Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

"If you don't get scared playing this game, then you must be dead."

When I first saw the original Fatal Frame at the rental store, I thought “A T-Rated survival horror game? That probably sucks and isn't scary at all.'' But my cousin begged me to rent it, so we did. We started it later that night in the dark. I was the one playing it. Well, I was wrong about it being not scary. When the ghost appeared right in my camera, my cousin and I both jumped three feet high. He refused to play or watch the game after that, and I wasn't ready to continue till morning either. Well I finished the game, and liked it a lot. So of course, when I heard that Fatal Frame 2 was coming out, I wanted it immediately. Once it came out, I bought it. This game certainly lives up to the first one and in my opinion, is way scarier. It is much scarier than Resident Evil, and maybe even Silent Hill. Just having a camera makes it freakier than having guns and grenade launchers. Okay, my review is below but remember, the Final Score is NOT an average.

Story (10/10)- Wow, definitely a mystery like the first one. It starts off with two sisters, Mio and Mayu, who are in the woods. Mayu follows a Crimson Butterfly, and they end up getting lost and finding All God's Village. The story may seem simple at first, but as it plays out, the story isn't what it seems. The story involves rituals, a lot of killing, and the ever mysterious Crimson Butterflies. Even if you don't like the play style of the game, you will want to keep playing to find out what happens in the story. Fairly often throughout the game are black and white scenes. These scenes often show things from the past or Mio or Mayu's encounter with a ghost. These definitely add to the creepiness factor. The story is very complicated but very good. People who played through the original will definitely recognize some of the terms and items, but new players will feel just as at home.

Gameplay (8/10)- As everyone knows, Mio uses the Camera Obscura as her primary weapon. This is a very good idea, but it doesn't always work out too well. In regular mode, you can move Mio around and search with the X button. Your ghost meter on the side of the screen will go blue if you find something you can take a picture of. Pressing the O button will bring up your camera. This is like a first person mode. The circle in the middle is the range, so anything in that circle will be in the picture. When the circle glows blue, pressing X or R1 will take a picture. Sometimes, you need to take a picture of something to move on, but most of the time you find extra, harmless ghosts. Some times when you snap a shot of an extra ghost, you'll get some points. These points are used to upgrade various features on your camera, such as a bigger range or better sensitivity. Throughout the game there are bonus features for your camera, but unfortunately they don't need to be used AT ALL and the game can be beaten easily without them. When the ghost meter glows red, that means a boss ghost has come. These ghosts have a certain amount of life, and depending on how close you are or if the ghost is about to hit you, the camera will do different amounts of damage to the boss. There are a good amount of bosses throughout the game, even if a few are cheap (One hit kill). There are 5 types of film in the game, each of them stronger than the previous one. It's too bad this game is so easy. I beat it using the Film-14, which is the bad one. Only the terrible film is unlimited, so you will need to search for film in the game. But, there is plenty of it, so usually you will not run out of EVERY film. As I said before, this game is easy. I didn't die at all on easy, and only once or twice on the other modes, because you keep all your camera upgrades. Still though, very unique but easy Gameplay.

Graphics/Sound (10/10)- Fatal Frame 2 nails this category. Okay, the graphics first. They look smooth. The in game models are done very well, even the ghosts. They look very weird and demented. The areas look incredible! Walking through the fog shrouded village looks very realistic, as do the houses. Cloths covering hallways, shadows everywhere, Tecmo really got the graphics right. The bridge to the graveyard wins the honors though. The fog is around it and the bridge is partially rotting away. The graveyard is awesome too. The atmosphere for this game is what you would want for a survival horror game. The CG scenes are excellent also, especially when something is about to happen. Now for the sound. As Mio walks through houses, you can hear her footsteps creaking up stairs and doors creaking when being open. Moaning sounds from ghosts will suddenly start coming from everywhere. ''Kill Me, Kill Me.'' is a popular line throughout the game. There isn't really any background music, just eerie sounds and screams. The girl laughing will really get to your head. Mio does different things, many of which a sharp sound will make you jump. The radio is an interesting new feature. It lets you listen to stones that are dropped by ghosts. Some of them are quite freaky and hard to understand, but subtitles show what is being said. Overall, Excellent work Tecmo.

Play Time/Replayability (9/10)- This game is short and easy. I suggest no knows even plays the ''Easy'' mode because it can be beaten in about four hours and is stupidly simple. There are Normal, Hard, and Nightmare modes to play (the last two needing to be unlocked). The last two difficulties let you play an extra chapter, but it isn’t as long as you would think. There are a good amount of unlockables, including multiple endings, more camera abilities, and a whole new mission mode. The mission mode adds a lot of replay to the game, and is pretty fun. There is also some ghost lists and stuff. Another reason to replay the game on harder difficulties is because of the costumes. These are for Mio and Mayu and are pretty cool, and there is a pretty good amount of them. So, this game is definitely one to be played again if you own it, but for renters, try and beat it at least once.

Well, this game rocks. Even with the easy difficulty and being a little short, it still needs to be played be everyone who likes survival horror. If you hate being scared or you are young, than you probably shouldn't be playing this game. But I still recommend it to everyone. I’ll never forget one of the scariest images ever. In one of the houses there was a blue spot, so I took a picture wondering what it was. It said ''Dave Halverson'' and had the most terrifying eyes I have ever seen in my life. It was just a face, no body. That night, every time I closed my eyes, I saw those eyes staring at me. Alright, get this game!!

Story- 10/10
Gameplay- 8/10
Graphics/Sound- 10/10
Playtime/Replayability- (9/10)

Final Score- 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/24/03