[Main Story] + [Extras] + [2nd Ending]
**
This volume 4 was one of the most anticipated for me to play, since I am a huge fan of this franchise. I saw walkthrough on YouTube but it's not the same thing, for me, I like to feel the emotion, the scares and listen to the game's soundtrack.

Once again the game's lore captivated me, where it shows three points of view as you progress through the game. I saw that they gave a better texture to the ghosts and characters, however I noticed that the textures of the environment and objects were a little lacking since I was waiting for everything to be redesigned. I noticed that sometimes the subtitles when listening to the tapes have a delay and because the game is in Japanese it can be a little confusing.

However, I can't help but thank you for bringing this volume to Europe and I hope that in the future you will also bring the first three volumes to PC.

If you like reading documents that you pick up throughout the game to understand the game's lore, getting scared when exploring in the company of a delightful soundtrack, then this is your horror game.

after my 3 month gaming hiatus, starting off with a fatal frame game i really enjoyed! i think that's because suda51 co-directed the game and you can just feel his influence. i, as a kill the past enjoyer, was really thrilled. and it made me want to play moonlight syndrome.
anyways i enjoyed this entry more than the maiden of black water, i connected with the characters better, i was feeling the atmosphere more and the setting was more to my taste.
the biggest complaint here are the controls and the camera. its too clunky and makes exploring sometimes a chore. also i feel sometimes that there's too much backtracking but maybe that's on me. i loved playing as choshiro the most, i felt he was the smoothest to play with.
the story was also very very good and i hope this will bring us more fatal frame entries!

love the girls and their amazing outfits as always, hate the fact that i had to play as choshiro for some chapters.. he was pretty uninteresting but at least his gameplay with the flashlight was cool (and extremely OP)
I love the tsukimori song <3
and i think overall i prefer it over fatal frame 3 simply because i didn't get lost every 2 seconds.
the map is well done, the environments are so cool and i had a fun time. it was a more linear approach but i think it's better than a game being 90% of backtracking

Beating the game knowing that this is basically Suda giving a present to his wife. Man I wish I have a relationship this good.

Fatal Frame was always about the clashing of tradition with the contemporary world and love. Grasshoper pick this and do the same thing they do with their Kill The Past games but this time they question one thing: the past is what make someone? If in the Silver Case they talk about how past drags someone life and the grow because of that is important, in Fatal Frame 4 we see people without a past, without a person inside then trying to recapture this. And they do this really well.

This is the game with the less amount of ghosts but this creates a sense of familiarly that is great and even helps the atmosphere with bonus of the peacing of the story since this is more a detective horror story than a psychological horror.

My only true problem with the game is more because of the version I played. This is a game clearly made with the entire Wii in mind, the way the levels play, the way you interact with anything and even the controls. So putting the game to work in a normal controller is pretty hard and is not so well done and as result you lost a big part of the fear they wanted do give. I disliked the new main color of the game but is just the same idea (making the game looking like the color that moon and the night in general reflects) so is more nitpick for my side. In general, Fatal Frame just have great games and 4 is no exception.

Another great entry for the FF series featuring an excellent atmosphere, intriguing story, eerie setting, etc with some of the clunkiest controls on earth unfortunately and because of this battle mode can be quite frustrating. The game really has so much going for it but has its mechanical flaws and because of this the game feels like a chore to get through at times. For some reason I actually enjoyed ‘Maiden of Black Water’ a little more than this. Still worth a play though if you’re a fan of the FF series…..

Despite being the weakest entry in the Fatal Frame series, this game still holds up as a solid experience, thanks to the strength of its tried-and-true formula. However, I believe there could have been more effort put into translating the character controls and prompts to better suit the controller scheme. It felt somewhat cumbersome compared to the norm of the game genre and other Fatal Frame titles. Additionally, the abundance of characters negatively impacts the game's pacing, although the new "camera" with one of the characters adds a refreshing twist. It's unfortunate that you challenge the final boss battle with the least satisfying character in terms of gameplay, but the piano element of the battle helps redeem it to some extent.

After many years being stuck on the Wii and in JP only as well, FFIV finally makes it way to the west for modern consoles. For a remaster, it's somewhat disappointing since there doesn't appear much that was improved or updated.

Controls now can be played without motion sensors, but it still feels clunky at times. This is evident when trying to uncover hidden items with the flashlight or during combat. The graphics looked decent at times, but upon closer look of walls and furniture, the textures are noticeably bad and of low quality. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but there is a constant film grain effect. I guess it sort of fits the atmosphere and the game, but I'd really like an option at least to have a smoother and cleaner look.

I briefly mentioned the combat already and it wasn't too bad overall, but the controls detract from the experience. Not to mention that many combat areas are in small corridors or small rooms making it very difficult to maneuver around. Anything with more than one ghost at a time can be a pretty frustrating experience. Fortunately, the enemies aren't that aggressive and most don't have unusual attack animations compared to FFV.

The story is the usual ritual gone bad Fatal Frame story, but the mystery execution was interesting as is the general premise. You slowly uncover clues for the bigger picture as you progress.

The characters are mostly one-note which I guess is also similar to many Fatal Frame games. No character development or interesting reveal except for one plot twist. Most of the game is spent looking for missing memories for the main characers.

Probably the best aspect of this game is the horror elements. The game is very on point with the creepy setting, oppressive atmosphere and unsettling vibes. The sound direction is also pretty solid too particularly with a few rooms where you hear eerie whispers. I thought all of these elements were lacking from FFV.

Overall, a very good survival horror experience. A bit easy at times on Normal especially being able to to purchase additional consumable items with points you get. It's a good entry for FF newcomers since progressing isn't as confusing as the earlier entries, the combat and survival elements are more lenient and it's the first game in the timeline without much connections with the others.

What happens to us when we die? I'm not talking about our souls, or any afterlife, but to the memory of us on this world. The imprint we made while we were here. Does it stick around, haunting corridors and the minds of those we were close to? Or does it dissipate, leaving no trace we were ever here? Fatal Frame 4 concerns itself prominently with this specific question about death, and its hyperfocus on such a specific unsettling subject matter is what gives the game itself enough impact to last long after you finish playing.

Written and partially directed by Suda51, Fatal Frame 4 dares to dream of what would happen if dementia were contagious, and if it spread simply by looking at an afflicted person. The answer is as devastating as you can imagine, complete annihilation. What a wonderful topic for a horror game, and unlike many of the game franchises in its wheelhouse Fatal Frame is the one where every design decision is focused purely on horror. Want to open a door? You're treated to an almost OG Resident Evil level door opening animation, every single time, occasionally accompanied by a spooky cut to a fixed angle. Want to pick up an item? That'll be a 5-10 second long interaction, with a small chance of a surprise jump scare every time. Want to run fast away from a threat? Fatal Frame laughs in your face, the sprint button in these games being a facade implemented purely to frustrate and annoy you. These games want to scare you, they want to scare the SHIT out of you, and nothing else matters. While not the scariest or most surprising Fatal Frame game, Fatal Frame 4 still managed to scare me quite frequently because of those aforementioned design decisions and some truly excellent atmosphere and level design.

Fatal Frame 4 is set primarily in a large hospital which is divided into two sections. You explore them both individually with different characters before both sections connect near the end of the game. This large level is so well designed, with several pathways leading to whatever objective you're headed for. The game will always guide you down one specific path, but the adventurous player that chooses another route will almost always be delighted to find completely unique encounters and scares down whatever route they choose. I let my guard down while exploring early on, and almost hada heart attack when a room I'd already explored a mile away from my objective suddenly exploded with activity, locking me into a fight with three enemies simultaneously - a lot to handle with only one measly magic camera. It felt great to know that the developers considered other ways players would choose to explore the game world, and once this happened I never felt I could let my guard down for even a moment. Horror perfection. The sound design deserves a special mention, too. So many rooms have a unique and awful flavor all their own thanks to the subtle soundtrack and all sorts of horrible creaks and gasps of air. You never feel safe because the oppressive soundscape never lets up.

Combat in Fatal Frame 4 is perhaps the easiest of any game in the franchise, thanks to both its dedicated lock on button and surprising lack of difficult spirits. Towards the end of the game there are definitely a few recurring threats that present a real challenge, but for the most part the enemies in this entry are of the 'slowly walk forward, and then lunge towards you' variety. Even at its most braindead, combat in Fatal Frame is still fun thanks to its multiple special moves and unique feel, but I often felt more scared outside of combat than within it, which is maybe not ideal for a game about fighting scary ghosts. The endgame also loves throwing some real film sponges your way, which I thought made the game's final levels drag on a bit longer than they should have.

With an interesting plot, excellent direction, and endless dread, Fatal Frame 4 does everything you could hope for. While its combat can be a bit too easy and the game runs out of gas towards the end, it's still a terrifying and completely unique experience from the most underappreciated horror IP in gaming. If you like horror games and don't need constant action to keep your attention, Fatal Frame 4 is a must play.