Fatal Frame

This article is about the video game series. For the first game in the series, see Fatal Frame (video game).

Fatal Frame 零 / Project Zero
Logo used in Fatal Frame II and III
Genres	Survival horror
Developers	Tecmo, Grasshopper Manufacture
Publishers	Tecmo, Wanadoo, Microsoft Game Studios, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Nintendo
Platforms	PlayStation 2 Xbox Wii Nintendo 3DS
Platform of origin	PlayStation 2
Year of inception	2001
First release	Fatal Frame December 13, 2001
Latest release	Project Zero 2: Wii Edition June 28, 2012
Spin-offs	Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir

Fatal Frame, known as Project Zero in Europe and Zero (零, Zero) in Japan, is a survival horror video game series consisting of four installments, a hand-held spin-off, and a remake of the second game. The series' games were released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and later for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS. The series plots deal with ghosts, exorcisms, and dark Shinto rituals.

Created by Tecmo, Fatal Frame is one of the most well-received survival horror games to date. It was a unique entry in the genre, as the player explores a mansion and takes photographs of ghosts in order to defeat them. The Fatal Frame series has since gained a reputation as one of the most distinctive in the genre, with the first game in the series credited as one of the best-written survival horror games ever made, by UGO Networks. It has been revealed that Nintendo owns a large portion of the Fatal Frame series.

Series gameplay

A battle in Fatal Frame II. The Ghost Filament (top center), health bar (lower right), and ammunition (lower left) are shown.

Gameplay in the Fatal Frame series revolves around the use of the Camera Obscura (射影機, Shaeiki), a camera-like device that captures images of spirits.

Main series

Fatal Frame (2001)

Main article: Fatal Frame (video game)

After having received almost no news about her brother Mafuyu for over a week, Miku Hinasaki goes to the defunct Himuro Mansion to search for him. The only trace she finds of him is their mother's old Camera Obscura, which Mafuyu brought with him. Realizing that she is now trapped in the mansion, Miku continues searching for her brother – and a way out.^{[citation needed]} The game was later ported to the Xbox. The Xbox version included smoother graphics, more costumes, more ghosts, and an exclusive "Fatal Mode" that can be unlocked by completing the main game.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003)

Main article: Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

Twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura are visiting a childhood play spot, when Mayu follows a mysterious crimson butterfly deep into the forest. Concerned for her twin, Mio follows Mayu, and the two find themselves at a lost village. When they reach the village, they notice that the path they took to this mysterious place has vanished. Mio must uncover the mystery behind the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, while chasing her sister, who is becoming increasingly possessed by the evil spirit of Sae, the last failed sacrifice.^{[citation needed]} Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2003, a Director's Cut edition was later released for the Xbox in 2004. This version added several updates to the gameplay, such as a first-person play mode, a survival mode, a new ending, enhanced graphics, and a greater number of alternate costumes to unlock.

A remake of Crimson Butterfly, Project Zero 2: Wii Edition, known in Japan as Zero: Shinku No Chou (零 〜眞紅の蝶〜,"Zero: Deep Crimson Butterfly"), was developed by Tecmo Koei and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It includes the extra game modes and unlockables of the Xbox re-release, but it also includes two new endings on top of those in the Xbox version. The camera angles, voiceover, graphics, and gameplay have been remade to be similar to the fourth Fatal Frame game.

Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (2005)

Main article: Fatal Frame III: The Tormented

While on an assignment taking pictures at a derelict mansion, Rei Kurosawa, a 23-year-old freelance photographer, inexplicably captures the image of her deceased fiancé, Yuu Asou, in a photograph. Afterwards, Rei begins having recurring nightmares of an old Japanese manor during a heavy snowfall, and observes Yuu entering the house. She follows him into the house, where the dream becomes a nightmare. Miku Hinasaki from Fatal Frame returns as a playable character; along with newcomer Kei Amakura, uncle of Mio and Mayu from Fatal Frame II. This game revisits locations from the first two installments, along with a new haunted location.

Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen (2008)

Main article: Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen

The fourth installment of the Fatal Frame series was developed for the Wii with Nintendo and Grasshopper Manufacture. The game was informally titled Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse outside of Japan.

Ten years prior to the events of the game, five young girls were kidnapped by You Haibara, a criminal, from a mysterious sanatorium on Rougetsu Island. They were eventually rescued by Choushiro Kirishima, a detective pursuing the criminal. Several years after the incident, two of the girls (Marie Shinomiya and Tomoe Nanamura) died mysteriously. The three remaining girls, Misaki Asou, Ruka Minazuki and Madoka Tsukimori, now seventeen years old, return to the island to recover their lost memories and find out more of what happened that day. Choushiro continues to pursue Haibara, as well as aiding Ruka along the way.

The game was released in Japan on July 31, 2008, and so far sold around 75,000 copies making it the best sold game of the series in Japan. There are no plans for a western release, despite various claims of fans. However, an unofficial English translation has been released as a fan patch.

Spin-offs

Real: Another Edition (2004)

Real: Another Edition is a cellular based spin-off of Fatal Frame that was released only in Japan in October, 2004. The game made use of a cellphone camera as the camera obscura and required the players to find ghosts and fight them. The game has more than 70 spirits that can be collected, including some from the first two games in the series.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir (2012)

Main article: Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir

Spirit Camera: The Possessed Notebook (心霊カメラ 〜憑いてる手帳〜; Shinrei Camera ~Tsuiteru Techou~) is a spin-off of the Fatal Frame series for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Japan on January 12, 2012, North America on April 13, 2012, and Europe on June 29, 2012 under the title Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir.

Story background and history

Throughout the series, references are made to Kunihiko Asou, a fictitious Japanese "Occultist" that lived during the late nineteenth century. Using Western technology, he developed inventions that would allow him and others to make contact with spirits in the "other world."

His inventions include the Camera Obscura, the primary weapon used to defend against ghosts throughout the series; the spirit stone radio, introduced in Fatal Frame II as a means to listen to the thoughts and memories of spirits that had been stored in special crystals; a projector capable of displaying ghostly images captured on film that motion picture cameras could not see; and the spirit stone flashlight, a weapon used in Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen.

According to files in Fatal Frame III, Asou's various inventions were eventually scattered about Japan and are now heavily sought after by collectors. The Camera Obscura used by Miku in the first game had once belonged to her mother, and Mio finds Seijiro Makabe's Camera Obscura while exploring the lost village, while the camera used in Fatal Frame III was discovered in the ruins of the Kuze Shrine by Kei Amakura.

In Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen, the Camera Obscura used by Madoka Tsukimori and Ruka Minazuki is an exhibit in the "Aso Museum" of Rougetsu Hall. This camera was left behind by Dr. Asou when he visited the island. However, Misaki Aso brought a different Camera Obscura belonging to her family as she is a descendant of Kunihiko Asou.