PlayStation Review Code Provided by Koei Tecmo
In celebration of the Fatal Frame series 20th anniversary, Koei Tecmo has remastered that last entry which was originally released in 2014. Now fans can experience Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water all over again, or perhaps for the first time, on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. If you enjoyed the original titles and are just looking to experience the game all over again on a current platform, then this is great news! However, if you were hoping to experience the latest entry in the series in a flashier fashion then you will likely be disappointed.
Story
Once again, we can visit Mt. Hikami which was once revered as a spiritual place. Housing a religion that based their beliefs and customs of worshipping water as a deity, this site is said to have had many gruesome incidents and mysterious phenomena. Experience the mysterious exploration through the intertwined actions of three protagonists - Yuri Kozukata, Miu Hinasaki, and Ren Hojo - as they hope to uncover the secrets that lie on Mt. Hikami.
Gameplay
If you have played a Fatal Frame title before, then you pretty much know what to expect here. If not, then expect to be fighting a lot of ghosts with a special spiritual camera, called Camera Obscura, and wandering through both forests and houses as you make progress in the story.
Overall, the pathways are all pretty linear regardless of what section you are in. While there may be a few different pathways to choose from at times, it is rarely ever an actual open area to work with. As you make your way through these pathways, you will come across random ghost enemies to fight against. There are different film types to use, some being more powerful against certain ghosts than others, but the standard film type you can use has an endless supply.
Fighting ghosts is all about lining up the camera shot. You can use either buttons to turn the camera or, for PlayStation at least, you can actually tilt the controller to angle it how you want. The more ghost energy you capture in a shot, the more damage it will do. However, if you just spam attack on their face, that can be effective as well. Just make sure you always have at least one target spot in view when you take the shot or else it won’t count.
Boss fights generally work the same way but their movement is more erratic, they can usually phase in and out of a spot, and are just generally harder to line up a good camera shot of them. I would suggest taking the spam route over the effective one as it can be difficult to always line up a good shot. However, if you can get a shot while five targets are in sight and the camera HUD flashes red, that will be your most powerful picture.
Other than fighting, you will be exploring to find items and pathways you need to take. When you do find items and have to pick them up, there is a chance a ghost hand will grab you so be sure to be ready to let go of the grab button if you are about to get grabbed yourself. Also, some items will have to be revealed by your spiritual camera, so don’t be too hasty when exploring for unique or key items.
Audio and Visual
For a remastered title bring launched on next-gen platforms, I am rather disappointed in the graphical quality provided. Sure, the character models and enemies all look a lot better than they used to, but the environments look barely any different than they used to. They had an opportunity to improve textures, add little bits of flair that make things stand out, and so much more with today’s technology, but all the environments seemed to be pretty much the same as before.
The same can be said for the audio aspect, but at least with sound effects and music, they were already on point. I was glad to hear familiar sounds as before since there was never a complaint to be had in this aspect of the series.
Replayability
There are a couple of different endings, collectibles to find, and different outfits for your characters that some may want to unlock. Also, the added ‘Snap Mode’ that lets you take pictures at any moment in the game is pretty neat. So, the only reason players have to go through the game more than once is purely aesthetic.
What Could Be Better
Honestly, I don’t understand why they bothered “Resurrecting” this game at all. They would have been better calling it a re-release or a platform port instead. It’s the fact that they sold this game with the concept that it was remastered is what brought my interest to it and then after playing it they just made the girls better to look at while leaving the environment to be the same as before. It’s hard to say this is a remaster and give it credit as one when even the Fatal Frame 4k Screenshot spotlight doesn’t show a 2021 title - it shows a shiny 2014 title.
Also, something I always thought Fatal Frame could have been better about, the linear pathways are kind of obnoxious. Every house has similar textures and regardless of whether you are indoors or outdoors, it’s all about taking pathways and not being in open areas. I can understand the indoor segments of the game, but why would you not just let a forest area be one big open area to explore? It doesn’t make sense to force players to follow pathways the entire game.
Verdict
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is perfect for those who just want to play the old game again on a current platform. If you were hoping to see a ghost game with top-notch graphics that today’s gaming technology can provide, this isn’t the game for you. It plays almost exactly like the games used to, which is fine, but it doesn’t offer much more than a few character aesthetics that the old game didn’t have. Unfortunately, this game turned out to be a game that was great when it launched being re-released with a fancy ‘Remastered’ tag on it.
