Phantasie (video game)

Phantasie
Phantasie
Developer(s)	Strategic Simulations
Publisher(s)	Strategic Simulations
Designer(s)	Winston Douglas Wood
Writer(s)	Winston Douglas Wood
Platform(s)	Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Amiga, MSX, FM-7, Sharp X1, PC-98
Release	1985
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single player

Last updated March 15, 2019

Phantasie is the first video game in the Phantasie series.

Phantasie is a fantasy role-playing video game series designed by Winston Douglas Wood and published by Strategic Simulations in 1985. It was released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and MSX.

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 Thief, Burglar, Scoundrel, or Rogue is a character class in many role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft and many MMORPGs. Thieves are usually stealthy and dexterous characters able to disarm traps, pick locks, spy on foes, and perform backstabs from hiding.

A Ranger is an archetype found in works of fantasy fiction and role-playing games.

The monk is a character class in a number of role-playing tabletop and video games. In those games which follow the Dungeons & Dragons traditions, monks are characters with excellent martial arts skills and who specialize in unarmed, unarmored combat.

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.

A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find. Because of its simplicity, a dungeon crawl can be easier for a gamemaster to run than more complex adventures, and the "hack and slash" style of play is appreciated by players who focus on action and combat. The term can be used in a pejorative sense, since dungeon crawls often lack meaningful plot or logical consistency. The parody game Munchkin is about "the essence of the dungeon experience… Kill the monsters, steal the treasure, stab your buddy."

Reception

With more than 50,000 copies sold in North America, Phantasie was very successful for SSI.^[1] It was the company's best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987.^[2] 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."^[3] ANALOG Computing in 1988 called Phantasie and its sequel the best fantasy role-playing games for the Atari 8-bit.^[4] In 1991 and 1993 Computer Gaming World 's Scorpia called Phantasie "a surprisingly good little game, with many interesting features".^[5]^[6]

Dragon was one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products; Dungeon was the other.

ANALOG Computing was an American computer magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit home computer line, published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ANALOG published multiple programs in each issue for users to type in. The magazine had a reputation for listings of machine language games—much smoother than those written in Atari BASIC—and which were uncommon in competing magazines. Such games were accompanied by the assembly language source code. Originally the title as printed on the cover was A.N.A.L.O.G. 400/800 Magazine, but by the eighth issue it changed to A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing. Though the dots remained in the logo, it was simply referred to as ANALOG or ANALOG Computing inside the magazine.

<i>Computer Gaming World</i> American video game magazine

Computer Gaming World (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006.

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.^[7]

Phantasie III is the third video game in the Phantasie series.

Questron II a 1988 role-playing video game published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, and Amiga. It is the sequel to 1984's Questron. Questron II is credited to Westwood Associates in the instruction booklet for the IBM PC version.

Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen is an American game designer.

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References

↑ Maher, Jimmy (2016-03-18). "Opening the Gold Box, Part 3: From Tabletop to Desktop". The Digital Antiquarian. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
↑ Ferrell, Keith (December 1987). "The Commodore Games That Live On And On". Compute's Gazette. pp. 18–22. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia (April 1987). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (120): 79–82.
↑ Panak, Steve (September 1988). "Panak Strikes". ANALOG Computing. p. 83. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
↑ Scorpia (October 1991). "C*R*P*G*S / Computer Role-Playing Game Survey". Computer Gaming World. p. 16. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
↑ Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
↑ Petersen, Sandy (March 1994). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (203): 59–62, 69.

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[maher20160318-1] Maher, Jimmy (2016-03-18). "Opening the Gold Box, Part 3: From Tabletop to Desktop". The Digital Antiquarian. Retrieved 19 March 2016.

[ferrell198712-2] Ferrell, Keith (December 1987). "The Commodore Games That Live On And On". Compute's Gazette. pp. 18–22. Retrieved 24 January 2015.

[Dragon120-3] Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia (April 1987). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (120): 79–82.

[panak198809-4] Panak, Steve (September 1988). "Panak Strikes". ANALOG Computing. p. 83. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

[scorpia199110-5] Scorpia (October 1991). "C*R*P*G*S / Computer Role-Playing Game Survey". Computer Gaming World. p. 16. Retrieved 18 November 2013.

[scorpia199310-6] Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

[Dragon203-7] Petersen, Sandy (March 1994). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (203): 59–62, 69.