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Fatal Frame: The Tormented
Wow. Long time no-post. I just have to share my review of the latest in the Fatal Frame saga, probably my all-time favorite game series ever.
So I was all psyched when I got my copy in the mail. I unwrapped it like someone posessed, shoved it in my PS2, practically shaking with anticipation of being scared out of my wits, and proceeded to blow a weekend playing straight through. The graphics are still top-notch, the sound is still pee-yourself-creepy, the ending theme is another Amano Tsukiko masterpiece.
That being said, I was quite let down.
Let me outline what has been so great about the last two in the FF series, the original and Crimson Butterfly:
1) You are stuck in this nightmare world, unable to escape, for days on end. It is perpetual night, dead people crawling out of every crack in the woodwork, with the tension rising after every cut-scene. By the end, you are a jabbering mess because it was a non-stop ghoul-fest throughout.
2) The mythologies of Fatal Frame I and II were intricate, well crafted and terrifying. Both the Strangling Ritual and the Crimson Sacrifice were wonderfully described and fleshed-out through diaries written by everyone from the victims themselves to the little girl hiding in the closet. And with the maiden, the twins, and little girl in the closet, the sense of mass, indiscriminate slaughter of innocents horrifies you and sucks you in at the same time. Its like a train wreck in progress. You feel guilty for enjoying it, but boy do you enjoy it.
3) Throughout the whole thing, you have really seen only one live character (I'm counting the twins as one, with good reason I think). You identify totally with that character, and the tension mounts as you begin to realize the enormity and horror of what this ONE LITTLE GIRL is up against. You identify with her, and you are her. And you are really never sure whether she has what it takes to make it or not. The ending is very much in doubt through the whole two games. Will everyone end up dead? Is Miku's brother already dead? Why does Mayu keep turning into some psychotic chick in a kimono spouting "I don't want to kill anymore"?
5) And the endings, when they came, were satisfying. I found the ending of FFII to be extremely appropriate, despite other fans saying it was a terrible ending. Throughout the whole thing, I got the impression the Mayu was really only half 'of this world' anyway. I thought the worst thing that could happen at the end of that whole story was a traditional 'happy' ending. Apparently the creators agreed with me. Even their 'happy' ending was kind of sadistic. As for the first game, although I was sad to see the extremely Hot Mafuyu toss his life away, it was kind of poetic. One gets the impression that is the kind of person he is; unable to leave a woman to suffer eternal torment by herself. Although I often wondered if the spirits of Kiries and her lover didn't influence his feelings, making him at least a little coerced.
Now let me outline how The Tormented falls short
1) That delightful tension has been ruined by thrusting you back into the normal, "real" world over and over. The tension of the spreading tattoo is nothing compared to the terror of wandering around for days surrounded by ghosts who want nothing more than to rob you of your life like they were robbed of theirs.
2) The mythology of the "Manor of Sleep" seemed under-developed and insubstantial. Where are you really? Himuro Mansion? Minakami Village? Either place would be more entertaining. The idea that this manor is a place where the vengeful dead wait to exact their price from the living was never really fleshed-out. Or is it a place created by the mind of people like Miku, desperate for one last glimpse of her dead brother, or maybe she's searching for absolution from her guilt over leaving him in the bowels of Himuro Mansion? The story of the tattoo woman meshes sloppily and incompletely with our "real world" characters and their "real world" environment.
3) The character switching was a total flop. I won't mince words. Not only does it fail this game, but it takes the previous two and tries to borrow plot from them, rather than making one on its own. In this way I think it even manages to cheapen the splendor of the first two. In The Tormented you can't really get too involved with one character, becuase by the time you get into one, you get jerked over to the next one. The plastic, throwaway character of Kei was shown to be just that. Our protagonist, Rei, might have been a decent character in her own right. However, going up against Miku and her tragic past, she doesn't stand a chance. The two compete with each other, and I have to say that Miku comes out the winner for me. She has a whole 'nother game's worth of character development behind her, so it was really no contest.
4) I'll be blunt: the ending didn't impress me. At all. It had potential, I thought, when Miku dissappeared into the Manor in search of her brother. The poetic quality of Miku running to be with her dead brother, the only person who understood her, gave me renewed hope that this game might be a keeper after all. I did love the portrayal of Miku in this game, with her survivor's guilt and her lonely quality. All the way up until the end, that is. When she ended up alive after all, I felt rather cheated. Dammit. I made my choice. I wanted her to die! She was supposed to make amends for ditching her brother. I really liked the idea of the two of them wandering around the mansion together as spectres. I demand an explanation for why she lived after heading into the abyss, yet Kei turned into a pile of soot. Is a little consistency too much to ask for?
Sadly, this may be the last in the Fatal Frame series, unless the movie (if it even comes to fruition) creates a resurgence in popularity. Even if there is another installment in the series, once changes like these are made in game develpment, it isn't likely the develpers will go back to the onld way of doing things. I feel like the integrity and drama of the series was traded in for a couple cheap shower scenes. IMO, this game has tried to be like Silent Hill (which itself was only good for the first two games), with its white world v. black world. In doing this it threw away the superior parts of itself.
So I was all psyched when I got my copy in the mail. I unwrapped it like someone posessed, shoved it in my PS2, practically shaking with anticipation of being scared out of my wits, and proceeded to blow a weekend playing straight through. The graphics are still top-notch, the sound is still pee-yourself-creepy, the ending theme is another Amano Tsukiko masterpiece.
That being said, I was quite let down.
Let me outline what has been so great about the last two in the FF series, the original and Crimson Butterfly:
1) You are stuck in this nightmare world, unable to escape, for days on end. It is perpetual night, dead people crawling out of every crack in the woodwork, with the tension rising after every cut-scene. By the end, you are a jabbering mess because it was a non-stop ghoul-fest throughout.
2) The mythologies of Fatal Frame I and II were intricate, well crafted and terrifying. Both the Strangling Ritual and the Crimson Sacrifice were wonderfully described and fleshed-out through diaries written by everyone from the victims themselves to the little girl hiding in the closet. And with the maiden, the twins, and little girl in the closet, the sense of mass, indiscriminate slaughter of innocents horrifies you and sucks you in at the same time. Its like a train wreck in progress. You feel guilty for enjoying it, but boy do you enjoy it.
3) Throughout the whole thing, you have really seen only one live character (I'm counting the twins as one, with good reason I think). You identify totally with that character, and the tension mounts as you begin to realize the enormity and horror of what this ONE LITTLE GIRL is up against. You identify with her, and you are her. And you are really never sure whether she has what it takes to make it or not. The ending is very much in doubt through the whole two games. Will everyone end up dead? Is Miku's brother already dead? Why does Mayu keep turning into some psychotic chick in a kimono spouting "I don't want to kill anymore"?
5) And the endings, when they came, were satisfying. I found the ending of FFII to be extremely appropriate, despite other fans saying it was a terrible ending. Throughout the whole thing, I got the impression the Mayu was really only half 'of this world' anyway. I thought the worst thing that could happen at the end of that whole story was a traditional 'happy' ending. Apparently the creators agreed with me. Even their 'happy' ending was kind of sadistic. As for the first game, although I was sad to see the extremely Hot Mafuyu toss his life away, it was kind of poetic. One gets the impression that is the kind of person he is; unable to leave a woman to suffer eternal torment by herself. Although I often wondered if the spirits of Kiries and her lover didn't influence his feelings, making him at least a little coerced.
Now let me outline how The Tormented falls short
1) That delightful tension has been ruined by thrusting you back into the normal, "real" world over and over. The tension of the spreading tattoo is nothing compared to the terror of wandering around for days surrounded by ghosts who want nothing more than to rob you of your life like they were robbed of theirs.
2) The mythology of the "Manor of Sleep" seemed under-developed and insubstantial. Where are you really? Himuro Mansion? Minakami Village? Either place would be more entertaining. The idea that this manor is a place where the vengeful dead wait to exact their price from the living was never really fleshed-out. Or is it a place created by the mind of people like Miku, desperate for one last glimpse of her dead brother, or maybe she's searching for absolution from her guilt over leaving him in the bowels of Himuro Mansion? The story of the tattoo woman meshes sloppily and incompletely with our "real world" characters and their "real world" environment.
3) The character switching was a total flop. I won't mince words. Not only does it fail this game, but it takes the previous two and tries to borrow plot from them, rather than making one on its own. In this way I think it even manages to cheapen the splendor of the first two. In The Tormented you can't really get too involved with one character, becuase by the time you get into one, you get jerked over to the next one. The plastic, throwaway character of Kei was shown to be just that. Our protagonist, Rei, might have been a decent character in her own right. However, going up against Miku and her tragic past, she doesn't stand a chance. The two compete with each other, and I have to say that Miku comes out the winner for me. She has a whole 'nother game's worth of character development behind her, so it was really no contest.
4) I'll be blunt: the ending didn't impress me. At all. It had potential, I thought, when Miku dissappeared into the Manor in search of her brother. The poetic quality of Miku running to be with her dead brother, the only person who understood her, gave me renewed hope that this game might be a keeper after all. I did love the portrayal of Miku in this game, with her survivor's guilt and her lonely quality. All the way up until the end, that is. When she ended up alive after all, I felt rather cheated. Dammit. I made my choice. I wanted her to die! She was supposed to make amends for ditching her brother. I really liked the idea of the two of them wandering around the mansion together as spectres. I demand an explanation for why she lived after heading into the abyss, yet Kei turned into a pile of soot. Is a little consistency too much to ask for?
Sadly, this may be the last in the Fatal Frame series, unless the movie (if it even comes to fruition) creates a resurgence in popularity. Even if there is another installment in the series, once changes like these are made in game develpment, it isn't likely the develpers will go back to the onld way of doing things. I feel like the integrity and drama of the series was traded in for a couple cheap shower scenes. IMO, this game has tried to be like Silent Hill (which itself was only good for the first two games), with its white world v. black world. In doing this it threw away the superior parts of itself.