Fatal Frame
From Desaiuniversity
Techmo survival horror game, also known as Project Zero Japan and Europe. Zero (零, "Rei", this is a pun; "rei" can also mean "ghost"). The first two Fatal Frame games can be found on the consoles Playstation 2 and XBox, however, the third is exclusively for Playstation 2. The premise of all three games can be summed up in exploring haunted envoriments and unraveling mysteries involving human sacrifice, in dark Shinoto and Buddhist sects, and naturally, exorcism. Fatal Frame heavily relies on Japanese superstions and lore, which can be lost on Western players at times.
It emphazies on the atmosphere surrounding the characters, to dilapitated houses, dark and unnerving mansions, and generally claustrophobic enviroments. One could say this is the strongest point of Fatal Frame, next to the controller's special ability to mimick a heartbeat. The difference is with Fatal Frame and regular games are the enemies, which are violent and vengeful spirits, that can add to the enviorment, considering there is such a wide variety of spirits within the game. And the only way to combat the spirits and solve clues, is Fatal Frame's unique gameplay that involves combat with a camera. It is scarier than it sounds. Only by using the camera, the player can exorcise spirits and take their energy as means of upgrading the camera against more powerful spirits as the game progresses.
Fatal Frame comes in the following three games.
Fatal Frame (Project Zero), 2001
The story follows Miku Hinasaki, a girl who has recieved no word of her missing brother for a week, who was last seen in the haunted Himuro Mansion. Being the good sister she is, Miku Hinasaki follows her brother and his team of folklorists within the manor. Miku's physic abilities picks up on a malicious force -- in her visions, the malice comes in the form of a massive amount of hands, seen pulling her brother's boss into darkness. What Miku comes across is an old Hinasaki family heirloom, a camera that her great-great grandmother Yae Mukanata had. This is the only way she can combat the spirits, as well as using her six sense, since it is apparent that Miku is also trapped in the mansion, stuck to unravel the sacrifice of the Rope Shrine Maiden. This game's XBox version has better graphics, smoother gameplay, and a few extras that it's Playstation 2 counterpart doesn't.
