Why Phasmophobia’s Cursed Hollow Easter event is a disappointing step backward
The yearly seasonal events are one of my favorite parts of Phasmophobia. My love for them hasn't gone away, but it's definitely subsided as what used to be unique events with novel gameplay concepts have quickly shifted to mostly monotonous tasks with little originality. Visually, Phasmophobia has never looked better between the Bleasdale Farmhouse rework and the superb decorations for the Easter event. But the gameplay in Cursed Hollow feels incredibly empty by comparison. There are glimpses of the exciting features present in old events, like the unpredictable Forest Minion effects, but most of it feels like set dressing and a massive step backward for the ghost-hunting game. Screenshot by Destructoid Cursed Hollow and all of the more recent events from 2024 are missing the challenging and unique aspects that older events had. Instead of pushing ghost hunters to play and explore the game in new ways with fresh themes and features, events have become formulaic and predictable. 2023 was the peak year for Phasmophobia events, and both the Halloween and Christmas events feel like the pinnacle of what all events should aspire to be. The Halloween event had us tracking down ingredient cards across various maps, gathering materials to brew an elaborate concoction in a bubbling cauldron, and witnessing a hauntingly beautiful sky event. I didn't think the Halloween 2023 event could be beaten at the time, but the Christmas event that followed certainly rivaled it with activities that included locating parts to assemble a snowball gun and hunting down adorable dancing snowmen around each map. Both events had many unique and engaging tasks beyond ghost hunting, and these quests pushed me to play in new ways. Screenshot by Destructoid Special event gameplay features used to be the main focus of the event. With Cursed Hollow and other recent events, the decorations take center stage while the minimal new gameplay that's present falls into the background. Forest Minions are the perfect example of this. It doesn't make any sense to me that revealing them, which is really the only unique gameplay feature in the event, grants just two measly event points. Completing objectives is worth three points each, and correctly identifying the ghost gets you a whopping 10 points. Why is it more rewarding to do tasks that aren't specific to the event than it is to interact with the special event feature? This scale places far too much emphasis on features that exist outside of Cursed Hollow when the emphasis should be on the Forest Minions. It's not even worth it to hunt them down if your goal is to farm event points quickly, which is disappointing because they're quite fun to interact with. Screenshot by Destructoid According to the official blog post for Cursed Hollow, the current plan seems to be to bring the same events back each year for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. This idea is such a letdown, and I really hope the Phasmophobia team doesn't follow through with it. The devs have been so stellar about listening to player feedback, and it's certainly evident with the improvements that were made for Cursed Hollow, including a rotating map schedule and a split between individual and community goals. What they really need to focus on, though, is returning to making events like they used to be. Bring back unique concepts and special gameplay modifiers. Ditch the same themes each year. I wouldn't even necessarily mind if some events or event features repeated occasionally, if we at least got more of the devs' new ideas too. Screenshot by Destructoid Phasmophobia is such a special game for me. I've been playing it since it first launched back in 2020, and some of my fondest memories in it are playing the seasonal events with friends. I've participated in every event and seen what the team is capable of, so I just want to see events return to being a chance for their creativity to shine with exciting new features rather than having the exact same events run annually. All I'm asking is that they bring back my tiny dancing snowmen friends, please, and give us more fresh takes on seasonal events rather than repeating the same ones. Phasmophobia events used to be so exciting and innovative, but over the past year, they've lost the spark that made them special. The post Why Phasmophobia’s Cursed Hollow Easter event is a disappointing step backward appeared first on Destructoid.
The yearly seasonal events are one of my favorite parts of Phasmophobia. My love for them hasn't gone away, but it's definitely subsided as what used to be unique events with novel gameplay concepts have quickly shifted to mostly monotonous tasks with little originality.
Visually, Phasmophobia has never looked better between the Bleasdale Farmhouse rework and the superb decorations for the Easter event. But the gameplay in Cursed Hollow feels incredibly empty by comparison. There are glimpses of the exciting features present in old events, like the unpredictable Forest Minion effects, but most of it feels like set dressing and a massive step backward for the ghost-hunting game.
Cursed Hollow and all of the more recent events from 2024 are missing the challenging and unique aspects that older events had. Instead of pushing ghost hunters to play and explore the game in new ways with fresh themes and features, events have become formulaic and predictable.
2023 was the peak year for Phasmophobia events, and both the Halloween and Christmas events feel like the pinnacle of what all events should aspire to be. The Halloween event had us tracking down ingredient cards across various maps, gathering materials to brew an elaborate concoction in a bubbling cauldron, and witnessing a hauntingly beautiful sky event.
I didn't think the Halloween 2023 event could be beaten at the time, but the Christmas event that followed certainly rivaled it with activities that included locating parts to assemble a snowball gun and hunting down adorable dancing snowmen around each map. Both events had many unique and engaging tasks beyond ghost hunting, and these quests pushed me to play in new ways.
Special event gameplay features used to be the main focus of the event. With Cursed Hollow and other recent events, the decorations take center stage while the minimal new gameplay that's present falls into the background.
Forest Minions are the perfect example of this. It doesn't make any sense to me that revealing them, which is really the only unique gameplay feature in the event, grants just two measly event points. Completing objectives is worth three points each, and correctly identifying the ghost gets you a whopping 10 points.
Why is it more rewarding to do tasks that aren't specific to the event than it is to interact with the special event feature? This scale places far too much emphasis on features that exist outside of Cursed Hollow when the emphasis should be on the Forest Minions. It's not even worth it to hunt them down if your goal is to farm event points quickly, which is disappointing because they're quite fun to interact with.
According to the official blog post for Cursed Hollow, the current plan seems to be to bring the same events back each year for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. This idea is such a letdown, and I really hope the Phasmophobia team doesn't follow through with it.
The devs have been so stellar about listening to player feedback, and it's certainly evident with the improvements that were made for Cursed Hollow, including a rotating map schedule and a split between individual and community goals.
What they really need to focus on, though, is returning to making events like they used to be. Bring back unique concepts and special gameplay modifiers. Ditch the same themes each year. I wouldn't even necessarily mind if some events or event features repeated occasionally, if we at least got more of the devs' new ideas too.
Phasmophobia is such a special game for me. I've been playing it since it first launched back in 2020, and some of my fondest memories in it are playing the seasonal events with friends. I've participated in every event and seen what the team is capable of, so I just want to see events return to being a chance for their creativity to shine with exciting new features rather than having the exact same events run annually.
All I'm asking is that they bring back my tiny dancing snowmen friends, please, and give us more fresh takes on seasonal events rather than repeating the same ones. Phasmophobia events used to be so exciting and innovative, but over the past year, they've lost the spark that made them special.
The post Why Phasmophobia’s Cursed Hollow Easter event is a disappointing step backward appeared first on Destructoid.
