A chilling, charming, and slightly cumbersome game from a different era
Pros
- Incredible atmosphere and a haunting soundscape
- Gorgeous visual fidelity in cutscenes that is unparalleled in the genre
- Fleshed out world building and lore through the Side Stories
- Charming gameplay that feels unlike anything available today
- Deep progressing and upgrade system that feels tangible
Cons
- Combat won’t gel with everyone
- Even then, combat can be frustrating at times
It’s pretty rare that you can play a game from more than 20 years ago that still feels like an old game, but in a new, pristine form with upgraded visuals and gorgeous cutscenes. Usually, with any remake, some things are changed, removed, or modernized, and while I am completely new to the Fatal Frame series, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake still feels like an early 2000’s game, and that is what made my time with it so special.
While I am new to the series, Koei Tecmo has done a really fantastic job here of upgrading the game’s visuals and atmosphere to create one of the spookiest horror games I have ever played, while retaining the game’s unique and somewhat cumbersome gameplay that I mostly enjoyed, even if it did raise my blood. Although it definitely won’t be for everyone.
Spook Your Pants Off
You follow Mio and Mayu Amakura, who visit a small village in the Minakami region where they used to spend time as children. Both are led deeper into the village, and Mio, whom you play as, is split off from Mayu as she is dragged deeper into Minakami Village by a set of mysterious Crimson Butterflies, as new spirits emerge in the village.
Mio and Mayu are the leads and their terror at the situations they find themselves in resemble you own fear while playing.
“It’s a genuinely frightening place where, at any moment, you feel like you can be jumped by a spirit around the corner.”
The story is a captivating classic horror setup, and the cutscenes here are absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. Some of the best-looking cutscenes I can think of in the genre, with an intense, foreboding atmosphere thanks to unique camera work and excellent audio design. This carries through in gameplay too, as you are exploring Minakami Village. It’s a genuinely frightening place where, at any moment, you feel like you can be jumped by a spirit around the corner.
There are all kinds of mysteries and unexplained apparitions that pop up, too, giving the game a constant freshness as something new or different is almost always happening or trying to scare you. While that kept me hooked, the narrative here also kept pulling me along, and I adored being able to explore Minakami Village and get to know more about the history of the place.
The atmosphere and creepy locations are some of the best in the genre.
Mio and Mayu’s tale does this just well enough, but the new Side Stories for the remake are a fantastic addition that enriches Minakami Village and the world Koei Tecmo has created with Fatal Frame. They often offer backstories into previous characters or build out the lore of the village and the spirits that inhabit it themselves, which adds greatly to the whole experience, because I don’t feel as if Mayu and Miu’s story would leave me feeling fulfilled by the end of the game.
A lot of work has been done here to build out Minakami VIllage and it’s easy to tell, even though I haven’t played the original game. The region is realized thanks to some excellent sound design and music that enraptures you from the moment you set foot in the village and creates the heightened, bone-shaking atmosphere that Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake does so well.
There are many jump scares awaiting you.
Clunky, Captivating, and Charming Camerawork
Besides exploring the frightening houses and gardens of Minakami Village, you will spend a lot of time fighting ghosts with the Camera Obscura. This is a camera that has the power to see apparitions, damage them, and eventually dispel them completely. The fabled object translates to gameplay with you peering through the camera and taking pictures to slowly damage an enemy before erasing them completely.
Found just minutes into the game, the Camera Obscura is your main method of attacking and dispelling spirits.
These are slow, drawn-out encounters, usually one-on-one with another ghost, where you take one photo, remove a small slice of their health bar, and circle and dodge around them before doing this again. You can boost your damage by taking clear shots of their faces, ensuring the focal point and zoom are correct, and taking a picture just before they attack you to stun them.
Doing so activates a special shot that, when your film recharges, can cause massive damage and allow you to take rapid shots quickly as a ghost recovers. If that sounds like it takes a while, it is because it does, but that is the point.
The camera based gameplay feels unlike anything else you will find on the market today.
“It’s a super antiquated combat system, but I love it because of that. It’s unlike anything I have played before,”
You can speed up encounters with different film types you find around the world, but you have to switch and wait for each one to reload after taking a picture, slowing down combat in a different way than when you just deal damage with the basic film in the game.
It’s a super antiquated combat system, but I love it because of that. It’s unlike anything I have played before, and I found the loop of slowly chipping away at a ghost to finally dispel it to be captivating and charming. I won’t lie, though, it did frustrate the living daylights out of me at times because it can be a bit finicky to land perfect shots and unpredictable when a ghost grabs you. Even as someone who loved the combat, there were times when I got immensely angry at how cumbersome it felt. But I always swung back and began to fall in love with it again, an encounter or two later.
It’s definitely not going to gel with everyone, but the unique charm the combat has is really something, and you can’t find another game that plays quite like this.
Shooting Like a Pro
Thankfully, things can get easier in combat as you get further in the game, thanks to camera upgrades you can buy. Finding resources allows you to enhance the Camera Obscura and make using it a lot easier. Whether that is the camera finding focus for you, the camera becoming more stable, or imbuing shots with unique functions that can damage ghosts.
“The upgrades here feel meaningful and impactful to the gameplay,”
Tougher spirits require you to switch to these alternate filters or make use of your upgrades to properly dispel them.
The upgrades here feel meaningful and impactful to the gameplay, and it was great to feel tangible boosts to my gameplay as I invested further into upgrading the camera.
There are also a few new activities while you are exploring that involve using the camera in unique ways, such as collectibles that require you to take a photo with both of them in the frame. There’s a lot added onto the experience here, both in terms of the side stories and exploration that I found especially rewarding, rounding out a really neat package.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is an excellent horror game with one of the spookiest and haunting atmospheres I have ever experienced. The game’s world-building and lore through the performances, main story, side stories, and soundtrack are top-tier, and the visual fidelity on offer in cutscenes is incredible.
It’s a great place for newcomers to hop in, as one myself, as the Camera Obscura’s features and upgrades are more fleshed out here compared to the other recently re-released entries, and the combat has a unique ability to get its hooks into you. Although it won’t be for everyone and will frequently frustrate those who don’t gel with it.
From a different era
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake feels like a game from a different era, but it’s charming because of it. However, the visuals and haunting atmosphere upgrades the game and help modernize it in impressive ways.
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