Can you feel the... intense HORROR?

Lately, I don't have any interest game to play- either online or console, so I decided to mess up my CD album hoping that I would find a game that would interest me enough and finally I found what I have been looking for...

I still remember years back before I owned a PS2, I always urged my friend to lend me theirs so that I could play this one game without knowing the outcome I will get by playing it- Fatal Frame. So as soon I got my own console, I straightly bought all the Fatal Frame's series (there are only total of three series for the PS2 console).

Some information about the series:

Fatal Frame (2001)
After having received no news for over a week, Miku Hinasaki goes into the Himuro Mansion to look for her missing brother, Mafuyu Hinasaki. She finds no trace of her brother, except for her mother's old camera that Mafuyu brought along with him. Realizing that she is now trapped within the mansion, Miku continues searching for her brother and a way out. The game was later ported to the Xbox. The Xbox version included smoother graphics, more costumes, more ghosts and an exclusive "Fatal Mode" that can be unlocked by completing the main game.

Storyline:
"I wonder how long it's been... since my brother and I... began to see things that other people couldn't see..."
―Miku Hinasaki

Nine days have passed since Mafuyu, brother of Miku Hinasaki, had disappeared. It all began about a month ago. The media reported that the famous novelist Junsei Takamine disappeared while gathering research for an upcoming novel. Mafuyu, an aspiring journalist, suspected that something was wrong. Why would his mentor simply vanish into thin air? Mafuyu decided to conduct a private search for his friend, with the investigation eventually leading to the grounds of a secluded mansion. The Himuro Mansion stands silent and imposing deep within the forest. It's said that years ago the mansion belonged to a powerful landowner who had absolute control over the area. But now it's a shadow of its former self, dilapidated and desolate...

As Mafuyu searched the mansion, he found scraps of paper left by Junsei and his staff throughout the mansion. The writings recounted a number of ominous events that happened in the mansion's dark past. Eager to find additional clues within the mansion, Mafuyu rushed in and suddenly realized that he wasn't alone...

Miku came to the Himuro mansion in search of her missing brother. But she had no idea what she was getting into...

- Opening description from the "Fatal Frame" Manual

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003)
Twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura are visiting a childhood play spot, when Mayu follows a mysterious crimson butterfly deep into the forest. Concerned for her twin, Mio follows Mayu and the two girls are led to a lost village. When they reach the village they enter an old house, where they find the Camera Obscura. Mio must uncover the mystery behind the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual whilst chasing her sister, who is becoming increasingly possessed by the evil spirit of Sae, the last girl to be sacrificed. Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2003, a Director's Cut edition was later released for the Xbox in 2004. The director's cut added several updates to the gameplay, such as a first-person play mode, a survival mode, a new ending, enhanced graphics, and a greater number of alternate costumes to unlock.

Storyline:
"Didn't we always promise each other... that we would always be together?"
―Mayu Amakura (to Mio Amakura)

Mio and Mayu, twin sisters, are visiting their childhood home. This spot, a secret hideaway for the pair, is due to be swallowed up by a lake come the end of the summer. Lost in her memories, Mio finally raises her head to find that Mayu has vanished. Looking around, Mio spots her sister following a crimson butterfly deep into the forest.

Mayu flees through the forest as if being led on by the fluttering insect. As she runs, her fleeting form begins to be overlaid with that of a woman dressed in white.

Chasing after her sister, Mio suddenly finds herself alone on a foggy mountain road.

Carried on by the wind, a sad song floats towards her ears. Then, she starts to see lights through the gaps in the trees.

As though accepting their unspoken invitation, Mio follows the road of festival lights.

However, when the dense forest opens into a clearing, it is Mayu who is standing there, alone, surrounded by countless crimson butterflies,

"...Mayu?"

Responding to Mio's call, Mayu slowly turns around. The crimson butterflies dance away as one,

"The Lost...Village..."

Spreading there before the twins, crouching in fog and darkness lies a mysterious village...

The vanished village, "All God's Village."

The village is said to have once stood in the forest, deep in the mountains. This forest is soon to be lost due to the creation of a new dam.

The story goes, that on the eve of a special festival, the village suddenly vanished, leaving the forest wreathed in thick fog.

Many also say that should you happen to get lost in this forest, you will be spirited away to the lost village.

The village where the crimson butterflies dance. The village held forever in the grip of a never-ending night.

- Opening description from the "Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly" Manual.

Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (2005)
Released only for the PlayStation 2, the game follows Rei Kurosawa, a 23 year old freelance photographer. While on a freelance assignment taking pictures of a supposedly haunted mansion, the image of her deceased fiance appears in a photograph. Afterwards, Rei begins having strange recurring dreams of an old Japanese manor during a heavy snowfall and observes her fiance entering the house. She follows his figure into the house, where the dream becomes a nightmare.

Storyline:
"I heard this house was haunted...too bad it's not."
―Rei Kurosawa (to Miku Hinasaki)

"Why did I survive?"
This thought has haunted Rei ever since that day... The day she lost her fiance in a car accident - while she was at the wheel.

One day, freelance photographer Rei Kurosawa receives an assignment to shoot pictures at an old Japanese manor. Rumor has it that the manor, situated deep in the mountains and miles from anywhere, is haunted.

During her work that day, Rei sees something inexplicable: her fiance. Yuu Asou. As far as she knows, he is dead. Setting off in pursuit of her dead lover, Rei finds herself wandering deeper and deeper into the ruins of the abandoned mansion.

At the end of a crumbling passageway she turns a corner, and suddenly the scene around her changes. Snow is falling heavily, and reaching out ahead of her are rows and rows of countless gravestones. The scene bears no resemblance to the abandoned house where she has been taking pictures.

"Where am I? What is this place...?"
Afraid and confused, Rei begins her search for Yuu...

- Opening description from the "Fatal Frame III: the Tormented" Manual.

Total story background and history:
Throughout the series, references are made to Kunihiko Aso, a fictitious Japanese "Occultist" that lived during the late nineteenth century. Using western technology, he developed inventions that would allow him and others to make contact with spirits in the "other world."

His inventions include the Camera Obscura, the primary weapon used to defend against ghosts throughout the series, the spirit stone radio, introduced in Fatal Frame II as a means to listen to the thoughts and memories of spirits that had been stored in special crystals, and a projector capable of displaying ghostly images captured on film that motion picture cameras could not see.

According to Fatal Frame III, Aso's various inventions were eventually scattered about Japan and are now heavily sought after by collectors. The Camera Obscura used by Miku in the first game had once belonged to her mother, and Mio finds a different Camera Obscura while exploring the lost village, whilst the camera used in Fatal Frame III was discovered in the ruins of the Kuze Shrine by Kei Amakura.

source: wiki

So, what's basically the game all about? It's a horror game, where you have to survive against ghosts using your camera (Camera Obscura)- the only weapon you have for the game. In order to kill those ghosts, you have to take picture of them. They'll get damage whenever you take a shot. Easy? You wish it's that easy. I did mentioned that camera is the only weapon for your survival right? Well that's not all. Same like a normal camera (not the digital camera), you have to make sure that you have enough film for those shot. And you can't just simply take the shot, else you will ended up wasting those film. Why? You have to make sure that you take the shot when the ghost is REALLY near from you- in the game's term, you need to do the Fatal Frame's shot. And that ghost is not that stupid to just stand still there, doing nothing except cutely posing around and let you take the shot. It moves, and yes they will surely KILL you without any doubt if you think that its harmless. To make it more frustrating, you starts off with a limited amount of film so you have to search everywhere for it. Worst, your analog controller will starts to vibrate like crazy when there is a scene involving ghost (it'll vibrates even wildly when it comes to a story scene).

Anyway, I'm currently playing Fatal Frame III now and I will ONLY play the game during daylight. I don't even dare trying to play the game at midnight, I think I would have surely pee inside my pants or I would have died if I have a heart attack. Funny? Take a look at the cinematic movie below, and if you don't feel a thing by watching it then try beat the game- or just simply play it *evil laugh*. If you beat the game all alone, without even feeling scared... congratulations, you just overcome your own greatest FEAR. As for me, I still turns on the light (even though it's during daylight) ,struggling to finish the game, and keep wishing myself good luck!

.....

*giggles*