Recent reviews by Katelyn

EDIT 2nd July 2024: An update, the offender was (supposedly - there's no way to verify this) permanently removed from the game, almost a month after the incident. I've been out of the community for a while and not actively playing, but a few friends who are still involved kept me updated on the below.

Apparently, my situation became a constant topic in Discord discussions until the community manager, shapesifter13, finally caved and issued a permanent ban. From comments made by BMGs Discord staff, my impression is that ss13 was pushed into issuing a permanent ban by his own moderators who insisted he take action to avoid angering more people, agreeing that the initial punishment was "lax at best".

But let's not forget ss13's initial response — a casual 'I’m sorry you feel that way' — when players were rightfully upset about the handling of my case and the generally poor moderation in-game. And let's definitely not overlook the fact that when BMG initially refused to permanently ban the person targeting me, a separate group of doxxers saw the companies weak response as an opportunity. They escalated things by doxxing another ranked player, even getting their hands on and publicizing her SSN.

Sure, BMG eventually did something, but it was way too late and comes across as if they only did it to shut down what they so kindly refer to as 'drama'. I still won’t be returning, even though I adore the gameplay I just can't bring myself to support BMG or re-involve myself with the community after this situation.

EDIT 25th May 2024: Comments are now disabled because friends of the offender are trying to justify why this behaviour is acceptable, or are downplaying the severity of the situation to try and invalidate me.

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I love this game but from a player safety and trust/moderation perspective, I cannot in good faith give this game a positive review.

I was doxxed during a ranked match and I had to try for almost 2 days to get ahold of someone from BMG to handle the issue. Come to find out, they didn’t even permanently remove this player, they gave him a 30 day ban. A 30 day ban for a ranked player when we are less than a week out from offseason. Boy, that’ll really show him, banning a regular ranked player during the one month he can’t play because the mode is disabled!

Apparently finding my personal information, naming themselves as my real life manager in-game and repeatedly saying lines during the match pertaining to posts about my workplace isn’t a serious enough offence despite this specific player already having 3 punishments on record. This specific player also persistently abused a community made mod to find me while I was anonymous, to the point where I had to contact the guy who made it to ask for it to be amended, and also admitted to other players on Discord that he did find and use my information - but “it was fine because her profile was public”. Reasonably I know BMG cannot moderate Discord messages but this player has continued to give my full name and workplace out to other people via Discord DMs, further proving he has very little remorse. But no, we welcome people like this back with open arms after their cold hard time in off-season jail.

Doxxing is a cybercrime which these guys don’t seem to care about. Sorry BMG, I’ll make sure it’s my full home address and IP next time. Maybe then it’ll be “serious enough” for you.

Stay very very clear if good moderation is something you value.

EDIT: 10th November 2024
This game had a lot of potential when it was in Early Access but unfortunately little seems to have been changed gameplay wise, a lot of focus has been put into cosmetics and aesthetics such as new maps and new lobby items.

They've also upped their minimum system requirements and even though I exceed them, I constantly stutter and crash. Pretty much can't get past the loading lobby let alone into an actual game. Quick search shows a lot of people have been experiencing this for over a year now. Disappointing - was pretty keen to see this compete with Phasmophobia, but it's fallen flat.

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8th April 2023. For an Early Access game I do believe this is decent to play with friends and is worth the price for some laughs and something to do as a group. My detailed thoughts;

CONS:
- Economy is very punishing, you earn pennies while everything is costly (one candle is $600 and one match where you guess the ghost correctly without completing any additional objectives pays $600).

- Grind for the next map and game difficulty option is significant

- Becomes repetitive very fast

- I can’t tell if there’s any form of item insurance for when you provide the equipment but die. If there is, it’s not anything noticeable.

- Hunting doesn’t seem to have much logic to it at all. The spawning and indication a hunt is starting is strange, and there is little to no hiding, all you can do is run. I can’t tell if I’ve just run for so long that the hunt coincidentally ended or if I’ve successfully escaped. Some ghost types will hunt endlessly while locked onto a target, there are instances where this is guaranteed death if you are targeted and do not have a Crucifix (which is hard to afford).

- Jumpscares are scripted and after a few matches the shock value wears off

- Most if not all ghosts have the exact same abilities as the ones from Phasmophobia, just shuffled to different names eg. a Hantu in Phasmophobia is an Agash in Demonologist, a Deogen in Phasmophobia is an Iblis in Demonologist. They behave exactly the same in terms of speeding up in colder temps and slowing down once close to/constantly sensing the player.

- Lots of AI art and UE Store Assets

- Little variety in the optional objectives

- It’s easier to just not touch the Cursed Objects as they provide little to no gameplay value, they will eat your sanity, and are again the same as Phasmo. There are no Cursed Objects unique to Demonologist thus far.

- Some objects seem a bit finicky to trigger, you typically identify the first two pieces of evidence quickly and then stand around trying to trigger a 3rd.

PROS:
+ I love the puzzle/riddle aspect to unlock areas of the map or to trigger special events and I hope this is prominent in future updates.

+ The map sizes are good and new-player friendly, it is quite easy to narrow down the ghost room

+ Maps have great ambience

+ Graphics are stunning

+ Equipment is pretty standard for ghost hunting games but is visually unique. The addition of the Ecto Glass is nice.

+ Additional objectives and ability to exorcise the ghost is enjoyable

+ Additional objectives are unique to each map and will require you to interact with each map differently

+ I like that the additional objectives are sequenced. You must identify the ghost type and lock it in > complete optional objectives > exorcise the ghost.

+ Decent character customisation and the ability to decorate your lobby/buy other lobbies AKA a “saferoom”

Overall, I think this is worth a try with friends and you’ll get a few hours of fun if you’re not initially put off by the equipment grind. I’m keen to see where this goes and I do think it fills some desires that Phasmophobia players have asked for eg. more ambience and better graphics, but Phas ultimately will be where my loyalty lies for the time being. This however is a refreshing break and I do intend to play more with a group. I hope this continues to receive regular updates!