Who likes being scared, then? All of you? Great! Now I know exactly who I won’t be joining next Halloween. For those of you that make terror a desired addition to your daily routine, I might have found just the title to get the old screams going. The game we’ll be discussing today is Phylakterion, and apart from it being really hard to spell it looks like a great time for those of you wanting a fright-fest.
Any of you that have played and loved Phasmophobia, (also bloody hard to spell,) will likely love Phylakterion. This 1 – 4 player co-op horror game takes some ideas from the previous title and gives things a prop-hunting twist. All you’ll need to do is investigate various locations in a bid to find and destroy a possessed vessel. On its own, this slightly suspect-sounding treasure hunt doesn’t sound like too much of a problem. The thing is you aren’t going to be the only ones doing a bit of hunting. The entity possessing the object that you’re looking for doesn’t really want to be kicked out of its home and will be hunting you. As you’ve probably already fathomed, this doesn’t bode at all well for your personal safety.
As a member of a team of paranormal investigators, (assuming you aren’t insane enough to go it alone,) you’ll have a bunch of different ghost-hunting equipment at your disposal. These contraptions will not only help you locate the haunted item you’re looking for but also aid you in determining what type of entity is haunting it. Not every possession is going to be the same. Can’t you see the item in a mirror? Does the item scream when you drop it? Does the ghost enjoy writing in the blood of its victims? These and many other macabre questions will need to be answered before you can perform the correct rituals to destroy the possessed vessel.
Before you start drawing conclusions and making those, “well it’s going to be a bit like …” comments, the folk over a Lich Again Games, the team behind Phylakterion have been honest about their passions from the start. They are all avid Phasmophobia players who started playing with self-imposed challenges after memorizing all the items’ and props’ placements in the game. In doing this they decided it was time to make their own title. One in which the items weren’t necessarily going to be in the same place every game.
In the Early Access release of Phylakterion, you’re being invited to explore five locations, including a city apartment and an abandoned police station. In these haunted places, you’ll have to employ a simple three-step method. If you are going to be able to search, identify and then destroy the haunted object you’ll need to use the seven tools currently at your disposal. Geiger counters, cameras, and even the common notebook will be invaluable as you go about performing your duties. Your worst enemy might just be complacency though, each entity will behave differently so you’ll need to be on your A-game if you’re going to get out alive.
If you’re a fan of being hunted by some of the afterlife’s more insidious occupants Phylakterion can be added to your wishlist over on Steam now; ready for Early Access release at the beginning of next year. This could definitely be one to watch as I’m pretty sure things are only going to get creepier as production continues.
