Blog entry #2 Fatal Frame: Maiden of Blackwater demo

Halloween is over, spirits have gone to rest and jingle bells are ringing. But let's go back a week. October 25th, I hadn't played my WiiU in a while. I was being overwhelmed with homework, and I finally had time for a break. While with a friend, I noticed a game I had been waiting for had finally dropped. It was the newest installment in the Fatal Frame series. For those of you who have never heard of it, Fatal Frame is a horror series that focuses on capturing and purifying ghosts with a tool called the camera obscura. 

I am unfortunately short on money, but still decided to give the game a try. Luckily, a free demo of the beginning of the game was available on the Nintendo Eshop. I decided to give the game a try. And I must say, the game is actually scary. There are some horrifying cutscenes as well as ghosts and moments. I remember screaming every time I couldn't escape from a spirit. The game inflicts genuine horror onto the player. The story is interesting and comes from three different perspectives, one of the characters you play as is related to a character from a previous game. My largest gripe though was the graphics and controls. Characters moved awkwardly, hair physics didn't exist, and while the graphical differences between the cutscenes and game were barely visible, the leap between cutscene and game was too obvious for a modern day game. It was almost cringe worthy.

This, combined with shitty controls for the camera obscura and clunky character movement led to really downgrade the experience of this game. I was genuinely scared by the demo alone, but when it failed to live up to expectations, I had honestly hoped for better. Even worse are the character costumes. There is no need to add extra costumes to a horror game. It makes the game feel as if it doesn't take itself seriously. 

Nobody wants their horror game to turn into an interactive playboy magazine.

Overall, this game gets a 6/10 from me. Great on the horror aspect, but needs work on everything else.