Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water Reviews
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is a welcome remaster and it's great to see this game reach the wider audience it deserves. I'd definitely recommend picking this up if you're a series fan, or are interested in what makes it so unique, but it shows its ages and loses some of what made it such a good fit for the Wii U. Whilst by no means a damp squib, this remaster doesn't quite get you soaked with excitement.
Using the GamePad as if it were the Camera Obscura we liked a lot, although it is better used in Off-TV mode. Otherwise it does not bring novelties to the saga, but perfects the formula to offer a worthy delivery. Too bad it arrives in English.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is a survival horror with the right atmosphere. Unfortunately, it fails to enhance the Wii U GamePad.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is a welcome remaster and it's great to see this game reach the wider audience it deserves. I'd definitely recommend picking this up if you're a series fan, or are interested in what makes it so unique, but it shows its ages and loses some of what made it such a good fit for the Wii U. Whilst by no means a damp squib, this remaster doesn't quite get you soaked with excitement.
The Survival Horror of Koei Teco Games leaves Wii U to stay on the rest of the platforms and make us live an unforgettable experience. It's not an experience for all audiences, but it's perfect for lovers of Japanese horror and the world of photography. Although it can become complex, the pace of adaptation becomes fluid.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
This is all speculation on my part, but Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water comes off like a game that had some incredible artists with cool ideas for this setting and the Wii U tablet, but they couldn’t quite figure out a cohesive story to tell. To make matters worse, I get the impression they also didn’t want to scare away newcomers on a new system and toned the scare factor right down.
It keeps the charm of the franchise while offering some interesting moments, but it can't hide the fact that graphics and some gameplay elements are outdated. If you are looking for a plain and simple survival horror experience, you will probable be satisfied with this one.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Another wasted survival horror sequel, that ruins its chance to make proper use of the GamePad and turns fear of the unknown into fear of the same old thing.
Those looking for a spooky adventure for Halloween can certainly find one in Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water. Taking photos of ghosts while trying to keep dry is enthralling, while Mount Hikami's forests and shrines are among some of the spookiest locales in the franchise. Once you have gotten used to the mechanics though, it's far too easy to just plough through the game and the characters themselves are almost as vacant as… well ghosts! An enjoyable treat at least, but not enough tricks.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is old-school survival horror. While the story can be convoluted and the controls make navigation harder than it should be, it's dark take on death and atmosphere make it a ghost hunt worth taking.
If this what Fatal Frame is now, I don't want it anymore.
Instead of the in-your-face outright scare without substance, Maiden of Black Water goes for a sense of dread paired with an insatiable curiosity to know what happened next. It's a welcome re-introduction to the franchise in the West, a hit for the Wii U, which is still trying to prove it can appeal to "Mature" gamers. It will make you wonder just what was that sound down your dark hallway at 3am, and just when did your bathroom faucet start leaking?
It's unfortunate that Koei Temco has no intention of remaking or remastering the Fatal Frame series from the beginning. This slightly upscaled and modified port from Nintendo Wii U to current gen platforms puts forth a subpar experience that doesn't sell me on the series. It seemed to just be the most convenient installment to make available for the 20th anniversary and it shows. If you're like me and Maiden of Black Water is your first Fatal Frame game, I recommend you keep those expectations low.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water is a game that horror fans will want to love, but will end up causing frustration due to broken controls and an annoying mission structure. The scares are still there though, if you can forgive the other mistakes.
It commits perhaps the worst sin a horror game – or indeed any game – could commit. It is boring. Once you've made the audience yawn, you've lost your ability to frighten them forever.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water suffers from some dated design decisions and redundancies in level design, but the unique combat and evocative environments make this a worthwhile adventure for horror fans.
The latest Project Zero horror has a bleak and affecting story, but is let down by dull combat and awkward level design.
While I have a lot of issues with the core game I am happy to see the series return. I really want to see the original trilogy get an update it deserves. Would love to play those games again as they are genuinely some of the creepiest games I have ever played, and not for the wrong reasons. Maiden of Black Water just feels like something thrown together to gauge interest in the series return. I wanted to love it, I forced myself to finish it, but I just want the series to return to its roots.
A camera of the omnipresent hell, a slow pace, an absent fear, this episode can only really count on its atmosphere, when it is not spoiled by the back and forth and the repetition of the environments, but even it will surely not be enough to make you crack.
Review in French | Read full review
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water would be improved with a tighter pace, quicker battles, and more clarity when it comes to objectives in missions. As it stands, the game is often frustrating on both a gameplay and a technical level, but more importantly, it fails as a horror game, as its reuse of the same handful of scares quickly grows tiresome, with attempts to build tension falling flat.