Video Game Review: Fatal Frame II - by Ericca M.

The first Fatal Frame is set in the year 1986, and the story follows siblings Miku and Mafuyu. Mafuyu ends up disappearing while searching for a famous novellist in the infamous haunted Himuro Mansion and his sister Miku foolishly decides that she should go find him. The gameplay mostly focuses on them exploring the mansion, and fighting off crazy ass ghosts using a special camera, which they call the Camera Obscura. Kind of basic compared to the second installment of Fatal Frame.

Part two was a lot more interesting to me. Crimson Butterfly was full of jump scares and weird paranormal activity that made it difficult for my siblings and I to sleep at night until we actually finished the game in it’s entirety. You play as one of two twin girls, who are both in danger of being sacrified in a ritual where one twin must kill the other.

The freakiest scene in the game was when the twins were in the doll room. There are spirits in these dolls and they fly out at you, striking you all over your body, slowly draining you of your energy until you die. They’re also the most difficult to capture with the Camera Obscura because they disappear and reappear at any moment.

Luckily, there are save points located outside of every door where some fucked up shit is about to happen. These save points take the form of lanterns located in the corner of most rooms in the mansions. So don’t fret if you walk into a door and get your wig split by a very aggressive ghost or villager. Once you decide to try it again, you’ll end up right back outside of that door. UP TOP!

The most annoying aspect of the game is your twin. She likes to run off through the haunted village as if the villagers aren’t trying to capture and sacrifice you guys. She’s also pretty slow when it’s time to escape multiple threats which is cause for a mini heart attack or stroke. There were a few times when I wanted to just leave her limping around by her lonesome, but unfortunately, the game doesn’t allow you to do that.

Overall, the game was fucking awesome. Anytime you’re playing a game and you have to scream, “FUCK!” a thousand times because you’re scared out of your mind, that’s a good ass time.

I definitely recommend Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly to all of your horror fanatics of who get a kick out of being scared for your life. I also recommend getting a group of friends together when you play, that way you have someone to pass off the controller to.