Freeze frame
The original Fatal Frame still lives rent-free in my head. The first time I played it back in the day, it scared the absolute crap out of me. When the sequel arrived, I was there on day one. Fatal Frame II is still one of the best survival horror games ever created. When this remake was announced, I was extremely excited. We have received multiple remasters of the more recent games, which are not nearly as good as the originals. I was hoping we would eventually see the intro trilogy make a return, and it has finally arrived. Sadly, there are a few things that hold it back, but this is still a game any fan of the survival horror craze should not miss.
The story of Fatal Frame II is a simple one. It follows two twin sisters named Mio and Mayu who are revisiting a stream they used to play at as children. Mayu catches a glimpse of a crimson butterfly and they quickly become separated. Mio eventually finds her sister on the peak of an ancient village that had disappeared years before. For some reason their path back has been removed leaving them no choice but to venture into the haunted village. Sure, the setup is goofy, but it makes for a good catalyst to tell a terrifying story about what happened to the village.
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
The entire original game is here, but kudos to Team Ninja on expanding upon it as well. There are new areas and side stories that were not included in the original. The developers have also integrated these seamlessly into the main story. Purists of the original are in for a treat as there is so much more here that expands on the lore of the village.
Exploring the village is great. While it isn’t massive in size, it is very packed with content. The houses and roads will be traveled multiple times, but it never feels the same. The tension is what makes Fatal Frame work. The game bounces back and forth between exploration and combat, as with all titles in this series, the main form of combat comes from the Camera Obscura. This is a paranormal camera that can see ghosts and somehow hurt them as well. There are multiple film types that do more damage. It is a unique mechanic that just works.
One of the biggest things that is hit and miss is the simple act of, well doing any action. Lean forward to pick up an item and you might get grabbed by a ghost. This mechanic has always been divisive as you have to hold a button to pick up an item. It feels overdone most of the time. I have not been a fan of the change. When it works though, it really makes the tension stick with you, so again it is hard to nail it down. It feels like it should have been tweaked a bit as it relies on this gimmick just a bit too much.
As I mentioned there are different types of film that are stronger, but the remake has also added more to that aspect. There are now charms and prayer beads that can increase the effectiveness of the camera. I appreciate the update to the mechanics but also feel a little tacked on. Some of these options were available in the original upon beating the game, but now they are there on the first playthrough, which is nice.
This is a remake, which means a lot has changed visually. The game does a nice job of capturing the spirit of the original, while also upgrading it where it matters. The characters look better and the environments are even spookier than they were before. At launch there was an extreme film grain on the game that really detracted from the experience. Thankfully it has been patched and able to be disabled, but it was overly aggressive. Another sore spot-on consoles is that the game only runs at 30fps, which is simply unacceptable. The original game ran at 60fps, so I am not sure what happened here. It’s extremely disappointing and I hope they eventually fix this oversight.
Everything else is superb though. The visuals are outstanding and the audio has been retooled with more surround sound features, and the music is genuinely creepy. They have added some awkward outfits, but thankfully not as tasteless as some of the other games. Not sure why the creep factor invades these games, it feels disjointed when playing a horror game with a bunny suit on.
Fatal Frame II Remake is a solid update to one of, if not the scariest game ever created. The new features are a welcome addition, even with its drawbacks. I still want the same treatment for the first and third games respectively, but this is a good start. Just make sure to tone down the reaching mechanic and please make them 60fps out of the gate. This series was the best sleeper horror series during the PS2 era, and I would love for players today to experience the original trilogy in all of its glory.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
