Video Game Closet: Fatal Frame

Hello everybody! The video game reviews are back! Make sure to check over at Nerd Bacon Games for my lengthier reviews! On this week’s video game closet, we have the horror classic Fatal Frame.

FATAL FRAME

Genres	Survival Horror
Developers	Tecmo, Grasshopper Manufacture
Publishers	Tecmo, Wanadoo, Microsoft Game Studios
Platforms	PlayStation Network PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 Xbox Wii Nintendo 3DS Wii U
Platform of origin	PlayStation 2
First release	Fatal Frame December 13, 2001
Latest release	Fatal Frame: Oracle of the Sodden Raven September 27, 2014
Spin-offs	Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir

Fatal Frame follows the story of Miku Hinasaki as she searches for her brother Mafuyu after he mysteriously disappears. Mafuyu left for the Himuro Mansion to look for his mentor Junsei Takamine and his been missing for two weeks. Junsei Takamine disappeared in the mansion along with his assistant and editor while conducting research on his next best-selling novel. The player controls Miku as she explores the Himuro Mansion, looking for Mafuyu. The further Miku explores, rope burns appear on her wrists and ankles. She learns this is a part of a ritual conducted by the occult occupying the Himuro Mansion on a shrine maiden to appease the spirits. You can check out my lengthier review over at Nerd Bacon Games here.

Fatal Frame is a survival horror title in the vein of the earlier entries in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. As the player moves through the environment, the game’s fixed camera angles will shift, obscuring what lies around corners. The player’s only weapon and primary tool is the Camera Obscura, an antique camera that has the ability to defeat ghosts and reveal clues hidden in the environment. When actively using the Camera Obscura, the game shifts to a first-person view. Like a normal camera, it also requires film, several grades of which are available and that can be found scattered around the environment. The weakest film grade does little damage to ghosts and is only useful for taking pictures of clues, but more powerful film grades can cause damage to even the most powerful of spirits wandering the mansion’s halls. The Camera Obscura can also be upgraded to improve aspects such as shutter speed, effective range, and damage strength.

Unfortunately, Fatal Frame is not without fault. While I really enjoyed playing the game, I found myself in many parts just wanting to finish the game so I can move onto the next. I have found that is the case though for many games now a days. This is quite disappointing. In this case though it was the fact that I had to continually back track as there is no specific line to complete the story. While i thought it was interesting, it just didn’t appeal to me, sorry Fatal Frame.

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