Fatal Frame II & old school photos

For some of us, the answer to the question "What was the first scariest game you've ever played" is likely to be "DOOM". I agree. It's not FIRST on my list, but it definitely is THE game that caused us to shut off the lights and dive in. My first scariest experience was the original Maniac Mansion on the C64. I have a thing for games that happen in large houses, and it started with that game. It obviously wasn't the color pallet, or the theme per se, but there was something unsettling about knowing that I was in a house, and that other NPC characters (none of them with good intentions) were in that house with me. Following that, was the first installment of the ever-dwindling franchise Alone in the Dark which I had picked up on a computer in the Dawson College lab.

Alone in the Dark was novel, and was definitely scary. Not only were you "alone" in that house, but the house was haunted, and the game let you know this through various Lovecraft manuscripts. Low on bullets, scared to death, unable to leave, such are the staples of the survival horror genre. I've played a good number of these games, Nocturne (that eventually turned into Bloodrayne) was a hated game that I enjoyed, along with Devil Inside (equally horrible reviews) and the original Resident Evil.

The Playstation2's array of survival horror is not so satisfactory. I've expressed my discontent with the Silent Hill series. GREAT cutscenes, genuinely scary atmospheres, but a crime in terms of interface and combat. So much that I've bailed on every Silent Hill out of pure frustration with some of the things this series did wrong.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, on the other hand, did not disappoint.


- "What was that"
- It was a cutscene, we're in SonyLand, remember?

The Twin Sisters, Mayu and Mio, are trapped in The Lost Village. This is an old Japanese village with creaky old abandoned houses, damp Kimonos, and the occasional windy underground passage. Without spoiling too much (cause I can hear you putting on your coat to go to the store right now..), there is nobody in this village. Nobody alive at least.

It would seem that there is a ceremony that is to take place, a sacrifice of some sort. The rest of the story is told to you through various manuscripts and journals that you pick up, piece by piece. Along with these journals are various "crystals" which you can "listen" to using a spirit radio. Through static, you can make out various cries for help and testimonials of the dead. Save the crystals, I would say that the game experience would suffer greatly if you don't read these journals, as they provide essential information as to exactly what's going on around here.

Your sole weapon in this game, is the Camera Obscura. The camera has the ability to exorcise spirits, which will reveal themselves to you in a way that you won't soon forget. You can load the camera with various strengths of exorcismal film, each with their reload times and exorcismal strength. Finding "Spirit Orbs" will help you power-up the three main aspects of your camera (range, power, and something else). The orbs alone won't suffice to power-up: there is also a cost in "points" in order to upgrade an aspect or a add-on function. The menu for the camera seems daunting at first, but it's really quite straightforward. Fail to attend to the upgrading of your camera, and the game will seem completely unfair.

Points are awarded to you on the basis of how much damage you can inflict to a spirit in a single shot or "frame". Each spirit has a hotspot, and a critical timing that will allow you to score bonus points. Most of the time, that means waiting until the spirit is IN YOUR FACE. You eventually come to learn the spots for each spirit, which is essential because piece-mealing a spirit will cost you way too much in the scarce quantities of film you will find along the way. Speaking of which, this game rewards exploration and curious jamming of the X button in dark corners, but on the flipside, nothing actually stands out as an interactive drawer/cupboard/loose board.

The game comes with its own set of flaws, which I gladly overlooked, but not without some gruntage. The rooms are sometimes so dark that you'll wonder what's keeping you from reaching a certain corner. You'll also get the occasional useless description of an object sounding like "It's a screen, I can tell there's an empty space behind it". Useless information. There's also a bit of brisk camera switching can leave you somewhat disoriented, which kinda sucks because consulting the map has an irritating load time. I've found myself walking a few areas with my camera up just to get a better feel of the actual shape of the room.

Excellent use of the rumble pack. In fact, critical. A lot of people question whether vibration is actually essential in games. My answer would be that it completely depends on the developer's intentions. In this case, most of the time, you can't see the spirits until you bring up your camera; and the only indication of this will be the heartbeat and trembling of your character and a glowing indicator. The rumble is used to make you feel the evil energy/presence that is in the room, especially when you have a target locked, and succeeds quite well. If you don't see it, you'll hear it. If you don't hear it, you'll feel it.



Fatal Frame II showing various gameplay aspects

There's also a certain die-hard aspect to the game. There are spirits that are just wandering souls that appear at specific locations for a very brief amount of time. The faster you spot them and shoot them, the more bonus points you'll get. This means that if you're remotely startled, or your reflexes don't kick in, you just threw away anywhere from 500 to 1000 points (2000 being a very high shot score in this game).

Finally, there's a Photo Album mode. Photos are not saved with your save game, they require a separate memory slot. You can select shots and keep'em to show.. well.. nobody. It's a fun function to have, but it's actual use in the game is zero.

The story is quite solid, a pretty good cliffhanger IMO. The scare factor, is way up, and the puzzles are of moderate difficulty. If you don't pay close attention, you might have difficulty understanding what it is that you need to to next. There's also an "I'm gonna help" you type character who can give you hints if you're stumped.

Out of a slew of "scary" games, this is the first one where I actually screamed and dropped the controller. Yes. "Like a girl". Fatal Frame II is definitely one of the harder finds (I know my copy's not going anywhere), but most definitely worth playing, and certainly NOT an entry-level game. In the end, this game delivers to those who enjoy a little bit of gnawing emptyness.

I honestly thought I was kicking ass.
E does not stand for Excellent.


And remember, sometimes you just have to throw it in,
even if seeing the * blinds you.