Look at this photograph…
The Fatal Frame series has been one of my favorites of the genre for a long time. I still think the original two games are some of the most intense and horrifying video games ever created. Sadly the series has been mostly dormant since the PS2 and Xbox days with a title here and there and rarely the focal point it was back then. So when KOEI Tecmo announced they were bringing back the series for modern consoles, my interest piqued. Maiden of Black Water is not the best game in the series, not even close, but it is nice to see the series return.
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
Maiden of Black Water was originally released for the Wii U in Japan in 2014 under the Project Zero banner, which is the game’s title in Japan. It was later released worldwide, but only digitally in the US. It used the Wii U’s gamepad a pseudo camera which was a novel idea at the time. This new version removes that (of course) and instead uses standard controls to aim the camera. The game is also episodic in a sense that players are taking control of different protagonists as they uncover the horrors of Mt. Hikami.
The core game play remains the same from past games. Each protagonist uses the camera obscura to take ‘shots’ of the paranormal with varying results. Get more shots in the picture and do more damage. There are also various film types that offer perks such as a faster cooldown, but for the most part the action is straightforward. Things that annoy me about this version are carryovers from the Wii U console. Things such as reaching for items while having to pull my hand away are novel at first, and annoying after an hour.
Calling this a remaster is also a bit of a stretch. Yes it is optimized for the new consoles. It loads super fast and the resolution is sharp, but the game itself still looks like the era it was born from. Models are decent, but the animation still feels like a game from almost a decade ago. I was also not a fan of how much fan service started going into these titles. The girls are wearing white and get drenched in water often. Camera pans behind their backside as they crawl through holes. Even the bonus outfits feel like they know what they are going for. It just feels gross at times for a game about being terrified.
While I have a lot of issues with the core game I am happy to see the series return. I really want to see the original trilogy get an update it deserves. Would love to play those games again as they are genuinely some of the creepiest games I have ever played, and not for the wrong reasons. Maiden of Black Water just feels like something thrown together to gauge interest in the series return. I wanted to love it, I forced myself to finish it, but I just want the series to return to its roots.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
