Fatal Frame Games In Series
The Fatal Frame series is one of the creepiest survival-horror game series out there and certainly my personal favorite of the genre. But as with all series, some games are better than others. So let's rank them, shall we?
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This Game is Definitely Creepy. Having played Fatal Frame 2 & Fatal Frame 3. I had to play this one, to see how it all started. Also glad that I could play it on my Xbox 360, being that the Xbox 360 has backwards compatibility. Known as zero 『零 』 in Japan and Project Zero in Europe, Fatal Frame is a series of Survival Horror games created by Tecmo. The Fatal Frame series explores a territory that surprisingly few survival horror games approach: ghosts. The protagonists of each title must combat these spectral entities with the use of a device known as the Camera Obscura, a camera that uses special film that allows the protagonist to exorcise the beings. Known as zero 『零 』 in Japan and Project Zero in Europe, Fatal Frame is a series of Survival Horror games created by Tecmo. The Fatal Frame series explores a territory that surprisingly few survival horror games approach: ghosts. The protagonists of each title must combat these spectral entities with the use of a device known as the Camera Obscura, a camera that uses special film that allows the protagonist.
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A few notes before we start. These are not Kotaku's picks for the pecking order of the Fatal Frame series, they're my own. I doubt everyone on the staff would agree with me—and I wouldn't be surprised if they were quite vocal with their disagreement in the comments. Secondly, I have only included the five main series games—and thus have left off the cell phone and 3DS games—to keep it simple.
So without further ado, let's rank the Fatal Frame series from best to worst.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
To me Fatal Frame II is the scariest in the franchise. Taking place in an abandoned village, it follows a pair of twins, Mio and Mayu. The village itself is haunting and the rituals disturbing. But what makes this game so great is Mayu—even as you control Mio.
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Mayu, because of a childhood injury, is permanently crippled. Thus, her limited movement speed means you cannot simply run away; you have to stand your ground and protect her. But more than that, as the game progresses, she becomes increasingly affected by the village's malevolent spirits, making her all the more creepy in her own right. Thus, you are faced with a growing fear of her even as you are feeling compelled to protect her.
Fatal Frame
The first game in the series follows Miku, a young woman hunting for her missing brother Mafuyu. When his trail leads to an abandoned mansion, Miku enters, only to be confronted by malevolent spirits. Luckily, she finds signs of her brother in the mansion in the form of their mother's old Camera Obscura—which turns out to be the one weapon effective against ghosts. But as she continues her search, she begins to notice rope marks on her wrists, ankles and neck and knows that if she doesn't figure out what is going on soon, she won't be making it out of the mansion alive.
Fatal Frame Games In Series 2016
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Fatal Frame sets up the framework in both gameplay and story for all the other games in the series. And as the first game in the series, it stands to reason that it might primarily be focused on laying the groundwork. Yet it still stands strong with great characters, an excellent mystery, and the perfect location for a modern ghost story.
Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen (Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse)
Fatal Frame IV is largely removed from the rest of the Fatal Frame series in terms of plot and characters. It takes place mainly in a traditional Japanese mental institution and the connecting hospital. Years ago, five girls were kidnapped and forced to perform a mysterious ritual before being rescued by a young police detective. Now, years later and following the mysterious deaths of two of the girls, the other three return to the island to uncover what exactly they were a part of—with the detective following on his own.
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Read more ReadWhile having a great new original story—and a new gameplay mechanic with the detective's Spirit Flashlight—the game suffers greatly because of its horrible motion controls. With aiming the camera up and down regulated by tilting the Wiimote and dodging and quickturning activated by waggling the nunchuck, the game is more than a little hard to control. It often feels more like you are fighting the controls than the ghosts.
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Zero: Nuregarasu no Miko (Fatal Frame V: Oracle of he Sodden Raven)
The newest in the series, Fatal Frame V takes place on a haunted mountainside and follows three characters: Yuuri, a young psychic girl who has the power to save those “spirited away”; Rei, a professor of folklore accompanied by his assistant; and Miu, daughter of Fatal Frame's Miku who is searching for her lost mother.
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Read more ReadBig additions in this installment include the wetness system—the wetter you are the more powerful both the ghost's and your attacks are—and the forest location where you spend much of your time. You are also able to touch the ghosts and see how they died.
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The game also uses the Wii U GamePad (with its built-in gyros) to act as if you are holding the Camera Obscura in your own hands. But while it works for the most part, it can be a bit of a hassle swinging and twisting the GamePad to get the best shot—so soon you'll be playing it with the thumbsticks just like the other games in the series (sans Fatal Frame IV).
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Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
Fatal Frame III follows three characters: Rei, a young woman who has somehow captured a picture of her dead fiance; Kei, the uncle of Fatal Frame II's Mayu and Mio; and Miku, the main character of the first Fatal Frame. The three are pulled into the Manor of Sleep when they sleep—a place largely made up of locations from the first two games' mansion and village, respectively.
Fatal Frame Series
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While Fatal Frame II stands out as the best game in the franchise, the original, IV, and V, are enjoyable games in their own right. Fatal Frame III, on the other hand, seems that it's going through the motions at best—and a lazy retread at worst. You visit many of the same locations, taking away the fun of exploring a totally new haunted location.
However, there is one excellent addition to the Fatal Frame formula in Fatal Frame III: Rei's house. In between chapters when Rei is awake, you are able to explore her house. At first, it's just a normal house, but slowly, little by little, creepy things begin to happen. Was that a face in the mirror? Are those feet standing next to the boots in the closet? The modern Japanese house is easily the scariest place in the game.
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I am a long-time fan of the Fatal Frame survival horror series—despite my aversion to scary things. And while I'll be the first to agree the franchise has had its ups and downs, the series' Wii U debut, Fatal Frame V, is a solid outing for the series.
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Good – A Decent Fatal Frame Story
Fatal Frame V is the story of three different characters exploring a haunted mountainside. The main lead is Yuuri, a girl who not only sees dead people, but is able to return those who have been “spirited away” to the normal world. She goes to the mountain hunting for her recently vanished boss.
The second lead character is Ren, a folklorist professor who goes to the mountain to do research for his new book.
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The final main character is Miu, the daughter of Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame III protagonist Miku. Since her mother disappeared while exploring the mountain when Miu was only three, she hopes that she'll be able to find out exactly what happened by traveling up the mountain herself.
These three characters build a story that is very much what you've come to expect from a Fatal Frame tale. It has mysterious rituals, past revelations, and a whole lot of ghost killing with the Camera Obscura.
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Good – Partner Characters
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While some might say that things are scariest when you are alone, I would argue things can be even scarier when you have a companion—and Fatal Frame V seems to agree. Ren, as a professor, is constantly followed around by Rui, his androgynous assistant. Clearly suffering from a mad crush on her professor, Rui shows no hesitation when it comes to going into these haunted areas. Of course, she lacks her own Camera Obscura and is thus completely defenseless. And because she is an endearing, enjoyable character in her own right, you very much start to fear for her as more and more ghosts begin to appear. Indeed, several of the game’s creepiest moments arise around Rui.
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The other mains also gain partner characters from time to time, though none of them are as fleshed out as Rui. These are often people who have been previously spirited away and who the player characters are able to rescue.
While none of the support characters carry a Camera Obscura, they are all useful in combat. On one level, they make good bait, allowing you to easily catch a fatal frame shot as they are being attacked. They also act as an additional weak point for any ghosts that appear in the same frame as them—making it easier to pull off the powerful “shutter chance” shots with the camera.
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Good – Show Me Your Pain
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Easily my favorite new mechanic in Fatal Frame V comes not during battle with a ghost, but in the seconds after it. When you disperse a ghost by photographing it, there is a short animation as it fades from existence. If you approach the ghost and touch it, you will perform a “Fatal Grance” (and no, the typo is theirs, not mine). A “Fatal Grance” is a short cinematic that details how the ghost died. Sometimes the deaths are decidedly mundane—like being stabbed by a crazy man. Other times another ghost is largely responsible for the killing.
This is a very clever storytelling tool that serves to make the ghosts interesting characters in their own right. Each time I encountered a ghost for the first time, I was excited to learn more about it—and more than a little upset if I was unable to get to it in time to do a Fatal Grance.
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Good – The Atmosphere and Scares
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Fatal Frame V has a great atmosphere. As the game is set across an entire mountainside, there are a variety of environments, from the ancient—temples and shrines—to the modern—tram stations and houses. Many of the locations are as beautiful as they are creepy—even the caves and forests.
When it comes down to it, it isn't the jump scares that cause the most fear for the player. Rather, it is the more subtle ones. Exploring a hallway full of life-size dolls, only for them to suddenly disappear when you turn around is far more terrifying than a ghost suddenly popping out of the wall.
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One thing that really got me in the game were the small boxes which I called “Dead girl Boxes.” As a part of a ritual, girls would be locked in said boxes which were then filled up with water, drowning the girls. The boxes have a nasty habit of appearing suddenly and remaining completely inert—though ominous—as you pass through the area several times. But you know, just know, that at some point, they're going to open. Thus each time you see the boxes you are filled with two things: tension and dread.
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But the scariest part of the game is one of Rin's chapters when you are not even on the mountain, but rather at the characters' home base (the antique shop Yuuri works at). While all the other characters sleep, Rin decides to check the security cameras that watch over everyone—only to find out that just because they're off the mountain doesn't mean they are safe. And each time he sits down to watch the monitor again is a moment filled with such dread that it was tough to continue.
Mixed – Wet and Dry
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As you can probably guess by my description of the dead girl boxes above, water is easily the most prominent theme in Fatal Frame V. Most, if not all, of the rituals involve water in some way and the landscape is constantly covered in either rain or fog.
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Gameplay as well is affected by water. When any of the characters are wet, they are more closely connected with the ghosts. This means not only do you do more damage to the ghosts, but they do far more damage to you as well. Thus, in my experience, I found it smarter to stay dry than become wet. But unfortunately, the only item that dries you off is both rare and costly—and running out of it means you are only a single step away from death. In the end, while interesting, I often found the mechanic to be more frustrating than fun.
Mixed – The Gamepad as a Camera
Unlike past Fatal Frame games, the camera does not charge up in power as you focus on a ghost’s weak point. Rather, by taking normal pictures of a ghost you cause more weak points to appear. Once you have five of these points in a frame, you'll do a special “shutter chance” shot for a lot of damage.
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Thanks to the gyros in the GamePad, you are able to use it like a camera and thus by tilting it at various angles, you are better able to line up a shutter chance shot. And while at first I moved my whole body around, taking full advantage of the GamePad's features, I found that before long my arms were tired and I went back to aiming with the right thumbstick like I have done in countless games before. While it is an interesting idea, in practice, it didn't add nearly as much as I would have hoped.
Final Thoughts
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Fatal Frame V is a solid addition to the Fatal Frame series. It has a good little survival horror story and more than a few good scares spread throughout. It also tries a lot of new things with the wetness system and using the GamePad as a camera; and while these additions don’t always succeed, they are noble efforts nonetheless. If you like the Fatal Frame series, survival horror games, or Japanese horror films, you won't be disappointed with Fatal Frame V. Fatal Frame V (Zero: Nuregarasu no Miko) was released for the Nintendo Wii U on September 27, 2014, in Japan. There is currently no word on an international release.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
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Fatal Frame Games For Pc
To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan.