Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, from Koei Tecmo Games and Grasshopper Manufacture, is the fourth installment in survival-horror series Fatal Frame. It has now been remastered for current-gen gaming and, in conjunction with that, finally released in the West.
In Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, players follow four different characters across several environments on the desolate Rogetsu Isle, which was the site of a once-a-decade Kagura festival. During the festival, five girls were abducted, only to later be returned without their memories. After two of the five die under mysterious circumstances years later, the remaining three girls, along with the detective who found them, return to the Isle to uncover what really happened.
Gameplay in Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse follows the same formula as the other entries in the Fatal Frame series. Players will use the famous Camera Obscura to photograph ghosts, dealing damage and often pushing them back. The Camera Obscura can also be upgraded with powerful lenses, better film, and different attachments to make it a more effective weapon against the ghosts of Rogetsu Isle. Players will also use the all-new Spirit Torch in Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, which channels moonlight to repel and damage multiple ghosts at once.
For fans of the Fatal Frame series, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will be a must-play after almost fifteen years of waiting. The graphics have seen a significant update, and the atmosphere is reminiscent of the best classic survival horror. However, given its age, many aspects of the gameplay do feel dated, including the reach-out mechanic for interacting with objects and clunky controls. These aspects hold Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse back from its full potential as a truly great remake of a classic that's relevant to modern audiences.
The most obvious and striking aspect of the remake is that it looks pretty good, with updated graphics from the original 2008 version. The story remains intriguing, though it is mostly told in easily-missed newspaper clippings, journal entries, and notebooks scattered throughout the environments. Exploration in Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse feels exactly like a survival-horror experience should, reminiscent of classic games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Between major fights with aggressive ghosts, players can also encounter "specters" that appear for several seconds and demonstrate a moment in time from the past. These can be photographed if players are quick enough and award bonus points, but they also serve to let players know they are going in the right direction.
The main issues with Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse have to do with clunky controls and gameplay mechanics. The controls for mouse and keyboard are confusing, and remapping doesn't help much. Controller users will not necessarily fare much better, as characters' movements are anky and noticeably slow, even while running. The flashlight, which is needed to find hidden objects, is similarly unwieldy and difficult to move.
Developers elected to preserve much of the original Wii version of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, including shining the flashlight to illuminate a hidden object, then holding the B-button to have the character "reach out" and grab the item. Additionally, the save mechanics remain fairly outdated, as players can only save near a lantern, usually located in the first main room of a new area. While the location is fairly centralized, it can be annoying to keep going back and forth to save, and, given how many ghost encounters occur as the story progresses, it is possible to lose fifteen to twenty minutes of progress or more at a time upon dying.
Survival horror fans, and fans of the broader Fatal Frame series, will find a lot to like about the remake of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse after the over a decade-long wait. The classic photography-based gameplay and story of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse make it one of the best in the series, and, with any luck, further Fatal Frame remakes or a continuation of the series will result from this release.
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Steam code was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.
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Fatal Frame
- Released:
- 2001-12-13
- Developer:
- Tecmo
- Franchise:
- Fatal Frame
- Genre:
- Survival Horror
- Platform:
- PlayStation 2, Xbox (Original)
- Publisher:
- Tecmo
- ESRB:
- T
