Frustrated with Ghost Hunting Mechanics & Timed Gameplay

[Ankido]

Can someone please explain the point of this game to me? We’re hunting ghosts, trying to identify which ghost it is. But what’s the point if there’s a hidden timer that’s just based on sanity or a plain countdown? You go to the area, get an EMF reading, 'Hey look, there's a ghost here.' Then, 45 minutes later, you finally get freezing temperatures. Another 45 minutes, and you see orbs. Let’s be real here, the game is just gated behind a timer. No matter how tough you make the settings, whether it's Apocalypse III or whatever, there's still a timer blocking you from finding the ghost quickly.

What they should have done is give each ghost a unique and consistent way to be identified. Instead, I feel like I’m back in high school cramming for an exam, trying to memorize ghost behaviors. What's the point of that? You identify the ghost, and then what? Yay, congratulations... but it feels empty.

And don't even get me started on that new lighthouse map. Worst one yet. Played it once, and I have no desire to ever go back.

[WickedKae]

There are a ton of things this dev should be doing to enhance and deepen gameplay

they will never do any more than what you see now. I really hope some other dev sees the possibilities and makes a way more in depth phasmo

[Ankido]

I don't think this game is well developed. The developer really fell short here. Waiting around endlessly for evidence isn't fun, it's just a time sink and a waste. I agree, there needs to be more depth to gathering evidence and identifying the ghost.

[Ankido]

I just did a run with a friend, and the ghost turned out to be a Banshee. I spent the entire time using a mic, and got no indication that it was a Banshee. That’s exactly the problem I have with this game. There should be distinct events that help narrow down the checklist, ghosts should feel like a logical process of elimination. Instead, you're stuck camping in one spot for 30 to 40 minutes just to get a single piece of evidence. Sometimes, I've just given up because no evidence shows up at all.

Honestly, I think the developer dropped the ball on this one. The original concept had so much potential, but no one seems to have made it truly engaging. Every attempt to build on the idea just misses the mark.

[Trooper Bri]

Maybe deduction style games aren't for you.

There's no timing involved. Each of the ghosts does have their own personality and unique abilities. Kinetic threw in a bit of RNG to those personalities so that we get the Lazy Polty. The Sleepy Demon. Had a Spirit or Shade once that was attempting a world's record at shutting off the breaker during a contract.

Sanity is based on you being in the light, not running into ghost events, and a few ghost abilities. No timing there. Ghosts hunt at different sanity levels, along with other conditions.

And there's all kinds of settings to make the game as spicy or easy as you need.

[Rockpaw]

There are other games that are more active then Phasmo that you could look into. Demonologist is the first that comes to mind. Maybe Devoured or something like that. I do like phasmo, although I will admit it does get repetitive.
As for you saying "Hidden Timer" or things taking "45 minutes" that's a bit of a over reaction. I normally get all 3 clues within 4-10 minutes. Most ghosts hunt at 50% sanity so its not very hidden.

[Ellixen]

Originally posted by Ankido:

I just did a run with a friend, and the ghost turned out to be a Banshee. I spent the entire time using a mic, and got no indication that it was a Banshee. That’s exactly the problem I have with this game. There should be distinct events that help narrow down the checklist, ghosts should feel like a logical process of elimination. Instead, you're stuck camping in one spot for 30 to 40 minutes just to get a single piece of evidence. Sometimes, I've just given up because no evidence shows up at all.

Honestly, I think the developer dropped the ball on this one. The original concept had so much potential, but no one seems to have made it truly engaging. Every attempt to build on the idea just misses the mark.

There are, parabolic microphone has a 33% chance of giving you a banshee scream. Every ghost has their own traits and special things they do, but they're not guaranteed. You can get a demon that never hunts over 70% in one case, then the next he hunts at 100% once the timer (if you're on that difficulty) is done. You can either look up each ghosts special trait or you can keep playing to discern them on your own.

I get where you're coming from as well. I've definitely had cases like what you described. I've also had cases where I've gotten everything within 10 minutes. It's hard to properly balance that kind of timeline imo because if everything can be solved in 10 min every time then that also leads to it's own kind of monotony and boredom.

I know nobody likes hearing the early access excuse, but the game is still not finished. I don't know if they're planning to make sweeping changes before it's finished or not, but I hope they do. The custom difficulty option is definitely an option for you if you want more activity.

I think they have an official discord (I could be wrong), but it would be worth looking into so you can share you thoughts where the devs may be more likely to see it.

[Radiate88]

If it takes you 45 minutes to find freezing or orbs, you'll probably die first. The tier 1 equipment is pretty bad, but if you understand the mechanics of the game better, you'll have an easier time finding the evidence. Freezing in particular is difficult because you have to wait for the ghost to actually cool the room down, but it usually only takes around 5 minutes if the ghost stays in one spot.

I'll give some tips for each of the evidences.
For dots (tier 1 or not) place the projector in a spot that maximizes coverage, but if you're on a higher difficulty and a smaller room, place the dots outside the room looking in, because the ghost will be more likely to leave the room (willow street bathroom). If you place a motion sensor down, you can track the ghost then use the spirit box on top of the motion sensor to confirm the ghost is close enough for it to respond. EMF 5 sucks because all interactions are given a 25% chance to give off EMF 5, so it's possible to just get unlucky. You can also use the activity board if you have it. If you see a jump up or down of 4 or 5 and you know there wasn't an event, you can say it was EMF 5. Also if it jumps to or from 10, it won't count. Orbs only spawn in the ghost's room, so if you use the video camera in your hand, you can just walk around the room for a few seconds and determine if there's orbs or not. It's possible to miss them, but usually one check is enough to rule them out. Use salt for UV. Not all rooms have doors, so using salt is a good way to force the ghost to leave UV if it has it. The only thing to note is if it steps in the salt and you don't actually hear footsteps, it won't leave any UV. For writing, just make sure the book is the first thing you bring into the room after finding it. Sometimes it takes a while to write in, so having it in early gives it more time to write in it. And for freezing, you can just keep checking. The freezing system sucks at the moment, but if you want to make things a little easier, you can turn the breaker off, which will make the temperatures drop faster. It's really just about hoping the ghost stays in the room, because the room will slowly get colder when the ghost is actually in the room, so if the ghost does an event outside of the room or roams or moves rooms, the room you're checking will rise in temperature, so just keep checking. There are some rooms that actually just suck for freezing though (willow street bathroom) because they're small and the ghost won't stay in the room.

[RedVomit]

OP would be a great detective for Chicago shootings. "Yeah, I looked around for a few min..... no one there, case closed".

[Sasha Mason]

Sometimes it can take a while to get evidence, but 45 minutes is greatly exaggerated.
Orbs is pretty much instant, there is no timer whatsoever. It's either there or it isn't.
The only bits of evidence that can actually be annoying to get is DOTS and freezing, if the ghost roams too much it might just never really get to freezing and dots is just pure chance if it walks through and decides to show up.

Like, I don't get how it takes you that long to identify orbs.

[Super Moogle]

Originally posted by Ankido:

What they should have done is give each ghost a unique and consistent way to be identified. Instead, I feel like I’m back in high school cramming for an exam, trying to memorize ghost behaviors. What's the point of that? You identify the ghost, and then what? Yay, congratulations... but it feels empty.

Already done.

Spirit - can't hunt for 180 seconds after being hit by incense. Normal is 90 seconds for all other ghosts except demon.
Poltergeist - has a 100% chance to throw objects with great force every 0.5 seconds during a hunt. Other ghosts have a 50% chance to throw objects every 0.5 seconds with varying amounts of force. Can also explode piles of objects instead of throwing a single objects.
Mare - Roams away from lit rooms, more likely to change ghost room when its light is turned on. Has a small chance to instantly turn off a light switch that you turned on if you're close to the ghost. Hunts in the dark at 60% sanity, but can't hunt in the light until 40% sanity.
Demon - hunts at 70% sanity, can hunt at any sanity if it uses its special ability, crucifixes have a 50% greater range vs demons. Can hunt 60 seconds after being hit by incense (normal is 90 seconds).
Yokai - can't hear you or sense your electronics during a hunt unless it's right on top of you. Also can hunt at 80% sanity if you speak near the ghost.
Myling - can't hear it during a hunt until your flashlight starts flickering. Also speaks more often on paramic.
Raiju - hunts at 65% sanity near electronics, speeds up during hunts around electronics.
Moroi - Drains player sanity rapidly if you get a spirit box or paramic response, movement speed is based on average sanity during hunts.
Wraith - teleports to players with an EMF 2/5 signal, doesn't disturb placed salt.
Banshee - roams to a chosen player around the map without making an EMF signal, easy to check by placing a motion sensor on the opposite side of the house and seeing if it comes to you. Also 33% chance of doing a special paramic scream. Choses to hunt based on its target's sanity, not average group sanity.
Revenant - super slow when hunting, super speedy if it sees somebody.
Yurei - can close a fully open door without any apparent ghost event. Also the only ghost that can close the front door without hunting/eventing.
Hantu - hunt speed is based on room temperature, breathes misty breath when the breaker is off. Can't turn breakers on.
Onryo - tries to hunt after blowing out 3 candles (at any sanity). Is an early hunter at 60%.
Obake - shapeshifts during hunts, UV evidence sometimes doesn't appear or shows up with too many fingerprints.
Deogen - special spirit box response, very obvious hunting speed and always finds you.
Phantom - roams to players with an EMF 2 signal, disappears immediately if you try to take a photo of the ghost. Photo comes up as a ghost photo but there is no distortion in the camera and no ghost visible. Almost completely invisible during hunts.
Jinn - Can't turn breakers off, speeds up instantly when it sees a player from far away but slows to regular ghost speed when it gets closer. Randomly leaves EMF 2/5 signal on the breaker box without interacting with the breaker.
Shade - interactions stop when you are in the same room as the ghost (verify with motion sensors). Note that the shade can wander outside of the doorway and then interact with objects that are within its range that are still inside the room that it left.
Oni - almost completely visible during hunts, tends to spam ghost events.
Goryo - never wanders far from its ghost room, can't change favorite rooms, will show DOTS only through a video camera (not in person) when nobody is inside the same room as the ghost.
Twins - can interact with objects that are up to 16 meters away from the ghost (basically the same size as the whole tanglewood map). If it's throwing/touching things on opposite ends of the house, it's 99% guaranteed twins. Also hunts at two different speeds.
Mimic - can emulate the behaviors of all other ghosts, always has ghost orbs even when evidence is set to 0 (because the orbs are fake evidence, they're an ability of the ghost rather than an evidence).
Thaye - gets older the longer you stand close to the ghost's location. If the ghost's age ever changes when you ask "how old are you" on the ouija board, it's a thaye. Starts off very active, moves very fast on hunts. As it ages it becomes less active and moves progressively slower on hunts.

You can set the game to 0 evidence and consistently identify almost every single ghost within 1-2 hunts based on their unique traits alone. Which is what you were asking for.

Unless you're complaining that all ghosts should have a unique way of being identified, BUT you shouldn't have to remember what these traits are, the answer should just be handed to you on a silver platter the moment the ghost does the action. If that's the case, what's the point of playing an investigative game at all?

[ULTRANEONGODPET]

If it takes you THAT long to investigate, then it's not that the game is too hard, you're just not good. Took me a couple days to get investigations done in 5 - 10 minutes, and this as in 2021, when the game was in a VERY early state.

[Mob Barley]

skill issue

[Dragonmaster]

Skill issue. You can generally find all 3 evidence in pro games within 10 mins. Unsterstand how sanity works. If your in the room with lights on it doesn’t drain passively.
Every ghost has tells on what it is that you can tell between hunts or using your tools.
In fact nightmare+ requires you to use these tells since you can’t get all 3 evidence