For all of you who are looking for a seriously dark game… the Fatal Frame series brings it to you like none other can. I have played through all of the Silent Hill series and I must say they are good games (dark games at that!) but why isnt it scary? Because beating down a zombie hunched over in a nurse outfit with a pipe is just plain fun!! The silent hill games used gore techniques to attempt to creep out their players… and us players sort of like gore
So what makes fatal frame different? The mansion the game takes place in is a real place. The rituals such as gouging out the eyes of the priestess with a spiked mask… all real! Supposedly the game developers even matched alot of blood stains found in the real himuro mansion to the mansion in the game. After looking at pics of the real himoro mansion I can actually remember myself being in THAT room running for my life! I never knew shinto had such a dark side!
I just finished the third installment myself and recommend the series to all lovers of Japanese culture, and survival horror… and mystery!
Edit: I found a good link with some interesting but VERY VERY VERY MISLEADING information about the mansion http://www.geocities.com/kazamaceo/researchpaper2.html… if anybody knows more let me know! I am fascinated with it.
More Edit: Those are not pictures of the Himuro mansion… and its not confirmed if the mansion even exists… however like the quote below says treasure hunters that have gone looking for this mansion have had a sad end to their life.
Before anyone attacks me… by saying its all real I didnt mean its all fact… according to wikipedia we really don’t know anything… but thats what makes it somewhat creepy…
Okay I found more information to bring to the thread! First off all… after reading more im not sure how much Shinto is related to the Fatal Frame rituals such as the eye gouging… but I did however find a quote from techmo that explains what “based on a true story” really means (thanks to www.cameraslens.com)
What TECMO® has said concerning the Himuro Mansion
(quote by Makoto Shibata, Chief Producer of Fatal Frame):
In an area outside Tokyo, there lies a mansion in which it’s said seven people were murdered in a grisly manner. On the same property, there lie three detached residences that surround the mansion, all of which are rumored to have ties to the mansion’s troubled past. It’s said there is an underground network of tunnels that lay beneath the premises, but nobody knows who made these tunnels or what purpose they served. Many inexplicable phenomenon have been reported occurring on the property. Bloody handprints have been found splattered all over the walls. Spirits have been spotted on the premises… even in broad daylight. A narrow stairway leads to an attic where a spirit-sealed talisman is rumored to be locked away. Men have sought this talisman, only to be found later with their bodies broken and rope marks around their wrists. There’s a crumbling old statue of a woman in a kimono, but its head is missing. If you take a photo of a certain window, a young girl can be seen in the developed picture. These incidents have provoked fear in the people of Tokyo, and many believe that those who live near this area will become cursed. The deaths of those seven people are unexplained to this day."
I’m a fan of the series. I recall before the first one came out that I had joked with a friend that a camera would be the lamest weapon ever in a survival horror game, but both of us became quite obsessed with Fatal Frame when it was released. We both bought it for PS2, and then immediately swapped it for the Xbox version when that was released (because it took up 1/4 of my memory card… -_-). I still need to swap out my PS2 Fatal Frame 2 for the Xbox version, and I’m awaiting the Xbox release of Fatal Frame 3 before I even buy it.
The game is creepier than hell, though. Definitely reccommended to survival horror fans.
Also, after reading more about the topic… I don’t think the rituals have anything to do with Shinto (sorry about that if i mislead anyone i dont really know anything im just reading into it)… looks like they are Tecmo’s explanation for the “Urban Legend” which works fine for me… the urban legend in itself is creepy… i think tecmo did a good job with the priestess rituals either way.
