Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water Reviews
Although the story and combat mechanics shine in Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water, the predictability of this game means that this horror title, in a short time, loses any kind of impact on the player. The new features that the remastering introduces do nothing to mitigate this problem, as they do not influence the gameplay itself. What's more, this version is marred by performance issues that severely tarnish the experience, especially in TV mode.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Project Zero (Fatal Frame): Maiden of Black Water is a remarkable horror game that earns points for the atmosphere, the setting, the history of the place and the player's main weapon
Review in Greek | Read full review
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water brings back a game from seven years ago under the shape of a remaster with additional content. This survival horror brings its fair share of fear-inspiring tense moments, as well as intertwined character stories and very good level design that encourages players to explore. Its control system needs to be tweaked, though, as the actions should be better mapped, but while there are occasional performance issues, this is an overall great work, and one that deserves its place in the Nintendo Switch.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Fatal Frame: The Maiden of Black Water is a weird choice for a remaster. A lot of it has not aged well, specifically its story and characters, and it also remains to be a middling-at-best example of the series. With subtle but important connections to the other games in the Fatal Frame series, it’s strange Koei Tecmo decided to remaster this one. Hopefully this leads to either a new Fatal Frame or more re-releases of the other stronger titles in the series, like Fatal Frame 2: Broken Butterfly.
Possessing a very unique atmosphere, Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is a classic example of the application of many of the characteristic elements of Japanese horror by blending psychological horror with supernatural and folkloric elements while following a structure of increasing tension. Although it is possible to recommend it from a game's point of view, it demonstrates much more value from the perspective of a representative product of this very different genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is an old-fashioned horror title capable of delivering many thrills thanks to a well-written storyline, anxiety-inducing atmosphere and unique gameplay, provided, however, you can turn a blind eye to the problems related to controls, the little care taken in graphics improvements and the lack of localization for several western languages.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water follows multiple protagonists trying to solve a mystery that intertwines with one another. During these investigations, they encounter supernatural elements and to battle them, a camera is used to deal various amounts of damage to “kill” the ghosts. Upgrades to the camera are gained that can cause faster film reloading or film that does more damage at expense of slower reload speed.
Koei Tecmo put in the effort to modernise Fatal Frame, and it shows. Not only have they ditched fixed camera angles, but combat has also been revamped to make ghost-hunting more fluid. While I miss the less-linear exploration, I know some players would greatly appreciate the guided episodic format.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water reminded me why I love this series so much. It has its flaws, but they are minor compared to what the title does really well. There is a genuine sense of creepiness that permeates almost all of the game, and those brief times of respite help to build up the interesting story at the heart of the game. Horror fans will want to give this a go. Meanwhile, I will impatiently await my remake of the original trilogy.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is quite chilling, but don't expect it to meet the graphic standards of today.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
At the end of the day, Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is a solid effort despite its flaws.
Fatal Frame was once a one-of-a-kind option in the realm of survival horror games, but that has long since gone. Maiden of Black Water is a modernized version that prioritizes graphics above quality and suffers as a result. It takes a lot more than a basic clean-up to make it work, but there's no denying it can be entertaining under the proper conditions.
Technical issues aside, I had a good time playing Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. It’s comforting to see the effort that Koei Tecmo put in to make this otherwise practically impossible to get game to a much wider audience, considering that used copies can go for hundreds of dollars online due to the limited nature of its original release. If you have yet to try one of these games, this new release makes Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water the most easily accessible of the bunch and worth giving a shot.
I have some mixed feelings. On the one hand, I adore Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water for its deeply old-fashioned control scheme and clunky gameplay. I love the rough-around-the-edges graphics that speak of a time that was slightly browner. I love the darkness of the storyline and the bleak personalities of the unfortunate characters. I love all these things, but my heart also longs for an improved version that controls better, looks better and sounds better. Maybe a new game in the series will take care of this longing, but until then we still have a very decent horror game that is well worth a stab.
There are bits and pieces that are cool or interesting, and others that are either duds or just too awkward to pass off as decent storytelling.
For those seeking a new horror franchise to dive into Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water will give that uneasy feeling of danger fans crave from horror titles.
Ultimately Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water ends up being a boring slog more often than a tense horror experience. The remaster will likely be welcomed by fans of the series, especially those that never had a Wii U to check out the original. However, any future Fatal Frame titles will have to evolve to feel at home in modern times.
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is just what horror games need right now. Zombies are such an oversaturated idea and they are everywhere. So it is nice to have something truly scary in a paranormal survival horror. It is a great game to introduce new fans to the series who possibly weren’t even born when it came out. Though controls are a bit finicky, it is very unique and stands out well in a slew of subpar horrors that rarely even raise a whimper, let alone have you losing sleep at night. The drab setting, story, lore, and atmosphere created would fit snuggly amongst other J-horror media. With jump scares here and there, it’s the subtle ones that got to me. What you think you saw, you did not see…or did you? If it raises my heart rate a little, that’s a good thing because horror doesn’t usually get to me. A job well done! Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water gets a Thumb Culture Platinum Award from me!
If you love horror, especially of the supernatural variety, you owe Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water the chance to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is a fine introduction to a series most will have passed by over the years, though doesn't quite land the Fatal Frame it could have. It's still a worthy addition to any horror fan's collection and it's great to see the series being more available than ever.