The treatment of all of this is interesting вЂ“ in 1996, it was rare to have such a prominent gay character (and is still rare today) and Curtis might perhaps be the first bisexual game character ever. HeвЂ™s undoubtedly the most likable character in the whole game, and perfectly fulfills the role of a concerned friend without devolving into a negative caricature. While Trevor has some stereotypically gay mannerisms and acts mostly to lighten the mood, itвЂ™s never forced or flamboyant. ThereвЂ™s a lot of exploration of CurtisвЂ™ childhood, told through counseling sessions with his psychologist, that deal with his attraction to not only sadomasochism, but also to his buddy Trevor. It does a better job of it, partially because the writingвЂ™s better, and partially because the acting isnвЂ™t nearly as abysmal. Like its predecessor, A Puzzle of Flesh tries to approach the themes of psychology and sexuality with more maturity than most video games. Furthermore, heвЂ™s caught between two women вЂ“ his adoring sweetheart girlfriend Jocelyn, and the aggressive S&M queen Therese, whom heвЂ™s attracted to for reasons he canвЂ™t quite understand. The executives are also presumed to have murdered his father. All of this, he gathers, is somehow related to the pharmaceutical company he works for, which is seemingly conducting all kinds of nasty experiments. Soon, more of his co-workers end up dead, his visions become crazier, and he begins to dig up all kinds of sordid memories regarding his childhood. He begins to doubt his sanity even further, which also attracts the attention of the police. But then one of his co-workers вЂ“ a fellow he didnвЂ™t particularly care for вЂ“ is brutally murdered. But then he starts having numerous eerie visions, which at first creep him out a bit. It jumps forward a bit, and we find Curtis back in the real world, seemingly well-adjusted with a standard office job. The story focuses on a young man named Curtis Craig, who we are introduced to as a resident of an insane asylum, strapped to a gurney and being treated with electroshock therapy. Overall, itвЂ™s still not fantastic, but at least itвЂ™s been upgraded to the level of a Sci-Fi Channel original movie.

The music is remarkably tense, and despite some occasionally cheesy synth instrumentation, is quite excellent. While it does lack the attractively rendered visuals of its predecessor, the visual style is also much more consistent, which makes the whole production look substantially less cheap. It also ditches the computer rendered backgrounds (for the most part) and uses real locations. The graphics utilize 16-bit color, and the video compression, though not up to DVD quality, is still substantially better. Roberta Williams also stepped aside as the designer, leaving the task to Lorelei Shannon, who previously worked with Williams on KingвЂ™s Quest VII: The Princeless Bride.ДЄlthough only released two years after the first Phantasmagoria, A Puzzle of Flesh is a huge technical improvement.

Despite the name, it has very little to do with its predecessor from a storyline standpoint вЂ“ itвЂ™s a psychological thriller as opposed to a story about a haunted house, and other than one minor reference to Adrienne Delaney, thereвЂ™s no storyline connection at all. After this, they released their third FMV/adventure title: Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh. While it still had some issues, it was a substantially improved product, with better acting, better writing, and some actual puzzle elements. Sierra continued its line of FMV adventure games with The Beast Within, the second in their Gabriel Knight series. Despite its mixed reviews, Phantasmagoria sold extremely well.

Phantasmagoria game music