Steam Game Review] "Phasmophobia" is an international version of a "test of courage" game that will keep you cool during your summer vacation! Phasmophobia

In this series, Mina Tsujimura, aka SteamMania, a core gamer on Steam, reviews in detail the recommended games available on Steam, a PC game platform that is currently enjoying a lot of popularity. She will introduce you to the fun of the game.

The protagonist of the horror game introduced here is a ghostbuster. The main character in this horror game is a ghostbuster, who analyzes the strange phenomena of a house and identifies the ghosts. The game also supports cooperative play, so you can play with friends. This is the perfect test of courage game for a summer night.

Gather 3 pieces of evidence to identify the ghost!

The basic game rule is to go to the requested property and guess the type of ghost there.

To guess the type of ghost, you use equipment such as cameras and UV lights to collect evidence (characteristics of ghosts). When three pieces of evidence are gathered, the ghost is identified and the game is cleared. Ghosts do not attack for 5 minutes from the start of the game, so use that time to quickly identify the room where the ghosts are and set up your equipment.

Incidentally, the ghost also recognizes the player's language. It can ask questions in English, as well as "How old are you? and "Where are you? You may also want to ask them.

I tried playing in training mode.

Let's start by playing in "Training Mode," where ghosts do not attack. Select Training Mode on the whiteboard in the standby screen, and after loading, the game will start from inside the car.

The car has a surveillance camera, a monitor, and the Ghostbuster's secret tools. On the whiteboard inside the car, the room where the ghost is located is filled in.

At first, you enter the house with a flashlight. Even though I know the ghosts won't attack me because I'm in practice mode, I'm still scared. Compared to the normal game, you walk and run slower, which makes it even scarier. I wish I could walk faster!

When I arrived at the living room, the TV was showing how to operate the game and use the tools. So you just have to use the items you like in order and destroy their features one by one. Hmmm...

First, we set up the night vision camera. No orbs were visible.

Next, I found a beautiful handprint with a UV light!　Finally, we got one piece of evidence.

In the meantime, we heard more footsteps, things fell down, lights went out, voices were heard, and other strange phenomena started happening one after another. ...... Ugh, scary.

My breath is turning white. Now I also get the evidence of freezing temperatures. one more piece of evidence is needed, but I can't find it easily. ...... So this time, I answered appropriately (laugh).

The result was, of course, ...... incorrect!　Too bad. But I got the general flow of the game, so let's try to remember it in the real game!

I actually tried playing the main game!

Next, let's try playing the main game. Selecting "Play" from the top screen will take you to the server lobby.

This time, we will create a private lobby. By the way, if you select Public, you will see a lot of people coming in even in the middle of the night. Most of them are from overseas, so it is recommended for those who can voice chat in English!

Once you create a lobby, you can select a mission. Missions are randomly generated each time, so the content will change each time you recreate the lobby. This time, we chose the mission that seemed easiest: "difficulty level amateur," "recommended number of players: 1," and "map size: small.

The mission list is written on the whiteboard in the car, but in the production, you have to find the room with ghosts by yourself. By the way, the ghosts have random names each time. This time, the ghost is John Smith. The ghost also recognizes his name and may respond when you call his name.

We immediately start searching for the ghost. First, let's turn on all the lights," he says as he turns on the lights from one end to the other. ......

The next moment, the screen suddenly goes black. ......

It seems that the breaker was set to trip if I turned on too many lights. It was completely my mistake.

When the breaker goes off, the room remains dark until I find and fix the breaker. The breakers are randomly generated, so you don't know where they are. For this map, there are two choices: the basement or the garage. In this case, it was the basement. If it is underground, you have to go down a dark staircase to get to it, so it is full of hassles. ......

If you are too slow, the ghosts will start attacking, so you have to look for evidence quickly. This time, let's use the spirit box. This will tell us if it is a talking ghost or not.

However, in order to use the spirit box, we have to turn off the lights in the room as well as the lights around the room to make it completely dark. I have a bad feeling about this!

I turn off the lights and wait for a while, and then I hear a male voice saying, "DIE......," ......!　Gaaaaaah!　It's too heartbreaking .......

As I was panicking and storming around looking for a way out, a ghost with an axe appeared in front of me. I was killed instantly before I had time to escape.

Gunnu...... how can I clear it....... It's difficult even though the difficulty level is amateur. ...... If this happens, I'll switch to the "push with items" strategy!

Revenge by pushing with items!

I collected bones (randomly generated and you get money for picking them up), played throwaway matches, did missions to get money, and bought store items. You should now be fully prepared. We will take all the items we have collected!

This time the ghost is Jennifer Moore. It's going to be difficult to get a picture of the ghost for goal #2, but I think I can complete the rest.

First, we will start with the Hunt Mode (an event that occurs randomly when your sanity level drops below 50. While in hunt mode, the lights will flash and the front door will be locked. Move items to the front door for use in preparation for the hunt (which ends when you are killed or time elapses)!

Take a thermometer and locate the ghost. Usually the temperature is between 13 and 20 degrees Celsius, but the room with the ghost will be 10 degrees Celsius or lower.

Discovery!　This time, it is a bathroom just off the entrance. The marble walls are very stylish. I wish I could live in a house like this.

Once we have identified the ghost room, we set up the notebook and camera.

I immediately went back to the car to check and found nothing on the camera. There were no ghost orbs.

I went to check the notebook again and found ghost graffiti!　It is very high kill. I want to go back to .......

In addition, when I use the spirit box, I hear a voice saying "ATTACK" ......!

Now I have gathered two pieces of evidence and only one left. I look for fingerprints but no clues and the ghost has narrowed down a lot.

If it gets below freezing, it's a demon; if the EMF radar goes to level 5, it's a demon. Both are aggressive ghosts and scary. If this was a money collection, I could just go home and guess at random, but this time I want to make sure I guess right, so I'm going to stick with it!

I'm on thermometer & EMF radar standby, aiming for sub-zero temperatures, but there's no response. I've been hanging around in a daze for about 5 minutes, and in an instant the EMF radar goes to level 5 ......!　The demon is confirmed!

I dash back to the car, get all the evidence together, and make it back alive. The ghost is an ogre. I was finally able to clear the game by making full use of items. My heart is already pounding!

VR is also supported!　Scary but addictive horror game!

When I actually played it, it was much more difficult than I had imagined. However, if you save up money in the game and make full use of items, the difficulty level will decrease somewhat. Even clearing the easiest map was dopamine doodlebug, so I wonder what will happen if I clear the higher difficulty maps. ......

By the way, if you want to play but are too scared, I recommend playing with a friend, turning down the volume, playing at noon, or playing with the TV on. The author also did it desperately while watching a variety show (laughs).

The game also supports VR, but it is reputed to be scary even for horror lovers. If you are confident, why not give it a try?

Title Information

Phasmophobia" (Big Cheese Studio)
Released on September 19, 2020
Price: 1,420 yen (as of August 4, 2021)
#: (as of August 4, 2021)

Writer: Suthumu Mana (Mina Tsujimura)

Writer and gamer who belongs to Office Mica. Her favorite game genres include sandbox survival games and horror games. Her style of game playing is a text-chatting game player who is afraid of VC players.

Office Mica :#
Blog :#
Twitter :#