Review Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (aka Project Zero II) Developer: Tecmo Publisher: Tecmo Genre: Action/Adventure Release Date: December 2003 Platform: Review by October 29, 2004		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

A couple of years ago I borrowed a PS2 and a few games from a friend. Among those games was the first Fatal Frame. Not having much time, and desperately wanting to play Code Veronica and Silent Hill 2, I just barely glanced at FF and then put it aside. My apathy towards Fatal Frame left me believing that the sequel wouldn’t be anything special, but this time, owning a PS2 and not having limited time, I gave it a try. Boy was I mistaken!

The background story describe tells of All God’s Village, a village hidden deep in the forest and even deeper in the mountains. It was the eve of the Crimson Sacrifice ritual, a ritual performed to calm the rumbling of the Hellish Abyss. During the ritual, the older sister of the Twin Shrine Maidens strangled her younger twin and became one with her again. The villagers had believed that the twins were a single person who had become split and born as two and that they would radiate great energy when they became as one again. That energy would then reseal the Hellish Abyss. After the ritual, the crimson mark left on the neck of the younger twin by the hands of the older turned into a Crimson Butterfly. The body was thrown into the Hellish Abyss and her soul flew away in its new butterfly form.

But something went horribly wrong! The ritual failed and the village and its inhabitants disappeared. Now a thick layer of fog lingers through the forest and a Twin Deity Statue marks the location where the village once stood. It is said that if someone gets lost in this forest, they will be spirited away to the village where the Crimson Butterflies dance

Mio and Mayu Amakura - twin sisters gifted with psychic abilities - are visiting their secret childhood play area. When they venture too deep into the forest, a Crimson Butterfly appears and Mayu follows it. Mio follows her sister and they soon find themselves unknowingly spirited away to the Lost Village.

Now the anniversary of the ritual is quickly approaching and the spirits wander the village in search of new Twin Shrine Maidens to correct the ritual that went awry. As luck would have it, Mio and Mayu have just entered the village….

So turn on your PS2 and be prepared for sheer terror. Wait patiently as the game loads and then automatically dives an intro cut-scene and a movie-like trailer that perfectly set the mood before reaching the start menu from where you can start a new game, load a saved one, see your photo album (more about that later), see the gallery or set the options, where, among other things, you can select between 2D or 3D control - an excellent feature that should be implemented in survival horror games.

The game begins with the player as Mio in the forest, searching for her sister, Mayu. Mio finds her at an overlook from where the Lost Village can be seen through the fog. Next to them is a Twin Deity Statue and that’s obviously bad news! There is also a lantern emitting a dim glow that will serve as a save point. More lanterns are scattered around the village, and they are the only place where the game can be saved – but only when they are lit! Now I know this is the standard in console games, but it’s a very bad idea and I never understood what its purpose is and why not give the players the opportunity to save whenever they feel like. But at least this is the only negative aspect of the game – and it was not unexpected.

Trying to find their way out of the village, Mio and Mayu - who will be tagging along at certain points in the game - will have to confront the ghosts of the villagers – from the plain people, who will be after them with torches and pitchforks; to the priests who performed the ceremony; down to the twins that had been sacrificed. These ghosts attack by floating through Mio’s body and draining her life. Mio’s only weapon against the ghosts is camera! But not just any regular camera , for this is the Camera Obscura.

The Camera Obscura can capture the supernatural and exorcise or display the thoughts of the captured ghosts, depending on whether or not they are hostile. When Mio uses the camera, the game switches to a 1st person viewpoint, showing everything through the viewfinder. You can tell if a ghost is hostile or friendly as the camera’s filament will light red or blue respectively. Capturing the thoughts of a friendly ghost (no, Casper doesn’t make a cameo appearance!) will often be helpful for Mio. Trying to exorcise a hostile ghost takes more than one click of the camera. There are a few different kinds of film, that have variable exorcism power and reloading time, starting with film Type 7 with very low exorcism power and slow reloading time, which is unlimited. The other kinds of film are hidden around and they are all, of course, limited. Each ghost has its own life points and each picture taken subtracts a certain amount. Ghosts have weak spots, and capturing those will hurt them more. They also have a certain “pose” (or sometimes more than one), which is called “Fatal Frame”, and will take away a great amount of life points if a picture is taken at the proper moment. The camera is upgradeable, adding features such as making a noise when a ghost is in Fatal Frame pose or the “Zero” function which provides high exorcism power. The power of some of its functions can be upgraded too by using Spirit Orbs that are scattered through the gameworld and by reaching predetermined point levels.

The camera and its functions and upgrade options can be accessed from the in-game menu. A very interesting feature of the game is that the photos Mio takes can be saved selectively and then viewed at any time from the main menu – the photo album option. Also available from the in-game menu are info about the game in progress (points, health, playing time etc), a map of Mio’s current location, the items she’s carrying and the notes and books she finds along the way. Those are an essential read, since they unfold the full story about the village, its legends and what has been happening since the village disappeared – for example the story of twin sisters, Sae and Yae Kurosawa, and Itsuki and Mutsuki Tachibana, all of which will play an important role throughout the game (remember the Crimson Butterflies!). From the in-game menu the Spirit Stone Radio can also be accessed. Some ghosts leave crystals behind that have their thoughts recorded and can be heard by using radio.

Exorcising hostile ghosts is not the only thing Mio will have to do to escape the village. There are puzzles scattered here and there, consisting of finding keys to unlock doors, using items Mio acquires, or finding and capturing specific friendly ghosts. There are also a few logic puzzles such as turning two statues in a certain way to unlock an entrance. Of course this is not a pure adventure game, so the puzzles are pretty much on the easy side.

The atmosphere of the game is out of this world! Fatal Frame 2 was created to scare and, trust me, it will do so! The ghosts of the sacrificed twin sisters attacking uttering in echoing, eerie voices ,“I don’t want to kill you”, “Why do you kill?” A long haired woman crawls out of a box, like Sadako/Samara from The Ring. Even the final “boss” - usually a weak point of even the best survival horror games - is impressive and menacing. Everything, everywhere emits a pure haunting feeling, creating an intense, unsettling atmosphere that will have you glued to your seat, with your heart beating faster than you ever though it could! Fatal Frame 2 does not rely on cheap “jump off your seat” horror either. The feeling it creates goes deep into the player’s mind and is not easily forgotten. Great sound, graphics and visual effects add to all that, producing a survival horror game that will refuse to fade from your memory. This is a game that is essential to be played in a dark room with powerful speakers or headphones!

There are some things in which certain cultures excel. For example, when it comes to sports cars, the Italians stand out. For basketball, you can’t beat the Americans (well, unless it’s the Olympics). Well, when it comes to horror, leave it to the Japanese! And with Fatal Frame 2 the Japanese have outdone even themselves. I waited several days after finishing the game before writing this review, so that the initial enthusiasm would subside and I could be objective. Now I can honestly say that with Fatal Frame 2 we are presented with what is probably the scariest, most haunting and most unsettling of survival horror games!

Final Grade: A+
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