Review
Played on: Xbox Series X
Released: 2021
Released: 2021
Project Zero, that’s Fatal Frame in western countries, is a Tecmo horror series originating all the way back on the PlayStation 2. Maiden of Black Water is the fifth instalment in the series and was originally released on Wii U in 2014. However, in 2021 it was remastered for modern consoles. I’ve only barely tried a Project Zero back on PS2, so this is all new to me, outside of knowing what fundamentally the gameplay is about.
Let’s take a moment to zoom in the camera frame and take a closer look.
Firstly, I’m happy to see this rather low-key release become available for current consoles and, even better yet, to see it get a healthy resolution bump for my Xbox Series X. It seems to have been a 60fps title on the Wii U and it’s great to see that carried over too. Texture quality and detail is improved to compensate the larger screens and resolution these days.
The main gameplay element in Project Zero titles is a photography camera, or camera obscura as it’s titled in-game. Basically serving as your firearm to use against ghosts, which are only vulnerable to these cameras. In a sense, it feels like an old lightgun game, but at a much slower pace.
Story puts you in the role as each of the three main characters. Investigating lost people cases at a rumoured suicide and spiritual ritual spot, located in a fictional mountainous area, called Hikami. The two female protagonists are spiritual connected to this mountain and therefore feel an urge to explore it further. Mt. Hikami seems to pull certain people towards it and the main protagonists can see the ghosts from earlier murders, however in this ability they are also lured towards an alternate dark and wet world.
Project Zero games are in general slower paced third person titles, than say, horror releases like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, although PZ leans more to the latter with its dark and changing world. A twitter user explained it perfectly: think of the RE series as the physical horror series, SH as the psychological and PZ as the spiritual one.
Maiden of Black Water focuses on exploring environments for clues and using a sixth sense-like ability to see where people have wandered into woodlands, caves and old temples. Finding clues about their whereabouts and finding out what happened to them.
Project Zero games are in general slower paced third person titles, than say, horror releases like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, although PZ leans more to the latter with its dark and changing world. A twitter user explained it perfectly: think of the RE series as the physical horror series, SH as the psychological and PZ as the spiritual one.
Maiden of Black Water focuses on exploring environments for clues and using a sixth sense-like ability to see where people have wandered into woodlands, caves and old temples. Finding clues about their whereabouts and finding out what happened to them.
In your way, are ghosts turning up out of the environments, attacking you. This is where you switch into a first-person view using your camera optics to capture and zoom in and out on the weak points of the ghosts. Pressing the trigger will then take a photo and drain the ghost for some energy. When fully drained they disappear for good. Often you are being attacked by a couple of ghosts simultaneously.
Getting the right frame is tricky and the more of the weak points on ghosts shown in a frame, the better for maximum damage count. While the camera part may be hard to grasp for some, think of it as a slowed down House of the Dead. Where the lightgun is replaced by the camera and the highlighted circles of ghost weak points are the places you need to aim and hit. The camera can also be used to catch certain moments of ghost sightings, these appear only for a brief period of time and you need to pull up your camera and capture them to see them properly.
Getting the right frame is tricky and the more of the weak points on ghosts shown in a frame, the better for maximum damage count. While the camera part may be hard to grasp for some, think of it as a slowed down House of the Dead. Where the lightgun is replaced by the camera and the highlighted circles of ghost weak points are the places you need to aim and hit. The camera can also be used to catch certain moments of ghost sightings, these appear only for a brief period of time and you need to pull up your camera and capture them to see them properly.
The way you take photos, especially those with multiple weak points and large amounts of damage, catching key moments and avoiding damage, will rack up a total of points at the end result mission screen. This, in turn, will give you a ranking, not a system I really care for, but the points can be used to upgrade your camera and various lenses for it. These lenses have certain abilities and can be swapped during combat, for instance one lens will grant you health on hits, another will slow down enemies.
I never found the game to be particularly difficult, leaning towards being a tad easy. However, the challenge in some of the larger missions is finding your way around buildings with many rooms and understanding clues. There's a lot of healing items scattered about the environments, so make sure to pick up those if you feel that your combat is going badly.
My main complaint about this refreshing and unique battle system, is the extremely slow movement while operating the camera in first person. The limited viewpoint makes you back up into walls or corners, only to see a ghost come right up close and deal damage. You have a dodge button at your disposal, which needs to be timed at the right moment to avoid an oncoming attack, or you can take a close-up picture to push the ghost back. In small rooms though, there’s little space to avoid being hit unfairly.
Other negatives, I noted, is the animation quality and gameplay being stuck in a sort of PS2 era, if that makes sense. Another indication of this, is the clumsy button layout, combined with slow movement and an awkward turning speed. It feels like it never kept pace with the development of other games back when it released, even more so now. Some refinement would have been nice, making the controls and animation flow better. I get it's a smaller budget title, but it would make the gameplay seem less stiff.
Although the game is visually upgraded, it clearly originates from its Wii U hardware, reminding me of a typical 360/PS3 visual era. That said, the environments, while small in terms of actual volume and interactivity, have a well realised, traditional, Japanese look to them. I appreciated each mission beginning back at the cosy little tearoom shop, where all the main characters live. Here, you can wander about the rooms and soak up, what I imagine at least, a traditional Japanese home looks like.
I enjoyed the Silent Hill vibes many of the areas gave me, with desolate trains stations and an abandoned, foggy car tunnel coming to mind. The woodlands surrounding traditional Japanese temples are a creepy, neat touch too, with small stone lamps lighting paths through them. There's a solid, cohesive design to all the places you visit and helps build the atmosphere in a unique way. It gives me throwback to other Ninja villages from Tecmos own Ninja Gaiden series. Be aware that it’s a dark and cold looking game, but in turn it makes the orange glow from the lighting even more appealing and warm.
The characters themselves are well designed, although they have that plastic, mannequin, doll vibe, typical of Tecmo titles. The dialogue, with awkward pauses in the English voice over and weird sighs and grunts, are very typical Japanese anime styled. Pulling away the tension in longer dialogues.
How scary is the experience? In fairness, there’s a middle ground to it. There are jump scares here and there, ghosts grabbing you or suddenly turning up in your face, but mostly there’s more an overall dark tension. Being a slow-paced game, the actual creepiness is delivered in much the same pace. Horror is present, but never asserts itself with high tension moments or action. Some of the grainy VHS tapes, featuring stereotype Japanese horror with creepy, long haired girls, indicate some brutal murders and deaths, but it’s never straight up visually horrific.
I had a lot of enjoyment playing this title, it’s been a relief to finally sit down and play a Project Zero title properly and enjoy its differences from other main horror series. It's not as accessible as Resident Evil and it requires more patience from the player to sink into its dark and atmospheric world.
If you prefer horror with more action or plots that move along faster with flashy big scenes, then this title isn’t for you. Those seeking a more subtle and tension building horror, set in traditionally styled Japan, and enjoy sinking into a darker world, check this game out!
My main complaint about this refreshing and unique battle system, is the extremely slow movement while operating the camera in first person. The limited viewpoint makes you back up into walls or corners, only to see a ghost come right up close and deal damage. You have a dodge button at your disposal, which needs to be timed at the right moment to avoid an oncoming attack, or you can take a close-up picture to push the ghost back. In small rooms though, there’s little space to avoid being hit unfairly.
Other negatives, I noted, is the animation quality and gameplay being stuck in a sort of PS2 era, if that makes sense. Another indication of this, is the clumsy button layout, combined with slow movement and an awkward turning speed. It feels like it never kept pace with the development of other games back when it released, even more so now. Some refinement would have been nice, making the controls and animation flow better. I get it's a smaller budget title, but it would make the gameplay seem less stiff.
Although the game is visually upgraded, it clearly originates from its Wii U hardware, reminding me of a typical 360/PS3 visual era. That said, the environments, while small in terms of actual volume and interactivity, have a well realised, traditional, Japanese look to them. I appreciated each mission beginning back at the cosy little tearoom shop, where all the main characters live. Here, you can wander about the rooms and soak up, what I imagine at least, a traditional Japanese home looks like.
I enjoyed the Silent Hill vibes many of the areas gave me, with desolate trains stations and an abandoned, foggy car tunnel coming to mind. The woodlands surrounding traditional Japanese temples are a creepy, neat touch too, with small stone lamps lighting paths through them. There's a solid, cohesive design to all the places you visit and helps build the atmosphere in a unique way. It gives me throwback to other Ninja villages from Tecmos own Ninja Gaiden series. Be aware that it’s a dark and cold looking game, but in turn it makes the orange glow from the lighting even more appealing and warm.
The characters themselves are well designed, although they have that plastic, mannequin, doll vibe, typical of Tecmo titles. The dialogue, with awkward pauses in the English voice over and weird sighs and grunts, are very typical Japanese anime styled. Pulling away the tension in longer dialogues.
How scary is the experience? In fairness, there’s a middle ground to it. There are jump scares here and there, ghosts grabbing you or suddenly turning up in your face, but mostly there’s more an overall dark tension. Being a slow-paced game, the actual creepiness is delivered in much the same pace. Horror is present, but never asserts itself with high tension moments or action. Some of the grainy VHS tapes, featuring stereotype Japanese horror with creepy, long haired girls, indicate some brutal murders and deaths, but it’s never straight up visually horrific.
I had a lot of enjoyment playing this title, it’s been a relief to finally sit down and play a Project Zero title properly and enjoy its differences from other main horror series. It's not as accessible as Resident Evil and it requires more patience from the player to sink into its dark and atmospheric world.
If you prefer horror with more action or plots that move along faster with flashy big scenes, then this title isn’t for you. Those seeking a more subtle and tension building horror, set in traditionally styled Japan, and enjoy sinking into a darker world, check this game out!
