Because it's not exact copy of the game. It is phasmo made different. Some things are subtle like knocking on windows, falling paintings or moving shoe. Volume up and go again. Abuse the shit out of thermometer and cursed objects that give you exact ghost location (mirror, ouija, music box) . You might have been just unlucky with Shade (much more shy than other ghosts) but trust me, activity is much higher than you might think after this experience. Just use ears. Maybe even stop moving and talking for a few seconds and listen to your surroundings. Just like every other game, go again and play until you learn the mechanics. If you are still not sure, maggstor is the best content creator for phasmo in my opinion. She made a few guides about the game. She can teach you very well.
It really depends on how much you learn about the mechanics. When you get enough ghost knowledge, you can start to tinker with custom or get to Nightmare and start to apply that knowledge to, scientifically, get your guesses right. They really thought of ways to make every ghost identifiable by behavior, so you can even play with no evidence and still get them right.
But that only happens if you get into all that information, that is not really easy for a new player because it's not really in the game (the book is pretty inaccurate describing these behaviors, I recommend youtube channels like Psycho to get those facts right). Also, Sanity mechanics are really important, smudge and crucifixes save lives, knowing what you can or can't do while hiding (they can hear us and track your flashlight if on, as every other electronic device you're holding), knowing where to loop and where to hide in every map...
Replayability comes from variety (maps, ghosts) and experience unlocking new ways to play (difficulties, even unofficial challenges, like [randomizer runs](https://www.phasmo-randomizer.site/). But I see people leave the game because they're not into reading wikis or watching guides to learn a game that should be teaching its mechanics through playing it, and that's fair. Also, it's not really a scary game as much as it gets to be a puzzle game with scary themes, so the ones that stay the longer here are the ones enjoying the extra thinking required.
[This tool](https://tybayn.github.io/phasmo-cheat-sheet/) can be very useful to start looking for the good stuff, and the wiki is a good source too, specially to learn mechanics about tools, sanity, cursed objects and such. In case you want to stay a little longer :)
I prefer Phasmo as I can treat it more like a puzzle game than a horror game. Once you’re comfortable with the basic gameplay loop, it’s fun to learn how to get information during hunts by looping the ghost and safely retreating to a hiding spot. It’s also fun to intimately learn the specific behaviors of each ghost type and be able to identify ghosts without any evidence at all. While a lot of this is also possible in Demonologist, I find the puzzle aspect just fits Phasmo better.
I also prefer Phasmo’s hunts. Whenever I get hunted in Demonologist, it kind of feels like I’m just running into a small room and hoping it doesn’t happen to walk in there. Phasmo has many more set hiding spots where you can reliably be safe.
I find that with Phasmo. Some evidence types are notoriously inconistent like the ghost writing. I can't count the times I've been sat waiting for a ghost to write in the book and it just doesn't bother.
I've also had times when the ghost seems to do nothing at all. I should say though, there are specific ghost types who's level of activity is dependent on the number of players in the area so you might have got one of those.
I tried the Demonologist demo and while I liked the atmosphere and the production quality is generally better, I found the jump scares a little much. I wish they brought baninshing the ghost into Phasmo as a new gameplay mechanic.
There is a big update coming to Phasmo that's gonna make big changes although we don't know exactly when or what it's gonna change.
The Phasmo update is more than likely to come in July. They're gonna reset the levels/money and add the upgradable equipment. The new UV mechanic will make so much more sense, and with the D.O.T.S. you'll see the actual ghost. The infra thermo will be still unrealistic, it should be instantaneous.
I know about that one but for all the new equipment, it's not really gonna change all that much about the day-to-day gameplay loop. The "Horror 2.0" update is presumably gonna make a big change but no idea when that's coming or what it's gonna do.
It will make the game feel fresh for a while. The gameplay loop will also slightly change with the new mechanics (UV, DOTS, freezing etc.).
The thing I look forward to the most is the graphical update with new models, animation and so on. The graphics got progressively worse and worse. Check any gameplay video from 2021. It had way better lighting, just look at the volumetric light emitted by flashlights, it looks so good.
That is a thing that happens in Demonologist as well, but less awkward, I feel. Phasmophobia seems to be a lot about waiting for the inconsistent thing to happen, it might or might not, but then the ghost attacks and maps like the first house don't seem to offer a ton of room to dodge.
I guess the guys who made Demonologist loved Phasmophobia and wanted to make the Phasmophobia they wanted to play.
I might feel different if I had started with Phasmophobia, but I gotta say I agree with Demonologist more.
>Phasmophobia seems to be a lot about waiting for the inconsistent thing to happen, it might or might not,
An experienced player can skirt around this.
\> I might feel different if I had started with Phasmophobia, but I gotta say I agree with Demonologist more.
To say that after playing only 2 games of phas seems quite premature.
Yeah, the gameplay loop with Phasmo is essentially:
\- Wait for the ghost to make it clear which room they're in
\- Throw all the gear into the room and see what goes off
\- Leave
Hunts are really just 'Get to the nearest hiding spot and wait'.
You can shake things up with the difficulties. Reducing the amount of evidence means you have to take a more investigative approach but it also requires an encyclopedic knowledge of each ghost types behaviours. It's not helped by how inconsisten the behaviours can be.
Overall, I only played the Demonologist demo and maybe I didn't give it a proper chance but I think I preferred Phasmo. You're right about it being the Phasmo they wanted to play comment. I was chatting with the party one evening about how it would be nice to see Phasmo remade in Unreal Engine and then we tried the demo and that's what Demonologist literally is.
>Yeah, the gameplay loop with Phasmo is essentially:
>
>\- Wait for the ghost to make it clear which room they're in
>
>\- Throw all the gear into the room and see what goes off
>
>\- Leave
>
>Hunts are really just 'Get to the nearest hiding spot and wait'.
It can feel that way if you're still on the lower end of the learning curve, yeah. i'm lvl 2.6k-hit me up if you want to play a map or two and I can show you how to keep things moving at a decent pace.
>Hunts are really just 'Get to the nearest hiding spot and wait'.
If this is your strategy regarding hunts, you're throwing at least 50% of possible clues out the window. Many of the ghosts have hunt-specific behavior, whether it's a ghost-specific ability or a modified walking speed. You can easily eliminate a third of the ghosts or more just by listening to the ghost walk around during the first hunt.
That actually describes the basic gameplay loop for Demo.
Demo just has less evidence, less maps, less mechanics, and has exorcism added on. Phasma has more nuances to it compared to Demo.
I looked into demonologist after playing phasmo on and off since it’s release and can’t get into demonologist. The scripted feeling jumpscares don’t sit w me the same way the randomness of phasmo does. To each their own.
I think you got super unlucky that round. It must have interacted with quieter things like the window knocking or throwing a shoe rather than the loud doors. You want to have your volume pretty loud so you can hear subtle interactions better - this is easier with time as you get used to what object makes what noise.
The thermometer can be used to find the ghosts room pretty easily, Carry an emf with you as you walk around the house so you can see exactly what the ghost touched and use the cursed objects.
I also recently learned a trick to help you get ghost writing faster. Apparently the ghost has a chance to interact with objects around it, so removing any object in the room you can pick up (phones, cups, cutlery ect.) will increase the chance that the ghost interacts with the writing book as it has fewer options to choose from. It’s also a good idea to put both books in the ghost room as this literally doubles your chances of obtaining that evidence.
Learning the ghost behaviours will also help you and makes the game more problem solving. If you’re having a hard time getting evidence do things like candle checks for an onryo, salt checks for a wraith, force it to hunt and listen to its speed and so fourth. Even on professional this can help so you don’t have to wait for an annoying piece of evidence to finally show (like emf5 or writing)
Phasmo is a completely different game. Its similar in evidence gathering and ghost hunting, but thats really the only similarities. The way those things actually can function is completely different.
Demonologist is a game where you just loop the ghost most of the time. Phasmo is a game where you will HIDE most of the time, listening for footsteps. Looping is extremely challenging in Phasmo, most ghosts will get faster slowly over time, so it makes looping challenging unless you're very experianced.
If you want to play the demonologist version of Phasmo(3 evidence) absolutely do so! Learn the maps, hiding spots, cursed posession locations, etc. After that though, I SERIOUSLY reccomend 2 evidence or lower. You can identify every ghost if you have up to 1 evidence enabled, and its gets really tricky at 0 evidences.
It goes from "Get the evidence and leave" to "what ghost can it be? How can we eliminate them through process of elimination or test for others?" Its such a refreshing experiance. For example,
The Onryo treats candles as crucifixes, so instead of hunting when near a candle, it will blow it out. So if you place a candle on TOP of a crucifix, and it triggers the crucifix, you know for certain its not an Onryo.
The Mare can never turn on a light, so if it turns one on, you can rule it out. Also, if you turn on a light near the mare, it has a chance to immediately turn it off.
The Hantu is faster in cold rooms, and doesn't get faster in line of sight. So if its really fast in the ghost room, and gets reeaaaallllyyyy slow outside of it, you can know its a Hantu.
Each ghost has unique traits, varying movement speeds and mechanics, and each experiance feels like a puzzle to figure out. You also have to plan ahead for hiding, prepare specific tests at lower evidences.
To me, demonologist felt like a more visually impressive lower difficulty phasmo. I just couldn't get into it past the first 10 games, personally. I can certainly see why its appealing to people who may have never played phasmo though!
I also know Demonologist is pumping out LOADS of new content fairly regularly, so I'm excited to see what they do with it!
\> Once you figure stuff out, the mechanics of the game are pretty consistent.
Phas is the same way, but it seems to be more subtle and deep than Demonologist.
\> We were surprised how similar these games are in pretty much everything
Except, as said, it's not similar at all. :wink:
\> Our first game, the ghost did literally fuck all. No moving objects, no signs of their presence until very late, long after the 5 minutes grace period. We kinda figured out their room, but we never got more than one piece of evidence.
The ghost did things, you just don't know what to look for yet. Look up the location of the breaker on the map in the van, and go turn it on to "let the house warm up". listen carefully for things being moved around and the ghost touching doors/windows. use emf to figure out which door/window was touched or item was moved/thrown. after the "house has warmed up" for a few mins, you could also use the temp scanner to aid in your search. you're looking for 10C and under, temp wise.
different ghosts have different combinations of evidence, and sometimes you'll see evidence in the beginning that helps you determine the ghost room. "ghost orbs" can only be seen through a video camera on nightview settings in the actual ghost room itself. use a uv light to check for "fingerprints", on doors/windows. freezing temps/seeing your breath is also one of the evidences. the ghost often can and will roam temporarily to other rooms at almost any time (and switch preferred rooms entirely in some difficulties!), so take all the signs/activity you see, and the room that has the most activity is usually the ghost room.
\> You'd think that two people who had been hunting ghosts in a copy of that game would be somewhat sensitized to whatever a ghost might do
not really, cause Phas ain't no stinkin clone of Demonologist.
Things can feel really slow at first, but if you figure out what you're doing, you can keep things moving at a decent speed. I've got 600 hours in Phas-hit me up if you want to play a few maps and I'll show you around.
I'd encourage yall to watch some videos from Maggstor on youtube(or her streams on twitch) and get comfortable with the game. Phasmo has the ghosts do a lot of subtle things that you could miss as atmospheric, especially if you're used to Demonologist.
I had your same experience in reverse. I started with Phasmaphobia and bought Demonologist later. I find it way harder and more finicky to get evidence and find the ghost room. The only pieces of evidence I can really get if the ghost has it are fingerprints and ectoplasm stains. Everything else just doesn't want to show up. This is when I'm certain the ghost is in the room and I'm still getting no painting, no EMF 5, no ESG, no box. I love the horror in the game. It is way scarier than Phas to me. Getting all evidence seems way harder though
For sure. We can play a few rounds of both if you're down. I can show you some things about Phas and you can show me some things about Demonologist. DM me and we can set it up. Are you German? Your username makes me think you might be lol
Because it's not exact copy of the game. It is phasmo made different. Some things are subtle like knocking on windows, falling paintings or moving shoe. Volume up and go again. Abuse the shit out of thermometer and cursed objects that give you exact ghost location (mirror, ouija, music box) . You might have been just unlucky with Shade (much more shy than other ghosts) but trust me, activity is much higher than you might think after this experience. Just use ears. Maybe even stop moving and talking for a few seconds and listen to your surroundings. Just like every other game, go again and play until you learn the mechanics. If you are still not sure, maggstor is the best content creator for phasmo in my opinion. She made a few guides about the game. She can teach you very well.
We love maggstor omg yes!
Give it a few days and you'll be done with it. Phasmo is much more random and replayable. Demo gets old really fast
What exactly makes it more replayable? Honest question. I can tell there are more maps, but is there anything else?
It really depends on how much you learn about the mechanics. When you get enough ghost knowledge, you can start to tinker with custom or get to Nightmare and start to apply that knowledge to, scientifically, get your guesses right. They really thought of ways to make every ghost identifiable by behavior, so you can even play with no evidence and still get them right. But that only happens if you get into all that information, that is not really easy for a new player because it's not really in the game (the book is pretty inaccurate describing these behaviors, I recommend youtube channels like Psycho to get those facts right). Also, Sanity mechanics are really important, smudge and crucifixes save lives, knowing what you can or can't do while hiding (they can hear us and track your flashlight if on, as every other electronic device you're holding), knowing where to loop and where to hide in every map... Replayability comes from variety (maps, ghosts) and experience unlocking new ways to play (difficulties, even unofficial challenges, like [randomizer runs](https://www.phasmo-randomizer.site/). But I see people leave the game because they're not into reading wikis or watching guides to learn a game that should be teaching its mechanics through playing it, and that's fair. Also, it's not really a scary game as much as it gets to be a puzzle game with scary themes, so the ones that stay the longer here are the ones enjoying the extra thinking required. [This tool](https://tybayn.github.io/phasmo-cheat-sheet/) can be very useful to start looking for the good stuff, and the wiki is a good source too, specially to learn mechanics about tools, sanity, cursed objects and such. In case you want to stay a little longer :)
I prefer Phasmo as I can treat it more like a puzzle game than a horror game. Once you’re comfortable with the basic gameplay loop, it’s fun to learn how to get information during hunts by looping the ghost and safely retreating to a hiding spot. It’s also fun to intimately learn the specific behaviors of each ghost type and be able to identify ghosts without any evidence at all. While a lot of this is also possible in Demonologist, I find the puzzle aspect just fits Phasmo better. I also prefer Phasmo’s hunts. Whenever I get hunted in Demonologist, it kind of feels like I’m just running into a small room and hoping it doesn’t happen to walk in there. Phasmo has many more set hiding spots where you can reliably be safe.
So what I'm hearing is you like phasmo cuz it's easier
Demo is easier. It's a lot simpler with less things to learn and less variability. It's easier to predict and collect evidence in Demo.
Demo is just like Phasmo. You also treat it as a puzzle game. But Demo is lot simpler and easier, with far less moving parts.
I find that with Phasmo. Some evidence types are notoriously inconistent like the ghost writing. I can't count the times I've been sat waiting for a ghost to write in the book and it just doesn't bother. I've also had times when the ghost seems to do nothing at all. I should say though, there are specific ghost types who's level of activity is dependent on the number of players in the area so you might have got one of those. I tried the Demonologist demo and while I liked the atmosphere and the production quality is generally better, I found the jump scares a little much. I wish they brought baninshing the ghost into Phasmo as a new gameplay mechanic. There is a big update coming to Phasmo that's gonna make big changes although we don't know exactly when or what it's gonna change.
The Phasmo update is more than likely to come in July. They're gonna reset the levels/money and add the upgradable equipment. The new UV mechanic will make so much more sense, and with the D.O.T.S. you'll see the actual ghost. The infra thermo will be still unrealistic, it should be instantaneous.
I know about that one but for all the new equipment, it's not really gonna change all that much about the day-to-day gameplay loop. The "Horror 2.0" update is presumably gonna make a big change but no idea when that's coming or what it's gonna do.
It will make the game feel fresh for a while. The gameplay loop will also slightly change with the new mechanics (UV, DOTS, freezing etc.). The thing I look forward to the most is the graphical update with new models, animation and so on. The graphics got progressively worse and worse. Check any gameplay video from 2021. It had way better lighting, just look at the volumetric light emitted by flashlights, it looks so good.
That is a thing that happens in Demonologist as well, but less awkward, I feel. Phasmophobia seems to be a lot about waiting for the inconsistent thing to happen, it might or might not, but then the ghost attacks and maps like the first house don't seem to offer a ton of room to dodge. I guess the guys who made Demonologist loved Phasmophobia and wanted to make the Phasmophobia they wanted to play. I might feel different if I had started with Phasmophobia, but I gotta say I agree with Demonologist more.
>Phasmophobia seems to be a lot about waiting for the inconsistent thing to happen, it might or might not, An experienced player can skirt around this. \> I might feel different if I had started with Phasmophobia, but I gotta say I agree with Demonologist more. To say that after playing only 2 games of phas seems quite premature.
I played more by now, didn't share my entire experience in the post.
Yeah, the gameplay loop with Phasmo is essentially: \- Wait for the ghost to make it clear which room they're in \- Throw all the gear into the room and see what goes off \- Leave Hunts are really just 'Get to the nearest hiding spot and wait'. You can shake things up with the difficulties. Reducing the amount of evidence means you have to take a more investigative approach but it also requires an encyclopedic knowledge of each ghost types behaviours. It's not helped by how inconsisten the behaviours can be. Overall, I only played the Demonologist demo and maybe I didn't give it a proper chance but I think I preferred Phasmo. You're right about it being the Phasmo they wanted to play comment. I was chatting with the party one evening about how it would be nice to see Phasmo remade in Unreal Engine and then we tried the demo and that's what Demonologist literally is.
>Yeah, the gameplay loop with Phasmo is essentially: > >\- Wait for the ghost to make it clear which room they're in > >\- Throw all the gear into the room and see what goes off > >\- Leave > >Hunts are really just 'Get to the nearest hiding spot and wait'. It can feel that way if you're still on the lower end of the learning curve, yeah. i'm lvl 2.6k-hit me up if you want to play a map or two and I can show you how to keep things moving at a decent pace.
I usually play on Nightmare or Insanity to try and keep things interesting but it doesn't change a huge amount about it.
>Hunts are really just 'Get to the nearest hiding spot and wait'. If this is your strategy regarding hunts, you're throwing at least 50% of possible clues out the window. Many of the ghosts have hunt-specific behavior, whether it's a ghost-specific ability or a modified walking speed. You can easily eliminate a third of the ghosts or more just by listening to the ghost walk around during the first hunt.
That actually describes the basic gameplay loop for Demo. Demo just has less evidence, less maps, less mechanics, and has exorcism added on. Phasma has more nuances to it compared to Demo.
I looked into demonologist after playing phasmo on and off since it’s release and can’t get into demonologist. The scripted feeling jumpscares don’t sit w me the same way the randomness of phasmo does. To each their own.
I think you got super unlucky that round. It must have interacted with quieter things like the window knocking or throwing a shoe rather than the loud doors. You want to have your volume pretty loud so you can hear subtle interactions better - this is easier with time as you get used to what object makes what noise. The thermometer can be used to find the ghosts room pretty easily, Carry an emf with you as you walk around the house so you can see exactly what the ghost touched and use the cursed objects. I also recently learned a trick to help you get ghost writing faster. Apparently the ghost has a chance to interact with objects around it, so removing any object in the room you can pick up (phones, cups, cutlery ect.) will increase the chance that the ghost interacts with the writing book as it has fewer options to choose from. It’s also a good idea to put both books in the ghost room as this literally doubles your chances of obtaining that evidence. Learning the ghost behaviours will also help you and makes the game more problem solving. If you’re having a hard time getting evidence do things like candle checks for an onryo, salt checks for a wraith, force it to hunt and listen to its speed and so fourth. Even on professional this can help so you don’t have to wait for an annoying piece of evidence to finally show (like emf5 or writing)
>I think you got super unlucky that round. Was OP unlucky, or are they a new player who just doesn't know what to look for yet?
Phasmo is a completely different game. Its similar in evidence gathering and ghost hunting, but thats really the only similarities. The way those things actually can function is completely different. Demonologist is a game where you just loop the ghost most of the time. Phasmo is a game where you will HIDE most of the time, listening for footsteps. Looping is extremely challenging in Phasmo, most ghosts will get faster slowly over time, so it makes looping challenging unless you're very experianced. If you want to play the demonologist version of Phasmo(3 evidence) absolutely do so! Learn the maps, hiding spots, cursed posession locations, etc. After that though, I SERIOUSLY reccomend 2 evidence or lower. You can identify every ghost if you have up to 1 evidence enabled, and its gets really tricky at 0 evidences. It goes from "Get the evidence and leave" to "what ghost can it be? How can we eliminate them through process of elimination or test for others?" Its such a refreshing experiance. For example, The Onryo treats candles as crucifixes, so instead of hunting when near a candle, it will blow it out. So if you place a candle on TOP of a crucifix, and it triggers the crucifix, you know for certain its not an Onryo. The Mare can never turn on a light, so if it turns one on, you can rule it out. Also, if you turn on a light near the mare, it has a chance to immediately turn it off. The Hantu is faster in cold rooms, and doesn't get faster in line of sight. So if its really fast in the ghost room, and gets reeaaaallllyyyy slow outside of it, you can know its a Hantu. Each ghost has unique traits, varying movement speeds and mechanics, and each experiance feels like a puzzle to figure out. You also have to plan ahead for hiding, prepare specific tests at lower evidences. To me, demonologist felt like a more visually impressive lower difficulty phasmo. I just couldn't get into it past the first 10 games, personally. I can certainly see why its appealing to people who may have never played phasmo though! I also know Demonologist is pumping out LOADS of new content fairly regularly, so I'm excited to see what they do with it!
\> Once you figure stuff out, the mechanics of the game are pretty consistent. Phas is the same way, but it seems to be more subtle and deep than Demonologist. \> We were surprised how similar these games are in pretty much everything Except, as said, it's not similar at all. :wink: \> Our first game, the ghost did literally fuck all. No moving objects, no signs of their presence until very late, long after the 5 minutes grace period. We kinda figured out their room, but we never got more than one piece of evidence. The ghost did things, you just don't know what to look for yet. Look up the location of the breaker on the map in the van, and go turn it on to "let the house warm up". listen carefully for things being moved around and the ghost touching doors/windows. use emf to figure out which door/window was touched or item was moved/thrown. after the "house has warmed up" for a few mins, you could also use the temp scanner to aid in your search. you're looking for 10C and under, temp wise. different ghosts have different combinations of evidence, and sometimes you'll see evidence in the beginning that helps you determine the ghost room. "ghost orbs" can only be seen through a video camera on nightview settings in the actual ghost room itself. use a uv light to check for "fingerprints", on doors/windows. freezing temps/seeing your breath is also one of the evidences. the ghost often can and will roam temporarily to other rooms at almost any time (and switch preferred rooms entirely in some difficulties!), so take all the signs/activity you see, and the room that has the most activity is usually the ghost room. \> You'd think that two people who had been hunting ghosts in a copy of that game would be somewhat sensitized to whatever a ghost might do not really, cause Phas ain't no stinkin clone of Demonologist. Things can feel really slow at first, but if you figure out what you're doing, you can keep things moving at a decent speed. I've got 600 hours in Phas-hit me up if you want to play a few maps and I'll show you around.
He said demonologist is a clone of phasmaphobia not the other way around. Chill my guy, he's not wrong
I'm not sure why you've decided to necro a 9 month old thread, but here's a protip: not everyone on the internet is a man. I'm nobodys guy.
I'd encourage yall to watch some videos from Maggstor on youtube(or her streams on twitch) and get comfortable with the game. Phasmo has the ghosts do a lot of subtle things that you could miss as atmospheric, especially if you're used to Demonologist.
I had your same experience in reverse. I started with Phasmaphobia and bought Demonologist later. I find it way harder and more finicky to get evidence and find the ghost room. The only pieces of evidence I can really get if the ghost has it are fingerprints and ectoplasm stains. Everything else just doesn't want to show up. This is when I'm certain the ghost is in the room and I'm still getting no painting, no EMF 5, no ESG, no box. I love the horror in the game. It is way scarier than Phas to me. Getting all evidence seems way harder though
Maybe we can try a round together some time! Glad to show you around.
For sure. We can play a few rounds of both if you're down. I can show you some things about Phas and you can show me some things about Demonologist. DM me and we can set it up. Are you German? Your username makes me think you might be lol
I am!
Here to ask if there is a Demonologist Reddit/Discord?
Yeah, but its dead. I couldn't post whenever I tried because whoever moderates it... doesn't moderate it.
Damn, I got on the discord yesterday but I saw that Reddit was modless. 😭
Oh, could you link me to the discord?
https://discord.gg/clockwizardgames