The series Phenomenon has been a bit of a rollarcoaster ride for me. I was put off by the first one, but enjoyed the second one immensely, and now with the latest one, Phenomenon: Outcome staring me in the face, I was a mix of emotions.
Where was this latest Phenonmenon going to fall in the pendulum swing? Was it going to entrance me with a wickedly good story like
Phenomenon: Meteorite or was the terrible voice acting going to put a stake in it like
Phenomenon: City of Cyan.
Unfortunately it didn't take long before I knew where this train was heading...
The Story of Phenomenon: Outcome
What's the new Phenomenon game about? Good question. I really haven't the foggiest idea, the story was so convoluted and murky and just dreadfully inept at weaving together what was going on, that I felt entirely in the dark as a blundered along.
You begin by flashing back to the childhood of Sasha, our protagonist. She tells a tale of how her parents were consumed by a flash of light after the strange appearance of a homunculus...
Okay hold the phone... what the hell is a homunculus? And why does a tiny child seem to be quite familiar with this term? After having to look it up, it appears the term means literally "little man." And in our story, it refers to her figurine of a golden man. Great... good to know.
After many years, Sasha begins to have nightmares and her homunculus begins to glow. She somehow realizes it's a compass of some sort and it leads her to a strange island.
And here's where the story begins. You're on this strange island. You have a strange conversation with a strange man who's leaving. You get the gist that there's a cyan sickness infecting the people here and he warns you away.
Of course, you continue on your way meeting strange people and zapping strange blue vapor-like heads that sometimes appear. I'm not sure what you're doing or what's going on, but that's pretty much the start of what will be a long and well... strange journey.
The Graphics of Phenomenon: Outcome
While the story was a hot mess, the graphics were actually quite detailed and lovely to look at. The color palettes featured some vivid greens and purples that peppered the jungle and created a rather earthy and beautiful environment.
The character design was rather detailed and life-like as well, with added animations that was really a nice touch. Of course the exception just had to be the main character Sasha... there were many things I absolutely hated about her, but her incessant vapid blinking just brought my levels of disdain that much higher.
Still, overall the graphics of Phenomenon Outcome were polished and well done.
The Gameplay of Phenomenon: Outcome
The gameplay was mostly your traditional hidden object adventure point and click style.
Sparkles indicated hidden object scenes that were extremely dark with shadowed objects that I had trouble finding. I made good use of the hint button during these areas, which, of course, only infuriated me since I don't enjoy not being able to find an object.
I did enjoy the portal feature of the HOG scenes, however, which provided an entirely new area, a hidden object scene within a hidden object scene. It was a clever and unique way to add to the hunt.
Another nice feature was the homunculus itself. During gameplay at times, you were able to charge your homunculus, as it acted as a neutralizer that doused the blue smoke that carried the cyan disease (I think). And, while I wasn't sure what was going it, it was a nice addition that provided a decent interactive and immersive experience.
Something to note... I did think as I played through the game, that perhaps there was a bit of an issue with translation. There were just moments of awkwardness in the script and in the inventory items that created even more confusion in the storyline.
The Music, Sound & Voice Acting of Phenomenon: Outcome
Oh no... I'm not sure I can do this... from the moment I heard Sasha open her stupid mouth, I could not handle this game. Her inflection is just awful, an emotionless zombie droning on over and over again. To be fair, the script was equally terrible, but for goodness sakes... try to put a little passion into that tone... don't just drool your syllables.
The music was also a bit not good... it was odd and seemed really inappropriate at times for an adventure game. It had a slightly Spanish feel to it with the soft tinkling of guitars... not really what I would think fitting for a sci-fi adventure game.
Overall Conclusion for Phenomenon: Outcome
Unfortunately, Phenomenon: Outcome just didn't sit right with me at all.
The horrendous voice-acting, confusing story, and strange music just couldn't be overcome by the pleasant graphics and the somewhat unique gameplay.
