At its core, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake is a recreation all about exploring a decrepit Japanese village, zapping ghosts with a magic digicam, and holding palms along with your barely disconcerting (and often supernaturally possessed) twin sister.
An expansive remake of a 2003 PlayStation 2 cult traditional survival horror title, it’s been overhauled with shiny new graphics and a wealth of quality-of-life options that make it the primary entry within the sequence that I might really feel snug recommending to all survival horror followers quite than a devoted subset of masochistic sickos.
It may be extra approachable than every other instalment to this point, however that doesn’t imply it’s missing in depth and, after taking part in an early preview construct for roughly seven hours, I’m determined to dive again in for extra when it launches subsequent month.
Into the woods
Compared to the multi-protagonist narratives of later Fatal Frame video games like Maiden of Black Water, the setup right here is refreshingly easy. You’re Mio, a younger lady taking part in within the forest along with her sister Mayu. Flashbacks trace in direction of a latest accident which has left Mayu injured, sporting a visual bandage round her leg, and Mio wracked with a way of guilt and accountability.
After the looks of a mysterious crimson butterfly prompts Mayu to wander into the forest alone, you set off in pursuit and instantly end up on the entrance of a ruined village in the dark.
Foreboding premonitions of bloody murders and whispers of a sinister ritual trace on the space’s darkish previous and, with Mayu nowhere in sight, you don’t have any selection however to enterprise inside to discover. The first home you enter is fittingly creepy, with creaking picket floorboards, torn paper screens, and an actual sense of rot. It’s not lengthy till you discover the Camera Obscura – the sequence’ trademark anti-spirit weapon and your solely line of defence in opposition to the undead.
While exploration is fully third-person, serving to you actually admire the worry within the protagonist’s physique language and emphasizing your vulnerability, whipping out the digicam offers you a first-person look by means of the viewfinder. Unless you’re a seasoned Fatal Frame veteran, your first ghost encounter, which unfolds instantly after selecting up the digicam, is prone to be a messy affair as fight mechanics are very distinctive and deliberately fiddly.
The predominant thrust of it’s that taking images of ghosts inflicts harm, whittling down their huge pink well being bars one snap at a time.
Although you might have an infinite provide of fundamental movie, it must be reloaded painfully slowly – often forcing you to place the digicam away in an effort to dodge incoming blows. Taking greater high quality images will increase your harm, as does taking a snap proper as an enemy assaults to set off a ‘Shutter Chance’.
Inflict one simply as you get the enemy all the way down to the correct degree of well being, indicated by just a little white line, and you’ve got the prospect to activate the titular ‘Fatal Frame’ – permitting for a fast burst of excessive harm assaults.
In focus
The Camera Obscura has been massively upgraded for this remake, with a brand new focus slider that may improve harm additional with clearer photographs. Initially that is adjusted routinely, however an improve (bought utilizing factors gained by means of taking snaps) lets you tweak it manually to maximise your lethality. There are additionally now a spread of toggleable filters, which drastically have an effect on the digicam’s capabilities and play an essential function in exploration.
One, for instance, lets you reveal vanished objects by lining up the viewfinder good to match an current picture, whereas one other removes magical bloodstains that seal shut essential doorways or chests with helpful objects. All of those new additions are applied seamlessly, and really feel like pure methods so as to add just a little extra depth to what was initially a quite simplistic expertise.
It’s not lengthy till you’re reunited with Mayu and set to flee, which helps you to attempt your hand (pun meant) at one other new mechanic: hand-holding. Mayu’s injured leg implies that she doesn’t run very quick, so you may maintain her hand to guide her alongside at a brisker tempo. It’s a great way of making certain that she sticks with you always, and there’s one thing undeniably fairly candy about watching the 2 sisters dodging previous horrors at one another’s facet.
Holding palms additionally heals you, serving to you save your restricted provide of well being objects for when it actually issues.
Fatal Frame 2 was by no means the toughest recreation within the franchise by any means, but it surely might nonetheless be fairly punishing – primarily all the way down to a save system that restricts guide saving to sporadic butterfly lanterns. Many fights may also really feel, frankly, just a little out of your management.
One enemy would possibly shred you in a matter of seconds for seemingly no cause, solely to be vanquished in your subsequent run by means of virtually immediately. So a lot of your harm output is all the way down to luck, whether or not a selected enemy assaults in an easy-to-counter means or if it occurs to be shut sufficient to {photograph} simply once you handle to reload for instance, and this unavoidably begins to frustrate when one slip-up loses you twenty minutes of progress.
I undoubtedly felt a few of that unpredictability on this remake, but it surely’s countered splendidly by a strong auto save system. Manual saving remains to be required if you wish to stop, however in case you die in a combat you’ll routinely be respawned proper earlier than you triggered it typically. It’s a blessing, and turns what might be an actual nightmare into a way more lenient expertise.
I’m certain some Fatal Frame purists will lament this new degree of approachability, however in case you’ve been on the lookout for an opportunity to get into the sequence then Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake is shaping as much as be an excellent start line. Even although I’m removed from a Fatal Frame beginner, I do know that I’ll be there day one when it arrives for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on March 12, 2026.
The greatest horror video games for scares, frights, and screams
Follow TechSwitch on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our knowledgeable information, evaluations, and opinion in your feeds. Make certain to click on the Follow button!
And in fact, it’s also possible to observe TechSwitch on YouTube and TikTok for information, evaluations, unboxings in video type, and get common updates from us on WhatsApp too.