Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut

"Fatal Frame 2 is one of the best games to have graced the systems this console generation, to say nothing of it being a great survival horror game."

Fatal Frame 2 Directors Cut is one of the most interesting and decidedly creepy games of the current console generation. This game was recommended to me by a multitude of people and it took me forever to finally listen to them and pick this game up. Boy what an idiot I am. This game had me engrossed from beginning to end, loving every last part of it and not wanting to put it down. This made it problematic, as this entailed me playing the game in the pitch dark. This is one of the few non role-playing games to do that to me, ever, Silent Hill 1 being the only other survival horror game to do this.

Fatal Frame 2 Directors Cut is the story of Miyu and Mayu, twin sisters. In the opening cinema of the game, Mayu wanders off into a forest, following a group of eerie crimson red butterflies. Miyu chases her sister for quite some distance and ends up in an old fashioned village, abandoned and lost to the ages. The sisters will discover that the ghosts of the villagers who once lived here haunt this city. As you explore the village, you will learn what caused the deaths of all who lived there, just who the woman in the blood soaked kimono is and who the shrine maidens were. This all unfolds at an excruciating pace, leaving you chasing clues across the city, to say nothing of your sister who seems to be having an odd reaction to being in this place.

The graphics of this game are definitely crisp, some of the better amongst the survival horror genre with the cut-scenes exemplifying this. They easily match up to games released later, such as Devil May Cry 3 and Halo 2 (although the colors are much more subdued and not as shiny). Many of the cinemas in the game will give you the backstory of the game and as such they have done their best to heighten the tension you will already be feeling. Scenes showing what happened in the past will almost always be shown in black and white and every last cinema has a grain filter appearance, leading to an even darker feel to the game. These cinemas will pop-up when least expected and without warning, leaving you not really knowing when something is going to happen. And just when you get used to them, the game starts to introduce new things and enemies without a cut-scene, leaving you unprepared for what's to come.

The controls are definitely tight, even for a game with fixed camera angles. Comically enough, even though the controls are very responsive, your character still moves like an absolute slug. This isn't a problem in most fights as the ghosts you will encounter don't move much quicker than you do and can easily be outrun, but it's a serious annoyance when you're just exploring and you have to go back and forth across the village. When fighting the ghosts, the weapon you use in this game, the Camera Obscura, controls very well and you can even move around with it raised to fire, giving you the ability to maneuver and attack at the same time. You will need some time to adjust to the change in the controls when using the camera, but overall, with some time, you will find it quite easy to battle almost any ghost… or to flee from them.

The audio is probably one of the creepiest parts of the game. While the voice acting is bad, and I mean almost laughably so, the sound effects and things being said do much to balance this out. Almost every ghost you will fight will be constantly talking to you as you battle them and the things they call out still stick with me, to say nothing of the spirit stones you will find across the city. These stones contain the last thoughts and feelings of citizens of the village who perished, giving you some insight into their last moments. Once again, the voice acting is bad, but as the story unravels you cant help but be drawn into what's going on and what happened in this haunted place. Also, you will hear sounds and things happening all around you as you explore the village and at no point will you really feel safe once you get engrossed in the experience of this game.

While many survival horror games go for the quick movie scares such as things jumping out of a closet accompanied by a loud shrill noise, Fatal Frame 2 leans away from this cheap tactic. While there are many sharp sounds accompanying ghost appearances, the game is just as likely to leave you unawares of a ghost until it is right on top of you or it grabs you. The ambiance is definitely one of the strongest points of this game and, admittedly, without it the game wouldn't be half as good. But it is there and that's what matters. There are also many elements that are mostly exclusive to Japanese literature and horror and will be a definite breath of fresh air to most westerners.

Fatal Frame 2 is more of a trip into the old school horror genre than it is one of the more action based thrillers that populate movies and games nowadays. So if your'e a fan of old school horror movies and then this is definitely up your alley as it does its best to lean away from the action based thrillers that populate the movie and video game horror genres, this game is for you. Enjoy your trip into the haunted village and do your best to survive when the Kusabi comes for you.

Pros: Innovative combat system; Upgrade system is interesting and makes a very big difference, unlike in some games.

Cons: The main character moves slow, as in she runs slow enough to be dusted by a snail; You're going to want to strangle Mayu by the time this is up; The voice acting is fairly bland.

Score: 9/10

Recommendation: If you enjoy being scared witless and having a genuinely creepy experience playing a video game, then this is a must have.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/06