I met the man who would become my husband at about the time that I started venturing more into horror games. I had just discovered that a switch had flipped in my head, and I was now immune to video game scares.
He suggestedFatal Frameto me, insisting that it was the scariest game ever made. He even went as far as buying me a copy of it for Xbox. It was my introduction to the series, but the first game I wound up completing wasFatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipsefor my reviewright here on Destructoid. I didn’t complete it back in 2016 in my first experience with it.
There were a few reasons for why I dropped it, but they’re pretty boring. Being scary wasn’t one of them. Though, its controls are horrifying for a different reason.
Candid Camera Obscura
Fatal Framehas you start off as Mafuyu Hinasaki, who is looking for a missing author in an abandoned mansion. One thing leads to another, and you’re switched over to his sister, Miku Hinasaki, as she searches for her brother. Turns out, a bunch of bad stuff happened at the mansion that has left it cursed and lousy with angry ghosts.
Luckily, the two wind up in possession of a mysterious, old-fashioned camera called the Camera Obscura, which has the ability to ward off ghosts. Much of the time, after a few encounters, it looks like you capture the ghosts entirely, but in the options menu, it says “Ghosts Driven.”
That’s a pretty strange way to phrase it, but I’m doubtful very much of the budget was spent on the translation. After all,Fatal Frameis an extremely Japanese style of horror, it’s deep into folklore, and the manor is loaded with tatami floors and kimono racks. North Americans weren’t quite yet fully indoctrinated by anime in 2002, so anything set in Japan might as well be taking place on Mars for most people. As a result, it’s a translation typical of its era, complete with voice acting that sounds like everyone has been dosing tranquilizers.
Speaking of the localization, the game was advertised in North America as having been “Based on a True Story,” which is ironic because that statement isn’t true. I go into a lot more detail about it inthis article, but the short version of it is that director Makoto Shibata said he took inspiration from his ownsupernatural experiencesand dreams, but the stories weren’t adaptations of specific events. The true story claim was somewhat perpetuated by a 2002 IGN article that is notable for having absolutelyno cited sources. Meanwhile, decades of fans combing for one grain of truth to back up the claim have found nothing substantial. Marketing is a hell of a thing.
The rooooopes
While horror games at the time were experimenting with helpless protagonists, limited supplies, and terrible combat,Fatal Frameessentially has all of the above. As I mentioned, you can only protect yourself with the Camera Obscure, which takes you into a first-person perspective. This isn’t so bad on its own and is generally how combat works in the entire series. It’s unique, nuanced, and functions pretty well on most of your early encounters.
The frustrating part is that, later on in the game, ghosts get a bunch of tricks up their sleeve. While sometimes, this just means that it’s more difficult to get them to show a vulnerable side, it more vexingly manifests as the ability to just disappear in front of you and show up directly behind you, ready to sneak a grab of your fine cheeks. Add on top of this that they’re freely able to go through walls and obstacles, and you often find yourself at a massive disadvantage. you may sometimes just run away, but that isn’t as easy as just leaving the room, and sometimes you can’t even do that.
As a result, my husband was witness to me slinging insults at the TV screen. I don’t think my language has gotten this colorful toward a video game sinceNinja Gaidenon the NES.
At this point, I’ve played most of the games in theFatal Frameseries to some extent, and this is easily the worst the combat has ever been. This is keeping in mind that, like many survival horror games of the era, it just kind of never has been good.
Home comforts
With all the complaining out of the way, it’s probably prudent to clarify thatFatal Frameis a terrific horror game. The series has a good way of grounding you in the terror by giving a sense of familiarity to everything. The ghosts generally have a backstory to them that can be gleaned from the various notes throughout the game. You see them frequently before your camera eats them, and that makes the mansion feel a bit like home.
Meanwhile, it’s very slow and meticulous with its plot. The game is separated into a few chapters, and each one generally covers a different part of the history of the mansion. Along the way, you’re fed pieces of information that slowly deobfuscate exactly what’s happening until you’ve got the whole picture. Gradually, the protagonist is linked with what’s going on, and eventually, your ultimate objective is made clear.
It also doesn’t make much use of jump scares, rather allowing its atmosphere and storytelling do all the work. That’s not to say there are none, but there aren’t any dogs jumping through windows.
The darkness comes
To add to some presentation issues, the game is extremely dark. Visually, I mean, though thematically as well. I had to adjust my television just to be able to see more than whatever was caught in the flashlight. That didn’t help with the video capture, though, which grabbed all its murky blackness. I played with the brightness and gamma here so you can actually see what’s going on. However, I thought it was a lost cause and only captured about 2 hours of gameplay before giving up (sorry if there isn’t a lot of variety in the screenshots).
It’s too bad because it is worth seeing. It’s rather disappointing that there has never been a re-release or remaster of the series aside fromMask of the Lunar Eclipse. While many people citeFatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterflyas the absolute best in the series, the first three titles still languish on the PS2 and Xbox. I mean, I guess there was a port ofFatal Frame 2for the Wii in Japan and Pal regions, but I’ve been told it’s horrible.
But whileFatal Framehas some problems that are insult-worthy, it’s still an excellent horror title. It’s exemplary of its era, being an interesting horror experience that isn’t actually that much fun to play. However, if you’re used to the awkwardness found in the survival horror of the early ‘00s, it won’t bother you as much. I mean, it will probably bother you still, but it won’t be a dealbreaker.
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