Phasmophobia: A hauntingly glorious early access title
Phasmophobia is probably the game of 2020 that took my friends and me by storm. I have always been a huge fan of reading about ghost hunts and paranormal research, now I got a game that gives me all those thrills and chills without the risk of demonic possession. At the time of this writing, I have put 170 hours into this is a game my friends and I play at the very least twice a week.
In those 170 hours, the difference in jump scares is from every noise and creak the house makes you think is a hunt, to walking in trash-talking the ghost, daring it to take you out. I will say I still wish the game had a solid way to escape the ghost better than hiding, holding the door, and hoping for the best. Sometimes gathering evidence is a waiting game, which is great at times when you’re talking with friends telling a story, but when you’re trying to get done with low sanity and the hunts keep rolling it’s just frustrating. The sanity meter can be a huge problem at times as well, it drops too quickly when you’re trying to get certain evidence, like spirit box or emf.
The newest update is a huge step in the right direction, but not without flaws. The ghosts can wander way too far and you’ll completely lose track of it, or not be able to find the ghost room altogether. When the ghosts wander the temperature of the room will go up, meaning the thermometer is not the best way to find them and they don’t seem to be responding to their names or the “give me a sign” command.
The abilities of the two new ghosts are a welcome hassle for experienced players but will really trip up newbies. The Yokai becomes more aggressive as you talk around them with or without the ghost box (necessary evidence btw). While the Hantu becomes faster if you don’t turn the generator back on, or slower as you let the house warm up. These new ghosts add a new variety to the way you use the hunting tools, but would definitely be catastrophic to a new player that isn’t sure how the rules of the game work or those who don’t check the journal.
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The new house is quite the trip as it’s only slightly bigger than the initial or tutorial house (Tanglewood Street House) but lacks any closets or lockers that give that safer feeling. It’s got a lot of big furniture to hide around so you have to break line of sight, duck, and take cover to survive those hunts. It has a lot of huge rooms that make gaining evidence a bit rough especially getting ghostwriting.
Playing this make sure to gear up with a good headset and mic, be ready to talk clearly so you can get those answers too. This game is best experienced with friends as randoms can sometimes just be more of a burden than a boon. I however can’t recommend playing this game single player at all as it is quite cumbersome if you do. In its current state, it is very much of early access, but with each and every update, the game gets bigger, better, and bolder than before. So this writer will be making sure to keep his eye on this one and experiencing it as much as I can with each of these upgrades.