If you’re a fan of the oft-maligned survival horror subgenre, the tagline above probably tells you all you need to know. Developed by the same team responsible for last year’s Fatal Frame (and Deception before that), the newly announced Crimson Butterfly aims to improve on its predecessor in almost every way.

Bigger, longer and scarier than the original, Butterfly not only does exactly what it sets out to do, it also ends up being one of the best pure adventures on the PlayStation 2 to date. In fact, it’s probably only just losing out to the excellent Silent Hill series – and even that may just be a matter of opinion. Either way, it’s definitely a hair-raising experience.

Story

Fatal Frame II is not a true sequel to Miku’s adventures in the Himuro Mansion, as it takes place almost two generations before the events of the first game. Rather, it tells the backstory surrounding the mysterious “camera obscura” and its purpose 30 years before Miku captured it for her brother. Fatal Frame II is much more open and less cramped than the setting of the original adventure, moving from a giant house to an abandoned village deep in the forests of Japan. This change of location is surely the first sign that the Crimson Butterfly is not only much bigger, but also up to much evil.

The story begins with prepubescent twin sisters Mio and Mayu enjoying the natural scenery near a flowing stream. A combination of flashbacks and contemporary imagery reveals that Mayu was badly injured in her youth; the accident left her with a permanent scar on her leg and a slight limp. As the pair reminisce about that fateful day, Mayu becomes captivated by a purple butterfly fluttering in the distance. As if in a trance, she follows him deeper into the forest, but her sister Mio also begins to follow. As Mio passes in front of a strange plaque engraved with a carving of two figures, the scene suddenly changes to a nighttime landscape, with Mio and Mayu standing alone on top of a forest mountain. Faced with an abandoned village with nowhere else to go, the pair must descend into a creepy town to find out what happened to them. Here’s where it gets really interesting.

It would be unfair to the reader to reveal any more, but it is clear that the pair eventually encounter a ghost and must use the magic camera to exorcise it. Fatal Frame II tells a fairly complex story told from the perspective of multiple characters through a series of dream sequences, flashbacks, and current events. The plot is full of horror, intrigue, and a lot of personal loss, but it never overembellished and managed to scare us with a remarkable consistency. Without a doubt, this is one of the scariest video games we’ve ever played.

Above all, Fatal Frame II is much less predictable than you’d expect, with a handful of interesting characters, realistic plot elements, and hidden subchapters that players can enjoy independently of the main adventure. Like its predecessor, Crimson Butterfly builds tension by scaring you not with what you do, but with what you don’t see. In short, it’s the polar opposite of the Resident Evil series, and while you’ll discover numerous endings at the end of your journey, none of them will be the one you expected.

Gameplay

Fatal Frame II is very different from a typical survival horror title, as it deviates significantly from the gameplay mechanics of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. The controls are almost identical to those two (with an alternative scheme for more precise three-dimensional movement), but with a fixed camera, the action in the environment is much more passive-aggressive. See, Crimson Butterfly doesn’t offer you bludgeoning Frankenstein’s monster or blasting 52 holes in a horde of zombies, but rather something much simpler. Take pictures of ghosts with your magic camera and steal their souls – chase them out of the village, and save the young ass for the next encounter.

Since taking pictures is the character’s true focus, the only buttons Mio really needs at his disposal are the search button (X) to find new objects and basic camera control commands. Tap the circle to raise the camera viewfinder, find the ghost you want to photograph, and press the X or R1 button to take the shutter. Depending on the color of the lens reticle (visible in first person view), the quality and clarity of the shot will increase or decrease. This will cause more or less damage and allow you to eliminate the ghosts you are fighting more or less efficiently.

However, to encourage the player’s quick reflexes and good eyesight, Tecmo also built in some bonuses for good shots from enemies. Different points values ​​are assigned depending on the position of the lens, and each image is combined with another to create a total value that can be spent like money to improve the camera’s capabilities. Increasing the viewfinder range, improving ghost power abilities, or increasing sensitivity are all upgrade possibilities, allowing players to customize their camera the way they want. Slow lenses, hit point scanners, and other extras can also be purchased this way. Fatal Frame II relies more on skill than other survival horror games on the market. A similar system was used in the previous parts of the
series, but the method here is more intuitive and balanced. In fact, the game is more balanced overall, and one of the main problems of the previous game – being too easy – is solved. It is full of puzzles, from time-based races to classic word puzzles, and there are also plenty of brain teasers between ghosts. Fortunately, the puzzles are not flashy at all and seem completely logical in the context of a ghost village (or should I say as logical as possible in such a situation). Finding a newspaper clipping in the first chapter may seem like a kind of bonus for collecting minutes, but when a puzzle appears in one of the later chapters, the intelligence behind the game’s puzzles becomes more clear. This is a rather unusual situation in this genre.

But that doesn’t mean Crimson Butterfly doesn’t have its issues. For example, in sections where her sister Mayu is chasing you, it’s not uncommon to get blocked or stuck when trying to outrun her. I understand that her character wants to be scary, but it can be very frustrating when she blocks or impedes your view every time you try to get a more difficult shot. The speed of character movement is also a bit annoying, since Mio’s running only gets you as fast as Jill Valentine’s regular walking speed. If only she was faster!

There are a few other concerns, like the clunky storage system, why do I have to move so many photos around when trying to save them to my gallery? Why not just store everything in one big file and let the user decide what to keep and what to throw away? This would eliminate the tedious process of switching back and forth between the camera and the photo album while allocating a different location to the photos you want to save. There’s also not a lot of backtracking, as you’ll end up fully exploring the same house a total of four times in the first 30 minutes. I’ll admit that I thought it was great that different events would occur on each of these four explorations, but this situation foreshadows events that will occur throughout the game as you keep returning to places you’ve been before.

Fortunately, the experience as a whole makes it well worth pushing through the more difficult parts of Fatal Frame. Considering the great storytelling, interesting combat system, and challenging but addictive puzzles, these minor issues are not enough to overshadow the overall quality of the game, especially when you consider the many endings, costumes, and other hidden challenges spread throughout Lost Village.

Graphics

Fatal Frame 1 had a unique style that set it apart from other survival horror titles, and Crimson Butterfly is no exception. Looking almost identical to the original Xbox version (minus the higher resolution), Fatal Frame II is packed with positive changes that are sure to please fans. If you thought the first part made good use of light and shadow, then look at this one. The dancing shadows, flickering transparencies, and clever use of flashlight beams are nothing short of impressive.

What makes Crimson Butterfly’s lighting technique work so well is the combination of real-time backgrounds and interesting camera angles. While this approach isn’t necessarily new to the franchise, the execution is much better this time around. Not only are there more objects for light sources and flashlights to reflect off of, but there are also more levels of depth in each level, which makes each sea of ​​shadows and occasional reflections of the environment even more terrifying. While there are still a lot of areas where the camera position is a bit problematic (especially when Mayu stands behind the camera, blocking the view), the direction and placement are much cleaner than before.

Speaking of directing and cleanliness, the cutscenes themselves are filthy works of art. The emotive black-and-white clips, clearly inspired by many video scenes from the movie Ring, are terrifying and sometimes beautiful. These short cutscenes are used much more than initially expected. They are appropriately ambiguous and frightening, but still leave enough content to make sense of everything. At the beginning of the game, when your character sees a haunted vision in the Osaka mansion for the first time, you will swear you are living in a horror movie – perhaps that is the best compliment we can give.

However, graphics lovers with more technical skills may be bothered by the fact that the game has fewer character polygons compared to the PS2 versions of Silent Hill and Clock Tower 3. Texture resolution is also inferior. Textures are very detailed, but not as crisp as in modern video games. So don’t be surprised if walls look a bit blurry or washed out if you get too close. Fatal Frame 2 doesn’t support progressive scan or widescreen TVs, so users of high-end devices should also be aware of this. Despite this, the frame rate remains a steady 30fps throughout the adventure, and I never noticed even the slightest hint of slowdown.

Sound

In an interesting decision, Tecmo decided not to include audio support for current generation technologies (including Dolby Pro Logic, DPL2, DTS, etc.), opting instead for their own proprietary audio encoding. Tecmo’s sound software, known as ARNIS Audio Technology, is designed to recreate a digital 5.1 experience without the need for speakers. This is the same technology used for the first Fatal Frame, and it works very well even on a TV not connected to a receiver; however, on a system connected to the right equipment, the sound is even better and can easily be compared to other encoding methods.

But this just goes to show how much care Tecmo put into making Fatal Frame’s presentation stand out. The soundtrack in particular is of the highest horror quality, used in an atmospheric way to make the surprise moments even more shocking. One technique the developers use particularly well is encouraging players to get used to associating certain musical cues with certain ghost sightings. This is essentially preparing you for what is to come. However, in a great game of decoy tactics, the team later started using fake audio, but in the end it is revealed that the room you are in is completely empty. Then, seconds later, something appears out of nowhere, and you feel scared. Only then does the familiar, heartbreaking soundtrack return. When you find yourself in the middle of a battle. A very effective lesson in storytelling.

Most of the other audio is similarly noteworthy, at least in terms of voice acting and ambient noise. From random female laughter to rustling leaves to creaking old doors, the environmental acoustics are just as frightening as the visual effects. Sure, there are some parts I wished for a little more attention (like how you can’t seem to hear any footsteps at all while climbing rickety stairs), but that’s quickly forgotten given the strength of the actors providing the voices. Even the weaker male characters sound convincing, which is something we’re not used to in the world of survival horror.

Verdict

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is by no means for everyone. It’s a full-blown brain teaser with plenty of disturbing imagery, horrifyingly creepy moments, and gameplay mechanics that action fans will likely reject from the get-go. But for those who are bored with the survival horror genre and looking for something new, this is the perfect way to end a year that has already given us some solid moments thanks to Clock Tower 3 and Silent Hill.

In all seriousness, Crimson Butterfly takes all the interesting ideas from the original game and implements them the way they should be. Sure, there are some rough edges that keep it from reaching the same heights as Silent Hill, but at the end of the day, you won’t find a more terrifying piece of storytelling than Fatal Frame II anytime soon.