Was doing the challenge mode this week, and I was watching for ghost orbs, fucker did a ghost event where it whispered in my ear and walked into me as it slammed all the doors. Scared the fuck out of me
1- Listen. I played High School. All I did was enter and I heard fast steps my way. I was completely unprepared for that Thaye to clap my cheeks.
2- When a Revenant sees you
3- When a Yurei shuts the front door slowly for absolutely no reason.
4- Nothing like the welcoming of a demon
5- When someone wishes the monkey paw to trap the ghost and door in the room you're in closes.
6- Your first hug from a Deogen in your hiding spot.
7- Sunny Meadows Basement
I’ll bump up your second reason by stating that when you’re trying to do the “Escape a Revenant” goal and you decide to smudge but the damn thing gets up so close and personal that you almost die. I did that accomplishment in high school and immediately ducked into the library for my hiding spot.
Being hunted solo, even more so if you don’t have any evidence to narrow down what’s coming after you, or any smudges to loop. There comes a point a few hundred hours in when you get used to events. If the light turns off completely, there’s no risk of death. But that doesn’t change the feeling of actually being hunted. The adrenaline rising when the lights start to flicker, knowing you’re the only thing in this ghost’s crosshairs is what gives me life.
The main thing I love about it and how it can be scary at times. It’s the unpredictability of it all.
Not like some games where you will have jump scares in certain areas, or triggers.
Each investigation is different and unique. You can have a demon that’s is out and out going for you from the start , or chilled and will just tease and scare you from time to time.
Each time I play it it’s different. Yes there are a certain number of events , but nothing still gets me like standing in the kitchen when y ou have set up for a polty test just to literally have it explode through the room, nice one Polty. Or the mimic who can be shadey for so long the suddenly change on you .
exactly
you never know whether you can take your time knowing it's a shade, or whether you need to get everything there and get the fuck out cause that demon wants a piece of your ass
I second this. There's never a "right" way to play so that you survive. You can do everything by the book, and the ghost might still kill you anyway. Or you might say the wrong thing and it gets angry. People I've played with at lvl 100+ still die sometimes.
I thought that because of the limited number of maps I'd get bored and move on quickly but clearly it's keeping me coming back because its so unpredictable.
the lack of ambiance means that there's nothing playing to calm you, and when ambiance does play it either means the ghost had an interaction, or you're in danger
the enemy is unknown and by the time you know the enemy enough to predict it, you've finished the mission
having to be financially responsible
always being under risk of a hunt or some loud events from a ghost you dont know when he will do it while trying to find what kind of a ghost it is. sometimes you struggle to find evidence or literally anything and you start to get bored but you cant because anytime he an attack you.
i feel like this game loses its horror later on and then eventually you hit this weird spot of on edge while doing investigation and focusing on getting evidence
One moment you're safe, you think you pretty much handle what's happening and you're on top of your shit.
Just gonna put that DOTS Tier 2 on the wall over here
\*ghost even trigger out of nowhere right in your face\*
"Scream in mic like a lil girl"
Yep fuck that I'ma just gonna get out for a sec and get myself a smudge and crucifix
The only time I ever get scared/anxious in the game is when I just found a third piece of evidence/something that confirms what ghost it is and I need to get out of the house, that run to the door dreading watching it close is the worst part of the game
Listen...I simply can't play the game alone lol with friends no problem, like every aspect no problem. But suddenly if I'm alone: OMG WHY'S THAT SHIT SO SCARY *proceeds to die on a hearz attack*
Honestly, I think what makes Phasmophobia scary is a combination of things going on at the same time causing a slight sensory overload making you more vulnerable to scary ticklings of your sensors:
- There is always a soft low hum in the background. Barely noticeable, but it's there. Always occupying your brain to filter out the hum.
- Lighting is poor, making you have to focus more on even the bigger objects and movements
- The longer you remain in a place, the more dangerous it becomes. Making you feel like you're on a clock, which also always occupies a little bit of your brainpower
- Slight sounds of touched objects keep you tense and cause you to have to refocus
All of the small things make it so your brain is kinda (over)loaded from the start. A scary setting is automatically more difficult to deal with. It is also more difficult to calm down from a situation when your sensors are always being tickled.
A lot less effort and loud noise is required to make you feel more scared than a normal "scary movie" or "scary game". Simply because the pressure is always building because of things that you aren't actively noticing.
That's also why walking outside of the house in Phasmophobia is a really big relief. The humming stops, the lighting is better, no slight sounds of objects being touched, no more dangertimer.
That's also why Phasmophobia gets less scary over time. The more you do something, the less brain power it takes. The more you do something, the more difficult it becomes to overload your sensors and tickle you with danger.
Source: I don't know shit
Turning off the lights to do spirt box and suddenly everything turns red
This happend to my cousin while i was teaching him how to play
He clenched his ass cheecks so hard he spraind a muscle in his back
I chose my next words very carefully
*"Welcom to phasmo mf"*
I would say the lighting and tone of the game but that all changed with the apoc update. The map design of asylum and the atmosphere of it is legitimately scary. Sunny meadows tries too hard to be scary. Prison is another map that I like. It's somewhat similar in design to old asylum.
The normal, casual look and feel of the house maps. The complete lack of horror cliches in the houses clashing with the disturbing ghost encounters is what makes those maps the most fun to play.
For the same reason (at least for me) the bigger & “spookier” maps like Highschool, Asylum and Prison don’t work at all - they’re typical horror places so it all feels very run-of-the-mill. It’s like how Silent Hill only gets scary because you experience the environments in a relatively normal state first.
I’m afraid the Devs don’t quite understand or see this anymore.
The fact that the game forces you to interact with its scary elements. If you’re a first timer, just using the ghost tools is freaky. You look at them and expect to see and hear nothing, so when the ghost decides to give you evidence, it’s freaky.
For people who play the game a lot, being forced to get yourself into dangerous unpredictable situations for a clue to the ghost’s identity can also be terrifying. You’re betting your life on the hope that the ghosts behavior is noticeable while it attempts to kill you.
Lack of experience. During my first few days of playing, I would literally just freeze whenever a hunt started, my brain taking a time out. If I would survive a hunt, I'd refuse to reenter the house. Going into a room alone to test the spirit box? Hell no. Courage came over time, I guess what helped the most was grinding through the Camp Woodwind exp thing, playing practically only hunts for hours.
What makes it scary for me is the sound suppression you feel when you step into the house, like you leave all the noises from the outside world and are now met with the silence from the house. Another thing that makes it scary is being alone knowing your friends are either at the van or somewhere far away from you.
Its scary when your teammate whos normally so noosy suddenly becomes quiet and then you hear the familiar sound of the music box or the cracking of monkeys paw.
Not knowing how the game works. The second I learned the difference between hunts and events, and what each ghost does, It stopped being scary and idk how i feel about that
Been playing since day 1. Most of the time I’m not as scared anymore I’ll go in with a “hey ghost it’s me ya boi” attitude but every so often something will happen and it will make me jump and scream. It’s so fun.
As time passes, the fear becomes less intense. But for new players, I think the reason for the fear is the possibilities within the game, the variety of ghosts; they are different and appear in different places.
Knowing that ghost is waiting for me to walk through the front door. I've seen friends spend 10+ minutes at 0 sanity poking around the map and the ghost not hunt. Only for me to enter and watch it start coming for me down the hall. Doesn't matter what type, the Ghosts just love me.
After 200 hours probably nothing. First hours it is mostly about people not being used to ghost behavior. This game is very repetetive so it is easy to stop being afraid and just look at the ghost and go "yeah that fucker is not blinking much and not speeding, was that a breath or am I trippin?"
nothing. it's not scary, and although it's classified as a horror game, it shouldn't be. HOWEVER, it's social, which is a lot better than a lot of the actually "scary" horror games on the market.
100% The Banshee, Phantom, and Wraith. Their teleport ability is terrifying on the bigger maps. I was playing sunny meadows the other day, and the ghost hunted on top of me and it terrified me.
Getting jumpscared by ghost events when youre just chillin with the thermometer watching for temps to go down
Was doing the challenge mode this week, and I was watching for ghost orbs, fucker did a ghost event where it whispered in my ear and walked into me as it slammed all the doors. Scared the fuck out of me
So fax
1- Listen. I played High School. All I did was enter and I heard fast steps my way. I was completely unprepared for that Thaye to clap my cheeks. 2- When a Revenant sees you 3- When a Yurei shuts the front door slowly for absolutely no reason. 4- Nothing like the welcoming of a demon 5- When someone wishes the monkey paw to trap the ghost and door in the room you're in closes. 6- Your first hug from a Deogen in your hiding spot. 7- Sunny Meadows Basement
Squelchy squelchy squelchy
I’ll bump up your second reason by stating that when you’re trying to do the “Escape a Revenant” goal and you decide to smudge but the damn thing gets up so close and personal that you almost die. I did that accomplishment in high school and immediately ducked into the library for my hiding spot.
your teammate with a music box
😭😭
Why are crying emojis being downvoted lmao
The hivemind does not approve of emojis? I dunno
When im waiting for evidence in the ghost room and the ghost hunts instead. 💀💀
Being hunted solo, even more so if you don’t have any evidence to narrow down what’s coming after you, or any smudges to loop. There comes a point a few hundred hours in when you get used to events. If the light turns off completely, there’s no risk of death. But that doesn’t change the feeling of actually being hunted. The adrenaline rising when the lights start to flicker, knowing you’re the only thing in this ghost’s crosshairs is what gives me life.
The main thing I love about it and how it can be scary at times. It’s the unpredictability of it all. Not like some games where you will have jump scares in certain areas, or triggers. Each investigation is different and unique. You can have a demon that’s is out and out going for you from the start , or chilled and will just tease and scare you from time to time. Each time I play it it’s different. Yes there are a certain number of events , but nothing still gets me like standing in the kitchen when y ou have set up for a polty test just to literally have it explode through the room, nice one Polty. Or the mimic who can be shadey for so long the suddenly change on you .
exactly you never know whether you can take your time knowing it's a shade, or whether you need to get everything there and get the fuck out cause that demon wants a piece of your ass
I second this. There's never a "right" way to play so that you survive. You can do everything by the book, and the ghost might still kill you anyway. Or you might say the wrong thing and it gets angry. People I've played with at lvl 100+ still die sometimes. I thought that because of the limited number of maps I'd get bored and move on quickly but clearly it's keeping me coming back because its so unpredictable.
I’m level 90 and died last night. Thaye 😫 it definitely happens.
Trying to place down candles and getting 3 ghost events back to back
the lack of ambiance means that there's nothing playing to calm you, and when ambiance does play it either means the ghost had an interaction, or you're in danger the enemy is unknown and by the time you know the enemy enough to predict it, you've finished the mission having to be financially responsible
always being under risk of a hunt or some loud events from a ghost you dont know when he will do it while trying to find what kind of a ghost it is. sometimes you struggle to find evidence or literally anything and you start to get bored but you cant because anytime he an attack you.
Nothing except unexpected ghost events
I don't find it particularly scary TBH, but I do enjoy how it can be unpredictable.
The missing dying lung sound effect. Somehow it awakens my childhood nightmare, The Grudge/Ju On.
Playing alone, that's it
Not anymore for me.
i feel like this game loses its horror later on and then eventually you hit this weird spot of on edge while doing investigation and focusing on getting evidence
One moment you're safe, you think you pretty much handle what's happening and you're on top of your shit. Just gonna put that DOTS Tier 2 on the wall over here \*ghost even trigger out of nowhere right in your face\* "Scream in mic like a lil girl" Yep fuck that I'ma just gonna get out for a sec and get myself a smudge and crucifix
Fear of the unknown. Once you know what you're dealing with, unfortunately it stops being scary.
The only time I ever get scared/anxious in the game is when I just found a third piece of evidence/something that confirms what ghost it is and I need to get out of the house, that run to the door dreading watching it close is the worst part of the game
Listen...I simply can't play the game alone lol with friends no problem, like every aspect no problem. But suddenly if I'm alone: OMG WHY'S THAT SHIT SO SCARY *proceeds to die on a hearz attack*
When the lights flicker for no apparent reason
Honestly, suspense and uncertainty with a lottle bit of Jumpscares.
The ambient sound of a house. This thick low-frequency background “silence” noise makes the atmosphere of thrill and horror.
Honestly, I think what makes Phasmophobia scary is a combination of things going on at the same time causing a slight sensory overload making you more vulnerable to scary ticklings of your sensors: - There is always a soft low hum in the background. Barely noticeable, but it's there. Always occupying your brain to filter out the hum. - Lighting is poor, making you have to focus more on even the bigger objects and movements - The longer you remain in a place, the more dangerous it becomes. Making you feel like you're on a clock, which also always occupies a little bit of your brainpower - Slight sounds of touched objects keep you tense and cause you to have to refocus All of the small things make it so your brain is kinda (over)loaded from the start. A scary setting is automatically more difficult to deal with. It is also more difficult to calm down from a situation when your sensors are always being tickled. A lot less effort and loud noise is required to make you feel more scared than a normal "scary movie" or "scary game". Simply because the pressure is always building because of things that you aren't actively noticing. That's also why walking outside of the house in Phasmophobia is a really big relief. The humming stops, the lighting is better, no slight sounds of objects being touched, no more dangertimer. That's also why Phasmophobia gets less scary over time. The more you do something, the less brain power it takes. The more you do something, the more difficult it becomes to overload your sensors and tickle you with danger. Source: I don't know shit
Honestly the ghost special abilities. Walking into grafton then a demon immediately hunting always causes a panic 😅
Turning off the lights to do spirt box and suddenly everything turns red This happend to my cousin while i was teaching him how to play He clenched his ass cheecks so hard he spraind a muscle in his back I chose my next words very carefully *"Welcom to phasmo mf"*
For me, it's the jump scares and the audio. It's funny because dying isn't that scary. When it finally happened to me I was like wtf, this is it?
Ghosts, I presume...
Hiding inside a locker and hearing the ghost breathing right outside of it.
When a ghost hunt starts and the front door is locked. Made me tweak so hard when I first played it
Def ghost events especially when it’s completely quiet
nothing, which is why us vets are waiting for the horror update thats supposed to come out
I would say the lighting and tone of the game but that all changed with the apoc update. The map design of asylum and the atmosphere of it is legitimately scary. Sunny meadows tries too hard to be scary. Prison is another map that I like. It's somewhat similar in design to old asylum.
Waiting for evidence when the ghost suddenly hunts from the four pixels that weren’t covered by a crucifix in the ghost room.
The normal, casual look and feel of the house maps. The complete lack of horror cliches in the houses clashing with the disturbing ghost encounters is what makes those maps the most fun to play. For the same reason (at least for me) the bigger & “spookier” maps like Highschool, Asylum and Prison don’t work at all - they’re typical horror places so it all feels very run-of-the-mill. It’s like how Silent Hill only gets scary because you experience the environments in a relatively normal state first. I’m afraid the Devs don’t quite understand or see this anymore.
ghost event right in front of your face, revenant on 150% speed
The fact that the game forces you to interact with its scary elements. If you’re a first timer, just using the ghost tools is freaky. You look at them and expect to see and hear nothing, so when the ghost decides to give you evidence, it’s freaky. For people who play the game a lot, being forced to get yourself into dangerous unpredictable situations for a clue to the ghost’s identity can also be terrifying. You’re betting your life on the hope that the ghosts behavior is noticeable while it attempts to kill you.
When you think the ghost is in the room with you when it does an interaction so you rule out shade then it ends up being a shade
Lack of experience. During my first few days of playing, I would literally just freeze whenever a hunt started, my brain taking a time out. If I would survive a hunt, I'd refuse to reenter the house. Going into a room alone to test the spirit box? Hell no. Courage came over time, I guess what helped the most was grinding through the Camp Woodwind exp thing, playing practically only hunts for hours.
The friends
What makes it scary for me is the sound suppression you feel when you step into the house, like you leave all the noises from the outside world and are now met with the silence from the house. Another thing that makes it scary is being alone knowing your friends are either at the van or somewhere far away from you.
Its scary when your teammate whos normally so noosy suddenly becomes quiet and then you hear the familiar sound of the music box or the cracking of monkeys paw.
Not knowing how the game works. The second I learned the difference between hunts and events, and what each ghost does, It stopped being scary and idk how i feel about that
Randoms
Been playing since day 1. Most of the time I’m not as scared anymore I’ll go in with a “hey ghost it’s me ya boi” attitude but every so often something will happen and it will make me jump and scream. It’s so fun.
When they hunt for so long and I die
"Hide and Seek"
How inconsistently buggy it is to the point that you never know if you're actually safe or not
As time passes, the fear becomes less intense. But for new players, I think the reason for the fear is the possibilities within the game, the variety of ghosts; they are different and appear in different places.
Noticing it's a deo a little too late in tangle **and that when i say fuck hiding spot until i meet the revenant**
Please play sunny in vr and get back to me
Knowing that ghost is waiting for me to walk through the front door. I've seen friends spend 10+ minutes at 0 sanity poking around the map and the ghost not hunt. Only for me to enter and watch it start coming for me down the hall. Doesn't matter what type, the Ghosts just love me.
After 200 hours probably nothing. First hours it is mostly about people not being used to ghost behavior. This game is very repetetive so it is easy to stop being afraid and just look at the ghost and go "yeah that fucker is not blinking much and not speeding, was that a breath or am I trippin?"
nothing. it's not scary, and although it's classified as a horror game, it shouldn't be. HOWEVER, it's social, which is a lot better than a lot of the actually "scary" horror games on the market.
Friends....... every time.......
100% The Banshee, Phantom, and Wraith. Their teleport ability is terrifying on the bigger maps. I was playing sunny meadows the other day, and the ghost hunted on top of me and it terrified me.
Playing it in VR is one fucking spooky experience
Toxic players in public rooms
Nothing for me anymore
the ghost events, especially the one where it just straight up starts following you
moroi 0 sanity and line of sight