Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platforms: PC, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X (Reviewed), Switch 2
Release Date: March 11, 2026
Price: $49.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
Over the past few years Koei Tecmo has been looking to revive its Fatal Frame franchise by bringing it back to the forefront after leaving its newest entry to collect spectral dust for seven years on a failed console. Finally after those years passed Fatal Frame started to see the light of day again with a series of remasters, first with Maiden of Black Water being freed from the Wii U and secondly with Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, a game never released in the West before. Now the company is looking to revisit one of their most beloved games in the franchise from twenty three years ago, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly with a full blown remake. The question is, has the game made a successful two decade jump into delivering its unique blend of horror that only Fatal Frame can provide?
Story
With a new dam set to be built and flood the location where they used to play as children, twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura venture deep into the forest to relive some fond memories before it is flooded over. Unfortunately, while Mio is distracted Mayu ventures after a glowing crimson butterfly and vanishes into the fog. Following her sister into the unknown Mio soon rejoins her sister only to find that they have stumbled into a strange village. With no one around and ritualistic markings everywhere, the two soon learn that the location is called Minakami Village and also learn that those who find themselves within its borders have never found a way to escape.
To make matters worse, a strange camera tumbles out of a pile of refuse only for an angry wraith to assault Mayu, trying to drain her life force and make her join the horde of ghostly undead. Thankfully the camera Mio has acquired is none other than the Camera Obscura, an exorcism device built into a camera that can dispel the ghostly energy of enemies. Unfortunately for these twins though, a few ghosts and a maze-like town structure are the least of their concerns as flashes of strange memories begin to draw Mayu further into the village and leaving Mio having to chase after her again and again, giving her two goals. Save her sister and escape this twisted place alive.
In nearly every way the plotline for Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is the same as fans can remember and for those diving into it for the first time they’ll be in for one eerie treat as the Minakami Village is absolutely teeming with spooks and creepy occult ritualistic lore. As players explore the village they’ll enter house after house that has fallen into disrepair and show obvious signs of death and destruction in one way or another and encountering the ghostly remnants of the residents makes it all the more interesting. The title is also packed to the gills with collectible diaries and notes that hint at the history of the village, the numerous occult rituals that took place, and the desperate cries for help of those unlucky enough to find themselves trapped.
The Amakura twins are an interesting enough pair, especially the subtle undertones with just how codependent they are on one another, to an extreme degree in a few cases, and it just goes to show how strong the writing was in the original that even now it remains as a perfect setup all these years later. There is some new content added into the remake in the form of side-stories that allow players to uncover additional information about the inhabitants of the village and history, a handful of brand new locations to explore, soul gems that carry both stat boosts and ghostly messages of those that died to make them, and even a brand new ending. Though actually obtaining that ending is going to be a task and a half considering it requires completing New Game+ on Nightmare difficulty.
Gameplay
One of the most notable differences that Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake does from its original release is swap from the shifting fixed camera angles that were classic in survival horror games at the time and has swapped to an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective while exploring Minakmi village. Despite the change in perspective players will still generally be following the same framework as before, exploring each location as they open up and finding either the key to open the next locked door, a ghost to defeat, and gathering plenty of collectables along the way.
As players advance through various parts of the village their map will be marked with various locked doors that require specific keys and that means that backtracking is often a must not only for story progression but also for extra rewards as well thanks to small “metroidvania” style elements involving the game’s photo filter system. Advancing through the game will unlock additional “filters” that the Camera Obscura can use to interact with the environment. This includes taking photos of residual energies to track missing items or people, taking exposure photos to revert a room or location to its previous state, and even a charged style of photo to burst through a barrier or unlock something that was previously locked. Various objects and the filter required to take their photo will be highlighted by the Camera Obscura’s directional radar and often involve the aforementioned backtracking to properly access.
Similar features that have been involved in newer titles have been retroactively added into the game as well such as having Mio slowly reach out to pick up items or slowly open some doors where she, and the player, can be jumpscared by a ghost appearing to attack. Jump scares are used frequently but not enough that they are immersion breaking. If anything it keeps players on their toes just enough to be wary of grabbing an item if they’ve been unaffected for too long. Either way, other inclusions feature a flashlight that can be turned on and off as well as a crouching mechanic that can be used to stealth and sneak past some ghosts or hide from instant-killing enemies. This is a big deal since, ironically, the tutorial for describing what enemies will instantly kill the player only happens after players escape the first time on their own.
Either way, as players travel through as Mio, they’ll occasionally be accompanied by Mayu when she isn’t being used as a plot device. Players can hold Mayu’s hand to regain health and “sanity”(stamina) and help her run along especially during chase sequences. If a ghost attacks Mayu for too long or she is captured by an instant kill enemy then players will instantly be met with a game over. Thankfully players can equip charms and gems obtained from the environment to boost certain stats and use healing items to keep themselves alive, though players cannot see Mayu’s health gauge nor heal her directly.
Now onto the part that both makes the Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake so unique but also breaks it a bit at the same time. The Camera Obscura and combat. Whenever a ghostly wraith appears Mio must (and almost always must as doors will lock to prevent escape) defeat them by snapping photos and draining their health gauge. Photo damage will depend on the type of film used, with the default 07-film being infinite but weak and slow-loading, as well as the filter being used. Players can swap between different types of film that can deal additional damage or reload quicker but these come in finite amounts though it is also worth noting that players do have an inventory limit and may regret not using what they have if they need to. As for the filters, each one has their own damage level, distance, and special shot. Special shots require sanity to use but have unique effects that do not cost film, and these special effects can stun ghosts, slow them, or even lock them in place for a moment. That being said, sanity is also used to dodge and run away from enemies and if Mio is hit by one at low sanity, she will fall and be pinned down by the ghost until it is “shot” off of her.
While the wide-array of combat options with the Camera Obscura make for some interesting choices, especially once players upgrade it to provide better focus, additional damaging points, and of course get the hang of combat where players can take photos right when enemies are attacking to trigger a critical hit called a “Fatal Frame” and even send the ghost into a stunned “shutter chance” that allows for rapid-fire photo taking for free, it is also incredibly boring. Nowhere in the recent Fatal Frame games have enemy ghosts had as much health or been as antagonizingly annoying as they are in this remake. While upgrades and using the limited stronger film do help along the way, players will find that challenging a single ghost is often an exercise in frustration, not exorcism as even focusing entirely on Fatal Frame shots and dodging enemy attacks can lead to a single encounter taking three to five minutes. Especially since Shutter Chance now only happens at certain times in a ghost’s health bar and only uses the weakest film.
To make matters worse, shortly into the game players will start running into ghosts that can become “Aggravated” at having their photo taken and will enter an enraged red state. While their attack patterns remain the same, enraged ghosts heal nearly all of their health gauge and take reduced damage unless players have purchased the exposure camera filter upgrade. To double-down on the annoyance, some ghosts can enter an aggravated state twice in the same encounter, turning a one on one encounter into a ten minute slog of dancing around a tight room and taking pot-shots at the same ghost that refuses to go down. As mentioned before, while upgrading the Camera Obscura and focusing on certain upgrade paths does mitigate these issues a bit, it makes one of the game’s core mechanics shockingly frustrating and drawn out. Ironically it made being able to flee from a ghost here and there an actual delight rather than a chance to obtain extra points to use at the shop.
The puzzles in the game remain fairly solid and require a bit of thinking to figure out, especially since some don’t quite spell the solution out for the player. They are by no means as difficult as they were in the original release but the quality level is still quite impressive for those looking for a bit of a challenge when it comes to solving certain puzzles, especially when it comes to some of the brand new optional side-stories.
Audio & Visuals
Minakami Village is hauntingly gorgeous to look at and explore in Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake. The development team has put a lot of effort into making every location players explore feel creepy in its own unique way and the ghosts that players encounter have a massive amount of variety to them and can even be viewed after players have defeated them for both a better look and some extra lore. The character models in the game for the twins are fairly standard, nothing too impressive unfortunately and there is a surprising lack of fan-service given the franchise’s history. One thing that is troublesome, at least at the moment, is a film-grain filter that cannot be turned off and muddies a lot of the game’s appearance. While it does provide an extra level of grittiness to the experience, it can be frustrating in dark locations and thankfully Koei Tecmo has already stated that a patch will be coming to the Xbox Series X version to toggle the filter on and off, though at the time of this writing it is not available.
The English voice work for the game is handled surprisingly well given how the past few Fatal Frame entries turned out. The creepy voices of the damned and dying echoes through the gemstones are as haunting as ever while Mio and Maya’s voice actresses do a wonderful job with their characters. The soundtrack is similarly quite spooky and atmospheric, though it can be drowned out a bit with the flashing and clambering of the Camera Obscura.
Overall
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is an impressively scary game that retains the storyline from the original and expands upon it just enough to not detract from the core that made the original so great. Between that and the immense visual upgrades, the remake seems like a perfect shot until the combat comes into play. The Camera Obscura combat is as interesting as it ever was, but far too many ghost encounters feel drawn out thanks to high health pools and newly annoying aggravation mechanics that the entire experience feels bogged down as a result.
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