Embark on a spooky journey through a cursed Japanese village in this continuation of the ghost-snapping survival horror
The two girls in question – Mio and Miyu – get lost in a forest and wind up wandering into All God’s Village, a village that supposedly vanished from this plane of existence when a ritual went horribly wrong. Solving the mystery of this ritual and putting these spirits to rest is the only way they have to escape the village. Early on in their explorations, Mio recovers a device called the Camera Obscura, which has the ability to not only see the paranormal, but capture their lost souls and exorcise them. This isn’t to say the playing field has been leveled at all; the ghosts far outnumber the girls and since they can disappear entirely and float through the walls, they’re a little tough to take pictures of. Capturing a ghost right when it’s poised to attack, however, can net you an awesome damage bonus, appropriately called a “Fatal Frame.” You can also uncover upgrades for the camera which will freeze ghosts in place, or blast them backwards. The shots you take accumulate points which can in turn be used to upgrade the camera’s basic functions and attacks.
The game plays out in a third-person perspective, with the option to play in FPS mode. While the third-person perspective contains all the spooky camera angles survival horror games are known for, the downfall is that it contains all the spooky camera angles. Sure, it’s unnerving not to be able to see what’s around that next corner, but when you wind up having to flee from a mob of ghosts, going through those camera changes can become very disorienting. (And, oh yeah, leaving you unable to see exactly where those ghosts vanished) Most items that you can pick up will be revealed on the screen as a blue glowing object, although there are a few items hidden in drawers or shelves that aren’t quite so obvious. Since most of these items provide background on the village or the characters you encounter, it’s a good idea to search for these as well.
While the ghosts are very ethereal to behold, the rest of the village looks amazingly real. There are a lot of small details that you’ll notice as you walk about, such as cherry blossoms drifting off the trees, the ripple of water as the wind plays across the surface, and so on. Those small details really heighten the game experience, especially when objects within the houses move as you pass by them. Where the graphics leave off, the sound picks up. You won’t have to suffer through an obnoxious musical score as you wander through the village; the majority of the game is played out in spooky silence, and what sound there is usually announces the presence of a malignant spirit. The voice-overs are very well done, although the radio crystals you discover are perhaps a little too over dramatic.
The story doesn’t take long to unfold. Your first playthrough of this game will likely take a little over ten hours. However, just as in the first game, the first ending is not necessarily the real ending. On top of that, new modes of play are unlocked, including the mission mode, which pits you up against one particularly nasty ghoulie, forcing you to practice the all-powerful Fatal Frame shot to obtain higher ranks. There’s also an assortment of costumes you can unlock for the girls, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Fatal Frame 2 is a spooky game that’s a lot of fun, and well worth adding to your survival horror collection.