After a few moments my eyes eventually adjust to the perpetual twilight that blankets the building like a dark shroud. A nondescript door catches my attention and I become acutely aware of the many sounds that surround me as I walk over to my destination. Every step taken across the wooden floorboards seems to amplify a hundred-fold. The very house itself seems to be alive, and I find myself physically flinching as the door handle creaks and groans under my grasp “almost as if it’s reluctant to open for me.”
Passing through the warped wooden frame I find myself in a narrow corridor. Ropes hang silently as if in prayer and in the distance I spy a large ornate mirror. Threading my way past the hanging hemp, I suddenly see something that makes my blood freeze. Mafuyu’s camera, a gift from our dearly departed mother, lies discarded upon the wooden floor. An overwhelming urge to find my missing brother replaces any rational thought I have for this place, so with renewed vigour, I get ready to retrieve the camera and continue my search….
Reaching out towards the camera a strange vision fills my head. I see my brother running from many ghostly arms that reach out for him as he runs past them. Suddenly the vision is gone and I see the image of a strange woman behind me. She too vanishes as quickly as she appears “maybe she was just another vision?” Mafuyu’s battered notepad is also with the camera. It explains that he is searching for his mentor, and famous novelist Junsei Takamine. The famous writer disappeared along with his editor and assistant and has not been seen since. Fortunately my brother was clever enough to let me know what he was planning, so with a little effort I was able to find Himuro Mansion.
Ever since I was a young girl, I have shared a strange insight, a sixth sense if you will with my older brother. We have often been able to say strange things that others could not. Never has this been more apparent than tonight. I’ve only been here for around half an hour, and already I have noticed many spirits walking nonchalantly through the mansions many rooms. Most mutter incomprehensible to themselves, although sometimes I can make out a lot more of what they are saying. Regardless, they don’t seem to be interested in me at all.
Hairs prickle along my neck and I suddenly realise I am no longer alone. The spirit of a young girl stares at me, her eyes an incomprehensible mask. She soon starts to solemnly point to my camera and then to a partition near me. “Does she want me to take a photograph of it?” Obliging the spirit, I gather myself together and listen to the camera whir into life. As the picture develops, the partition is replaced by the image of a door, “is there some sort of magic in this camera?”
Moving the partition, I am not too surprised to find a new door hidden behind it. Entering this unexplored section of the house, I soon find another use for Mafuyu’s camera and quickly discover that not all spirits are friendly…
It happened quickly and without warning. The house seemed louder than usual “as if something in this room lay unfinished.” A voice caused me to stop in my tracks… Quickly spinning around, I could see an amorphous spirit moving rapidly towards me. As if on instinct the camera was suddenly in my hands and getting pulled towards my “probably ashen” face. A horrific image of a man came into view. A blue circle appeared and when his frightful visage was contained within it, I took a photo. The result was extraordinary. The man reeled backwards as if injured by the shot. Feeling more confident “and having more distance between us” I once again tracked the ghost. He disappeared several nerve-wracking times, however I was soon able to take another shot of him. This time instead of a blue viewfinder, it was red. This last effort was obviously a lot more powerful, as with a final mournful wail he was absorbed into the camera. Another vision imparted to me that captured spirits would imbue the camera with more energy, which in turn would unlock higher levels of power. This is definitely something I will need to look into.
Battling later spirits I soon find out that they hunger for my energy. Luckily, there are plenty of medical aids scattered throughout the house and I have even found strange spiritual stones and mirrors, that can be used on either the camera or myself. The stones seem to imbue my camera with powerful abilities “although once used, the stones energy is depleted.” The mirror on the other hand, seems to restore previously lost energy, until I feel totally reinvigorated. “God knows what will happen should I not have one on me though?”
Ghosts are not the only problems I have encountered. Puzzles seem to crop up fairy frequently as well. They mostly involve inputting dates about the various rituals I have started to discover. Luckily, there are plenty of notes left by my brother, Mr Takamine and others that I do not know of. I’m nowhere near as smart as Mafuyu, however I am soon able to solve them and carry on with my quest.
If it weren’t for the hideous creatures I am constantly facing, Himuro Mansion wouldn’t be too bad a place. Sure it’s creepy as hell, however from looking around it’s easy to tell that this was once a very beautiful building with a very tragic past.
With each passing night Himuro Mansion becomes an even greater challenge for me. Although the puzzles are still relatively easy to solve, the spirits are becoming stronger and a lot more aggressive. Not only that, they are also starting to attack in-groups. I’ve found stronger grades of film that I have put to good use, however they are in limited supply and am not sure what will happen should I eventually run out. My visions are also becoming a lot more intense. As the nights have progressed, I have learnt many dreadful and disturbing things about this place and what has gone on here “although they are too painful to recollect at the moment.”
It seems that this place has some sort of unfinished business with my brother. Regardless of what this is, I will find him. Whatever the cost…
Hmmm, it seems that yet another Gamestyle reviewer has fallen victim to Tecmo’s survival horror masterpiece. Fortunately, however, before the gibbering loon was led away, we were able to get a few more bits of information out of the poor demented soul.
Along with truly fantastic 5.1 and some gorgeous pre-rendered visuals, Xbox owners also get a new version of the game entitled Fatal Mode.
Featuring exclusive (and even more powerful ghosts), an improved ending, not to mention extra characters for the main character, it is a real improvement over the already impressive Playstation 2 game. In fact the only downside is that you must complete Fatal Frame at least twice, As well as achieving a high enough game ranking to unlock it. This means that you must retread the story several times before you get to the good stuff.
Despite this small flaw, Fatal Frame is simply the best game of its type on Microsoft’s machine. Scarier than Silent Hill 2 and harder than a dozen Genma Onimushas, this is simply amazing stuff.
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