Forum > Gaming Discussion > Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii) It's about time this came Westwards (56k)
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii) It's about time this came Westwards (56k)
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Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:05:51
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I almost forgot about this one.

EDGE mag review

Fatal Frame has always been a game of two conflicting halves: the cold-sweat creep through the murk juxtaposed against brisk head-to-heads with J-horror phantoms. When these anti-Caspers materialise, out comes the Camera Obscura, entombing the spooks on celluloid. But while the teeth clench as ghost proximity is risked for stronger snaps, the sudden fizzing to life of an exhaustive points breakdown – a mess of onscreen commentary – is guaranteed to instantly deflate the situation.

Chained combos, attack strength and health bars are the arcade paraphernalia of Tecmo’s sillier, inflated-bosom ways, entirely at odds with the masterful dread-weaving of exploration. The same has been said of previous Frames, but here the flaw is magnified by the sheer quality of the softly-softly moments.

We’ve trodden these creaky paths before, but with a Resident Evil 4-styled shift from fixed camera to over-the-shoulder character trailing, the ornate mansions and hospital corridors are near unrecognisable. Designing levels to be viewed at the player’s discretion encourages subtle spooking, Tecmo relying on incidental curtain flutters and looming water stains where nasties squirreled away via awkward camera placement once sufficed. An overabundance of porcelain masks and mannequins helps too.

With Tecmo proving more efficient ghost house architects than ever – nicely eschewing Resi’s musty beiges for striking moonlight – eyes turn to co-producer Suda 51 for the tweaks that shape your time in the house. While his exact input is unknown, there are plenty of echoes of No More Heroes to fill in the gaps. Ghostly phone calls delivered through the crackly Remote speaker; the guillotine shutter of the Camera Obscura itself; a torch aimed, not by pointing, but tilting – all recycled from that earlier game.

The last of these, the tilting torch, has been written off by some as a misstep: surely pointer control would have been ideal? The aim, so to speak, is not precision but hindrance. What is there to fear in a darkness easily cleft with FPS controls? The sticky drag of the torch – and the identically controlled vertical axis of the camera – is a masterstroke of timing, just enough to have a ghost creep up undetected, but not so stodgy as to seem deliberately stubborn. If any proof is needed that awkward is often better, we look to the later introduction of a ghost-slaying torch that swiftly dispatches spooks on the spot, and any hint of suspense along with them.

Suda’s impish handiwork is felt too in a tremendous pressure-sensitive action command. Holding the A button sees your moves enacted; release it and your hand retracts. Normally automatically performed, we’ve forgotten the vulnerability of venturing a hand into places unknown. Pulling back the curtain, feeling under the bed, tapping a stranger on the shoulder; zombies, ghosts and Silent Hill’s meatsacks are revealed as the cheap scare tactics they really are.

Of course, that these actions often reward you with a new trinket to empower your ghost-melting Kodak reminds you of Fatal Frame’s ‘Say cheese!’ endgame. However, for the sake of unprecedented horror interaction, it’s worth smiling for the camera.

8/10

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Apologies for the poor quality screens. It should look like this:

Project Zero Wii: new video

Project Zero Wii: new video

Well you get the idea. Cleaner on screen.

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Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:36:43
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Do want. DO WANT. DO FUCKING WANT.
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Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:10:46
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penny-flame.jpg

I like it.

Edited: Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:11:24

         1200923.png?77682175

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Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:17:29
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I know her. Yum.

What is this thread about, oh yeah, this game BETTER COME HERE. An actual horror game, give me!

660896.png
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Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:39:14
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Dvader said:

I know her. Yum.

You dog!

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Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:59:25
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I'm scared already.

So what's the deal with this game? Do you actually have to kill the ghosts, or do you just walk around with a flashlight in a house getting scared over and over?

Edit: And when did Penny Flame become a legitimate mode--- oh... nevermind. I clicked the link and the word Explicit appeared LOL. I don't trust the site either, it seems to think "Models" is part of her name. This confused me and I thought maybe they were selling look-a-like women to appear at parties or something, but it doesn't seem to be the case since they refer to "Penny Flame Models" as a single person repeatedly. Check out this Engrish:


" And who could resist a beautiful and erotic woman like Penny Flame Models who is on heat" 

 LOL Scary thread ruined. Good job edgecrusher.

Edited: Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:09:22

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Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:19:01
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Its the first thing that came up on google. LOL

         1200923.png?77682175

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Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:00:49
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So it's actually going to be released here?!

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Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:16:54
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Foolz said:
So it's actually going to be released here?!

Er...........

At the moment it seems to be in the same position as Disaster. I've still worried about the controls. I'll try and hunt down some good videos. I think in some of those screens, visually it's quite reminiscent of RE4.

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Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:33:48

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Screenshot

IGN videos

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
Developer: Tecmo / Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher in Japan: Nintendo
Genre: Adventure / Survival Horror
Released in Japan: July 31, 2008

Technically the fourth installment in Tecmo's spooky Fatal Frame franchise, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse released last July in Japan courtesy Nintendo. The title follows three of five girls who were kidnapped and brought to an eerie mansion on Rougetsu Island 10 years prior. Luckily, a detective tracks down the abductor and saves the girls before any harm can come, but some years later when two of the victims are mysteriously killed, the remaining three decide to journey back to the house in order to learn more about their fateful past. This is, of course, when events change for the worse. Armed with a special camera (the Camera Obscura) that allows them to shoot and capture spirits, the girls separately explore the dark, haunted mansion, snapping photos of evil, black-eyed ghosts and running for their lives. They are also armed with flashlights to see in the dark. Fatal Frame was developed jointly by Tecmo and Grasshopper Manufacture and was led by famed director Suda 51, best known for Killer 7 and No More Heroes. The title has, despite some unfortunate control choices, received favorable reviews from such outlets as Famitsu and Edge Magazine which covered the import.

Our analysis: We've trekked through several haunting hours of the Japanese import and it's both incredibly scary and fun in spite of some really stupid controls. Not only do the characters control like heavy tanks, but the developers chose to map all flashlight controls to Wii remote gestures (pull back to look up, push forward to aim down) rather than to the pointer itself. It doesn't work -- and this is painfully obvious when you compare the controls to games that do it right, like Fragile. Even so, the franchise's trademark frights are as prevalent as ever, the visuals look great, and the audio will give you chills. Thus, if you liked any of the previous Fatal Frame titles or generally enjoy spooky experiences like Resident Evil, you will undoubtedly like Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, too.

Changes necessary for stateside release: English translation and voiceovers. Just as integral, though, fixed flashlight and camera controls. The developer stubbornly insisted that the tilt mechanics make for a scarier experience and we simply don't agree -- they only make for a clunkier one. Supposing Nintendo picks this up for U.S. release, we hope the publisher will consider making some control improvements.

Publisher movement so far: A bit of talk, but nothing more. Nintendo of America has acknowledged that gamers want to see Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse stateside, but it has made no promises yet. When asked about the possibility of nabbing the game for stateside release, third-party Tecmo said that was a matter for Nintendo to decide.

Local release probability: High. Even with some control issues, Fatal Frame is a high caliber game designed specifically for the hardcore player -- in other words, exactly the type of title that Nintendo needs in its American release roster. We expect the game to ship stateside before the end of the year and would be surprised if an official release date is not available by the time the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 rolls around.

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Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:07:24
The fact that I don't see a gun or a zombie makes me interested.  Just because Resident Evil started it that way doesn't mean every horror game has to do the same.

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Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:21:29
I've just been watching the videos. Looks really good actually. Like the old Resident evil games, played from the RE4 perspective.

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Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:38:30
screens remind me of fims like ringu or the grudge.  i'd definitely be interested if this was translated for a western release

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Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:41:13

So it appears that Fatal Frame 4 is out next month in europe? WTF? Disaster style stealth launch?

This advert for the game appeared in a european magazine.

2qn2us4.jpg

It's an ad, it has the PEGI rating info in the top left corner. Seems like Nintendo europe is publishing.

So is Nintendo trying to bury its hardcore releases in favour of pushing their own first party and casual games?

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Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:55:25
First Disaster, now Fatal Frame. Fuck you GG. All I get is a big, fat wang.
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Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:05:49

SteelAttack said:
First Disaster, now Fatal Frame. Fuck you GG. All I get is a big, fat wang.

It translates into:

"They will haunt your Wii next month "

In French.

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Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:05:54
So now a spanish journo from revogamers said that he contacted nintendo iberica and they said the ad was a mistake and that FF4 had not been announced for europe? What?

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Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:22:17

SteelAttack said:
First Disaster, now Fatal Frame. Fuck you GG. All I get is a big, fat wang.

Do you get that in French too?

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Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:36:02

robio said:

SteelAttack said:
First Disaster, now Fatal Frame. Fuck you GG. All I get is a big, fat wang.

Do you get that in French too?

Ze wang?

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Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:41:07

gamingeek said:

robio said:

SteelAttack said:
First Disaster, now Fatal Frame. Fuck you GG. All I get is a big, fat wang.

Do you get that in French too?

Ze wang?

Le wang.

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