Recent reviews by Stinkhorn Fungus

They fixed just about everything i hated with dark and darker. Its not perfect, but it already feels so much better in every regard, especially pvp. there is a lack of gear score matchmaking but a competent and crafty player can overcome the difference, which i think is particularly fun.
Could use the dynamic crosshair DaD has so you can visualize where your swings go.

Bullying corps is fun

TLDR at bottom.

An amazing game that influenced the ghost hunting genre, Phasmophobia has you enter one of many locations to locate, identify, and survive a not-so-friendly neighborhood ghost. Succeeding will give you money and experience points and if you're the kind of person to like seeing numbers go up, you'll find this game satisfying.

The game's main goal is to identify the type of ghost and escape with your lives. You can do this in many ways, as each of the many ghost types have their own unique set of evidences and abilities to determine which one it is. You can do it safe and slowly by waiting for the ghost to reveal its evidences, or take it dangerously and attempt to identify the special abilities of a ghost, which may be quicker but may kill you, should you get caught in a hunt.

This game can be played with friends and alone depending on what you prefer or whether or not you have friends to begin with, but do keep in mind that playing co-op versus not does lead to a much different experience that may be easier or harder or... more spooky than you might realize.

A shame however that most people tend to stop playing when their friends do. A common complaint i hear is "This game is meant to be played with friends so i dont bother without them" and while they did make the game with co-op in mind, i would say playing solo is very fun and enjoyable as you have a surprising amount of control over the ghost via your sanity, leading to a fun experience once you shift mentality of "I need to survive" to "Im a detective and i must do well in my investigation",
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If you're a returning player, or a new player looking to play for yourself, I heartily recommend doing the following to help you have more fun and feel less scared in phasmophobia:

-Watch youtube videos of experienced players playing the game.
♦ Knowledge is everything in this game, and having adequate knowledge about what to do will make you feel safer.

-Play on Amateur and Intermediate difficulties.
♦ Dont feel pressured to play on higher difficulties. Lower difficulties have increase grace period before a ghost manifests to kill you, and has a set-up time preventing early hunters like the Demon from clapping you before you realize what you're doing.
♦ Most importantly, you gain an Insurance bonus when you die on these difficulties, giving back a portion of your total item cost. This is important because most of the fear of phasmophobia comes from two things: Fear of the unknown and Fear of dying for the sake of the consequences that come with. If you fear death less, you can do so much more.

-Take Risks. You might die, but thats okay. You wont be punished as heavily on lower difficulties. Get creative with your strategies.
♦ Being low on sanity is sometimes a very beneficial thing as you may be able to determine the ghost from its more aggressive behaviors-- Most ghosts in this game have abilities that relate to sanity, ghost events, or hunts (both starting and during a hunt), and both ghost events and hunts happen more frequently the lower sanity you are.
♦ Ghost photos and burnt crucifix photos both have higher photo reward values, so riskier = more money/exp
♦ Good use of cursed possessions can help you complete objectives, be it your main objective of identifying the ghost, or your sub objectives which may be easier to do via manually starting hunts or forcing your sanity lower.
♦ Riskier is more fun in general as you always feel engaged with the ghost.

You are stronger than the ghost, never forget that. Be risky, Be creative, Be brave, and the game is much more fun. Let your sanity drain, sit in the dark, stare the ghost in the face, and lay off the pills. Show the ghosts you're scarier than them.



TLDR: Game is fun, but its a shame most people drop it when their friends do. Playing solo can be fun. Use lower difficulties as an excuse to take risks and get comfortable with the game so can enjoy it more, its a lot more replayable than it might seem once you start doing some crazy stuff.

This game has me held hostage