If you're a fan of the oft-criticized survival horror sub-genre, then the Strapline above probably tells you everything that you need to know. Developed by the same team responsible for last year's Fatal Frame (and before that Deception), the newly unveiled Crimson Butterfly aims to improve on its predecessor in just about every way.
Bigger, longer, and scarier than the original, Butterfly not only manages to do exactly what it sets out to do, it also succeeds in becoming one of the best pure adventures on the PlayStation 2 thus far. In fact, it's probably only eclipsed by the stellar Silent Hill series -- and even that could just be a matter of opinion. Either way, it's most definitely a bloodcurdling experience.
Story
Set almost two generations before the events of the first game, Fatal Frame II isn't a true sequel to Miku's Himuro Mansion exploits at all. But rather, it sets up the back-story revolving around the mystical "Camera Obscura" and its purpose in the 30 years before Miku grabbed it for her brother. Far more open and less confined than the location provided in the original adventure, Fatal Frame II moves out of a giant house and into an abandoned village deep in the Japanese forest. This change of setting definitely serves as the first clue towards establishing that Crimson Butterfly is not only much larger in scope, but also in range of evil.
The plot begins with pre-teen twin sisters Mio and Mayu enjoying the natural scenery in the proximity of a running stream. Shown through a combination of flashbacks and modern imagery, it's revealed that Mayu once received a devastating injury when the two were younger; an accident that left her leg permanently scarred and slightly limp. As the pair reminisces about that fateful day, Mayu becomes fascinated with a crimson butterfly fluttering about in the distance. Almost trance-like, she follows it deep into the woods before her sister Mio begins to follow her. As Mio runs past a bizarre tablet with a carving of double figures, the scenery suddenly shifts to nighttime landscape with Mio and Mayu standing alone in the peaks of the Forest Mountains. Overlooking an abandoned village with nowhere else to go, the pair must descend into the creepy township to figure out what has happened to them. And from there, things really start to get interesting.
To reveal anything else would be a disservice to the readers who partake in it; but it's pretty obvious by the game's roots that the duo will eventually run into spirits that they have to exorcize with an enchanted camera. Told through a series of dream sequences, flashbacks, and current events via the perspectives of multiple characters, Fatal Frame II weaves quite a complicated tale. Rife with horror, intrigue, and a ton of personal loss, the plotline is never over-embellished and creeped us out with a stunning consistency. Make no mistake about it; it's one of the scariest videogames that we've ever played.
Best of all, Fatal Frame II turns out to be far less predictable that what's expected, with a small set of interesting characters, realistic plot devices, and hidden sub-chapters that players can enjoy separate from the main adventure. Much like its predecessor, Crimson Butterfly also builds its suspense by terrifying you with what you don't see rather than what you do. In short, it's the complete antithesis of the Resident Evil series and regardless of which one of the multiple endings you uncover by journey's end, you can be assured that none of them are what you imagined.
Gameplay
Since Fatal Frame II takes such a drastic departure from the mechanics of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, it plays out much differently than your typical survival horror title does. Though the control scheme is setup almost identically to those two (along with alternate schematics for more precise three-dimensional movement), your actions within the fixed-camera environment are far more passive-aggressive. You see, Crimson Butterfly isn't about beating down Frankenstein's Monster with clubs or blasting 52 holes into hordes of zombies; but instead, offers something far more simple: Take a phantasm's picture with your enchanted camera and steal its soul -- thereby exorcizing it from the village and saving your young behind for yet another encounter.