Phasmophobia’s New Update Changed How I Played the Game

A few months ago, my friends and I really got into the game Phasmophobia. For those unfamiliar with the game, its central gameplay loop consists of exploring a location (residential houses, farmhouses, a prison, campgrounds, a high school, a mental institution, and even a lighthouse) to collect evidence using various tools to identify the ghost haunting the map. It’s a very fun gameplay loop, especially because a lot of us grew up watching the TV show Ghost Adventures, and Phasmophobia scratches a very similar itch. Recently, however, the game received its new “Chronicles” update that completely revamped its media system, and this new system has completely changed the way my friends and I play the game.

The original system was rather barebones. You had a photo camera that you took around and used to photograph stuff from a collectible bone hidden on each map to a cursed item that you can interact with to make the ghost do something to the ghost itself to nine photos of salt the ghost has walked through. I largely ignored the photo system. One of my friends would sometimes do it, but more often than not, we just didn’t care enough to do it. “Chronicles” cuts back on the number of photos you need, reducing it to five, while now introducing video clips and sound recordings. With this update comes the new sound recorder equipment that you use to gather sound evidence. The video cameras that you would use to scan a room for ghost orbs and then plop down now has the ability to record interactions and evidence, which makes it much more dynamic and fun to use. My friends and I love the new update. It’s completely changed the way we play the game and keeps us all way more involved. Everyone has settled into new roles where in addition to collecting regular evidence, we’ll roam around and stay in the house to get important photos and recordings. For example, I used to never use salt or the UV light, but now that I’ve started taking photos, salt and UV is always the second thing I set up because it provides a great opportunity to gather photographs. That being said, you can also record videos from the truck. It’s rather passive, but it’s nice to allow people who prefer to stay on the truck to have a more meaningful role than just watching a camera for no real reason.

The new media system also gets rid of the annoying star system of the previous system, instead replacing it with a unique/duplicate system. You’re now encouraged to collect unique media evidence instead of just recording the ghost stepping in salt five times. However, this does lead to my one critique of the system: the limited number of deletes. You get three deletes for all thirteen pieces of media you need to collect. This can be really annoying, especially when you accidentally collect the same piece of media twice or the media (usually a photo) doesn’t register properly. For example, one of my friends took three photos of the ghost while it was walking through D.O.T.S. (a large area filled with green dots that will take on the form of the ghost as it interacts with the area), and none of them counted. Similarly, I’ve had the ghost appear on D.O.T.S. for like a second, causing me to miss the photo and cost a delete. Alternatively, one of my friends has had issues finding the same sound recording multiple times because the game just won’t give him one other than “paranormal talking.”

In spite of these new flaws, I vastly prefer this new media system introduced in “Chronicles,” and my friends and I are having a blast with it. It’s really transformed the way we all play the game because it encourages us to stick around longer, become more acquainted with the map, and use tools we’ve previously neglected. For example, the tier one headgear, which is just a camera strapped to your head, was one of the most useless pieces of equipment that none of us ever used. Now, however, we can use it to gather evidence from the truck. Motion sensors and firelights (candles) now provide easy video opportunities when you need to round out your video collection. Overall, I really like this new update. It was a little overwhelming at first, but after a few games, we all started to get the hang of it. Phasmophobia is a very fun game, and this new update has made it even more fun. It’s also made the game even creepier as the ghost can laugh at you and whisper and make all sorts of unsettling noises. It’s a very fun, and very satisfying, change of pace for how we played the game.