What MetaPhysical is
MetaPhysical is a first-person supernatural hunt game. You go into a haunted house, gather evidence about what is living there, work out which creature it is, then carry out whatever that creature requires to be put down. An ordinary ghost might mean burning human remains; other creatures call for an exorcism or a specific weapon. The journal holds descriptions of the creatures, and your gear does the talking: EMF device, thermometer, motion detector, holy water, ghost box, chalk, salt, gasoline, a shovel, a katana, and more. Equipping before you leave matters, because the catalog is where you pick what you take on a job.
Missions come from the newspaper, which tells you the difficulty and hints at the temperament of the creature. What it actually is, and whether it is shy or aggressive, you find out on site. The game reshuffles ghost names, note placement, difficulty and aggression every level, so each hunt plays out differently from the last.
Playing together
You can hunt with up to five friends, six players in total. Before leaving, everyone loads up on gear, then picks a mission and heads to the haunted house. Inside, the group spreads out to search for signs, compares notes against the journal, and agrees on an identification. Notes found in the house point to names, and the graveyard outside has labeled graves; when the notes majority on one name, you dig that grave, pour gasoline and salt on the bones, and burn them. If the ghost ignites, the job is done.
Ten roles shape how the team works. The Doctor heals or revives a teammate and can heal itself. The Medium locates the creature and senses when a hunt is about to start. The Psychologist removes fear from other players and is immune to it himself. The Priest can exorcise without the exorcism book, the Prepper places more salt and chalk, the Hunter carries more shotgun ammo and health, the Witch protects allies with a spell, the Investigator gets extra clues and always sees fingerprints, the Druid lays a seal that stops any creature, and the Half-Demon moves the creature elsewhere. Each role has a workshop box with further bonuses per hunt.
Voice recognition lets you speak to the creatures or perform an exorcism out loud; a built-in voice function covers players who prefer not to speak. In PvP mode you split into hunters and creatures, one side exorcising its friends, the other putting fear into them.
Worth knowing before you start
Fear is a real mechanic, and the Psychologist exists to manage it, so expect pressure during hunts. You can abandon a job at any time using your car. Between hunts you build up a bunker as your headquarters, buy cars and upgrade them, collect relics from successful hunts to change the bunker's design, hire an AI crew that runs missions for money, and form a clan to compete in a hunter ranking. Poker is available with fellow players during downtime. Items and outfits carry unlockable skins, and you can pick from six characters with four outfits each, plus become an expert on creatures to make identification easier.