Review 12: Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly

Developer: Tecmo
Platform: Playstation 2
Year: 2003
Summary:
You follow the story of two twin sisters,Mayu and Mio, who find themselves trapped in a village cursed to forever replay the day of a failed ritual. As Mayu becomes possessed by the village's spell, it is up to Mio to solve the mystery of the village, find her sister and then get themselves out of the village.

What is this:
The second installment of the Fatal Frame series which is a survival horror game. During the game, player have to explore the curse village and solve puzzles while at the same time survive attacking ghosts. These ghost can be defeated however by a special antique camera, Camera Obscura. Taking pictures of the ghost will allow you to exorcise it. There are various ammunition that can be found collected and used in the game which gives the camera different power. The camera can also be customized by special items found in the game which would help the player during battles with the undead. The filament of the camera also turns red when there is a hostile ghost around, a good indicator to start running or prepare to fight.

(smile for the camera)

Is it hard:
Not for the the faint hearted I'm afraid. As you have to take pictures of the ghosts in order to defeat them, you are really meeting them face to face. Sometimes you have to let the ghosts get near to you in order to deal a lot of damages. The boss battle can be tricky as well sometimes. What you do in the game can affect the ending which you get in the game. So if you want to achieve a certain ending, you better check if your the conditions done right. Player can choose the level of difficult at the start of the game of if they are starting the game again. But trust me when I tell you nightmare difficulty is called nightmare difficulty for a reason.

For beginners, it will take some time to get use to the camera. Most of the time you will lean towards the 'take as much pictures as you can' strategy. This thus leads to the player not making full use of the camera's function. But once you get use to it, the gameplay will get easier.

(don't turn back... don't turn back...)

Artwork:
The game is in 3D and there are some scenes which are done very realistic. The cut scenes are something to look out for. They really look as if they could be used for a horror film instead.

Audio:
Hauntingly chilling. The music they used for the ending theme is actually pretty nice though. Would leave you in tears especially when you hear it after getting the true ending of the game. Won't spoil it for you but the ending is really amazing...

Is it fun:
It really is. What actually drew me was the story inside the game, the tragedy of some of the characters (yes, they're ghosts but they were people too!). The game is more fun if you're playing together with an audience. One, for the thrills. Two, for the chills. Three for... well when you hear your friends scream when a ghost suddenly pops up unexpectedly.