Fatal Frame 3:
The Tormented

Game:

The third installment in the brilliant survival horror series, where you must battle ghosts using only your wits and a magical camera.
Rei’s boyfriend died in a car accident caused by her carelessness. Haunted by his memory, and by dreams of a mysterious cursed house, she must defeat her inner demons or forever succumb to their world of darkness.

Comments:

‘Fatal Frame’, once an obscure series of horror games has become a bit better known of late amongst the mainstream. Though an acquired taste it has earned accolades from gamers and critics by way of its unique gameplay and imaginative concept.  ‘The Tormented’ keeps up this tradition of excellence while adding a few new touches all its own. 

Production values, like those of the previous two entries, are simply magnificent. The once spacious, now dilapidated environments you find yourself trapped in are as beautiful as they are intimidating. The ethereal aspect of enemies is well realized. The unconsecrated dead flit in and out of physical space, drifting through empty air like seaweed. Brilliantly creepy are the foggy visions and scratchy, disjointed cut-scenes which eternally play back the tribulations of the damned. Some player models look a little too clean, but it’s well in keeping with the game’s anime style. (And it certainly doesn’t stop the figures from being well detailed.) Environmental effects such as snow, mist, and water are perfectly executed. Voice acting is surprisingly good for a survival horror, especially that of the dead, who are truly disturbing. Some of the translated music and text however, suffers a little from the transition. While it is essential that a game like this keep its original eastern flavor, some bits of dialogue are stilted and atonal when read or sung in English. The only real complaint one could have concerning the production value is a lack of variety. There are quite a few good ghosts here, but a good chunk of them just seem like variations on the same theme. (Lost woman, small girl, Shinto priest.) The reuse of old locals from previous installments is awesome and nostalgic, to a point. However, like say, ‘Silent Hill 3‘ a player might get the impression that they just shelled out good money for a game they‘ve already played. ( This is especially troubling given the series’ lack of differentiation.) 

As always, the ‘Fatal Frame’ atmosphere is flawless. Playing the original game years ago was one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve ever had. (The others being public speaking and that one time I woke up with a wolf-spider on my pillow.) The game alternates between being subtly disturbing and balls-to-the-wall horrifying. One moment, you may be walking down a hall, gripped by the uneasy stillness between attacks, straining to hear a half-imagined whispering behind the walls or view a fleeting shadow in the corner. The next moment, a shrieking decayed phantasm may jump out at you from a closet and send you into a night without end. This series is the only one I have ever played which matches ‘Silent Hill 2’ in terms of purely disturbing psychology,  and perhaps even surpasses it in genuine scares. Astute players will recognize many references to popular Japanese horror films. (In this one, you might spot the black slouching ghosts from ‘Ju-Rei’. In ‘Crimson Butterfly’ you’ll run across a girl who bears more than a passing resemblance to Sadako.)

The only problem I found with the atmosphere, is that the impact of certain specters wears off with continuous fights. (All the more reason this game needed more apparitions.) This will not cause me to detract from the score, in fact, it the only reason the game doesn’t receive a plus 10 in this category. 

The plot is as twisty and turny as ever. The unhappy pasts of the deceased are chronicled through found documents and in-game menus. Like the previous installments, icky badness has been caused by a Shinto ritual gone bad, and also like the last two games, that’s about all my buggy gaijin brain can process of this incestuously detailed backstory. This time, the game goes one better by tying up the looses ends from parts one and two. Aside from the unfortunate protagonist Rei, you’ll be playing as the uncle of ’Butterfly’s doomed twins, as well as Miku, the heroine of the first game turned world’s greatest research assistant. (Honestly! Give her a scratchy photo of an unknown person from 1932, and she’ll show up the next morning with a complete biography and a hair sample! I’d hire her in a second, though between my occasional drinking and a bad case of “rice fever“ I’m sure it would lead to a sexual harassment lawsuit at some point.) Because the plot setup this time deals with such deep universal themes as guilt and loss, the game possesses greater  emotionally relevancy than most of its compatriots. The only real quibble I have with the plot is that one of the ghosts from the previous episodes (Crimson Butterfly’s Rope Man) makes an appearance. Since the entire point of the other games was to cleanse and free the souls of the restless dead, his existence here is deeply troubling, as it calls into question your past achievements. 

And now for the bad news. Ready? The play control still sucks. You still can’t run very well and the game is replete with cheap boss fights. Some of the shutter moments are so brief as to be impossible to snag by anyone who doesn’t need ADHD medication, and the game often decides you’ve been hit even after you’ve fired off a valid shot. (Once the attack animations have begun, you’re gonna take the damage.) The fixed camera angles are still a pain in the ass, and transitions from one to the other often lead to awkward character direction snafus. (To be fair, both of these problems are standard issue for survival horror games.) A new stealth element adds an enjoyable wrinkle to the proceedings. Hiding from troublesome ghosts is unique and frightening, unfortunately the new feature is under utilized, only coming into play a couple of times in the entire game. The transition from your hellish dreams to the ‘real’ waking world adds a little variety to the proceedings. (Especially important since I found it greatly disappointing that the second game didn’t do anything fresh.) Ala ‘Silent Hill 4; The Room’, this adds a sweet source of chills as the eerie hauntings of your nightmares begin to overlap into your formerly normal life. (And I thought that only happened to me!) 

The weak play control is a damn shame and a half, as it’s the game’s only outstanding flaw, and the spare thing which keeps it from achieving a perfect score. If you haven’t played the previous games, pick up the first one before you try this’in. (It should be easy to find a cheap used copy, unless the idiots on e-Bay have all decided that it‘s “rare and collectable“ by now.) If you’ve already played and enjoyed the hell out of the first two, this is a worthy continuation.

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