Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
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| Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly | |
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| Developer(s) | Tecmo |
| Publisher(s) | Tecmo |
| Distributor(s) | EUR / AUS Ubisoft |
| Designer(s) | Keisuke Kikuchi |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Release date | JPN November, 2003 NA November 5, 2003 EUR April 29, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (17+) PEGI: 16+ |
| Media | DVD |
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, also known as Zero ~Akai Chō~ (零～紅い蝶～? lit. Zero ~crimson butterfly~) in Japan and Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly in Europe, is the second installment in the Fatal Frame series. Its theme song, "Chou" by Japanese artist Tsukiko Amano, is said to be of Sae's (and possibly Mayu's) point of view.
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[edit] Synopsis
- "Didn't we promise each other… that we would always be together?… Forever…"
Twin sisters Mio Amakura and Mayu Amakura are visiting a childhood play spot when Mayu, who walks with a perpetual limp after a childhood accident, follows a mysterious crimson butterfly deep into the woods. Mio, concerned for her twin, follows Mayu, and the two girls are led to a lost village. While curiously empty, the village appears to have been cursed by some past event. The curse appears to be related to a failed ritual of human sacrifice involving twins, where one twin sacrifices another. This ritual was supposed to keep the Hell Gate beneath the village closed. After one of the twins designated for the sacrifice flees the village, the remaining monks attempt to complete the ritual by hanging Yae's sister, but this instead opens the Hell Gate and releases the evil spirits held inside, who flood the village and kill everyone present.
As the Amakura twins investigate, they discover the Camera Obscura and are set upon by ghosts. Separated from her sister, Mio becomes determined to save Mayu and escape before they meet the same cursed fate as the village's former residents. Unfortunately, Mayu, the more spiritually aware of the twins, becomes possessed by the vengeful spirit of the last murdered shrine maiden, Sae, who tried and failed to escape with her twin sister and now seeks to complete the horrifying ritual through Mayu and Mio. The player plays as Mio, seeking to unravel the mystery of the cursed village and the ritual.
[edit] Endings
There are four potential endings for the game. Two of which appear when you complete the game on varying difficulties, one appears when playing the Director's Cut version of the game for the Xbox, and one is a pseudo-ending.
Good Ending (Hard or Nightmare difficulty):
Running to save her sister, Mio finds Mayu possessed and about to jump before finally taking her hand and looking down into the ditch where Mayu was about to jump. Words run through her head reminding her that she was to not look before finally seeing the corpses of the passed villagers and twins that were sacrificed. We see a silent shot, Mio covering her eyes and screaming before finally hearing Mio's voice. She tells you that she isn't sure how they got out, but in the end they were together. Mayu and Mio sitting on a bench, Mio's eyes covered with bandages for Mayu to tell her that it's her turn to take care of her now.
Normal Ending (Easy or Normal difficulty):
Finding Mayu in time, Mio looks to see the ghosts lining up in a circle as she goes to tug at Mayu. She tells her there's a way out and they can escape until feeling Mayu lay down. Mayu tells her there is no other way out but to finish the ritual, Mio's hands are placed on Mayu's neck and finally Mayu is dead. The ghosts pick Mayu up, throwing her into the ditch only for a single crimson butterfly to soar up, Mio chasing after it in tears. She says how sorry she is, before finally seeing Mayu is leading her to the gate. We then see bunches of butterflies, all from the past rituals before the final scene shows. Mio sits by herself, her neck showing as you see a single crimson butterfly on it.
Happy Ending (Xbox-exclusive ending):
Mio sees Mayu standing before the pit, possessed by Sae. As she runs towards her, the spirit of Yae emerges from her body and approaches Sae. The sisters forgive each other and promise that they will never be apart again, as they take each others' hands (causing their red sashes to join) and step towards the pit. Just before they fall in, Mio runs forward and grabs Mayu from Sae's possession and Yae and Sae fade into the darkness, their sash becoming the silhouette of a butterfly. As Mio and Mayu sit on the edge of the pit, they are surrounded by crimson butterflies, and the voice of Sae thanks them. All around the village, the ghosts watch peacefully as the butterflies fly above them; we see Miyako finally together with her lover Misumi and the twin boys with their little sister. As they watch, Mio expresses her regret that she was not able to help Mayu when she had her accident, but Mayu reminds her that since that day they have never been apart. Mio promises never to let go of Mayu again, as the dawn finally comes back to the village.
Bad Ending (choose to escape in Final Chapter: Crimson Butterfly without Mayu):
Mio says "I'm sorry. I can't keep our promise," before escaping the village without Mayu using the underground passage under the shrine. Partway through the passage, Mio hears the voice of Sae calling to her, "Are you leaving me again?", and then Mayu's voice saying, "Mio, didn't we promise to be together always?" Mio turns back to see Sae charging after her. The screen goes blank, and then the next thing the viewer sees is Mio sitting alone on the bench (from the other endings), calling out for Mayu repeatedly. This ending results in a Game Over screen, rather than a credits and game ranking screen.
Change in meaning:
With the death of Mayu, you see the deaths of each twin to be one single butterfly. Each twin is flying away showing that Mio is chasing after her sister, thus why the butterfly at the end is on Mio's neck. Mayu is with her.
With the life of Mayu we see the butterfly to mean the joining of two twins in death. You can thus see the majority of deaths that occurred as a whole in beauty and shock. The meaning thus changed for each twin to be a wing in a butterfly than a single one. Showing that Mio and Mayu are meant to be together, forming their own "butterfly" alive.
[edit] Reception
The game's aesthetic presentation was highly praised by both critics and fans alike. As the name would suggest, the dominant colour for the game was a brilliant red, creating a very bold and striking contrast in comparison to much of the game's shadowed and nocturnal settings. The title was ranked #2 in Gametrailers' "Top Ten Scariest Games" in 2006[1], and #3 in X-Play's "Top Ten Scariest Games of All Time" along with Resident Evil 4.[2] Game Informer ranked it number one on a similar list.[3]
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 in 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.
The game visits two minor characters who were in the first game, Ryozo and Yae Kurosawa. The main characters have visions of these two characters before their demise in Himuro Mansion. Upon the game's release, there was a dispute about this title being a prequel set 30 years prior to the events in the original. Actually, the Amakura twins stumble upon this village a year and a half[4] after the events of the original Fatal Frame, essentially meaning that the game itself took place in 1988, but the village was stuck in time. In effect, the game is both a prequel and a sequel.
[edit] References
- ^ 'GameTrailers' Top Ten Scariest Games.
- ^ 'X-Play' Top 10 Scariest Games.
- ^ “the top 10 scariest moments in gaming,” Game Informer 174 (October 2007): 36.
- ^ Beyond The Camera's Lens
[edit] External links
- Official website for Japan release version (PS2) (Japanese)
- Official website for Japan release version (Xbox) (Japanese)
- Official website for USA release version (English)
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