Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

"Scarier Than The First!!!"

Ok Let me get this out of the gate first. I'm a hardcore Fatal Frame fan, but I do have since. :) I've played almost every Survival Horror game ever made so I can say this with a Clear unbais opinion saying that Fatal Frame really is The Scariest Game Ever Made! Yea you heard me, It Screams louder than Silent Hill and Shrills all over Resident Evil...I think some folks out their who got over the Camera thing can see where im coming from here :)

Story

This Time around your swinging into a Prequel instead of a followup or a total stand alone like Silent Hill 2, This time around the game stars two Heroines, twins at that. Mio the strongest of the two protects her frail sister Mayu, while Mio has some psychic ability her sister has a even stronger psychic ability. When Mio and Mayu were hanging out in their child hood play spot (in the forest) Mayu is whisked away by a Crimson Butterfly, Mayu tuned out by her sisters calls follows the Butterfly until Her and Mio are Smack dabbed in the middle of All God's Village. Why were they taken to this place and what is this Sacrifice? Mio has to get herself together and fight her way through a ghost filled Village and escape with her sister and their lives!

Gameplay

FF2 comes out of the gate with more or less of the same gameplay that made the first game so fun and chilling. When I first heard of the game I thought that the story would have two sides like the Resident Evil games, But you actually only play with one of the Sisters and thats Mio. Like the first FF I was the main character ran like a snail, I was hoping for them to make the Heroine run alittle faster but it's more or less the same so oh well to that. Ghost Fighting has came back with a few improvements and a few misses this time around. The Fighting itself is a pinch faster than the previous and walking around with the Camera is faster this time and not overly slow. A thing that they altered that I wish they should of kept is the power shutter indicator like it was on the first. On the first game Flying Kanji flew into the positioning circle changing colors for the more powerful shot, this time they form around the positiong cirle with a erie humming. I didnt find it very responsive to timing like the first one but since this game is so cool I can live with it. Also you can expect some puzzles here and there and your always unexpected scare. Im serious when I say this they really studied the previous fans to the first game because this time you really dont know when a Ghost is going to jump out and scare the living hell out of you! Almost every time when you expect the baddies to show themselves in a ill favored manner they dont, But when they do...boy does it catch me off my Survival Horror Pimpin!

Graphics

FF2 got a extreme face lift this time around I mean this game is to die for in looks, Not your Silent Hill 3 in graphics but boy does it hit the right spot. Mio and Mayu looks Great all the time. No Mush face in gameplay no sir! They move around they blink they move their mouths they do it all in gameplay. You can really get a good look at them when walking into doors and using the Camera. Other things that are great looking is the Huge Village thats just plain creepy and the Ghosts! While I hoped for them to have a little bit more of a glow the ghosts look great nonetheless. Ghosts have Facial expressions and every thing, I was truelly touched! Other graphical coolies is the mist that appears around the old and soggy areas of the village and the beautiful but unnerving Butterflies that sometimes show you the way around the Village. Cutscenes have been ramped up with a very scary twitch factor With screaching,Film Noise,Blur, Dried out film....you name it This game has made up for everything that the first one missed.

Sound

The Thing that make Survival Horror games so damn scary is what other than sound itself? FF2 has ambience that just creeps the hell out of me. Whispering, Creaks, Slams, crickets man you name it. Every sound is on time and well presented at the moment to give the player almost a new scare everytime. This game nerved me the most when you dont find anything scary...I mean the area around is just the horror itself I find the experience that much better with a high end sound system but even on normal Stereo it's a creepfest. The voice acting is really damn good also...Alittle more emotion in the words this time around and the girls have perfect voices for thier characters. Im glad they took their time and worked with the lines instead or rushing through like some studios do.

Last Word

Hands down the follow up to the Scariest game alive is Scarier than the first. I would totally point this game to anyone who is a Fan of Resident Evil or Silent Hill. As long as people can get over the camera deal this game is a awesome scare!

GO BUY IT NOW!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/03