Seeing as Fatal Frame 5 was announced for WiiU not too long ago I thought it was about time we start a Fatal Frame thread.
Despite having copies sitting in my collection for many years I never got around to trying this series until recently. I love horror games and supernatural themes, but taking pictures of ghosts doesn't exactly sound exciting. But when I finally sat down with it I was blown away by not only the atmosphere and storytelling, but how incredibly fun and deep the camera based combat system is. It isn't just taking random pictures so much as it's carefully timing your shots for critical damage and counterattacks. I honestly felt it was the best combat system I've ever seen in a "true" horror game.
The worry with a particularly deep combat system is that you will end up becoming a commando, turning the games into action titles instead of horror titles. But Fatal Frame manages to be fun and challenging while also keeping things firmly in the horror camp. Glorious stuff, I can see where this series reputation comes from.
Question: I just finished plowing through the first 3 PS2 games and I'm considering investing in some other versions. I'll probably buy a WiiU considering the announcement of V (First system selling must-have tier game for me), and I'll be getting the Wii versions of 2 and 4 as soon as I do. But I was also considering buying the very expensive Japanese Xbox version of the first game. Is it worth it? What upgrades does it have over the PS2 original? The one thing that really hurt the PS2 version for me was the controls, are their more options similar to the 2nd and 3rd games in the Xbox version?
Do you love Fatal Frame? Which one is the best in the series? What are your favorite moments? Let's discuss this incredible series!
Still need to play this series. Downloaded the ps3 port of 2 for like $5.
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oh cool, didn't know they announced a new Project Zero. My GF recently bought a Wii U too (for fucking Mario Kart which is surprisingly awesome), which now makes this news even more relevant to my interests.
Could be a game that actually uses the GamePad in some significant way outside of off-screen play.
I've only played the first on PS2 and I loved it. It's actually one of the only survival horror games I've ever played, and I even went back for a second play through years later. I've always heard the first was the best so I didn't bother with the sequels.
"I've had quite a few pcbs of Fire Shark over time, and none of them cost me over £30 - so it won't break the bank by any standards." ~Malc
1 is my favorite because it runs so smoothly and the combat isn't as passive (IIRC you can just fire away once you're done charging as opposed to having to wait until the ghosts stick their faces into yours; aiming with a stick in the latter case isn't particularly comfortable).
It's actually the first horror game I played from start to finish so maybe it isn't too scary? Or it's just that the gameplay is more compelling than the other games.
I hope they make the running speed a little less disgusting in 5.
RegalSin wrote:Then again sex is no diffrent then sticking a stick down some hole to make a female womenly or girl scream or make noise.
It's been a while since I played 1 but I think that's right it just has the full charge blast back instead of the "fatal frame". But 2 and 3 also have the same red charge, it's just they add the additional Fatal Frame chance in as a sort of critical hit. I actually prefer 2 and 3 gameplaywise to 1, but I agree that one has the best atmosphere.
Formless God wrote:Or it's just that the gameplay is more compelling than the other games.
I hope they make the running speed a little less disgusting in 5.
Definitely more compelling than other horror games, but yeah the running speed is ridiculously low. You're being chased by a ghost but your character just casually mopes along like they don't give a shit
chempop wrote:I've always heard the first was the best so I didn't bother with the sequels.
You should definitely bother with the sequels if you enjoyed the first. The quality is pretty consistent across all of them, so if you like 1 you will like the others too. "Best" is probably just a matter of taste in this series.
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Has anyone here played either of the Wii versions? Are they any good? How do the controls work?
ACSeraph wrote:Has anyone here played either of the Wii versions? Are they any good? How do the controls work?
Like you said, the quality is pretty consistent across the series, so 4 is just as good as any of the other entries. The controls, however, are godawful. The camera movement is tied to the remote's gyros instead of the pointer which makes capturing ghosts a tricky and frustrating process, and you need to shake the nunchucku to do a 180 degrees turn. The remake of the second game retains the control scheme of FF4 despite all the flak that Tecmo received for it.
Based on the comments here I went ahead and picked up the two Wii FF games about 2 weeks ago. Just like you said, the quality remains consistent. Both are definitely must haves for fans of the series.
I was kind of blown away by the remake of 2 actually, I was expecting more of a retexture when actually the whole thing has been remade from the ground up. It looks absolutely incredible, amazing how much difference there is considering there isn't so much of a graphical power gap between the Wii and the PS2. The new over the shoulder camera really shows off the beautiful environments and sucks you into the world even more than before. I'm more or less immune to horror movies/games, but even so I could really feel a difference in the atmosphere compared to the original.
I'm working my way through 4 now. Graphics are again quite good for Wii, but it can be choppy at times. The abandoned hospital setting is also a nice change of pace from the series usual classic Japanese architecture, and as usual it's full of small disturbing details if you really spend a lot of time looking around. Only thing is some of the ghosts make me laugh instead of scare me. What's up with the flashlight guy? I always feel like the cops are coming for me when he shows up
I was a little worried about the motion controls after what I read here but actually I got used to them quite quickly. Once you get the way the lock-on works down it works pretty well imo. It would have been nice if it had gamepad support but I can live without it.
Also lol at the sexy swimsuit costumes you unlock after beating 2. They clearly didn't want anyone to forget this was a tecmo game
fatal frame 4 was probably my favorite survival horror last gen next to ikenie no yoru, siren, and amensia. still a top notch series (as many have said - especially with ff4) and I wasn't even aware that there's a fatal frame 5 announced for the wii u. hopefully there's an english localization so I don't have to deal with patching.
I'm mildly bothered that you seem to be able to take a shot while being attacked, and the indicators are way too in-your-face this time.
But dat camera rotation tho
RegalSin wrote:Then again sex is no diffrent then sticking a stick down some hole to make a female womenly or girl scream or make noise.
I'm mildly bothered that you seem to be able to take a shot while being attacked, and the indicators are way too in-your-face this time.
But dat camera rotation tho
What I'm seeing so far makes it look like exactly what I was hoping for. The WiiU was basically made for this game and using the controller as a camera.
As for counterattacking, the old ones had that defensive flash shot too, so it's not so new. It works well I think since it requires strict timing.
Damn I was hoping the game would be playable at TGS. Well It's out in like a week anyhow, so I'll be playing soon enough.
As for the defensive flash, it's a little different from what was shown in the trailer. In the trailer she was grabbed and snapped the photo to get it off her, but in the old games the flash is done outside of camera mode, by pressing the shutter button the moment you are attacked. It kocks the enemy off of you and you don't take damage, but it doesn't deal any damage to the ghost either. It's an optional part for the camera.
What I liked:
- You run like a race car compared to before.
- Overall feedback during combat. Your shots feel much faster and manlier now.
- Not sure if the weird indicators are visible in the pad screen only, but the screen looks pretty unobstructed during camera view. In fact it looks so clean I have no idea if you still need to charge the camera anymore.
Didn't like:
- Filament replaced with FPS-style arrows. The filament has always been annoying for me, but not so bad that it needed to be replaced.
- Doors take 2 years to open.
RegalSin wrote:Then again sex is no diffrent then sticking a stick down some hole to make a female womenly or girl scream or make noise.
parapluie wrote:Anxiously waiting for a localization annoncement...
Thankfully Fatal Frame 4 has been translated, I still have to give it a try.
Me too. I'm a right wimp with horror (aged four, I ran out of the cinema - my first ever trip to a cinema - in 1984 during Ghostbusters. Made it as far as the woman in the library bit. According to my dad, I leapt up and screamed 'let's get out of hear!' and he only caught up with me out on the street. Sleepless nights for months; still a wimp 30 years on), but I adore Fatal Frame. As long as they don't do a VR version. That will be too much.
So, ACSeraph; first impressions? Managed to hold onto your bladder and sanity?
I picked up Fatal Frame 5 on the midnight of release, but only did the first couple of chapters (Still busy with Bayonetta 2).
I must say, I'm pretty impressed with how they utilized the gamepad gyro, for the Camera Obscura. Not only is it smooth and intuitive, but you can adjust the XY Axis movement/sensitivity, that suits you best. And the right analog stick adjusts itself according to the position of how you hold the gamepad.
Alternatively, if you still feel like you don't like playing it that way and just use it with normal controls, you can turn off the method completely and use only the right stick for camera movement (still no pro-controller though). Not only will it move the Camera Obscura UI to the TV, but it ends up also being Off-TV Mode if you just want to play it on the pad. In either control mode, tapping the touch screen brings up the map.
Thanks for the feedback ! Being able to play the game on the gamepad is a great news as it's one of my favorite Wii U feature. I was afraid that because of the camera obscura gamepad feature, you wouldn't be able to play on the gamepad off TV.
Some-Mist wrote:fatal frame 4 was probably my favorite survival horror last gen next to ikenie no yoru, siren, and amensia. still a top notch series (as many have said - especially with ff4) and I wasn't even aware that there's a fatal frame 5 announced for the wii u. hopefully there's an english localization so I don't have to deal with patching.
Didn't know about Ikenie no yoru, it looks interesting. And the fantrad project seems to be out very soon !
Been busy the past couple days and spending all my free time playing this so I'm just now getting around to posting impressions.
First off the game looks absolutely incredible. The series has always had an oppressive yet strangely beautiful atmosphere and it really shines through on the new engine. Playing it in 1080p, it honestly is the first game I've played on the WiiU that felt like a step up visually from the PS3 generation.
The game appears to be loosely based on real places in Japan, a few of which I've been to in real life. The main setting is a forested mountain where people only ever go in order to commit suicide. This is clearly referencing Aokigahara, Japan's infamous suicide forest. So compared to other games in the series you will get to spend a lot of time outside which feels fresh. But there are a lot of places to explore too, temples, abandoned hotels, cable cars, caves, underpasses, graveyards... It really feels huge, and of course it's packed with tons of easy to miss small details. And god are the visuals ever spot on! I've been (trespassed) to some long abandoned remote apartment complexes here, and the ruins in this game look exactly like the real thing. And stumbling upon the lake of the dead and gate to the underworld, clearly based on real life Osorezan, was just a mind blowing experience. Not only does the game look incredible, but there's a ton of content aimed to please people who have actual knowledge and experience of the forgotten side of Japan.
The gamepad works as you would expect it too, though I had a bit of trouble getting used to it. My issue is that the gyroscope doesn't have a static neutral position, meaning however you are holding the controller at the time you switch to camera mode will be considered facing forward. So naturally the controller is kind of facing down as you play, and if you switch to camera mode in that position and then try to hold the pad as you would a real camera you end up staring at the sky, because the pad thinks "face forward" is pointing towards the floor. Unfortunately for me personally this kind of kills the pad controls and makes it too unnatural to play effectively. However, the game features standard dual analogue control options that don't utilize the pad screen at all, and this is as fun as it ever was.
As with the two Wii games you now have a lock-on which makes things kind of easy honestly, though certain ghosts will break the lock on with their abilities or mask themselves so you can't use it. The spirit charge (focus on a ghost for a long time to build energy for higher damage) has been replaced with a new system. Now there are multiple focal points and the more you have in a frame the higher your spirit charge. The ghosts actually sort of break up as you fight them, being surrounded by will o' wisps that add more potential focal points. If you line up 5 within a single frame you can get a critical blow back shot, without needing to hit a fatal frame. The motion controls also aid you in this, as you can turn the camera as needed to get more things in frame. It's a good change imo; makes the combat a little bit more proactive than before where you were always waiting around for the charge/fatal frames.
Otherwise it's fairly similar to before, with all the ghosts having fatal frame chances that lead to combo attacks. You still have the various lenses with special effects that require spirit energy and work more or less as they did before. As for the being able to shoot ghosts while being attacked, it's actually certain specific ghost attacks that lead to this, it's not normally possible. Basically some of them will latch onto you after landing their attack and continue dealing damage to you until you get a shot off to knock them off; it's not a defensive technique. The defensive flash from previous games has been replaced with a dodge that can be used by pressing B just before getting attacked, but your timing has to be really good, as dodging too early will cause you to hop back but still eat the hit. The defensive flash was used by hitting "shot" right before being attacked, so you would often accidentally trigger it if you tried to shoot a fatal frame too late, saving your ass even though you weren't really trying to dodge. The new system prevents you from cheesing your way into a dodge.
There's a few other small details too, you can now run up to the ghosts and touch them right after you defeat them to see a scene of their last moments before they died which is pretty cool. It's adorably named "Spirit Grance". And they went back to the original experience based level-up system from the old games rather than the stupid spirit stone system from 4. Also the game is divided into chapters, but it's more significant this time, as your inventory is reset between chapters. This means there isn't any reason to hoard items, as you are given a specific set of provisions prior to each "mission".
All in all I'm really enjoying it, even if the gamepad controls aren't what I had been hoping for. Just based on the gameplay, environments, and atmosphere I'd say this is my second favorite game under Crimson Butterfly. It's pretty intense.
Super excited about that. I bought 4 and tried doing the patch, but never had much luck. Heard it was good, though- at least this will (hopefully) scratch that itch.
I don't get it. Game already has 18+ rating, why change clothes? And it doesnt even have real nudity (for example, when nude in bathroom, you only see face, hands, shoulders and thats it).
Man, all that talk about "games are serious industry" yet they embarass smth what was norm in movies of 1960s or earlier.
I've recently bought up the whole series & am currently 1/3 the way through part 3. I found the first & second games to be incredible, but 3 is feeling abit boring due to it's bland environment. I'm gonna power through it but I hope things get more engaging soon.
Crimson Butterfly is my favorite so far because of it's crazy screwed up story. So messed up! I'm really looking forward to the remake but I'm trying to play through them by order of release. Just gotta get through 3 >.<
Edit - 3 seems to pick up a bit after the fourth night. I wish this game was independent from the others & stood strong as an original story but it was at least comforting to see some familiar environments after being in the barren manor for so long. I'm a bit more invested now.
