clickbliss

Short Reviews: FATAL FRAME - MAIDEN OF BLACK WATER

By: RJ (@rga_02)

• Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water
  
• Developer - Tecmo Koei/Team Ninja
  
• Publisher - Nintendo
  
• Wii U
  
• Rating - M

When I first saw the Wii U’s GamePad I knew Fatal Frame would be the perfect fit for the console. I mean, who doesn’t want to swing around the GamePad like a fool trying to chase down ghosts?

Dang I look fabulous

Using the GamePad as your Camera Obscura to defeat the super spooky ghosts is quite fun at first, but it quickly gets repetitive and annoying. Your “photography skills”, are the key to success in this game. Dealing damage to ghosts is based on the angles of your photographs. But the gyro of the GamePad can be finicky, requiring some getting used to. This can mess up your tempo when fighting off spirits quite a bit. Other than defeating ghosts, your GamePad can also be used to recover items lost in the void. As I mentioned earlier, it’s quite fun, but there is no option to use the Classic Controller as well. Swinging the GamePad around like an actual camera can just get very tiresome.

Let’s also get this out of the way. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water isn’t scary at all, like many of the previous Fatal Frame games (barring Fatal Frame 2). If you are looking for a scare fest, I hope you still have P.T. on your PS4′s, otherwise wait for Allison Road. The jump scares in Fatal Frame are comical, and the ghosts look like they just got out of bed. Thankfully the atmosphere of this game is fantastic. The ghosts themselves aren’t that terrifying, but the mountainside setting is depressingly cozy. Beautiful yet eerie. I really can’t stress how great the environments look. Tecmo Koei nailed down the vibe and the atmosphere of the Japanese mountainside to the last stone. 

Some people might find the taste of clothing for the characters skins a bit questionable, and somewhat pervy. While I personally don’t mind them, you can also change to Samus’s Zero Suit or a Zelda costume if you are getting tired of seeing a J-POP outfit for hours. Please note that certain costumes have been removed from the western release. Regardless of how trashy the costumes may or may not be depends on your tastes. I personally don’t approve of the removal of said costumes from the western release. It’s equally strange that they were removed since Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 had some controversial segments retained for their Wii U western release, while this game was tampered with. 

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water isn’t scary, and can be straight up monotonous at times. But it is a wonderful adventure game with a great setting. It’s also one of the few Wii U games that uses the GamePad really well. If you are one of those people who wants to push their consoles to the limit, this may be your game. But best of all, Fatal Frame shows that you can maintain your fabulous hair in the soaking rain. 

Even when facing death, I still have nice hair.