Reviews from

in the past


This is bone chillingly scary. It's what Youtubers thought would happen if they called Freddy Fazbear at 3am for the Fortnite Among Us potion.

A good game with incredible atmosphere, cool character designs, great concept, and a story that's about as good as you'd expect.
The only aspect holding the game back from a higher score is the gameplay itself. It has potential, but there are too many factors that can make it a frustrating experience, espeicially when the difficulty spikes at the end of night 2 / beginning of night 3. It's easy to get stuck on the collision of the environment, the camera control in first person is clunky especially since the movement and camera sticks are flipped compared to standard fps rules, some ghosts feel impossible to deal with, and the issue that i and other run into the hardest, is the sudden lack of healing items after night 1. It's a shame some of these aspects can take you out of the atmosphere and leave you feeling frustrated instead of scared and really hindered my enjoyment of the game.
There are some mechanics i didn't realise were there until halfway into the game and after finishing it (such as the sprint button and being able to move in fps mode lol), so i realise a lot of the trouble i had with the game may not apply to everyone.
That being said i still really enjoyed the game overall, and is the first survival horror game i played.
If you're going to play this game on PCSX2 like i did, download the undub patch to and update the emulator to its latest version.

Great horror experience, they were onto something and they knew it, the concept of taking photos of ghosts to fend them off, mixed with the tank controls, and the lack of healing items from the second half of the game created a deeply stressful experience that I will hardly forget, basically a 10/10 horror game.
Great camera work, serviceable story, creepy as a game can be, short length and a good introduction to a great saga, just don't start your survival horrors with this one, the lack of objects, especially healing does get pretty hard on the second half, so be mindful of that and plan accordingly.

Não sei o que aconteceu, joguei pra ver se sentia um medinho, um sustinho, mas não teve nada.

13h30min de jogo, pcsx2 emulador, versão USA.

Uma boa experiência. A atmosfera do jogo é muito boa e gameplay interessante, história é bem ok e os puzzles bem repetitivos.



bom dimais sou fã dessa franquia

Fantastic atmosphere, terrifying enemy designs, unique and engaging survival horror gameplay/action, and a gripping story. This made me actually scared, fully immersed, and was just a fun time. Definitely recommend playing with the Japanese voices if available to you.

This game is still fresh over 20 years later, this is my first time playing it so I have no nostalgia for it. The environmental design is some of the most solid I've seen, the manor is a character in itself, very memorable and interesting to traverse. Everything just feels great, even the visual design of things as simple as colors correlating to certain characters, and the uniquely inspired design of ghosts. The Japanese setting is just fantastic, from the buildings to the history to the tone to the enemy designs, it all breaths a unique Japanese lens of horror that honestly should be used more. Of course other greats like Silent Hill or RE are made by Japanese devs but few are actually set in Japan like this.

The story starts vague but piecing it together is so engaging, every note or flashback you come across genuinely had me excited. Puzzles are simple but enjoyable, requiring me to bust out a pen and paper a few times for easily recalling information/numbers. And by the end I was very invested in the story of the manor and its central tragic character. It made me feel things! The Japanese voice acting is also fantastic and very emotional... Unlike the stilted and awkward English voice acting.

All in all I highly recommend it!

the original fatal frame game is one of the best survival horror featuring a female protagonist on the ps2 console. but the sequel is even better

the controls is absolutely janky. makes sense by its age that it will eventually show most of its problem with the writing, pacing, and the absolute clunkiness.

Best PS2 horror game.
Go play it, right now.

A pretty decent horror game. The Camera Obscura is a fun way to combat ghosts. The tradeoff of letting the ghosts get very close to you so you can take full-frame photos of them for maximum damage is a smart one.

eu fiquei com um pouco de sono...mas um dia eu volto p terminar.

kirie carrying the whole game

Japanese Ghostbusters with cute girls

Fatal Frame is a survival horror masterpiece with a unique combat system which is only hindered by some brutal difficulty spikes and a few unfair enemy encounters.

-Story: the game's story is something I would call a 'typical creepy Japanese horror story'. We are playing as a young girl looking for her brother in a haunted mansion, where we are slowly but steadily learning about the horrors of what happened in the residency way back in time. Without spoiling anything: the main focus is on a ritual which went terribly wrong and has been causing further awful events ever since.

-Atmosphere: Fatal Frame uses the fixed camera angles masterfully. I would argue it is on par with Resident Evil or even better. The jump scares are also perfectly executed, they never feel cheap, they are never in your face too much yet they are always effective. Add to these the eerie sounds emitted by ghosts and the suspenseful music and you get Fatal Frame's memorable and scary atmosphere. My only gripe in this aspect was the lack of diversity in the environment. Most of the playtime is spent inside the mansion which unfortunately gets monotonous pretty fast.

-Gameplay: what I loved most about the game is definitely its one of a kind combat system. Instead of the usual melee and ranged weapons, the player uses a special camera to photograph ghosts wandering around the mansion. This is not only a unique and fun way to fend off enemies, it really adds to the scare factor as you have to follow enemy movements in first person mode and often wait for their attacks to deal sufficient damage. The camera is also involved in finding clues required to progress and it also plays a key role in the story. My biggest issue with the game was some of the ghost's attack patterns (or rather their ability to teleport behind you and attack instantly) and a few enemy placements which made it almost impossible to avoid some damage during combat. Despite this, I still loved the gameplay of Fatal Frame. So much so that it quickly became one of my all time favorite horror games.

This review contains spoilers

amazing graphics, atmosphere, story, sound design, actually horrifying looking ghosts.. i really loved the vibes. but holy moly is this game unforgiving.

the heals & save points in the 3rd act are non-existent, & theres a mini-boss rush of 5 guys. it was a doozy & took me like 4 hours of attempts until i began to cheese it, snapping pictures quickly instead of waiting for big hits, & walking aaaall the way back to a save point then taking a new picture so i didn't proc any more ghosts. then the final boss i took a total of like 3 pictures & it was over...

that being said i really did enjoy it! i'm also pretty proud of myself for beating it. my friend actually sent me their ps2 copies of 1 & 2 because they couldn't beat them! & everyone said that if i can beat 1, the rest are going to be a piece of cake. i'm excited to dive into the rest of them! the story was so sad.. i'm sure it gets worse lol

apesar da progressão meio estranha esse jogo se mantém muito bom até hj

a mansão é muito pika e explorar ela é muito satisfatório, o combate msm com alguns raros momentos frustrantes é muito bom, e as músicas são uma delicinha tbm

a coisa que mais se destaca são obviamente os fantasmas (pasmem), não falo nem só dos inimigos que são bem legais, mas principalmente dos q vc acha simplesmente andando por aí

sempre q aquela menininha aparecia apontando pra alguma coisa ou simplesmente tinha alguém andando pela mansão eu ficava igual uma criança achando super legal

apesar de algmas frustrações foi um jogo super legal q me conquistou o suficiente pra querer da uma olhada nas sequências, n sei quando vou fazer isso mas um dia eu vou

ps: capa feia da porra tá maluco

What an interesting find! This has been in my wishlist for many years (I was around 12 when I first wanted it) and only now I had the chance to play it.

In order to have a successful play you need to save a lot of frame and only use it when you really need. This can be confusing at the beginning with the big amount of ghosts appearing but if you end up using the camera a lot you'll need to start the game again.

For a Playstation 2 game this one is a gem, believe me. The aura is pretty cool and doesn't make you bored. So I recommend it (if you like horror, of course).

P.S.: I listed this one as completed but I didn't "kill" the last ghost as I ran out of film.

Probably the best setting and atmosphere in the series let down by frustrating combat and controls. Defintiely a game of it's time.

I can't be the only one to think that the whole concept behind Fatal Frame ("Project Zero" in Europe...which is just a nonsense garbage name to give to a series like this) is beyond genious, right??

You catch photos of ghosts for killing them.

And the series is named like that (NOT PROJECT ZERO GRRR) because of that.

Gotta return at this soon enough. It does show a little its age for the camera and for the controls not as immediately intuitive but they're still fitting and how I expect from a horror of the times.

I remember trying to play this game back when I was a kid and just not being able to get with the program. Well, now I was finally able to beat it.

Fatal Frame is a unique horror franchise. There are similar ideas in gaming out there, but nothing quite like it. And the 1st entry, although rough around the edges, kickstarts all of it.

The atmosphere is top notch from beginning to end. The game's photography, sound design, use of silence, mood and soundtrack all act in synchronicity in order to create this unholy and ominous environment. And to back all of this up, you get a very small, but creepy cast of characters moving and sounding as chilling as possible to move the plot forward. It's quite amazing, really.

The story is also very simple. It's good, keeps you interested and gets you going through the house. It's just not up to par with future games.But the ending surprised me! It was unexpectedly bittersweet. And since I played the 2nd one and a bit of the 3rd, it's just nice to see how it all ties up.

Using the camera feels VERY clunky, but you get used to it. Especially with the ghost capturing system forcing you to stay on your toes to catch secrets and wandering aparitions around the mansion. All that weird, ghastly clunkyness combined with a frightening (and a little repetitive, I admit) soundtrack just makes it work.

One other thing, and that's what I loved the most about the game: the mansion! It's such an impressive well-done scary setting. The level design was so beautifully crafted that reminded me of RE1's mansion, Dead Space's Ishimura or Batman's Arkham Asylum. Simply brilliant

But despite this game's well-done aspects, this game is riddled with flaws. I'm not gonna list everything here because it's not hard to find them. Just play the game and you'll know it. But some things are unbearable! Movement is VERY slow, using the camera feels awkward, puzzles are boring, voice acting is bad (the english one, at least), you constantly clip through stuff when running and sometimes it's just hard to see things due to how dark it can get.

The WORST thing, hands down, has to be the combat. Anything that deals with the game's difficulty, in general, to be honest. Ghosts are faster than you, they blend with the environment, you die in 2/3 hits and resources, especially healing items, are extremely scarce.

It's completely unbalanced I just don't understand how they missed the mark with something so essential. The blinding woman from chapter 2 and the entire chapter 3 are a mess! Everytime I thought about battling a ghost, no matter how interesting it was, I just DREADED the idea.

Fatal Frame 1 is a VERY good game. The beginning of a series that I absolutely love, but it's impossible to hide how burdensome it can be at times. If you love survival horror games, I'm sure you love it. If you're just in for a good time in the series, start with the 2nd one.

Nearly a flawless survival horror, aside from some annoying puzzles and inconsistent, brutal difficulty spikes (namely near the end of Night 2). The atmosphere here is one of the best I've ever experienced; Himuro Mansion is imbued with such a palpable sense of dread in every creak and crevice of the map, and the use of the found footage aesthetic during the flashback FMV's are geniunely unsettling. I also think the combat is pretty fun for the most part; maybe a little bit repetitive by the end and a bit clunky but I think the core loop here is a lot of fun!

In short, it's a near perfect horror game that never outstays it's welcome - very excited to play the rest of this franchise.

this on PCSX2 was a pain in the ass


No início o jogo me ganhou na ambientação, destacando a estética sobrenatural japonesa, que é excelente. O enquadramento de câmera foi bem executado gerando aflição e alguns sustos. E suas mecânicas que são deveras interessantes cumprem bem seu papel, te dando a sensação de ser indefeso contra seus inimigos.

É uma pena que tudo isso vai de vala depois da segunda noite pelo fato de você já estar super overpower e qualquer desafio ser resolvido facilmente, e o que resta depois disso são pequenos vestígios e alguns sustos ocasionais. A história é entregue de forma interessante, visto que você precisa explorar o cenário para descobrir mais detalhes, pena que o final é patético, puta que pariu kkkkk.

Enfim, não teve nada de crítico que me incomodou de fato no jogo, até diria que no geral ele não comete nenhum erro significativo, é um título sólido para o começo de uma franquia que ainda estava começando a dar seus primeiros passos.

Amazing setting and design. My only beef is that combat became a chore and I was no longer scared by ghosts and felt more annoyed by them by the last chapter.

Scattered thoughts:

• While I love awkward American voice acting in ps1/ps2-era games as much as the next person, I don't know if it really helps this game. Sure, the overall haunted mansion premise doesn't lack some elements of cheese, but the game overall tries to treat itself fairly seriously, and I feel in many places the American voice acting ends up undermining that tone.

• Ghosts are not a theme as used in games as other horror classics, mainly because they're a generally intangible threat that's difficult to design combat around. Fatal Frame solves that problem in the most video game way possible, by pretty much allowing you to shoot ghosts in the face. Even the Winchesters had to do at least a bit of thinking to get rid of ghosts. Little Miku just shoots them in the face with a camera. Sure. Why not.

• If anything though, the combat has a solid play aesthetic that gives it its own identity. While the exploration and the combat happen in a continuum, with no hard boundaries between them, the radical shift between the two, almost gives them a jrpg-like quality. It Feels like I'm transitioning in and out of a different play-space when I initiate and finish combat in Fatal Frame. In games like Resident Evil combat feels like it punctuates the exploration, In Fatal Frame, due to a number of reasons (More mechanically involved, fewer bigger enemies, many situations where combat locks you out of exploration), it feels like it's kind of its own thing.

• I'm not sure what the upgrade system adds to the game. Systems like that are usually used to give an empowering feeling, give a sense of progression, or incentivize repeated combat, and I don't think any of those are things you would have really wanted in this kind of game (I guess the sense of progression would fit, but the game is not really long enough to really feel like it needs systemized progression). Like, I feel like the appeal of this kind of horror is, to an extent, the feeling of helplessness it can evoke, and going into a menu to make my camera shoot special bullets always took me a bit out of it.

• Ghost stories, in other media, are usually 70% based around the protagonist not knowing that ghosts are a thing. Fatal Frame is like "ok ghosts are real and you kill them with this camera" like three minutes in. You have to do that, cause you need to tutorialize and show off your core gameplay. Is it good? I don't know, I'd like to stop assuming that the way other media do things is always the correct one. It surely doesn't get in the way of anything the game is trying to do, although that's mostly because what the game is trying to do doesn't stray very far from pulpy, vaguely shlocky, scares.

• They clearly had to do the most with their time/budget, so the game is set in a fairly small mansion, and the environments are re-visited a lot. It's mostly ok, and the mechanic associated with the key and lock system of this game is pretty clever. But the second-to-last chapter kinda becomes Zelda, and it lost me. They also have, like, exactly 3 kinds of puzzles in the whole game, that also get repeated a Lot. Again, it's fine, you do what you gotta do, but it's pretty funny how many doors in this mansion are locked by sliding puzzles.

• There are a couple of bits where the big evil ghost gets the protagonist, and they could have easily been cutscenes, but instead they let you play them briefly so you can actually feel overwhelmed by how strong the strong ghost is. I like that. It's not executed perfectly but I like that.

• I was Really not expecting how pro human-ritual-sacrifices the ending is lol

• It's honestly really cool to see fixed camera gameplay mixed with first-person elements. This is definitely not the first game ever to do that (Metal Gear Solid already had some first person stuff back in 98), but there's definitely Something in integrating those elements with horror theming and silent hill/resident evil gameplay. Like entering a room featuring an adverse camera angle, switching to camera view to scan the place better, while at the same time narrowing your field of view (more vulnerable), is a surprisingly effective little bit of horror gameplay. The game doesn't Really use that to any particular effect, but still, there's Something engaging there.

Eh, I liked this. It's good.

I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to playing the other games in the series. It was a really fun survival horror game and I loved the lore, world-building, and even the hokey English (only?) voice acting.

The Camera Obscura gimmick is really neat and I'm proud I unlocked 61 of 105 (retro)achievements on my first playthrough. :) Onto Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterly! I hear it's even better than the first.