Many horror games rely on jumpscares, the fear of being chased, or creepy creatures and monsters. Phasmophobia is a different type of game. It is a psychological horror game, trying to get into your head. This game has given me and my friends adrenaline rushes and terrified at what just happened. The best explanation about the game is that you are a group of ghost hunters going to different locations hunting for ghosts.
You start off with plenty of equipment stored in a van. The van is the teams safe point, often parked outside the location. There are useful tools like an EMF reader with tells you where here is possible paranormal activity. There are also more basic tools such as a flashlight or thermometer. The game also has spatial VC, so if you are far, the other players wont hear you as well, so you should use the radio. It may sound easy just to walk in and check every room with a EMF reader, but it is much harder than that. Finding the ghost is the easy part, it figuring out what type of ghost it is that makes it difficult.
Phasmophobia lures you in with the ambiance of the environment, whether it is an asylum or roadhouse, you are definitely going to get some paranormal encounters.
Then things start to get scary. The game makes your first hunts calmer, but then the ghosts start to mess with you. Maybe you lose your team for a second and was that someone breathing you just heard? Was that a shadow in the corner or just your imagination?
Phasmophobia ghosts can kill you, but the main element is the build-up to when the ghost starts hunting you. I'll give an example.
Me and my friends were playing the street house map. We had figured out the child's room was a place the ghost liked. Once we set up our equipment, we heard a car alarm in the garage. One of my friends went down to turn it off while we set up a radio. Suddenly, the lights started to flicker and we heard the front door lock.
I quickly hid in a closet in the hallway. After a few minutes of radio silence, we met together in the hallway. One of my friends had died. Once we brought more gear, the alarm went off again. I finished and began to walk towards the door, but began to hear my heartbeat. And a tiny ghost child walked up to me. I will not tell you what happened next, but when you are dead, you view everything as blue and you can see the ghost and your teammates as well as hear them, but you cannot help any further.
The 2nd ghost is the one I encountered.
The terrifying experience of this game is different from all other games I've played. The game depends on teamwork and communication as well as bravery. The ghosts will mess with you in combinations that are confusing, surprising, and terrifying. Even if you are experienced, the game still comes up with stuff that will scare the heck out of you.
Overall review: 10/10
Complexity: 9/10
Where can I play it?
Phasmophobia is available for $14 on Steam. If you do not have Steam or don't feel like paying for it, you can play a similar game called "Blair" on Roblox (it has good graphics don't worry."
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