As an avid horror fan since childhood, one could say that my entire life has been lived in terror! Everything horror-related available I immediately devoured, be it a movie, book, game, whatever. As a result, I developed a “hard skin” that has made it difficult to impress, much less scare me. And, yes, there have been impressive horror games like Silent Hill, Kuon or the absolutely brilliant adventure Darkfall. But only one game managed to pierce this hard skin and creep its way into my brain, making my skin crawl and my heart pound: Fatal Frame 2. That experience convinced me that this horror masterpiece could only ever be surpassed by a new series installment and Tecmo didn’t let this wish go unfulfilled, for Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented imparts a whole new age of sheer terror.

Rei Kurosawa recently lost her fiancé, Yuu Asou, in a car accident. As the driver she blames herself for the death of her beloved and now confines herself in her apartment, leaving only to work as a freelance photographer. Her assistant, Miku Hinasaki, who lives in the same apartment, has taken over everything that has to do with dealing with other people. Their latest assignment is a supposedly haunted mansion where Rei and Miku are to take pictures of anything that could prove interesting. Never could Rei have imagined though that this assignment would change her life forever.

While taking a couple of final shots, Rei suddenly sees Yuu standing motionless before her camera. Was it a vision? He looked so lifelike. It can’t be, he is dead. Should she follow him to make sure? Miku snaps her out her trance, but it’s too late. Events have been set into motion and that very same night Rei will be subjected to the recurring dream of The Manor of Sleep, the place where one goes to see their deceased loved ones when they believe that they too should have died. Upon awakening from these dreams a tattoo begins to spread Rei’s body, growing bigger every time she dreams. It is said that the deeper you follow your loved ones into the manor, the bigger the tattoo will grow, and eventually you will get lost in the manor and disappear from the real world forever.

FF3 is actually a sequel to both FF1 and FF2. It blends the stories of both games along with Japanese folklore and the Manor of Sleep, creating a world of total fear and sadness. The story revolves around the urban legend of the Manor of Sleep and the guilt someone feels when they survive an accident that was fatal for their loved ones - the thoughts that torment someone’s mind and soul forever, that they shouldn’t be alive and the guilt that they survived. In the Manor of Sleep you can find your loved ones and tell them how you feel, but they will make you follow them and the pain is so great that you must follow, never to return again.

For those who felt the name rings some faint bells, Miku Hinasaki is the same Miku from FF1. A new character, but not a new name, also makes his appearance: Kei Amakura. Yes, Amakura, as in Mio and Mayu Amakura of FF2 fame. Through Rei’s dreams, both Miku and Kei will visit the Manor of Sleep, in search for their loved ones – Miku’s lost brother and Kei’s lost sisters. All three characters play a major role in the game, and each becomes playable at certain points in the game. The game is divided in 14 “hours”, each “hour” taking place in the manor during Rei’s dreams.

The game is played mainly in the manor, but there are events taking place in Rei’s apartment. Rei will talk to Miku and, later, Kei and try to put together pieces of information to figure out what the secret behind the manor is. While in the apartment, Rei will be able to go to sleep if it’s nighttime and she will get transferred to the manor. In the manor there are doors that act as exit doors, from where Rei can awaken from her sleep and find herself back in her apartment. The only way for the game to progress though is awakening from certain events, which will trigger new events in the apartment and the advance of the “hours”.

While in the manor, Rei, Miku and Kei will realize they are not alone. The ghosts of the lost and the tormented roam the manor, and while some are friendly, most of them are vengeful and mean harm. Their weapon against the vengeful ghosts is not a shotgun or a grenade launcher – how could those hurt a ghost anyway? Their weapon is a camera, but not just any regular camera. It is the Camera Obscura, a camera created to capture anything that is not of this world. The camera has a filament, which will light up every time a ghost is near. If the ghost is friendly, the filament will light blue. Capturing a friendly ghost will give you points and maybe hints. If the filament lights red, it means a vengeful ghost is around, and a fight will commence.

Using the camera’s exorcizing powers is the way to get rid of the hostile ghosts. The game will switch to 1st person, through the camera’s viewfinder, when trying to capture a ghost. Each capture of a ghost within the range of the camera will cause the ghost to lose health points and will award you points. When the ghosts are close and about to attack, they open themselves to a Shutter Chance, and, if timed correctly, a Fatal Frame shot. A Fatal Frame shot will do great damage, especially if the camera is equipped with powerful upgrades, and even kill the weaker ghosts at once. It will also give a lot of points, so the best strategy while fighting is to look for as many Fatal Frames as possible by waiting for the ghost to attack, instead of capturing it from afar.

Some vengeful ghosts will leave important items behind after being killed. But some fighting can be avoided, especially if it’s recurring ghosts in the same rooms. Staying to fight though will result in gaining points. The points are very useful and are used to upgrade the camera’s strength and its features. Other upgrades can also be found lying around, that will give the camera unique features, like slowing the ghosts down, doing double damage etc. Each character also has their own special moves, which can be used against the vengeful ghosts. Rei has a flash that will repel ghosts, Miku has the ability to slow down ghosts and also to perform a double shot, while Kei has the ability to, erm, hide! Ok, not a very gallant ability, but it can prove useful.

The level of difficulty varies according to what has been chosen when starting the game. On easy level the ghosts do not provide much challenge, while on hard they are very fast and hard to capture. What annoyed me during some of the fights was that certain ghosts teleport a lot. So much, that I have had fights that seemed to last forever, only because the ghost wouldn’t stay on the screen for any amount of time. Those fights proved to be very frustrating, but thankfully they are very few and far between.

Besides dealing with friendly and hostile ghosts, careful exploration of the manor is essential for the story to progress. Among the things that can be found are films, health items, projector reels and books and manuscripts. The films come in different types, some having weak and some very strong exorcizing power, inflicting bigger amount of damage on ghosts. A good Fatal Frame using a type Zero film (the strongest type available) could inflict a vast amount of damage, and is ideal against the strongest ghosts. Saving the Zero film for the final boss is of course the best course of action. A final boss that is hands down the greatest boss fight I have ever had in my survival horror gaming life!

Rei’s apartment comes into play when Rei is awake. There she can ask Miku for help, find more books and info, especially in Yuu’s room, check her mail, which some times may be very interesting, and develop films, since some times a picture taken in the manor will not show up right away. And although Rei’s apartment is her haven from the nightmares in the Manor of Sleep, the line between dream and reality will begin to blur, resulting in… but I’ll leave that for you to discover!

The puzzles are limited to some key finding and a couple of more elaborate locks that proved very easy to work through. To be honest, I would normally feel very disappointed by this lack of puzzles, but the game redeems itself by the depth of its story, its amazingly eerie atmosphere and the fact that it doesn’t raise the amount of action to “action game levels”, which seems to be the latest trend in survival horror. FF3 is a game to experience, not to just play! It progresses slowly allowing the opportunity to savor every moment and sink you deeper and deeper into its terrifying and sorrowful world. Its haunting atmosphere needs to be experienced to be believed, and a dark room and good headphones are a must in order to get the fullest out of what this game has to offer. If you can handle it that is!

If you are after a “boo, the zombie jumped out of the closet” or “bang, the mutant’s head exploded into thousands of gory pieces” game then skip FF3. Fatal Frame 3 is horror at its best, minus any cheap scares. It does an outstanding job of creeping you out while spinning a deep and distressing story that will get under your skin. Fatal Frame 3 is art; a horror masterpiece that redefines survival horror gaming in platinum letters. If you are a horror aficionado then do not miss this game at any cost, even if the price is an eternity of wandering the Manor of Sleep!

Final Grade: A+
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