Natalie coombs

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

Understanding the Principles of Game Design

Game Mechanics Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is a survival horror game released in 2003 for the PS2 and Xbox. As a survival horror game, much of the gameplay focuses on puzzle solving, exploration and battling enemies.

Your only method of attack in

the game is a weapon known as the Camera Obscura. The game uses a combination of fixed camera angles and tank controls to create a scary and creepy atmosphere that is also easy to navigate through.

When the Camera Obscura is equipped, the game goes into a first person view, and to inflict the most damage, you have to get as close as possible to the enemy, and then wait until just before they attack you to take a picture.

The player’s ultimate goal is to rescue the character’s twin sister who has become possessed by the spirits that inhabit an abandoned town. The player has a These gameplay mechanics are all designed around making the player feel nervous and/or scared while playing the game. The lack of health items and the long distances between save points makes the penalty of death much more significant, and therefore the player dreads each enemy encounter, as each enemy can be a step nearer to death.

The first person view puts you right into the shoes of the character, and the gruesome and detailed enemy design

health bar, and when it reaches zero, the character dies, and they will have to either start again or load their last save.

You can pick up items along the way, such as film (which is the ammo for this game; the higher the film quality, the more damage it does) and health, including one rare item known as a “stone mirror,” which will automatically refill all of your health when it reaches zero, but can only be carried one at a time.

only heightens the intense atmosphere and feelings of dread. The character is almost always alone when exploring, with the only ally being your sister, who is missing most of the time, and cannot attack anyway. Unlike you, she doesn’t have a health bar, making you unsure whether or not she is a step away from death. This increases the tension, as her death results in a game over, and so you are more determined to protect her throughout the game.

Environments The game is set in 1800’s Japan, and is made by Japanese designers and developers.

As such, the environments within the game are all built with a distinct traditional Japanese style. This is one of the reasons why it appeals to people outside of Japan, as it gives you the opportunity to explore unfamiliar environments and settings. To add to the creepiness of the game, the village that you explore and the houses in it are all abandoned and in disrepair, however there are still signs of human inhabitation lingering throughout (for example, the candles that you find lit throughout the game).

Although you do explore out-

side, most of your time in the game is spent inside. Areas that you can explore outside include an old graveyard, a forest and through the streets of the town. Each game in the Fatal Frame series has its own colour featured throughout, and this game’s colour is red.

As such, this colour features extensively in the game, and is even in the title (Crimson Butterfly).

The designers created the environments to enhance the creepy and scary atmosphere.

Often, objects in the background or doors will move on their own, which is intended to scare the player, and to keep them on their toes.

Character Designs The two main characters, Mio and Mayu, are twins, and therefore look very similar. They are designed to look very similar, but different enough that you can distinguish between the two. The characters both wear red ribbons, again to match the game’s featured colour.

Every other character encountered in the game is a ghost. Some characters are also shown alive in cutscenes that take place before their death. The game’s main antagonist, Sae Kurosawa, is one of these characters. Despite her

simple-looking design, there is actually a lot of detail put into her character model. She bears striking resemblance to the two main characters in the game, and again, she has a red ribbon in her costume. Her kimono is folded with the right side overlapping the left, which may seem insignificant, but in Japanese tradition, this is specifically reserved for the dead. If you look closely at the bloodstains down her kimono, you can see that they make the shape of a butterfly wing, which is one of the game’s themes (Crimson Butterfly).

All of the character models look great, which is almost necessary due to the large portion of the game that is in first person. Every character has their own way of moving, and almost all of the ghosts are different in some way or another. Some ghosts move in very awkward ways, due to the way in which they died. For example, the “Falling Woman” will continuous-

ly fall from the sky, and then shuffle her way towards you, while the “Broken Neck Woman” will walk towards you, but with her head unnaturally crooked and twisted where her neck has been broken. This adds a disturbing element to the game, and makes the player uncomfortable looking at the ghosts.

Visual Style

The visual style in this game is very detailed and unique in its execution.

It’s mostly in colour, but when ghosts are nearby, the screen adopts a grainy effect which adds to the old feel of the environment.

Sometime, during gameplay and cutscenes, the game becomes black and white, which again adds to the old feel, and gives the game the feel of a classic Japanese horror film like Ju-On or Ringu. When the gameplay sections become black and white, it means that any enemies in the area can kill you in one hit. There is a lot of darkness in the game,

with the only source of light most of the time being a flashlight that you find, which doesn’t always work.

At some points in the game, you briefly take control of Mayu. All you do is follow the crimson butterflies. In these segments, the screen goes black and white again, but the butterflies glow red.

This achieves the effect that Mayu is in a trance-like state, as your only option is to follow the red trail of butterflies, until you reach the end of the trail where something usually waits for you (for example, a non-hostile Sae Kurosawa).

Narrative Devices The story is mainly told through cutscenes and notes that you find throughout the game.

Finding the notes is not necessary to complete the game, but it does fill you in not only on the main story, but about the many side characters and the beliefs of the villagers. There are

also crystals that you collect that contain people’s thoughts. These give you an insight into what the characters are thinking, and how they experience the events of the game. Some of them are pretty disturbing, and help to keep the player feeling nervous and on edge.

As well as the hostile ghosts that you find in the game, there are also ghosts that show you where to go, or provide some clues to the back story. Capturing pictures of all of these ghosts is an optional side quest in the game which allows you to unlock special items later on. The many side characters and their individual lives and stories adds depth to the village and the game’s overall plot, and helps you to fully understand the mentality and the traditions of the characters. It’s immersive, clever, and adds to the disturbing element of the game.

There are a total of 4 endings that can be achieved (one of them

can only be obtained in the Xbox version, and another of them results in a “Game Over,” and so is not always considered an ending). 3 of them are achieved depending on which difficulty you beat the game with, and one of them is achieved depending on a choice that you make in game.

The endings are all extremely different, and with different consequences for the characters. Again, these are told through cutscenes, and all but one of them are sad endings which may upset the player, but don’t disappoint them either. This is a good balance, and an effective ending because it makes a huge impact without leaving the player feeling unfulfilled.

The only ending which can be considered disappointing is the “Game Over” ending, which allows the player to load the game and try again, and so allows the player to achieve another ending, thus eliminating the possibility of feeling unfulfilled after completing the game.

Interface As stated earlier, the game uses tank controls for movement in the 3rd person and 1st person segments. While in 1st person, you move the camera like any standard 1st person shooter, and press the action button (X button) when taking a picture.

In the menu, there is an

option to upgrade your camera using points that you get from capturing ghosts, adding an almost RPG style element to the gameplay. You can activate the different functions for the camera that you buy by pressing the shoulder buttons in camera mode, which switches the different functions of the camera

(e.g. lock on, slow, track etc...) The overall interface and control feels fluid and responsive.

Moral Reasoning The only time in the game where you have to make a moral choice is when you decide whether to try and rescue Mayu again from the ghosts, or to escape the town on your own. This results in the “Game Over” ending, and so while it earns you an ending, you can still load your last save and try again.

Player Base Fatal Frame 2 II: Crimson Butterfly has a strong fan following, and is a favourite among survival horror buffs.

It is decidedly the fan favourite of the series, and is probably the most well-known among gamers. The game is regularly featured in many “Top 10 horror games” type lists, and even today comes right at the top of the list.

The game has been so well received that there was a remake released in 2012 for the Nintendo Wii. The remake was praised for its graphics and gameplay, but many still prefer the original.

There are some points in the game where you feel guilty for having to fight the ghosts.

For example, there are at least 2 ghosts that are children that you have to fight, and neither of them seem to realise that they are dead. This makes you sympathise with the ghosts, and gives you a sense of guilt when you ultimately defeat them.