At the time of writing I’ve racked up 126 hours of playtime in Phasmophobia in under two years of owning it, so it’s a fair to say I’m a pretty big fan of the ghost hunting horror game. There’s just nothing quite like using your spectral tools to work out which ghost type is haunting a location, and every session is just so different.
In the last year we’ve had some great updates to Phasmophobia, like the new and improved Bleasdale Farmhouse map and the Chronicles update which brought with it a whole new way to play. It’s time for another map rework now though, in the form of the other rural locale: Grafton Farmhouse.
I must admit that when I heard so much time and effort was going into reworking old maps I was a bit sceptical about the importance of this over other Phasmophobia updates. After all we’ve all been waiting with baited breath for the launch of Horror 2.0 for years now, and surely sprucing up a few maps will mean we’re waiting longer. Well any concerns I had were washed away when I first explored Grafton Farmhouse, which is now far and away the greatest map the game has ever seen.
Whereas Bleasdale became a posh country manor with its new and improved relaunch, Grafton has gone downhill. It’s a beyond dilapidated location, full of crumbled walls and holes to the moonlit sky. The atmosphere of the place is seriously spooky and unlike anywhere else you can hunt ghosts in Phasmophobia.
Walking into the kitchen area which was once made up of generic tables and plates you’ll now immediately notice wooden beams that have smashed through the ceiling and decimated the ground floor below. Cleverly placed wooden partitions mean that ghosts can hunt you from out of sight and end your night early, and a bathtub dripping a dubious red liquid will make you wish you’d never come out to solve this case.
I was so impressed with the level of detail that the developers put into the rework of Grafton Farmhouse, and then I entered the dressing room full of mannequins and cursed them and their stupid game. There has never been a more horrific place to hunt for Spirits and Poltergeists in Phasmophobia, and when the ghost chooses it as its favourite room you’re in for a spooky time to say the least.
As more and more maps get improved or added to Phasmophobia the game just continues to get both better and scarier, and I simply cannot get enough of it. Kinetic Games are ensuring that this horror success story continues to write new chapters and in doing so are keeping its players invested, and as long as this continues I’ll be standing with my EMF meter in hand ready to hunt.
Phasmophobia is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X.
