Looking for a comprehensive Fatal Frame/ Project Zero: Maiden Of Black Water Review? We’ve got you covered! It is said that Mt. Hikami is a famous suicide location, but in the shadow of the mountain something more sinister dwells. Here is our Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water Review.
Developed and published by Koei Tecmo, this latest delve into the supernatural horror epic known as Fatal Frame is one to enjoy. Sitting (at the time of writing) as the fifth overall installment and fifth story in the Fatal Frame world, embark on a journey to Mt. Hikami and uncover the secrets locked in its revered waters.
STORY
The story flows through 14 main chapters and 4 additional ones called Drops. These Drops tell a combined story of three characters in separate situations, however, their goals align, which is to find someone. The story, while it revolves around the events unfolding on the mountain does have plot points in the antique shop, which acts as a more or less base of operations.
The events show the struggles of Yuri, Ren, and Miu while they find their own answers. Overall I would say the main character would be Yuri as she is the one who has more events unfold, there is more learned about her, and the antique shop she works at stands as the base of operations. While Ren and Miu are protagonists they seem to take a back seat to Yuri who is forging a path. The interesting thing is that Miu, or rather Miu’s mother, is a returning character from a previous installment of the Fatal Frame franchise. It’s a nice tie to earlier titles and gives a sense that even a happy ending can come out of a horror experience.
Alan Wake set this up perfectly. While Wake is contemplating the ending of the story he states that “in a horror story, there is no happy ending“. Later, he states that if there is a hero they have to pay the price, the bigger the act of heroism the greater the sacrifice the hero must pay. Fatal Farme is no different to this and it can be seen throughout the story. When Yuri removes the final pillar (a sacrificed person, who used to be a Shrine Maiden) the act of heroism almost reaches its peak, almost implying that Yuri won’t make it out alive, however, with the different endings this is a little less straightforward.
Mechanics, Graphics, & Technical things
Mechanically the game is a marvel of horror, not only does it feel like it, but it plays like it in every sense of the word. This is achieved thanks to a number of factors, however, the most important one is the way the player is designed to feel powerless. Unlike games like Dead Space, Resident Evil, or even The Evil Within, Fatal Frame doesn’t give you a weapon in the sense that you would recognize. Instead, with Fatal Frame, you have a camera, this might not sound too different to Frank West, the photojournalist from Dead Rising, but even in Dead Rising you have weapons. Fatal Frame doesn’t give these luxuries and a camera is really all you have.
This makes the sense of solitude, isolation, and helplessness all too apparent and that’s what makes the game truly terrifying. Added to the fact that the lore on which Fatal Frame is based is pretty solid. Dating back to the early days of photography, and even before the photography we know today, there have been anomalies that can be caught on camera, which have been referred to as a sub-class of Photography known as Spirit Photography. Likewise, the Camera Obscura isn’t a creation of the gaming world, in the late 16th century that is what the camera was referred to. Unlike the Spirit Photographs which are not real or can’t be quantified as scientifically real. Typically they are faked, nowadays we can digitally achieve this, however, in the old days this was done somewhat more cleverly and subtly. To produce this “Ghosting” Effect glass plates were employed, although this is all well and good, with Fatal Frame being a game Spirit Photographs can become real.
From a graphical perspective, the game is everything I’d like from a horror, dark atmosphere, interesting mechanics, and a compelling tale. Personally, other horror games don’t hold up to extreme scrutiny and the sense of terror isn’t a constant feeling in the back of the mind. Everything from the atmosphere to the characters, are graphically impressive but it feels like the characters are slightly out of contrast with the world. It’s not really apparent because it’s so small, however, it’s apparent when you see the animations of using the Camera Obscura. Normally this is locked to first person meaning that you can’t see the third-person character in this state, but if you are near a mirror you can see the mismatch.
One of the interesting mechanics comes from the Pause Menu where you can either show or disable the Viewfinder in Photo Mode. While this is a small thing in comparison to the rest of the game it is an interesting feature as you really need to know the bounds of the photo zone so you can capture the Ghost.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, the game is really a horror game that is enjoyable for any time of year, but better for Halloween. As I have stated throughout the review, the game is an amazing horror game but unfortunately as terrifying as it is, once you can concentrate and apply logic it falls apart.
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however, improbable must be the truth”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, 1927
While this shouldn’t apply to this situation it really fits. There are plenty of flaws in the game that reduce the terror factor but got overlooked because of how the game is presented. Things like:
- Who lit all the lanterns, and set the power running throughout the mountain?
- Everything seems abandoned for years, so why is there equipment that I can use?
- Why do a lot of the Ghosts move like Zombies, what is this a Zombie Apocalypse now?
- Seriously, why not pick up a weapon that looks like a weapon, not just a Camera?
The first two can apply to any game really not just a horror. What I would like to know is why the animations make some of the Ghosts move like zombies, if I wanted to hunt zombies I’d play Resident Evil or Dead Rising, so why all of a sudden do the ghosts act like walking corpses? Granted they are dead but there is a difference between zombies and ghosts.
In addition to this, it doesn’t make sense as to why when you know there is real danger, you run headlong towards it, with just a camera. It feels like throwing a paper airplane into a river. We all know the outcome, but surprisingly a camera is probably the most effective tool you could use in this situation, and it works far better than it would seem.
To close, the game is a fantastic adventure and an impressive horror game to experience. Originally the game was a baffling and terrifying experience, but as I sank deeper into the tale of Black Water that dread and fear started to subside and I wanted to play more of the Fatal Frame games. This was only added to by the delay and how long it took to actually play this amazing franchise. Really, waiting over 3 years is way too long. As old as this series is it is hard to believe that it has taken me this long to try it, and after enjoying it as much as I have I can’t wait to try Fatal Frame/ Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly, which is said to be the scariest. On that note, I would like to see Yuri return in a sequel story, maybe even the Sixth installment is around the corner.
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