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.
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.