Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Review

Developer	Tecmo
Publisher	Tecmo
Genre	Adventure

The first Fatal Frame, which is still a highly underrated game by many standards today, was one of the scariest games of all time. On par with the Silent Hill series, Fatal Frame was a game that made your skin crawl by utilizing a frightfully atmospheric presentation and an enthralling story to keep players on the edge of their seats.

Crimson Butterfly is set in a Japanese village that vanished ages ago, after a night of blood and death. Twin sisters stumble into this village, which has mysteriously reappeared. They soon discover that the town forces those within it to live through the horrible final eve before the quaint little village originally disappeared. And even worse, once you step into the deserted hell town, there is no escape.

Gameplay - Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly plays exactly like you’d expect if you played the first release. Explore different areas of the town, solving a few puzzles and looking for some keys while trying to stay alive. The enemies in the Fatal Frame games are ghosts, and so mundane weapons like firearms are useless (and non-existent). Instead, players are armed with a camera by which taking photos of them exorcise the ethereal bastards back to where they came from. The press of a button will revert to the viewfinder mode (first-person), and then it is simply a matter of knowing the ghost’s movement and vulnerability patterns. Some ghosts need to be too close for comfort before you can really deal the damage out, while others become the most susceptible after attacking. Others still will have a weak spot just by making certain movements. The better the shot, the more damage you do, and the more points you gain, which are accumulated and can be spent on advancing the camera’s functions, allowing for some cool and very helpful effects.

Though Crimson Butterfly has you exploring an entire village, the game still feels as if you’re roaming around a single area since you unlock specific areas at different times and one at a time. Puzzles have that Resident Evil-ish weirdness to them (i.e. they make no sense), and when you don’t know where to go next, you often spot a ghost that somewhat leads you in the intended direction if you follow it. Sometimes, you’ll be led to the answer to a puzzle, and other times, just following it will solve the puzzle or unlock a previously sealed door, which gives the feeling that not very much thought was put into some of the game’s puzzles. Unfortunately, this happens so often that the mere sight of a specter walking down a hallway or darkened alley dulls the scare factor rather quickly. Crimson Butterfly doesn’t do much to innovate how it scares the player, utilizing the same techniques as the first game, and then overuses enough of them to become a bit predictable too quickly.

Ghosts are a bit tougher to do max damage to in the sequel, as their most vulnerable points aren’t as prominent as they were in the first game. But the trickier methods of dealing damage to ghosts don’t make up for the fact that there is a hefty overabundance of healing items, thereby making the game much easier than the original release. It isn’t uncommon to be walking around with over twenty healing items in your inventory. It’s difficult to be afraid if you know you’ll be just fine. There is no tension in these situations. No tension + no suspense = no fright.

That’s not to say Crimson Butterfly doesn’t have it’s moments. The atmosphere is appropriately thick with goose bump-inducing ambience. Despite the fact that twin sisters Mio and Mayu are the stars of the game, you’ll spend the majority of your time controlling Mio, and most of the time, you’ll be alone. There are times when you will have the opportunity to control Mayu, but it never lasts long, and she plays exactly like her sister anyway. Now and then, you will need to have both sisters present to solve a puzzle, but it doesn’t happen nearly enough, and there is so much potential to be had by being able to control both characters throughout the game, it’s a shame it isn’t taken advantage of.

It seems to be par for the course when it comes to the controls, but no one can seem to get the control scheme down just right. Fatal Frame 2 gives you the option to control your character in two different ways: either like Resident Evil or like Devil May Cry. Neither is optimal, but you at least have the option to have first-person shooter-like controls when you’re in viewfinder mode, which is a nice plus.

Graphics - Crimson Butterfly is graphically quite appealing, mostly because the visuals are very crisp and creatively uses it’s color palette to create an almost artistic look to the game. Many of the colors appear washed out, and yet the color red is lush and vibrant (and there’s blood in the game too this time, effectively turning the “Teen” rating to a “Mature”). Light and shadow effects are equally stunning, and though not on par with Silent Hill 3, the light and shadowing touches are still brilliantly pulled off. The grainy film effect returns as well, and is done much better than in the first game, especially when playing through certain sequences with Mio’s sister Mayu. The ghosts and their warped effects are done in a much more realistic manner, and the new ghost designs are creepier as well.

From a design standpoint though, the backgrounds are kind of drab. Much of it is simply due to the fact that the setting is mostly of an ancient Japanese village with decrepit structures, but almost every building looks the same on the inside (which look similar to the environments of the first game). There is very little change in the settings, which makes the look feel a bit second hand after awhile.

Sound – The audio package in Crimson Butterfly is quality stuff. Just as in the first game, the sequel greatly benefits from the use of the subtle cracking of twigs, or the ever-so-slight whispers in the wind. It makes the atmosphere that much more suspenseful. The voice acting, however, is merely so-so. Even though the voices don’t ruin the experience, the characters don’t show much emotion, and they all sound similar, as if each voice actor was hypnotized when reading their script. There are times when the performance is appropriate, but for every instance where the voice acting is performed well, there are three others where it could’ve used some work.

The music is also a mixed bag. There isn’t very much of it overall, but what is there – while good – sounds awfully familiar, as if it was ripped from the first game without any shame. Original material could’ve helped keep the experience fresh.

Bottom Line - Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is a great horror game if it stood alone, but being a sequel, the title feels too much like the original. There isn’t one significant upgrade that the game makes over the first; the enemies are the same, the environments look the same and feel the same, and quite frankly, it doesn’t sound any different either. The fright tactics used to scare players are as recycled as everything else, which gives anyone who extensively played the first game an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

The game is still quite good, and the story is more engaging than the first time around. For fans of the genre, Crimson Butterfly is a must-play, if only to experience the new story elements. Just be warned that this trip will feel awfully familiar all the way through.

Review by Brendon Hivner