Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - Part One

Recently I've been rather addicted with a certain survival horror game (and perhaps my favourite survival horror game). Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (or Project Zero 2, as it is known in Europe - I have no idea why I use the American name) is possibly one of the scariest, most twisted games I've ever come across.

The premise is simple: you and your twin sister find yourselves trapped in an "abandoned" Japanesey style village where you end up being attacked by the ghostly inhabitants and eventually being roped into a ritual. That's bad enough on it's own, but the game quite happily throw a number of things into the mix to bring up the scare factor. Eerie music, awkward camera angles (all fixed, so you're at the mercy of the developers), beautiful artwork and creepy crimson butterflies all add to the reason why I do not play this game after dark. Add to this that I accidentally spoiled the whole plot for me before I started playing the game and, well, I find myself unwilling to play for much longer than 20 minutes at a time.

Now, this is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. The storyline compels even the biggest scaredy-cat (i.e. me) to play on and on until a resolution occurs. That being said I've never made it past Chapter 4 yet. And that's what this is partly about. I've started the game from scratch, and I'm going to blog about my (frightening) experiences with this obscure gem for the PS2 (also available for the Xbox). I will say now, there are spoilers in this post (for the whole game, considering I inadvertently mention what I know happens) so don't read if you've not played the game or you want to find it out as you go along.

So, I started playing a few nights ago and so far I've racked up... an hour of gameplay. Four days and only managed an hour... that's saying something, considering usually I can get a good few hours in the first day alone if I'm really into a game. This may lead you to believe I'm not too bothered about the game, but the damn thing is haunting me like Miyako Sudo in Osaka House. I find myself drawn to it, especially when I shouldn't (for example, when homework calls I'm oddly compelled to play).

On the note of Osaka House, it is the first place you really visit in the game and it is, unfortunately, plagued by a ghosty that wants you dead. I love Miyako's story because I think it's so heart wrenching. With it also being the first story we're given it kind of sticks in your mind. The first chapter is not the only time you will find yourself in the Osaka household. Okay, so Mio and Mayu end up in the village in their short skirts. Neither of them question why it is suddenly night time and Mayu starts to get creepy with some of her mumblings. So you wander down the hillside in an all-too-creepy-already setting and end up outside a house which you feel compelled to enter and so do. Inside you meet your first ghost (aww) who will eventually try and kill you (huzzah). At this point during my very very first play of the game I turned it off and threw it behind a stack of things. That was enough for me.

Then I dug out some walkthroughs online and scoured YouTube for videos and for some sick reason I wanted to know more about the storyline. It centers around sacrificial rituals to appease evilness and generally awful things like that and frankly it makes a good storyline (in some sick, twisted way). So I pllayed some more, eventually got to Chapter Four and then plain forgot about it due to time restraints and exams and whatnot. The story has not left me since I found out about it and I expect it to remain an annoyance until I complete the game for myself.

This is where I've ended up now. I hate Osaka House and it's sunken fireplace room - bad memories of Man In Dark haunt me here. But Osaka House is like heaven compared to the hell that is the Kurosawa residence.

I think I've rambled long enough for tonight.
Radpants