Evolution of Phantasie (1985 - 1990) by Strategic Simulations SSI comparison history RPG evolution

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#phantasie #rpg #retrogaming No Commentary 0:00 Phantasie - 1985 1:16:30 Phantasie II - 1986 2:05:28 Phantasie III: The Wrath of Nikademus - 1987 2:17:55 Phantasie IV: Birth of Heroes - 1990 [Japan-exclusive] More about Phantasie series (from Wikipedia): 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 Commodore 64, Apple II, DOS, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Amiga, and MSX. 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. With more than 50,000 copies sold in North America, Phantasie was very successful for SSI. It was the company's best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987. 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." ANALOG Computing in 1988 called Phantasie and its sequel the best fantasy role-playing games for the Atari 8-bit. In 1991 and 1993 Computer Gaming World's Scorpia called Phantasie "a surprisingly good little game, with many interesting features".