Fatal Frame is one of those horror franchises I didn’t get exposure to but have been meaning to. What a fascinating premise for a game – armed with nothing but a camera that can see the dead, you must explore with ghostly horrors at every turn and take good photographs to fend them off. In Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, a pair of twin sisters named Mio and Mayu Amano get led astray by a crimson butterfly to the Lost Village, a community stricken by tragedy and faded into obscurity when an ancient ritual called the “Crimson Sacrifice” failed. The failed sacrifice in which one twin must kill the other to seal malevolent evils goes awry when one of the last twins flee, causing denizens to be trapped as angry spirits. As Mio, you’re either chasing down or guiding Mayu as they delve deeper into the village and spiral into a horrific story of torture, possession, and ritualistic sacrifice.

Structurally, Fatal Frame 2 will be familiar to those familiar with its contemporaries at the time. A linear, scripted gameplay experience where you explore different parts of the environment to find keys or other items to reach the next section of the map, whether that be buildings, roadways, or shrines. Early on, Mio encounters a rare artifact called the Camera Obscura, a supernatural object that lets the user see spirits through its lens and fend them off (with the proper timing). There are different film types that act as ammo, with varying power and reload speed. While the camera film pick-ups stay slim, there is a default film that has unlimited ammo, so at the very least you won’t be completely stuck without an offensive maneuver. This is a game which includes occasionally playing guidance counselor – at times you need to hand hold Mayu along the way. In action it didn’t affect my gameplay much. The sections where she’s in the environment often don’t require that level of intervention – she’ll often follow behind a handful of steps. That said, when it comes to sections where unkillable specters chase you, its best to run for cover.

Combat is a mix of brilliant and grating. It’s so smart to have a system like aiming a camera at the subject that’s also the source of horror. It gives the developer a way to affix your gaze within this small window and see the anguished faces up close as they lunge toward you. When in-focus, taking snapshots inflict damage but the reload speeds leave you open to their counterattacks. If you time the shutter in a small window where your screen flickers it’ll stun them. Stun them enough times and they’ll be left open for a multi-shot combo, which is really the only way to take them down. If you struggle too long to inflict harm then these ghouls will go into a rage, refilling their health meter and becoming more erratic. Mio has two meters – willpower and health. Willpower is reduced when the ghosts pass through you or when running away from them, and it affects your ability to focus, bringing extra fuzz and other distractions to the screen. The problem is it just plays out way too slow. The threat level is well balanced – enemies have challenging windows to time photographs, making even the most basic ones a danger. But the damage chips away so slowly that rather than having a short fright and scramble to survive, you instead get a war of attrition that eventually loses its scary luster.

Fatal Frame II is at its peak when mixing the exploration with the scary. Part of the Camera Obscura’s toolkit are different filters that change how you view the background. For example, the earliest one you get lets you see remnants of spirits. It works as a game mechanic where spirits of past events can have their snapshot taken, but it is also another way which the game can play tricks on you by having that focal point. Another one lets you interact with old blood stains and magically sealed doors, which has a more visceral, unsettling tone. It’s yet another great example of how the game forces you through the game to confront the demons. There are these slow animations when picking up some items and opening doors that quickly become a “brace for impact” moment after getting hit with enough jump scares. Everything has a dark and muddy texture that seems less like graphical limitation and more artistic intent. The sound design is top notch – beyond the screams and wails, the background sounds and shrill notes hit the right accents for moments calling for shock or surprise. The deft use of millisecond flashbacks teases out these awful moments with a stark black-and-white that is reminiscent of old films like The Ring, with nondescript facial features and white skin/dark hair that is unsettling to a fault. These are people who have an appreciation for horror and understand what makes for a gripping experience and is easily the highlight of the game. I left the experience anxious and with the kind of post-story disturbed you want in any good horror movie.

For all the excellent art direction and the moniker of “remake”, Fatal Frame II still has some blemishes. To be clear - looking side-by-side with the original, it’s a clear visual improvement. Character models are clearer, gradients of color are more clearly seen, and textures like hair and clothing help clean-up the flatness from the halcyon days of the PlayStation 2. Funny enough, you can actually select the original costumes and it paints a funny contrast between the old style and more modern aesthetic. Some framerate stuttering and the outdoor sections are what make this feel more dated. Some textures are less refined in the flora and fauna. In some cutscenes there are noticeable framerate hiccups. It doesn’t occur when you have a controller in hand, which is great, but it’s still noticeable for something calling itself a remake.

The Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake houses a deftly created horror game. Mio & Mayu’s story is harrowing, and despite little preamble you quickly become invested in Mio’s attempt to save them from the telegraphed inevitable outcome. Entrapping spirits with your Camera Obscura is a smart design choice that is unfortunately bogged down a little by marathon battles, but the impeccable audio design, visual horror, and the world built by the development team shows a genuine love of the horror genre and papers over what issues I may have with some of the action. The world exploration and story beats have impeccable pacing. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is a horror game for the horror movie fan, and this remake is the ideal way to experience it.