Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is an immensely frightening and cleverly designed horror game, slightly held back by a couple of clunky aspects. Even so, the ingenuity behind the core concept and the freaky aesthetic go a long way in making this a very worthwhile remake.
To my great shame, I’ve never played any Fatal Frame games. I love the horror genre, and I love photography mechanics in games, so it really seems like a no-brainer for me to have tried out the acclaimed series by now. Better late than never, though, as I’ve now started my Fatal Frame journey with Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake – and this remake has been quite the convincing starting point.
The thing about Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake that immediately grabbed me is the idea behind its main gameplay loop: take photos of ghosts to damage them. The fact that you need to get close to the ghosts and time your shots perfectly for maximum damage adds an incredibly tense sense of risk and reward to everything, and I repeatedly marvelled at how this mechanic forces you to dive straight into the game’s well-crafted scares.
The constant sense of progression that comes from finding new filters and upgrades for the Camera Obscura keeps things from ever getting stale, too, making for a well-paced horror spectacle. I also dug that there are non-violent ghosts and spectres that wander certain areas and drop things when photographed. It adds to the unrelenting anxiety that the village almost effortlessly exudes, with some of the ghosts even leading to intriguing side-stories that further flesh out the cursed town.
Admittedly, there’s a bit of jank in Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake that, I figure, comes from the original game. Given Fatal Frame II is approaching 23 years of age, it’s natural that there would be some wrinkles in the remake’s DNA. Though it does help make things a bit scarier, movement can feel a little stunted and labored, and there are a few sections that basically require you to die and be sent back to a checkpoint once, so you can grasp what you need to do.
Additionally, though battling and avoiding ghosts with your camera is largely thrilling, a lot of ghosts tend to trigger an “enraged” mode, where they regenerate health and become resistant to damage until certain conditions are met. I found this, more often than not, led to the more combative encounters dragging on a good bit longer than they needed to, opening the door for frustration on the occasions where I’d be burning through my limited special film types on seemingly minor foes.
The story follows some familiar horror beats – an isolated village seems almost frozen in a harsher past, and the hints you find throughout the town quickly expose a deep darkness that permeates the place and its residents. Mayu and Mio Amakura, our twin main characters, find themselves stuck in the unsettling town, which just so happens to have a supernatural fixation on twins. As you navigate the different buildings and roads, things become clearer and more ominous with every step, making the somewhat well-worn tropes still come off as effective and, occasionally, surprising.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake truly understands the importance of atmosphere.
The real horror of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake comes from its atmosphere, which is absolutely chilling. The roads and paths are absolutely soaked in darkness and eerie silence, while every step in the remake’s different houses creaks and cracks, sounding a bit too realistic. And once you’ve got a ghost thrown into the mix, the wails and moans really tie it all together. Team Ninja really understands how important sound is to crafting nail-biting tension, and they nailed it out of the park with this one.
The ghost designs also deserve their own shout out. Regular enemies look like incredibly miserable and diminished individuals that you absolutely believe are cursed to wander the world of the living, while the game’s big bad – the Kusabi – is mortifying all around. Once you learn more about the lore behind the Kusabi through story progression, its design becomes even more haunting and tragic, though not tragic enough to make it any less terrifying.
Good
The Final Word
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is a pleasantly anxiety-inducing game that combines the creepy thrills of the horror genre with the sharp satisfaction of taking a good photo. Though there are a couple of bumps in the road when it comes to how smoothly the game plays, the atmosphere and vibes are unparalleled and, when combined with the creative photography-based gameplay, create a remake that is absolutely worth experiencing – so long as you have a bit of extra patience.
