[Review] Fatal Frame’s Undying Devotion
Review contains spoilers and discussion of suicide:
The now 20-year-old series Fatal Frame (also known as Project Zero), has stayed just under the radar compared to some of the fellow iconic horror series that emerged in the same era—such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil. There are five games in the main series, although the fourth game, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, never made it outside of Japan. Other games in the series have had re-releases for new consoles including the most recent re-release Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, which was originally released exclusively to the Wii U and is now available on virtually every console. As a fan that has been waiting for a new release, it was exciting to see that Maiden of Black Water would have a wider release that could bring new fans and life into the series.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water has three playable characters: Yuri, Ren, and Miu, who all end up searching Mt. Hikami for answers. Yuri, who would be considered the most central of the three, repeatedly goes into the mountain to track down her friend and savior, Hisoka, as well as other lost people on the mountain. Ren, along with his assistant Rui, follows a connection between a half-dream, half-memory and post-mortem photographs. Miu starts the game already trapped on the mountain while she was searching for her estranged mother—Miku, who was in the first and third Fatal Frame games. These characters all make use of the games’ core “weapon”—the camera obscura. The camera is used to vanquish ghosts, take photos of the past, and bring objects to the present. The game uses alternating chapters between these interlinking stories, all with their own “good” and “bad” endings for the players.
One advantage of doing a wide release of Maiden of the Black Water specifically is the gameplay mechanics are unchanged for long-time fans, but the graphics have been improved by repurposing Dead or Alive’s “wet” graphics. While originally created for sex appeal, this feature brings to life the titular black water and changes how players are affected based on if they have been “tainted” by water. Ghosts have been said to be attracted to water and with the setting of Mt. Hikami being filled with lakes, waterfalls, and an ever present mist of rain, it’s only something that makes gameplay more immersive and realistic. The camera obscura has become more flexible in allowing “portrait” style photos, in addition to easy to change functions like film type—although it won’t stop players, like myself, from forgetting to switch back to Type-07 film when outside of battle. Chaining a “fatal frame” shot is also so satisfying in this entry. Along with the improved graphics and controls, this Fatal Frame release allows players to choose which language they want the voice acting to be in. Having the opportunity to choose the original Japanese VA with subtitles was great, as the performances have been both moving and chilling.
Maiden of Black Water brought with it a new play style with its chapter system and graphics, but kept what I consider being the foundational theme of the series—the importance of our connections with loved ones. The characters in the Fatal Frame series are motivated due to their devotion to another person, and in turn, the ghosts they encounter are still haunted by their failed relationships. These violent ghosts impose the same pain and isolation on the protagonist that they felt themself. For example, the first Fatal Frame game involved Miku searching for her brother Mafuyu in the Himuro mansion. As Miku learns more of the mansion’s history, she also learns of Kirie’s pain as she was isolated from the world and had the one she loved taken away from her. Maiden of Black Water has three times as many main characters, but Yuri and Hisoka have one of my favorite relationships in the game and series.
After Yuri was the lone survivor of an accident that killed her family, she developed the ability to see and hear ghosts. Feeling like an outcast and tortured by what she was experiencing, she went to Mount Hikami to die, but was saved by Hisoka before she jumped off a cliff. Before meeting Yuri, Hisoka was born a natural in the supernatural world and embraced it by taking missing person cases, but after failing to stop a girl from jumping, she felt immense guilt. While the two are separated for most of the game, the majority of the journals the player can find and read fill in their feelings towards each other.
After Hisoka saved Yuri, she brought her to her shop and made her coffee. In the cutscene that shows this, it’s clear to see how Yuri was slow to warm up, but this was the first moment that she relaxed around Hisoka. In her journal, Yuri writes, “But what really got me to stick around was something small. Hisoka’s favorite words. ‘Sometimes a cup of coffee can make all the difference.’” Where Yuri’s repeated attempts searching for Hisoka show her devotion, the player doesn’t get the full scope of Hisoka’s feelings towards Yuri until the end. There’s an evolution as Hisoka’s journals continue. In the third journal she writes, reflecting on failing to save Akari, “Maybe people can’t really understand one another… Yuri will leave someday. It’s OK if I don’t know why. It’s Ok if we don’t really understand each other. As long as she’s in my arms, Yuri will be here with me.” In the next journal, she continues to think about the secrets people hide. “Everyone has secrets. Secrets they never tell anyone. Secrets that cannot be shared. When people go missing, they might take those secrets with them. Maybe it’s the weight of those secrets that drives them to disappear. Someday, Yuri may learn of my secrets, my scars. But then we might finally open up to each other.” The sixth journal by Hisoka shows her realizing that her similarities with Yuri are why they are close. “When I touched Yuri on that cliff, I saw her anguish. Her survivor’s guilt. Her fixation with death, and her hesitation to chase it. Maybe I’m drawn to Yuri, and she to me, because we are both fighting against the current.” Hisoka and Yuri risk their lives trying to protect the other.
When Hisoka tells Yuri that she has become a pillar in order to save her in an illusion that mirrors Yuri’s suicide attempt. As Hisoka goes to walk off the cliff, Yuri embraces her and says the same words that Hisoka said to her, “No! I won’t let you do it!” When she defeats the possessed Hisoka, she learns her secret of failing to save Akari. When the chapter ends, the summary says that, “The bond between the two of them grew even stronger”.
The exact nature of Yuri and Hisoka might be found in another two characters that act as their foil—Haruka and Fuhuyi. Haruka and Fuhuyi are also connected through suicide, as they are the two survivors of a group suicide attempt. When Haruka disappears into Mt. Hikami, Hisoka, who has not been taking missing persons cases, changes her mind to help find Haruka. In one of Hisoka’s journals, she writes Fuhuyi said that, “When she gets back, there are things I want to tell her.”
One note that Yuri can find of Haruka expresses her feelings towards Fuhuyi, “I feel closer to Fuhuyi than ever. It’s nice sharing secrets with her… Sharing my guilt… her face was the first picture I drew in kindergarten… I remember singing the Song of Memories at kindergarten graduation. I looked over at Fuhuyi and she was already looking at me, waving.” Fuhuyi’s note goes into further detail that what she wants to tell her is her feelings. “I realize how important she is to me. How irreplaceable… I should tell her how I really feel… Maybe she’s already known for a long time, but I’ll tell her, anyway. I have to tell her.” While Hisoka and Yuri’s feelings towards each other are never explicitly said to be romantic, but by the similarities of their relationship and Haruka and Fuhuyi’s, which is more explicit, one can see how their devotion is beyond “just friends.”
Yuri and Haruka’s relationship is just one of the many in Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water and the series that reflects how devotion and love drives the characters in the story, more so than any mystery. To me, one of the strongest parts of the franchise has been the storytelling that occurs throughout the diaries, notes, and books that are found by the player. I highly suggest that to get the most out of this game’s wonderful story and characterization to search these objects out and read them. I’ve only covered a fraction of what we can find, but these objects are not filler for world-building, but where the folkloric and intimate storytelling comes to life. Here’s to hopefully another 20 years.
