Introduction

Many of my friends believe that my favorite genre of video games happen to be JRPGs and…they aren’t entirely wrong. However, one thing few people know about me is my love for all things horror-related. I won’t sit here and make it sound like I’m a super courageous individual, some horror games I can barely play because they are just too scary.

Playing through the old demo PT was a testament to my courage and that I could play in a bright room during the afternoon. Nevertheless, I still love the genre and am always willing to play a new one, especially, when you go for something fresh and not formulaic. Enter Phasmophobia, a title originally released as an early access in 2020 by developer, Kinetic Games.

Phasmophobia is a co-op-themed horror title where you aren’t killing ghosts or enemies but instead trying to find evidence of their existence while not getting killed. Phasmophobia is finally available on consoles and while it still is in early access, I can finally play this intriguing title on my PS5.

Should you become a future ghost hunter yourself or leave it to the professionals? Let’s find out in my review of Phasmophobia for the PS5!

Watch the Official Trailer

Gameplay

Phasmophobia is a part simulator and first-person exploration game. Players assume the role of a ghost hunter/paranormal investigator (whichever you prefer, in your mind) and take missions to find paranormal entities/evidence of the supernatural.

At first, you can only choose a few locations but as you level up (or pick random ones) you gain access to various other maps that range from small suburban homes to spooky abandoned schools/prisons. You’ll also gain access to advanced gear to make your investigations easier and earn even more cash for more items and gear.

Now, you may be asking, what do I do as a paranormal investigator? Assuming you’ve never seen one of the 200+ TV shows about ghost investigators, your job is simple enough. You are given an assignment, told to find evidence, and then get out preferably alive.

Each location has ghosts/activities to be found and your tools will help you do so. For example, you can use a thermometer to gauge a specific room and see if the temperature drops to freezing levels. This indicates you’re in the so-called Ghost Room where the ghost/demon/entity is hanging out.

You can use Dot Matrix lights, set down video cameras, and place notebooks around. This is to see if ghosts will show themselves and give you that precious evidence. Add to that, there are even things called cursed items, which can let you find ghosts and see their activity even more…at a cost.

Items like Ouija Boards, Monkey Paws, and Cursed Mirrors to name a few are scattered about and can amp your investigation up and provide other small perks.

You might think this seems easy enough but you’d be mistaken as Phasmophobia’s entities aren’t just going to let you film them and mess with them without a fight. Depending on the difficulty and your character’s sanity, which are lowered as you wander dark areas or see scary things, entities can eventually initiate a Hunt.

This is when the entity you’ve been looking for is now looking for you, and all the doors leading out to safety are locked for a set time. To make matters worse, the entity can now wander about and won’t just be throwing books around or shutting lights off, they aim to kill you and if they catch you out and about, you’ll end up dead.

You can fight back using various objects like Crucifixes and Incense to stop the hunt or even hide/loop the ghost till they leave but it will take some time to master these abilities. Expect a bit of a steep learning curve that will have you usually making less than $50 per investigation and meeting death more often than not.

The cool element of Phasmophobia’s gameplay is there’s a lot to learn which might be off-putting for some but others will love it. I fall into that latter, learning how to find ghosts and what tools work best in various locations kept each game satisfying. My dad even joined me so we play cooperatively often.

You can play Phasmophobia solo or with up to 3 other players for a 4 man team and while it is scarier to play alone than with 4 people, I won’t deny it’s just not as thrilling. Even with other players, I would often jump when hearing a door wondering if my teammate was the culprit or a rogue spirit.

There’s also a big element to finding out what entity you’re dealing with as you find clues. I won’t lie to you, readers, I’m terrible at trying to figure out what each entity is from the evidence my dad and I gather. Usually, I just guess and 2/10 times I’ll get it right.

The logic behind figuring out what the enemy at the location is sound enough, if the ghost for example is found in low temperature, has spirit orbs, and writes on the notebook, it should be a spirit (for example; I know this isn’t right) but for some reason…I’m always wrong.

Still, I’m driven to master figuring out every nuance of Phasmophobia, and that is the charm to be had, here.

Now, let me be clear, Phasmophobia is still very much an early-development game. Despite it having been on PC for nearly 4 years now, there are a multitude of issues I’ve seen with this game and they range from ghosts having odd glitches, hunts starting accidentally, game freezing bugs, camera issues, and so on. But this leads me to believe that Phasmophobia can eventually become something incredible and those willing to wait on it, will be rewarded, I feel.

Graphics

I won’t sugarcoat it, Phasmophobia isn’t graphically impressive…at all. Even in 2020, Phasmophobia didn’t look that great. Namely the character models and some of the environments you’ll go to. Phasmophobia has, no doubt, come a long way from the first years but still it looks mediocre at best.

There are some times that Phasmophobia looks decent with solid lighting effects and small details, especially with the various ghosts/demons you’ll see while walking around. Sadly, that’s the only strength of Phasmophobia’s visuals. I know that, with early access, Phasmophobia could eventually be overhauled, visually, but for now…It needs work.

Play with a friend or stranger online, see how characters look, and you will laugh…which probably isn’t a good thing.

Sound

Unlike the visuals, the sound in Phasmophobia is perfect, and I mean, perfect, from the small sounds that make you wonder if a door opened in another room to the small cries of a demon disguised as a child. Phasmophobia is great in the sound department.

Phasmophobia does recommend you wear headphones for perfect gameplay and that makes sense. Headphones allow you to hear every detail perfectly and it helps amplify the creepy ambiance when you’re wandering away from your partner and listening to them screaming in the background.

Phasmophobia’s sound is incredible and really, I tell you all, to take that headphone recommendation seriously!

Story

There’s no main story in Phasmophobia. The idea is you’re a starting ghost hunter working with others out there and are trying to document evidence of the supernatural. Your goal is to visit various locations that have been reported as haunted houses and try to find evidence of what ghosts or entities are there and show they exist.

Overall Impression

I feel one of the hardest games to review is anything with the moniker of early access. I don’t want to be too hard on a game that is still being crafted but equally, and if I’m shelling money out for it, I do have some right to be a bit hard.

Phasmophobia isn’t perfect, it has issues and looks…not nice looking to say it nicely. However, Phasmophobia is a ton of fun and does something many other games haven’t explored before. Plus, playing with friends is a treat. My dad has requested to play Phasmophobia almost every day since its PS5 release and for him to do that shows he loves the game.

I think with some polish and continued care, Phasmophobia could be incredible but at the moment it’s not going to be the game of the year, sadly.

Conclusion

Phasmophobia is a game I want to give a higher review score to than what I gave it but here’s the thing… As a console early access, it has a lot of work to be done, the controls need to be polished, the visuals need a big improvement, and maybe some more tutorials for the various things in-game.

However, I want to say I fully recommend picking this game up if you are thinking about it. For the price and the fact it’s a solid working early access game, Phasmophobia is a blast to play and my dad and I are still having a blast getting random jump scares and trying to master the various little elements within the game.

If you can overcome the learning curve, Phasmophobia is a game that you will want to master and invest your time into, especially those who love the paranormal in general. Buy Phasmophobia and you will no doubt have a blast playing alone or with friends.

—Aaron