It's November 2024. My old friend called me and told me to download Phasmophobia so we can play it together. Given that, of course I had heard about the game beforehand Phasmophobia has been in Early Access since 2020, but recently came to consoles in October. We haven't had a game together since the heyday Apex Legendsso i downloaded the game and there was a reunion in the following weeks Guys (not to be confused with the comic series).
My high school friends and I got to play a new game and it would easily be my most played game of 2025. There's a good chance it will remain my most played game for this year (or at least I don't see it falling out of the top 10). We spent weeks perfecting the game, with most of us having multiple levels of prestige. Every team Phasmophobia the session is full of incredibly stupid antics. We went from playing every night around dinner for weeks to playing a few times a week to now where we play once a week or so. That's only natural given the huge number of hours we've put into the game, and now, on March 3rd, Phasmophobia's 6 Tanglewood Drive rework is out. I've welcomed every map overhaul that's been pushed lately, but this one hurts.
Why Phasmophobia is remaking Tanglewood
Developer Kinetic Games took a few looks at the map and outlined their goals/why they're even remaking Tanglewood. He wants to enhance the visuals and gameplay of Tanglewood to make it more comparable to the recent one Phasmophobia map and rework, increase the replay value of the map and align it with the studio's vision for a future full release of the game. Part of this effort is to remove the various equity assets that are still in play, which is understandable. On paper I fully understand why Kinetic Games is remaking Tanglewood, but on paper Kinetic Games always knew it would upset some of the fan base.
Along with announcing the release date for the Tanglewood remake, Kinetic Games reiterated that:
“We knew when we announced that 6 Tanglewood Drive would be getting a makeover, it would be a hot topic among the community due to its popularity and the place it holds in players' hearts. We believe that by working on this new version, we have only enhanced what makes the map so special.”
This message is directly for me and players like me, or especially those who have been playing longer than me. And while I understand the desire and need to fix it, I don't think changing the map can “improve” what makes it special. Tanglewood isn't special because of its specific framing, but because my friends and I have spent weeks on the map honing our game skills, because we know this map like the back of our hands, and because it's a warm-up map for every game. Phasmophobia. It still may be, and I try to reserve judgment, but you can't manufacture what makes Tanglewood special.
If there is a realm of possibilities where players could keep/access Old Tanglewood and New Tanglewood, I think that's the easiest solution. At the very least, I hope Old Tanglewood returns several times a year.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
Tanglewood's redesign looks good, but it doesn't look like Tanglewood
If you had told me that the New Tanglewood images released so far were completely different maps, I would have believed you. The front of the house is largely the same, but the hallway looks completely different, the living room looks like it's from a completely different era, the zigzag is gone in the kitchen, and the van (which has been annoying me for years when the ghost starts honking at it) is replaced by a completely different car. I don't even know about the kindergarten that saved me from a Phasmophobia ghost a hundred times since I first started playing.
At first sight PhasmophobiaThe Tanglewood changes just don't sit well with me. Maybe when it comes out I'll feel differently – I was on board PhasmophobiaAnother map has been reworked since their announcement – but the changes are much bigger than I expected when they were first mentioned.
Kinetic Games says that it tried to “keep the basic design of the house as familiar as possible”, so there are no drastic changes to the layout (apart from the Kitchen), and that “the redesign has given 6 Tanglewood Drive a much richer personality introduced through new interactions and landmarks that players will notice from the first steps inside”.
Kinetic Games also said it includes a number of new audio features Phasmophobia for Tanglewood and that there are still “excellent places” for ghost looping at Tanglewood. Apparently there is also a clinking dryer. Expanding the audio features makes perfect sense to me, as does adding brand new interactions, but just…New Tanglewood isn't Old Tanglewood.
So I'm firmly on the side of the fan base that Kinetic Games knew would be upset by the big changes at Tanglewood. I get it, but I don't like it. But when the Tanglewood remake drops, I have no doubt my friends and I will be watching it. I just don't know if it captures the same magic. Of course, we've talked about it from the trailers that have come out so far, and we run the gamut of opinions. I might be on the extreme end of not liking it, while another friend is on the extreme end of being open to it. Others are somewhere in the middle, and if anything, the way our pendulum swings represents how important it is Phas like a game to us. We all want the best because we love it so much.
Kinetic Games says “Trust” and while I'm immediately hesitant about it, I choose to believe that what makes Tanglewood special hasn't gone away. I just know that I will miss Old Tanglewood, no matter how much I like or dislike New Tanglewood. I can also guarantee that I will be spending a lot of time at Tanglewood until March 3rd.
Source: Kinetic Games
- Released
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October 29, 2024
- ESRB
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T For Teens // Blood, drug use, violence
- Developers
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Kinetic games
- Publishers
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Kinetic games
