Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

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Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
File:Fatal Frame II - Crimson Butterfly.jpg
North American cover art
Developer(s) Tecmo
Publisher(s) Tecmo
Distributor(s)
Director(s) Makoto Shibata
Producer(s) Keisuke Kikuchi[1]
Series Fatal Frame
Platforms PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Network
Release date(s) PlayStation 2
  • JPN: November 27, 2003
  • NA: December 10, 2003
  • EUR: April 30, 2004
Xbox (Director's Cut)[2]
  • NA: November 1, 2004
  • JPN: November 11, 2004
  • EUR: February 4, 2005
PlayStation Network
Genre(s) Survival horror
Mode(s) Single-player

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (零 〜紅い蝶〜 Zero ~Akai Chō~?, lit. "Zero ~Crimson Butterfly~"), known in Europe as Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly, is a Japanese survival horror video game[5] developed and originally published by Tecmo in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. It is the second installment in the Fatal Frame series, although not a direct sequel to the first title, Fatal Frame. The story follows twin sisters Mio and Mayu as they explore an abandoned village and experience encounters with the paranormal. Players must use the Camera Obscura to defeat ghosts and uncover the secrets of the village.

Upon release, Crimson Butterfly received positive reviews, and is widely considered to be among the scariest video games ever created.[6][7][8][9][10] An Xbox port, subtitled Director's Cut, was released in 2004 and included additional features. The game has also been re-released on the PlayStation 3 via PSN in 2013, and a remake of the game titled Project Zero 2: Wii Edition was released for the Wii in 2012 in Europe and Japan.

Gameplay

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A typical battle in Fatal Frame II. Unlike in other installments in the series, the Camera Obscura's attack power is based on the player's proximity to the target ghost

The gameplay in Fatal Frame II experienced some changes from its predecessor. For most of the game, the player controls the protagonist Mio Amakura as she searches the Lost Village for (and sometimes, with) her twin sister, Mayu. Shortly into the game, Mio will obtain a flashlight, which can be aimed in different directions, although the flashlight will not work in all areas.[11]

Throughout the game, Mio will explore the village and its central buildings, finding various objects and solving puzzles in order to advance.[12] The ghosts will often provide some backstory or hints to help Mio progress.[13] Mio will encounter a variety of ghosts, each with different attack methods.[14]

Mio's only weapon is the "Camera Obscura", an antique camera that has the ability to “take pictures of impossible things”.[12][15] The Camera has two purposes within the game: both as a weapon and as a means of documentation.

The camera uses a Ghost Filament which is located in the bottom right corner of the screen when the camera viewfinder is closed, and on the top of the screen when the viewfinder is open. This indicator will glow red in the presence of a hostile ghost and glow blue when a benign ghost is nearby. The intensity of the glow in relation to the direction Mio is facing serves as a sign of both the spirit’s location and proximity to Mio.[16][17][18]

During combat, when Mio is looking through the camera, her health bar is visible on the right side of the screen (it is also visible in the game's menu screen when paused). As with most games, if Mio's health runs out, the game will end; the player can replenish Mio’s health using different healing items scattered throughout the game, including ‘herbal medicine’ and ‘sacred water’. The ‘stone mirror’. another item found within this game, will revive Mio from death once (the player can only hold one at a time).[14]

The camera uses different types of film as "ammunition", with the weakest type (Type-07) being unlimited. The strength of the film types increases with their number: Type-14, Type-61, and Type-90. The strongest film type, Type-Zero, debuted in this game and despite its strength, has the slowest loading time.[14]

The player can upgrade the Camera's special functions and lenses using the ‘Spirit Orbs’ found throughout the game and the points earned from photographing ghosts. The points are based upon the difficulty of the shot and the level of film used; the stronger the film and the closer the spirit is to Mio, the more points the player will receive.[13]

’Shutter Chances’ occur at different moments during combat, most commonly right before a spirit attacks Mio. When a ‘Shutter Chance’ occurs, the capture circle will glow. If the player upgrades their camera equipment, they can make ‘Shutter Chances’ easier to identify.[19]

Outside of combat, the player has the opportunity to capture fleeting photographs of nonviolent spirits as they move through the environment. These photos will also yield points for the player, if they manage to capture them in time.

Plot

Setting and characters

Fatal Frame II is set in the fictional Minakami (皆神?) region of Japan. While a dam is being planned for construction in a forest at this location in the game's present, the site is also home to Minakami Village (lit. "All God's Village"), a "[l]ost" settlement where the majority of the game takes place. The player learns that Minakami Village was host to the "Crimson Sacrifice Ritual", the failure of which caused the settlement to vanish—thus earning it the name "The Lost Village". In the game's present, there is an urban legend about the Lost Village, where people who become lost in the Minakami forest will become trapped forever in the village.

The protagonists of Fatal Frame II are Mio and Mayu Amakura, twin sisters who are visiting their favorite childhood playspot in Minakami before it is lost in the dam construction. The main antagonist is the vengeful spirit of Sae Kurosawa, the sole Twin Shrine Maiden sacrificed for the failed ritual. She yearns to reunite with her twin sister Yae, whom she mistakes Mio for, and uses Mayu to try and complete the ritual with her. Other characters include the spirit of Itsuki Tachibana, a young man who also mistakes Mio for Yae, but instead tries to help her and Mayu escape; and Seijiro Makabe, a folklorist who visited Minakami Village with a Camera Obscura prototype (the same camera Mio uses in the game) and his assistant, Ryozo Munakata.[20] Makabe later became a temporary sacrifice for the Abyss, known as a Kusabi (楔?). Although Mio and Mayu's story takes place after that of Miku Hinasaki, the events of Minakami Village occur before those of the Himuro mansion in the original game.

Story

During the Amakura twins' visit to their favorite childhood playspot in the Minakami region, Mayu, who walks with a limp after a childhood accident, follows a mysterious red butterfly deep into the woods.[21][22] Mio, concerned for her older sister, follows, and they soon discover a village at night.[23][24] While it seems abandoned, the twins soon realize that the village contains the tortured souls of the dead, forever reliving the events that trapped them in this state.[13][25][26][27]

Mayu soon falls under the village's spell and, beckoned by the crimson butterflies, is led deeper into the village. As Mio searches for her, she slowly learns of the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, the failure of which caused the "Repentance", a disaster which shrouded the village in darkness.[28] The village houses a system of tunnels underneath, where its deepest point is home to the "Hellish Abyss", a deep hole that collects the souls of the dead.[29][30] To keep the Abyss from unleashing the dead, a pair of twins born in the village are required to perform a ritual approximately every decade, in which the elder twin strangles the younger, after which the soul of the younger twin stays to guard the village as a crimson butterfly.[31]

Before the Repentance actually occurred, Yae and Sae tried to escape their fate with Itsuki's help.[32] During their escape, Sae was caught and brought back to the village, while Yae escaped and lost track of her sister. Ryozo Munakata (who was sent home by Makabe beforehand on a hunch)[20] later found Yae crying where the village once stood, leading to their involvement in the first installment in the series. Meanwhile, the Minakami villagers desperately hanged Sae to try to satisfy the Hellish Abyss; the attempt failed, causing the Repentance to occur and the village to disappear. During the Repentance, Sae returned from the Hellish Abyss as a vengeful spirit and, along with Seijiro Makabe, made a Kusabi for the Abyss, slaughtered the priests and villagers.[33]

Throughout the game, several ghosts refer to Mio as Yae and seem to expect her to perform the ritual with Mayu, who becomes possessed by Sae.[34] Itsuki, however, tries to help her—believing the two to be the Kurosawa twins, he tries to aid their escape from the village again.[35] Near the end of the game, when Mio finally reunites with Mayu, she discovers one of Makabe's documents, this one concerning the twin order.[36] She learns that in Minakami Village, the twin born second is considered the elder, as the village believes that the "elder" lets the weaker, "younger" twin be born first.[36] This completely reverses Mio's implied fate: instead of being sacrificed herself, she must strangle her "younger" twin sister, a fate which has driven many previous Remaining twins to madness and suicide.[27]

When Mio and Mayu finally manage to open and use an escape route, the villagers' spirits take Mayu back to the Kurosawa house, where the Hellish Abyss awaits them below. Should the player choose to take the escape route alone, they will obtain the Lingering Scent ending, which leads to an automatic game over.[37] If the player instead chooses to pursue Mayu, they have a chance to obtain the other endings. The "Crimson Butterfly" ending sees Mio and Mayu proceeding with the ritual, where Mayu becomes a crimson butterfly.[38] The "Hellish Abyss" ending sees Mio rescuing Mayu from Sae, only to become permanently blinded from looking into the Hellish Abyss. The "Promise Ending", added to the Director's Cut version, sees Yae and Sae performing the ritual and freeing the villagers' spirits, thus sparing Mio and Mayu of the ritual.[39]

Two new endings are included in the game's Wii Edition. The "Shadow Ritual" ending sees Mio unable to stop the Repentance in time, but chooses to stay with Mayu together in death over fleeing the village alone, In this ending a flashback of both twins is shown when they were young at a festival just before the last scenes of their corpse initially smiling with their hand joining meaning they are now happy in the afterlife.[40] The "Frozen Butterfly" ending sees Mio refusing to proceed with the ritual, leading to Mayu—possessed by Sae—strangling Mio instead.[41]

According to the events of Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, the direct sequel of the game, the "Crimson Butterfly" ending is the canonical ending.[42]

Development

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. According to director Makoto Shibata, many players were too scared to finish Fatal Frame on the PlayStation 2—hence, the main reason the installment is called the scariest in the franchise. Shibata stated that, for the sequel, "We shifted our attention to making the storyline more interesting, to encourage such players to overcome the scariness in wanting to see the end of the story."[4]

Release

Crimson Butterfly was originally released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. The original PS2 version of the game has been made available for download on the PlayStation 3.[3] The PS3 version was removed from the online store shortly after release due to various technical issues with the emulator[43] before it was fixed and re-released on July 30, 2013.[44] The download is only available for players in North America.[45][46]

Director's Cut

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut was released for the Xbox in 2004. The director's cut added in several updates, including a first-person play mode, a survival mode, a new ending, enhanced graphics, and a greater number of alternate costumes to unlock. In first-person mode, the player can play through the entire game from a first-person perspective. The Xbox version also has a "shop" feature where the player can trade points from pictures for healing items and film.[47]

Project Zero 2: Wii Edition

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Main article: Project Zero 2: Wii Edition

A remake of the game, titled Project Zero 2: Wii Edition, was released for the Wii in 2012.[48][49]

Reception

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 82.41% (PS2)[50]
84.52% (Xbox)[51]
Metacritic 81% from 40 reviews (PS2)[52]
84% (Xbox)[53]
Review scores
Publication Score
Famitsu 33/40 (PS2)[54]
Game Informer 9/10[56][57]
GamesMaster 4.5/5 stars (Xbox)[58]
GameSpot 8.2/10 (PS2)[13]
GameSpy 4/5 stars[55]
IGN 8.5/10 (PS2)[23]

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Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly has received positive reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox version 84.52% and 84/100,[51][53] and the PS2 version 82.41% and 81/100.[50][52]

Fatal Frame II was ranked second in GameTrailers' "Top Ten Scariest Games" in 2006,[6] and third in X-Play's "Top Ten Scariest Games of All Time".[8] Game Informer also ranked it number one on a similar list.[7] Ars Technica published an article about the game in its 2011 Halloween Masterpieces series,[9] while PSU.com in 2003 opined Fatal Frame II was the scariest video game ever made.[10]

Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann described the game as "the scariest kind of experience in any medium; I haven’t seen a movie that comes close."[59]

References

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  54. ↑ Point Plus 30: 零 〜紅い蝶〜. Famitsū. No.1153. Pg.40. 20 January 2011.
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External links

de:Project Zero#Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly

ja:零 (ゲーム)#零 紅い蝶

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