What is going to keep you coming back to this game?

[Kyaterina]

I know that there are lots of parallels to phasmophobia, but after playing this game for a few hours I already found myself trying to find out why I would continue playing this game. Now I do understand it's very early access and some things may change, but I'd like to give a little review and some ideas that might help.

A few problems I've encountered so far

1) The Procedurally generated rooms are not always wonderful. The objectives that appear were often not synced up to what was generated. It may ask for a photo of evidence of a past exploration, but then would not generate a body or possibly not even a second lever to open areas that would allow you to take a photo.

2) Getting to guess the Mejai and leave feels extremely unrewarding. There is no risk to not doing it, and no reward to actually doing it either. Once you buy all the items available in the game (I do understand there will be more items added in later) there is no goal.

After playing a few hours my friend and I just wanted to collect the items and upgrades and we just ran round picking up gold, doing the basic objectives, and leaving. There was no desire to actually get to the Mejai at all.

3) The settings are incredibly repetitive, and while I understand it is because it is procedurally generated, it did not make me want to play any larger maps other than the small. There wasn't anything new or interesting to see, just more hallways which ultimately wasn't very fun when, again, even the objective of finding out he Mejai got boring. I would like to hope that in the future this game would have some more objects or settings or textures even that look different enough.

4) Some of the Mejais feel very strong and kind of hopeless to 'beat'. In phasmophobia there is a time where the ghost will hunt you and you will get a chance to escape. in this game having to find a lever to open the door (fun!) can be incredibly difficult when there is no way to sort of "defeat" or outsmart the Mejais. Sometimes it just feels like they are very fast or show up very randomly and you die instantly. Though frustrating, ultimately doesn't feel like *much* of a loss because you're not really losing anything other than some time. You keep your previous equipment, and you lose a few hundred gold maybe which again, not that big of a deal because you can just play the game again collect gold and then leave.

Things I would suggest to make things better/more fun :

RISK AND REWARD. The rewards for beating the Mejai feels so lackluster. So far exp means nothing (which again I know will be changed in the future or so I hope) and gold collection means nothing since you can just kinda game it. You don't risk anything entering and you dont really lose much if you do die.

I guess there is something with the collectibles, but if you're like me and you simply do not care about the story, the lore pages aren't that much of a loss. And there's only 14 artifacts that show up randomly anyway. But once you collect all of those... what else is there?

Crazy Idea I think would separate this game from Phasmophobia more :

Now hear me out, It might be crazy but...

Costumes.

I was kind of thrilled to see a mirror where you can customize your character a little bit. I think giving a big reward for successfully escaping a Mejai of a lot of gold or something that can count toward things like COSTUME options would be so motivating after all of the collectibles and equipment you max out in the game. There's got to be something that makes you want to come back to this game, and once everything is collected, I feel like dressing up your idiot avatar in goofy clothes like pharo hats or mummy wraps would be the perfect thing for the types of people who play these games.

I know it's an undertaking where you would have to hire someone to create clothing for the models, but I believe people would really be into looking goofy with their friends while running around in tombs. Also would make you want to Finish the Mejai objective if there was a huge gold multiplier to afford said silly clothing.


Other than that I can say that I feel like this game is made pretty darn well except for occasional bugs and well thats kinda what early access is about. And ultimately It is a fun and refreshing step away from Phasmophobia that works better than other similar games people have tried to make.

I just really want a reason to have the replay-ability, which I feel is lacking currently.

[Kaileris]

Just to clarify some mechanics that's probably flying over you:

1) Past Exploration can always be done. The Skeletons are always present and accessible (You may have to get cooperation in MP for the prison cell skeleton if that's that only one, or the treasury photo).

Most of the time the second lever for the treasury or prison cell if you cannot find it any where else in the tomb, can be found in the mejai chamber. It's just extra incentive to stay in the tomb longer for more gold while having to deal with the mejai.

2) You're correct on this point. The relic is worth 100 exp, which is usually more than half of what you can earn without doing it. All it does is allows you to upgrade your tools further for ease of evidence detection. However just like Phasmophobia, there's actually no reason and progression to play the game after a certain point. You play for the game experience and horror.

3) They just recently released Tomb of the Pharaoh which has its own texture, new rooms and layouts, and traps.

4) I can only say you're bad at the game. Even on Brutal, the mejai aren't actually hard in my opinion. You have to be very aware once the mejai is active. Lots of times I also make a turn at a junction, only for Rathos to be making the same turn at the opposite end and instantly die, but the rest aren't like that. Dekan requires you to immediately be quiet though.

Rathos - Can be interrupted by lit torches for a brief moment. You don't want to be near him ever or else he'll chase you into a dead end at some point. Make sure to know your looping spots on the map to be able to break away from him.

Dekan - Always crouch to generate least movement noise and stay out of his way. Don't make any sound (Or do so to lure).

Necreph - He'll instantly walk up to you and kill you if you have any active light tools on or near you. Only use the lighter (weird right?) or night vision tablet. This guy has a chance of teleporting ontop of you, which can be a dumb game ender. When he doesn't do that though, the whole idea is he'll teleport around/near you, and you are to not walk into him by accident. I don't like him very much because he can kill you by random luck.

Ouphris - While the easiest, avoid going near him or else he'll run and chase you to attack after it whistles. Your only limited defense is the Heka Amulet.

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I like the idea of playing to unlock character customization. Currently I only play the game to get pleasure of beating each mejai on hard/brutal large maps in multiplayer, while completing all of the objectives. I'm not in it for the money/exp. You can say I'm making the best of the game, even though there's no clear goal/end game. I get high on being pressured to finding the exit lever while the mejai is out to kill.

[Kyaterina]

Originally posted by Kaileris:

Just to clarify some mechanics that's probably flying over you:

=======

I like the idea of playing to unlock character customization. Currently I only play the game to get pleasure of beating each mejai on hard/brutal large maps in multiplayer, while completing all of the objectives. I'm not in it for the money/exp. You can say I'm making the best of the game, even though there's no clear goal/end game. I get high on being pressured to finding the exit lever while the mejai is out to kill.

These are all fair points! (And actually has been far more information than what I got in the game..really.. lol) I think these would be things I would have figured out a bit more along the way, but you asked what would be the reason in playing Phasmo over this :

My point is just over all the risk/reward doesn't feel as fun as Phasmo. I feel like when I play with a large group of friends there is the risk of us dying and losing a LOT which then drives you to play the game more. you die, you lose a lot of equipment with a small amount of money to pay for purchasing items again. Your friends help you out, etc. There's something there at least.

I would say playing with your friends is the core mechanic in any game like this, but if you know that if you lose and you dont actually *lose* anything, I don't have much drive to play the game again. After experiencing the Mejais in this game and fully upgrading every item I can so far- I got bored really quick. And "winning" doesn't feel like too much of a reward (though I think that's just partially because of the early access experience).

Thanks for the tips though!I do appreciate them after feeling a little lost in a few instances with Mejais overall!

[DramaKingKay]

If this game and Phasmo would include workshop support they might have a better chance of surviving in the long run. I have 700 hours in Phasmo, at this point I'm exhausted. I can't find any fun in the game anymore. Same as this game, 50 hours and I'm somewhat over it. If they allowed me to make the game "my own" I would stick around.

[Kyaterina]

Originally posted by HeyKay:

If this game and Phasmo would include workshop support they might have a better chance of surviving in the long run. I have 700 hours in Phasmo, at this point I'm exhausted. I can't find any fun in the game anymore. Same as this game, 50 hours and I'm somewhat over it. If they allowed me to make the game "their own" I would stick around.

Yeah I've played a few other phasmo clones like ghost hunter corps which feels too poorly made in its current state to be any good to play. Forewarned has a lot more potential but I definitely felt burnt out a lot faster than I did initially playing Phasmo. That's why I think giving things like character customization would give people the drive to play this game over and over once they complete the current collectibles and item upgrades

[DramaKingKay]

Originally posted by Tepaku_Zelugon:

Originally posted by HeyKay:

If this game and Phasmo would include workshop support they might have a better chance of surviving in the long run. I have 700 hours in Phasmo, at this point I'm exhausted. I can't find any fun in the game anymore. Same as this game, 50 hours and I'm somewhat over it. If they allowed me to make the game "my own" I would stick around.

I mean..if you put a large amount of hours into any game you are going to wind up exhausted. In the past most games were lucky to even get 20 hours playtime...

True, I have over 1,000 hours each in Counter Strike, Rocket League, and Grand Theft Auto 5 and I'm not exhausted. The addition of community made maps, skins, customizations, and challenges really allows me to find something new and enjoyable every time I play.

[DragonMSword]

The broken AI keeps me from playing more than a couple of games. There is 0 fun when you do everything right but still die because of the broken AI they seem to have no priority to fix.

[RattyRattington]

Originally posted by Lolita:

It may ask for a photo of evidence of a past exploration, but then would not generate a body or possibly not even a second lever to open areas that would allow you to take a photo.

I'm gonna blow your mind, but look down in spike pits if you can't find a skeleton anywhere. They always generate and there's usually more than 1 skeleton in a map. Another pro tip. You can photograph the skeleton that's behind the iron gate without needing to find the 2 levers.

[SirScrubby]

Do you play VR? I found when I play in VR that I don't have a problem getting bored especially with a good group of friends who always keep it fresh

[Thorstorm]

Originally posted by HeyKay:

Originally posted by Tepaku_Zelugon:

I mean..if you put a large amount of hours into any game you are going to wind up exhausted. In the past most games were lucky to even get 20 hours playtime...

True, I have over 1,000 hours each in Counter Strike, Rocket League, and Grand Theft Auto 5 and I'm not exhausted. The addition of community made maps, skins, customizations, and challenges really allows me to find something new and enjoyable every time I play.

Dude CS is crap after 50 hours mods or not, only freeloaders still play this game, RL is the same once you realize how it works and how terrible is the ranking system you're done.
Not because you can play a game 1 000 hours that everyone can, same for this game.

[DramaKingKay]

Originally posted by Space Titan:

Originally posted by HeyKay:

True, I have over 1,000 hours each in Counter Strike, Rocket League, and Grand Theft Auto 5 and I'm not exhausted. The addition of community made maps, skins, customizations, and challenges really allows me to find something new and enjoyable every time I play.

Dude CS is crap after 50 hours mods or not, only freeloaders still play this game, RL is the same once you realize how it works and how terrible is the ranking system you're done.
Not because you can play a game 1 000 hours that everyone can, same for this game.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has more than 425,000 people playing at this very moment with more than 750,000 as its 24 hour peak. The game was priced $15, now its free with the Prime upgrade of $15. I would say more than just Freeloaders play this game and certainly most have played over 50 hours.

I could throw more Rocket League stats at you, but its seems like your just upset that you can't get out of gold even though many people can.

This game is super fun. I get that its still an EA game, but if they could allow mods/workshop support it might bring more people, it would certainly keep me coming back.