG codex > doesn't scale to your level}}
Regarding the inspiration behind the character of Nikademus, Wood said that he read Tolkien and studied Greek mythology and culture, including The Chronicles of Narnia and other fantasy novels, using all elements from them as inspiration. The name of the character comes from Nicodemus, a character from the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH; he thought that it sounded like a bad-guy name but also realized that it was also the name of a Biblical character, and he changed the spelling of the character Nicodemus to Nikademus.{{cite web | url=https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=8786 | title=RPG Codex Retrospective Interview: Winston Douglas Wood on Phantasie and Star Command :: RPG codex > doesn't scale to your level}}
Reviews
- Casus Belli #30 (January 1986){{Cite web|url=https://rpggeek.com/rpgissuearticle/139195/ludotique|title = Ludotique | Article | RPGGeek}}
- Jeux & Stratégie #35{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-35/page/48/mode/2up | title=Jeux & stratégie 35 | date=October 1985}}
- Games #70{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/games701985december/page/n51/mode/2up | title=GAMES Magazine #70 | date=December 1985}}
Legacy
Phantasie I, Phantasie III, and Questron II were later re-released together, and reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #203 by Sandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the compilation 2 out of 5 stars.{{cite journal|title=Eye of the Monitor|first=Sandy|last=Petersen|journal=Dragon|issue=203|date=March 1994|pages=59–62, 69|authorlink=Sandy Petersen}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://archive.org/details/analog-computing-magazine-51/page/n93/mode/2up Review] in ANALOG Computing
- [https://archive.org/details/analog-computing-magazine-57/page/n83/mode/2up Review] in ANALOG Computing
- [https://archive.org/details/family-computing-25/page/n95/mode/2up Review] in Family Computing
- [https://archive.org/details/1985-10-computegazette/page/n91/mode/2up Review] in Compute!'s Gazette
- [https://archive.org/details/info-magazine-19/Info_Issue_19_1988_Mar_Apr/page/n11/mode/2up Review] in Info
Category:Atari 8-bit computer games
Category:Role-playing video games
Category:Single-player video games