Fatal Frame II Crimson Butterfly Remake Review

Fatal Frame II Crimson Butterfly Remake tells the story of twin sisters, Mio and Mayu Amakura, as they re-visit the forested valley in the Minakami region where they used to play as kids. While the twins are close, they do have a strained relationship caused by an injury suffered by Mio when they were kids. During their visit, Mayu follows a crimson butterfly that leads the twins into Minakami Village; a location said to trap whomever enters. Will the sisters be able to escape?

Fatal Frame II Crimson Butterfly Remake is a third person survival horror game where players will need to explore the Minakami village looking for Mayu. While Mayu becomes possessed by an evil spirit, Sae Kurosawa, Mio is helped by another spirit, Itsuki Tachibana, in order save her sister and find a way out of this hell.

And yes, as Mio, you’ll encounter vengeful spirits and ghosts looking to gobble up your soul. Our little heroine has both a health and Willpower meter. While the former is self explanatory, the Willpower is sort of like a sanity meter. Once it’s empty, Mio will run slower and Wraiths will pin you down. Willpower is drained by being hit, running in combat and dodging. Both meters can be replenished at a Save point or using specific items. To avoid damage, Mio can also dodge enemy attacks.

Thankfully, Mio can defend herself with the Camera Obscura, a special device that can capture and seal away ghosts and spirits. But it’s not just simply to aim and “fire”. While “rushed” shots can deal damage, in order to deal out as much as damage possible, players need to make sure that the target, Wraith, is in focus and having multiple key elements in the frame. Blue spirits will replay sequences from the past whereas Red Spirts, a.k.a. Wraiths, are threats to seal away.

As with any weapon, the Camera Obscura requires ammo in the form of film. You’ll come across a limited selection of film type. You’ll start off with a default one, which does the job. But you’ll also find film types that have stronger exorcism effects, others weaker; and they also have their reloading times which can vary from fast to slow. There’s also a light at the top of the camera that shows you the direction the current enemy is. The Camera can also be upgraded so filters dish out more damage or unlock new features like the Focus. You can also equip Charms that can restore health when dealing damage or reduce Willpower consumption when dodging.

While the Camera is your main source of defense, it can also be used to uncover Vanishing Traces, with the Paraceptual Filter which can lead players to missing people. Or using the Exposure filter will allow you to find hidden hints and doorways Capturing ghosts and vaniquishing Wraiths rewards you with points that can be exchanged for consumable items and Charms at a save point.

The game looks good, as you’d expect, but it unfortunately looks (and feels like) like a late PS3 game. Character models look (somehow already?) outdated; generic with little to no detail. While you do start off with a flashlight, it dies in certain instances and the game becomes borderline pitch black in certain areas. The movement also looks janky at times. On the audio side of things, the lack of proper score adds a layer of tension as you roam around ancient environments with wood cracking and ghost voices to clue you in to nearby enemies or non threatening spirits.

The first problem here is turning this into an over the shoulder experience. This removes any tension or possible scare as you can see everything in front of you. Combat also feels clunky; considering enemies are ghosts that move twice as fast as you and the fact that you’re hindered by always having to raise the camera, which isn’t as fast as a gun in FPS games, can cause players unnecessary damage and deaths. Another nuisance is how dark the game is. While I don’t have the latest TV, I have a reasonably decent model. But in certain chapters, I had to crank the brightness to 100 to actually see where I was going; given that at some point, your flashlight gives out. Trying to find hiding spots when it’s pitch black is a pain in the ass.

Unfortunately, Fatal Frame II Crimson Butterfly Remake is an unnecessary remake that wasted Team Ninja’s skillset as a developer; they should’ve been hard at work on Ninja Gaiden 4 instead. The fact that it looks and feels like a late PS3/Xbox 360 game is telling. Janky movement, clunky/jerky combat. Can’t help but feel that a simple improved port of the original would’ve been better. It’s not a bad game, it just feels generic. Unless you’re a diehard of the series, you can skip this.Ho pefully they focus on creating new entries without restraints of past stories instead of ruining the legacy of the original trilogy.