Platform: Playstation 2, Xbox

Genre: Survival Horror

Number of Players: 1
 

Tecmo's original Fatal Frame proved to many of us that a survival horror title could be done effectively and frighteningly well. After years of dealing with the repetitive Resident Evil series, a game that quickly lost it's scare factor around the second installment and has really become a pale shadow of what it was intended to be, it seemed that the survival horror was in danger of killing itself. However, take away zombies and remove the strangeness of series like Silent Hill, and bring in something that's a bit more realistic, like ghosts, and then place it in a dark a creepy mansion, and you've got all the makings of a great title. The first game was impressive enough, but once the official announcement was made that Fatal Frame II was on the way, I was beyond excited. I will still go on record that the first Fatal Frame is perhaps one of the best survival horror titles that has been made to date, so managing to surpass it was going to be a difficult task indeed.

Fatal Frame II: The Crimson Butterfly opens in a way that very much belies the real terror of the series. It 's a beautiful sunny day when we find two twin sisters, Mio and Maya Amakura, visiting their childhood haunt. The two have many memories of the place, but Mayu suddenly takes to follows some butterflies in the area, and Mio follows. That's where things immediately take a turn for the worse. The sun fades, and the sisters find themselves in a dark and deserted town; at least they believe they are alone. At one time in history, the village was the site of a gruesome ritual that involved two twin girls and would end in one killing the other. At least, the was the goal, until one unfortunate day when one of the twins involved in the ritual decided not to follow tradition, resulting in the massacre of the entire village. Now, the spirits of the long dead eternally play out their roles once again, and now Mio and Mayu are trapped in the village, and it seems that Mayu is reliving the past events, including the ritual itself.
 

Maybe I've seen one too many horror films, but it's fairly obvious from the start that the two girls are reincarnated from the horrible days of the villages past, something that was further solidified by my accidental viewing of the games teaser before actually starting game play. However, that doesn't keep this from being a great game. Like the first game, Crimson Butterfly is dubbed into English, and while I was hoping for an option to actually play with the original Japanese dialog, Tecmo has brought in a much better collective for their dubbing team. The opening is done is a gorgeous cut scene featuring all of the things that made Fatal Frame so frightening, including the strange and often graining old film look of the visuals.It's something that has already given the series a very unique appearance, and often makes it a bit emotionally disturbing to watch.

What adds to the uneasy feelings is the fact that your sister will follow you, though not through all of the game. Often, you will wander off to explore while she struggles to catch up. Incidentally, she has a bad leg which causes her to move more slowly than what Mio does. You would think that a human character would ease the tension slightly, but once in a while, while trying to thoroughly search an area, Mayu will quietly appear behind you, or you'll turn a corner to find her standing there. She may even call out to you, something that can come as a little unexpected if you are too involved with what's going on around you. Having your sister along though will have a few advantages from time to time, so even though she is slow, she is beneficial. Initially, you will be unarmed when entering the village, but that will quickly change. You might be expecting another girl, just like with the original game, that has the power to see spirits, but that's not the case. Mayu and Mio stumble upon a manuscript talking about the mysterious Camera Obscura, a device that allows the user to see what is normally unseen. Mio also learns how to use the camera to combat her undead opponents, of course using the camera. Again it is a situation of point and shoot, but there are a few changes as well. You will find items that you can add onto the camera to increase its deadly potential such as Slow and Blast just to name a few. You also will score points based on the pictures that you take, and your accumulated score can be used to upgrade the functions of the camera, assuming of course you have spirits stones in order to add another slot into the camera features. Also, the Camera Obscura has a few abilities that, once the proper items are recovered, become functions that are always active and there is no need to improve them.
 
There don't seem to be quite as many ghosts just wandering around, so you won't be walking into room after room of transparent entities waiting to put a quick end to your life. Often, you'll find apparitions that aren't't harmful, and while you will gain points from snapping a photo, you need to be quick, much quicker than in the last game. Many times, right after you see them, they're already gone. You also will run across those strange anomalies that once a photo is snapped, will revel other mysterious things, or locations that you'll need to visit in order to progress further. The spirits that you do in fact need to combat though are much more difficult than those in the previous game. They tend to fade away quite a bit, reappearing immediately behind you as you desperately search for their locations. There are even a few that the camera has no effect on at all. It is however, a little more easy to get good pictures, including the extremely damaging fatal frame, and this is where paying careful attention to the camera's lamp comes in handy. Once you see the red light flash, that's your chance. One last note on the camera though, it's not nearly as simple to upgrade as it was before, and it takes a great deal of precious points in order to make it to the next level of skill, thus making the game a little more challenging.

While I miss a few of the ghosts from the previous game, Blind still being my favorite, these new ones aren't anything to laugh at. You'll still have the usual amount of strange ghostly voices while doing battle with them, and having an all-new ghostly cast is much better than rehashing what we've seen before. This has been one of negative feelings I've had with other survival horror titles. Resident Evil always has the same variety of zombies, and though they may look slightly different, their actions are exactly the same. The same is true with the Silent Hill series, and though the game may change the plot, the bizarre entities roaming the streets exactly what we've seen before. Fatal Frame II however has given us a new collection of spirits that match up quite well with the storyline of the game, so no matter how terrifying some of the other sprits were from the first game, we won't find them here.

The cassette player from the first game is also gone, now replaced with what is known as a spirit radio. This radio extracts the psychic residue of those that previously, or in some cases currently; own various types of crystals that you'll find in the town. You'll gain a bit of information, but often times relive the horrific events of the owners. It is important though to constantly monitor the stones you have for your radio, as they will occasionally have new things they will tell you, even after you've already listened to them. It may seem like a strange idea, but it works well, especially considering that the game deals with a village that wouldn't't have had access to any sort of recording devices.

The soundtrack is very disturbing and atmospheric, something that's to be expected from the series. It adds a great deal to the mood of the game, and there are times where you'll get a feeling of dread, wondering if you really should go into that dark and unlit room. I was hoping that Tecmo might following gin Koanmi's footsteps and include the soundtrack on a bonus disc, but that's not the case here. However, I can't even be positive that a soundtrack was even released in Japan, and I never have managed to find one for the first game either, but it's safe to say that this new soundtrack is much more eerie than the first, and is an amazing improvement. Aside from the music though, the game also has improvements in the category of graphics, and Fatal Frame is a much darker, and yet sharper game, and while I really didn't't feel that the graphics needed any changes, it's greatly appreciated. The premise of a town instead of a mansion is interesting as well, and offers more in the way of game play and exploration, though I will admit that being able to access more building would have been nice. Also, the new map features are nice, and though it may look the same, having the ability to move around on the map and see the name of places you've visited as well as a small picture helps a great deal.
 
I really did look and try and find something about Fatal Frame II that I didn't care much for, but to be perfectly honest, the only thing that I can say I don't care much for is that so far, there hasn't been any official announcement regarding Fatal Frame III. This is a franchise that I foresaw great things from with the first game, and this entry into the series proves it. Tecmo has brought us a fantastic follow-up to the original, filled with new terrors, more pulse pounding fear, and the type of scenarios that make your hair stand on end. Though I haven't found anything yet that's made me literally jump out of my skin, I have had many feelings of dread while playing the game, and that's good enough for me. Fatal Frame II outshines, and out scares its predecessor in every sense, and fans of the original won> '> t be disappointed in the least. As far as Tecmo themselves go however, all I can say is please, bring us more, and soon.

-mike-