''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 Sorcerer may refer to: Magic * Sorcerer (supernatural), a practitioner of magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources * Sorcerer (fantasy), a fictional character who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sou ...

leader, Nikademus. Players could choose to be one of six character classes (

Thief Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

, Fighter, Ranger,

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, and Wizard) and could also choose between the races of

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

Dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

Halfling Halflings are a fictional race found in some fantasy works. They tend to be depicted as physically similar to humans, except about half as tall and not as stocky as the similarly sized dwarves. Halflings are often depicted as having slightly p ...

Elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

, or

Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

. By selecting "Random" one could also choose from

ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

pixie A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cor ...

, 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 A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find. Video g ...

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 Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...

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. 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 A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' #120 (1987), recommending that Atari ST owners should "consider ''Phantasie'' as a game well-worth their attention". ''

ANALOG Computing ''ANALOG Computing'' was an American computer magazine devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. It was published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ''ANALOG'' printed multiple programs in each issue for users to type in. Almo ...

'' in 1988 called ''Phantasie'' and its sequel the best fantasy role-playing games for the

Atari 8-bit The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

. In 1991 and 1993 ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

''s Scorpia called ''Phantasie'' "a surprisingly good little game, with many interesting features".

Development

Wood stated that the ''

Wizardry Wizardry may refer to: * ''Wizardry'' (video game series), role-playing video game series, originally published by Sir-Tech ** '' Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord'', the first game of the series, released in 1981 * ''Wizardry'' (The ...

'' and '' Ultima'' were inspirations when creating ''Phantasie'' RPG game, while basic mechanics of combat and character development were inspired by tabletop game ''

RuneQuest ''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford (game designer), Gre ...

''. Regarding the inspiration behind the character of Nikademus, Wood said that he read Tolkien and studied

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

and culture, including ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

'' 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.

Reviews

* ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...

'' #30 (January 1986) * '' Jeux & Stratégie'' #35 * ''

Games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

'' #70

Legacy

''Phantasie I'', '' Phantasie III'', and '' Questron II'' were later re-released together, and reviewed in 1994 in ''

'' #203 by

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game Call of Cthul ...

in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the compilation 2 out of 5 stars.

References

{{reflist

External links

Review
in ''

''
Review
in ''

Family Computing ''Family Computing'' (later ''Family & Home Office Computing'' and ''Home Office Computing'') was an American computer magazine published by Scholastic Corporation, Scholastic from the 1980s to the early 2000s. It covered all the major home comp ...

''
Review
in '' Compute!'s Gazette''
Review
in ''

Info Info is shorthand for "information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpr ...

'' 1985 video games Amiga games Apple II games Atari 8-bit computer games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games FM-7 games MSX2 games NEC PC-9801 games Role-playing video games Sharp X1 games Single-player video games Strategic Simulations games Video games developed in the United States