I keep meaning to play the Quarry but never find the time. Fun watching streamers play shorter titles, though.

I totally forgot about The Quarry. Maybe I'll play it. But now that you mentioned it, I remember a lot from watching a streamer play it at launch so I might wait until next year.

Shawn Zipay You're right, if I buy a VR headset and play Phasmophobia that way, it would definitely be a completely different experience. Not only am I seeing a haunted building from ALL angles, but I'm also hearing angry footsteps racing towards me in surround sound. That would MESS with my head/heart.

With that said, this is the best time to come back to try Phasmophobia again. Actually I would've warned you to hold off on it at the time of your posting, as the game's latest update (again, at THAT time) had a nasty memory leak that slows the game down over time. Needless to say, Kinetic Games HAULED ASS to hotfix that memory leak out, and even added a few more quality of life changes.

Speaking of quality of life changes, that's why I said this is the best time to come back. Ignoring the very latest update, there has been many changes to make this game far more accessible than the earlier days. There's certainly more content (ghosts, maps, etc.) and optional challenges to make things more difficult, but the focus of the updates over time has been to make the game less frustrating to play.

An example? Hate Asylum? Suffers from Halo corridor effect? Get lost too easily? Too damn big? No problem, it's gone. Sunny Meadows is a replacement asylum that is very large, but the layout is much more intuitive so you can find your way around. Hate the size? No problem. You can play the "Restricted" version where a random slice of the map is open each time you play it. This newest map is designed to have main doors that separate each main section of the building, and lock up if you play the "Restricted" version of the map.

Another example? Parabolic Mic blocks your view? It's semi-transparent glass now. And it's been tweaked for improved functionality. I'm still not entirely sure how to get consistent readings, but it does catch whispers from other ghosts, or a unique Banshee scream (not ear-splitting, but unique enough so you KNOW it's a Banshee).

Another example? How about the biggest feature of them all? THE VERY LONG AWAITED AND ANNOUNCED A LONG TIME AGO CUSTOM DIFFICULTY! This is the main reason you and your friends should come back for Halloween gaming. The best way to improve accessibility is to let you customize EXACTLY how difficult the game will be, if at all. You have full control over MANY aspects of the game with this. You probably don't know what Nightmare mode is (another new feature), so don't worry about it. You can make a ghost that never hunts, and your sanity never drops if you want. I don't know how that's fun, but it's good practice! Assuming you don't use practice mode itself.

And of course, since it's been a while, you have your graphical changes (the lobby is brand new for Halloween), tool refreshes (updated looks, improved functionalities), new UV flashlight as a preview (intentionally not usable outside of the lobby at this time), new item purchase/selection interface, new profile system (goodbye whiteboard), new minigames to play in the lobby (Jenga, bowling, ring toss, and cornhole), new truck, and new Halloween event (candy buckets, Jack O'Lanterns, themed ghost), etc.

... I guess I play this game more often than I realize. Huh. Anyway if you and your friends need a ringer, and I'm not at work (weekends/statutory holidays are ideal), let me know.