Product Description

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is a new journey into fear, with the terrifying themes and feel that made the first fatal Frame such a hit! When Mio and her sister Mayu return to their old hometown, they follow a strangely glowing crimson butterfly deep into the forest. There, they discover an abandoned village that hides an ancient, horrifying secret.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1489 in Video Games
• Brand: Tecmo
• Model: 18946010373
• Released on: 2006-06-15
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Xbox
• Dimensions: .38 pounds

Features

• Brand new setting with more wide-open exploration -- more possibilities for fear and terror
• All-new storyline and different game mechanics as you try and capture the ghosts who stalk the forests

Customer Reviews

The scariest game ever released, I kid you not.
I played this on the PS2, beat it at least three times and still purchased it immediately for the Xbox once it was released. Why, you ask? I'll keep the reasons simple.

1) This game is unbelievably scary. You may think I'm joking about this but this game actually gave me nightmares. If you play this game under the right conditions with the lights down low and the sound way up, believe me you will be spooked pretty bad. The story in this game is quite eerie and as you play the game in harder difficulties, you find out a little bit more about the backstory, which makes the game a rewarding experience everytime you play through it. Also, if you like Asian Horror films at all, stop reading now and pick this up.

2) The sound. If you have your Xbox hooked up to your surround system with the proper connections (i.e. optical cable), you owe it to yourself to get this. The use of surround sound is exceptional in this game. When a spirit comes screaming out of nowhere and you hear babies crying or children giggling quietly from behind you, you'll know what I'm talking about.

3) The extras. This game is definitely worth the purchase, even if you played the PS2 version to death. It has way more unlockable goodies, better graphics and better sound. A really nice little addition is the FPS mode, where you play the game from a first person perspective.

I cannot recommend this game enough. It's one of those games that you really have to sit down with because it may put some people off when first playing it. This isn't the kind of game to play in the middle of the day with a house full of your friends. This is one to play when you're by yourself. My only complaint with this game is that the controls can be a little funky at times. Also, I would've loved to have the original Japanese dialogue and it isn't a selectable option. The English voice acting is just fine though and nowhere near as bad as say, the first Resident Evil.

Great game
Theres only one thing to say about this game; excellent. Fatal Frame 2 is like pokemon snap meets silent hill. The game is based around two twin girls who stumble across a lost village called "All Gods Village" and discover the terrible truths behind the secret of this village. The way the game works is, you're given a camera that has the power to exorcise ghosts, and you solve puzzles thoughout the game, while getting breif chances to get pictures of ghosts for extra points (the points are used to upgrade your camera). There are also ghosts that will try to harm you, and you have to use your camera to exorcise them. But this Xbox version is the director's cut, meaning it's differnt from the orginal version on the PS2. I'll admit, the controls are a little more diffucult on the xbox than on the PS2, but there are lots of extras that are pretty cool.

Plot/Storyline: 5/5- The storyline is very well written and keeps you interested until the very end(when you find out what exactly a crimson butterfly is, which will send shiver's down your spine). Me being a fan of horror/thriller movies/games etc, the concept of All God's Village and the ritual that occurs traditionally is superb.

Graphics: 5/5- The graphics in this game are very nicely done. They really make you feel as if you are traveling through a dark and haunted village. The ghosts in this game are really creepy, and it really gets you when you turn a corner and theres a woman walking down the hall. And then when you follow her...she's gone. The backgrounds are rendered final fantasy style, unless you play FPS mode, where you can play through the game in first person view. This provides for a more terrifying experience

Sound: 5/5- The music is almost as creepy as the graphics. They really set the mood with the soundtrack on this game. And the voices were done pretty well. There are also crystals you can pick up that have spirits in them or something, and you can listen to the voices of that spirit with the radio. The things you hear from those crystals are spine chillingly disturbing

Gameplay: 5/5- The majority of the gameplay is walking around, exploring all the differnt buildings and looking for keys and clues to solve puzzles. The puzzles are kinda like something from final fantasy 8, which is good cuz i liked final fantasy 8. Another chunk of the game is battling ghosts. you dont actually "battle" the ghosts per se, you merely exorcise them with your camera. But if the ghosts get too close to you, they'll grab you and you loose health. Some ghosts are differnt, but mostly you just aim and shoot. how well your shot is centered and how close you are to the ghost determines how much damage you do.

Controls: 3/5- and now the thing that really irks me about this xbox version of fatal frame. The controls are basicaly set up like halo's, only backwards. maybe it's because im so used to playing halo, but i find trouble in moving around looking through the camera, which sucks when you are in battle or when you see a ghost and want to get some points for a picture. i guess after a while you'll get used to it, but the first person controls are a pain. 3rd person though isnt bad though, however, my biggest disapointment was you can only play one point of view per game, meaning you cant alternate between the two.

overall, this game is gorgeous. it will give you nightmares and the only way to play it is in the dark. if you like ghosts and/or things of the supernatural nature, buy this game. Get the xbox version if you want the two differnt modes, extras and unlockable features. get the PS2 version is you dont have much money and/or you want better controls.

Director's cut is the pinnacle of console horror
I do like a good horror game, but long ago grew tired of the cheap tactics employed by the likes of the Resident Evil series. The irritation caused by miserly ammo & save mechanisms, deliberately awkard combat and camera angles which obscure what I (player and character alike) should be able to see completely override any sense of fear - you can't be scared and annoyed at the same time. System Shock 2 on the PC proved long ago that a game can be terrifying without being unfair, and at last a horror game just as good has arrived for a home console.

The Xbox-only "director's cut" of Fatal Frame 2 stands head and shoulders above all other games in this series, for one reason: the first-person (FPS) control option. This is a brilliant addition, I'm thrilled that the Japanese developers chose to add it for this version, but disappointed that it did not make a return in Fatal Frame 3. It kills two birds with one stone: firstly, it removes the jarring switch from 3rd-person exploration/evasion to 1st-person photography, which has never been comfortable; secondly, it plunges you right into the incredibly atmospheric setting - all barriers between you and the extremely unsettling events and characters are removed. As a friend of mine put it, the change of perspective is so effective because "it's happening to you" - not a character on the screen - and that really is the way it feels when this game takes hold.

The art direction and sound are superb, the premise and story are incredibly involving (and, once you come to understand past events and characters, have an uncommonly strong emotional impact), and as the game progresses with an atmosphere that always keeps you on edge, there are a few stand-out moments of expertly engineered terror that you are likely to remember as all-time gaming highlights. Above all, this is an extremely well designed game, which reminds me in many ways of the old Looking Glass greats like Thief and System Shock - it has a similar mode of progression (lots of freedom within a linear framework) and storytelling to those classics, and treats production values, rewarding gameplay, atmosphere and story with equal respect. If you want a game that is genuinely good and genuinely scary, this is an essential purchase.

Remember to play in FPS mode! Surround sound and HDTV are recommended, but FPS mode and a dark room are essential ;)
It's also worth noting that this game is now playable on Xbox 360.