The other day I read on the Internet that the talented screenwriter of the video games Uncharted and The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann, named his five favorite horror games. The eminent master of the pen put the game Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly in first place. I love The Last of Us, Naughty Dog and their amazing works. And after this statement, I simply could not pass her by. This prompted me to become closely acquainted with this iconic toy.
Play via PS 2 emulator, no thanks. I’m already too used to convenience. I didn’t want to tinker with the settings and endure the low frame rate. Luckily, it just so happened that around the same time I got myself an American PSN account so I could buy games from the American store. In the Russian PSN Fatal Frame for some clearly dastardly reason there is no. Was the game worth its $9.99, I’ll tell you.
YouTube is not your help.
I didn’t want to throw money away, you never know what I’d like, so before spending my money, I watched a couple of let’s play videos of the game on YouTube and didn’t experience anything at all. No fear, horror, goosebumps and all that fans praise her for. To be honest, I seriously doubted playing it myself. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly seemed drab, boring and unremarkable to me. However, when I sat down to play the game myself, I was stunned. Seriously! From the very first minutes of launch, all elements of the game miraculously worked as they should.
You must be asking yourself why am I writing about this?. You see, it’s important for me to share my experience with the game with you because some of you probably do the same thing sometimes. We all know about children who only get acquainted with games from consoles, and then like to start meaningless console wars in the comments. Of course, sometimes you can get an idea of the game through a video on the Internet, but in the case of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly you need to involve yourself 100% in what is happening, otherwise you will remain indifferent. I tested this from my own personal experience and I can say with confidence that YouTube will not help you decide whether to play it or not. And without personal participation, you will not be able to get the emotions you expected.
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The plot of the game centers on twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura, who got lost in the forest and find themselves in an abandoned village inhabited by the ghosts of its former residents and travelers. The player takes on the role of Mio, while Mayu follows her while we protect ourselves and her from guests from the other world. To get started, here’s everything you need to know. I would even say that this is the only thing you should know. I could ruin your first playthrough by describing the game’s story any further. Which, of course, I don’t want to do.
The gameplay itself in the game as a whole is quite easy to understand and in many ways familiar. If you have played at least one survival horror game in your life, then you will easily figure it out in a short time. And the gameplay isn’t really the point. It’s not how it plays, it’s how it feels. In a unique experience of traveling into the world of otherworldly creatures.
There we will meet both neutral spirits and evil ones. Unfortunately for our girls, they will most often come across the latter. And there are a large number of them and dozens of different types. You can’t confuse either of them with the other. It is clear that the authors have studied a lot of material on Japanese mythology and the folklore genre “Kaidan”. The village is haunted by ghosts of men, women and even children. The latter in the game also sometimes attack our fragile Mio, but they do it as if they were playing with her. Despite the gloomy surroundings, the ghosts of children behave carefree, doing things that are characteristic of all ordinary children. They play hide and seek, run, laugh and jump out at the player, taking away his health. Neutral ghosts tell us the way and the location of important objects for passing. As we explore the village, we learn more about its inhabitants and how they died. From reading in notes and diaries, being in the game world causes not only fear, but also sadness.
Photo session from the other world.
In the fight against evil spirits, Mio uses a camera obscura, which we find in the first minutes of the game. The game mechanics couldn’t be simpler: we click frames, directing it at enemies, thereby driving away uninvited guests from the other world. It’s easy at first, but the further we progress in the game, the more difficult it becomes. Here’s the thing, so you understand – we photograph mainly the faces of ghosts and in order to remove more HP from them, in the center of the frame they should be as close to Mio as possible. Now imagine this: the enemy you meet in a new location looks like Samara from the movie “The Ring”. And not only is her face hidden by dirty black hair, but she is also approaching us, hunched over and hanging her head low. Confusing isn’t it??
The opponents in the game are cunning. They pass through walls, disappear before our eyes and deftly move to the side, trying to attack from the side or from behind. Capturing an evil spirit that combines all these skills requires a lot of patience and a good reaction. And there are also many interesting subtleties in how to correctly and effectively click the undead, some of which I could not comprehend during my first playthrough.
Fights with evil spirits who act as bosses make the game even more exciting. These are completely and completely written characters with their own backstory, each of which is tied to their place of death and endowed with special distinctive features. These are dead people in mental anguish that is so strong that they can mortally wound anyone who enters their territory.
My only problem with the game I wouldn’t call it a significant drawback. Neither in solving puzzles, nor in fighting the most terrible ghosts of an abandoned village, I did not experience any great difficulties. I missed the challenge a little, even when I met opponents who would one-shot our helpless girl. Well, there’s clearly something wrong with me. I wouldn’t call the game easy though. I know, I know, after completing the normal difficulty level, a difficult one opened. And I will definitely try it! However, when playing for the first time, I did not experience enough torment and frayed nerves. No matter how strange it may sound.
The fun, dark tone of the game works beautifully, thanks in no small part to the awesome sound design. The sounds of the main character’s heartbeat, rustling sounds, creaking floorboards, frightening moans and screams of evil spirits create tension. The picture of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly actually did not cause me any complaints. Despite its age, the game is very well preserved. Well, you know, like good wine. I would put it on par with such works as Comix Zone, Suikoden 2 and the Silent Hill trilogy. The artists’ work here is very good, the interiors of the houses are furnished with various interesting objects of Japanese life, and the character animation looks just great, especially the facial ones.
So what conclusion have I come to?. Because The Last of Us is a masterpiece, its screenwriter Neil Druckmann can be trusted. He definitely won’t give bad advice. My expectations were met. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is a wonderful toy. She delightfully reproduced a very beautiful, touching story in the ambience of traditional oriental ghost stories, leaving behind vivid impressions and a sea of emotions. It was a truly interesting and unusual experience, which I sincerely recommend to everyone to try.