Ever since Kinetic Games’

Phasmophobia

made its debut almost two years ago, the player count has just been skyrocketing. As a result, fans have been begging for more updates to this ghost investigation game. Rest assured, the developers listened and rolled out numerous updates that continue to make this game a fresh and truly unique kind of horror.

Since the publication of my first review,

Phasmophobia

now has a variety of major additions. For instance, two new maps, Willow Street House and Maple Lodge Campsite released. There are a total of twenty ghosts, one new piece of equipment (D.O.T.S. Projector), various upgrades or texture overhauls to the old equipment, new and terrifying ghost activities and a nightmare mode difficulty.

In the last few updates, Kinetic Games redesigned many of the ghost hunting tools. For instance, video cameras will now reveal ghost orbs in real time and have a night vision mode that makes the flashlight completely obsolete. Other items received new animations and texture overhauls. Crucifixes slowly burn, the Spirit Box has terrifying voices rather than just the one robotic voice and motion sensors finally work, just to name a few.

Finally, the ghost-hunting journal has received a massive texture and technical overhaul. The journal will now illustrate what ghost behaviors the player would need to look for in order to find it, the evidence the player can use to eliminate the ghost-type, as well as the objectives you need to complete in order to maximize your reward.

As aforementioned, the release of a new difficulty mode amplifies the horror to beyond anyone’s imagination. Ghost events now play a significant role compared to prior versions of the game. Rather than flicker the lights or throw objects at the player, ghosts can mimic an impending hunt, shatter all the lights in the room, breathe in the player’s ears and manifest in front of them.

Ghost events can significantly affect the player’s sanity and can increase the chances of a hunt happening fairly quickly. When you hear the ghost cackle or sing, you will want to run.

Ghosts can now wander the halls and change their favorite locations, making it significantly more difficult for the player to detect where and what the ghost is. Additionally, ghosts may hide one piece of evidence, leaving the player to use their wits to figure out what it is. Is it a loud ghost? Does it like to throw items? Will it move faster when it is cooler or hotter in the room? Does the ghost leave footprints? It is all ambiguous and requires good intuition. These new additions to the game add an extra layer of challenge to all the maps. Particularly, these additions make larger maps, such as Asylum or High School, much more daunting to play without a full team.

Hunts have become increasingly more deadly. With escalated difficulty, your sanity will drain exponentially faster. Additionally, ghosts tend to hunt for much longer and will move much faster, making the feeling of being chased significantly more terrifying.

Additionally, the harder the difficulty level, the less hiding spots there are. Closets and particular rooms will be blocked off, forcing the player to hide behind couches and island countertops, or to outrun and loop around the ghost without running into a dead end in order to evade the ghost.

If you are still bored with Among Us or are looking for a new co-op game to play with your friends,

Phasmophobia

is worth picking up. As a game still in early-access, the price is relatively cheap, marked at $13.99 USD.