|
by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/22/2026, 10:08pm PDT |
|
 |
|
 |
|
95. Fatal Frame
Creator: Tecmo
Genre: Survival Horror
Year: 2001
Platforms: PS2 (I played this on a PS3 through their very janky PS3 store, that lets you buy PS2 games and play them on your PS3)
Mobygames link
Available through: I grabbed the .iso from Internet Archive and I used the PCSX2 emulator, but also as noted above, I played it on a PS3.
A remake for the sequel was just published through Steam.
I got to this series of games very, very late - I started playing Fatal Frame games in 2025. I would have bounced off tank controls earlier, but I have accepted them as an adult. (I also had some kind of vision or brain change where maybe 5 years ago I went from someone that needed controls inverted in all first person games to not needing them, but still needing them for flight sims. This has nothing to do with Fatal Frame, but I wish I knew what happened to me.)
Using a camera as your weapon in this game is brilliant, it's "non-violent," except you are trying to destroy the ghosts and they are trying to drain your health. Like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, the game has a save system that is integrated into the environment. I usually don't care for these, but the emulators offer save states, so I have gone back and forth between the real thing and being able to quit and return at any time.
The Ring, the American version, was released to theaters in 2002. I loved it. Fatal Frame offers the same kind of bleached out, transparent, extra creepy - forgive my ignorance, I don't know what else to call it - Japanese Ghost Art Direction - that I also enjoyed in P.T. I think "discovering" Fatal Frame almost 25 years after it was first created matched an interest in photography that I had developed in that gap of time. When my friend The Milker was alive, he let me go into his haunted house business that he ran and practice photography. Years later, Fatal Frame is kind of is the same thing.
The picture below I want to inline because I believe it justifies the tank controls and different camera perspectives. You can't really get this view of an old guy (ghost?) looking down over you, with the ability to move, except for these different angles that we got with Resident Evil and (I think) Fear Effect and Fatal Frame.
And then lastly, I tried to take a screenshot of our first fight:
That still picture doesn't do the ghost justice. It's unsettling. (And look at that palette! That took balls.) There is something just as primal and satisfying about shooting with the Camera Obscura, I would give it the same "oomph" feeling you get from the Doom shotgun or Duke 3D rocket launcher. Maybe it is because I did not think it would "work." I've been on plenty of shoots, I can't even make anyone cry, much less vapirize. I thought it would be a slog to "kill" a ghost with a camera, but no, it's awesome. The ghost takes its damage and staggers and disintegrates. That first fight is as difficult as it needs to be and not a touch harder. At this point, I am invested in this entire cursed family and their ability to disappear when they keep investigating haunted houses.
I see that some people think the second one (Crimson Butterfly) is better but the original Fatal Frame was just so different when I played it, it's tough for a sequel to top it because so much of Fatal Frame was new to me. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All-Time NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/16/2026, 10:56pm PDT 
Re: The 100 Greatest Video Games of All-Time by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/16/2026, 11:27pm PDT
Finally the definitive, objectively true, list NT by E. L. Koba 06/18/2026, 2:56pm PDT
My middle name was going to be "Objective" before by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/18/2026, 5:30pm PDT
In an alternate universe with a different phonetic alphabet... by Entropy Stew 06/23/2026, 12:29am PDT
100. Scorched Earth (1991, DOS) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/16/2026, 11:28pm PDT
I loved this one as a kid. There was a Mac version which was pretty good. by blackwater 06/20/2026, 3:11pm PDT
Re: I loved this one as a kid. There was a Mac version which was pretty good. by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/22/2026, 10:06am PDT
I was playing this shit on a Commodore in like second or third grade before that by Entropy Stew 06/23/2026, 12:35am PDT
99. Mine Storm (1982, Vectrex) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/17/2026, 10:26am PDT
Yeah, no emulator gets that iconic vector look right. by Mischief Maker 06/17/2026, 1:04pm PDT
It will appear later in the list! by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/17/2026, 1:30pm PDT
98. NASCAR Racing 4 (2001, Windows 98) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/17/2026, 11:20pm PDT
A phenomenal choice. by pinback 06/18/2026, 5:46am PDT
Puppygames made a version of that: by Mischief Maker 06/18/2026, 5:59pm PDT
Dammit! That was supposed to be a reply to the paradroid post. NT by Mischief Maker 06/18/2026, 6:00pm PDT
Oi! by Jerry Whorebach 06/30/2026, 1:13pm PDT
A dream! What a week for dreamers ;) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/02/2026, 10:26am PDT
Best played via wide screen NT by Lonnie 07/02/2026, 10:54am PDT
Driving shitboxes is my favorite part of racing games! by E. L. Koba 07/02/2026, 2:33pm PDT
This week's free Epic Games Store game is I Have No Mouth and I Can't Scream by Jerry Whorebach 07/02/2026, 6:32pm PDT
Re: This week's free Epic Games Store game is I Have No Mouth and I Can't Scream by Mysterio 07/02/2026, 9:01pm PDT
Gah! That was me again. NT by Mischief Mysterio 07/02/2026, 9:02pm PDT
I knew it was you. by Jerry Whorebach 07/03/2026, 2:45pm PDT
Jerry is an expert on compliant asian women NT by Houseboat moored in Angeles City 07/03/2026, 7:08am PDT
I saw the box before I knew what Ellison looked like in real life NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/06/2026, 11:53am PDT
97. Paradroid (1985, Commodore 64) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/18/2026, 5:29pm PDT
96. The Legend of Zelda (1986, NES) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/19/2026, 9:07pm PDT
Did any other games get the gold cartridge treatment? NT by Mischief Maker 06/20/2026, 1:06pm PDT
Z2 NT by judgement day 06/20/2026, 1:35pm PDT
Action 52? NT by hehehe 06/20/2026, 9:29pm PDT
95. Fatal Frame (2001, Playstation 2) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/22/2026, 10:08pm PDT
94. Metal Slug (1996, Neo-Geo) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/26/2026, 8:09am PDT
93. Rocket Jockey (1996, Windows 95) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/26/2026, 9:09pm PDT
92. Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi (2003, Arcade) by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/30/2026, 9:34am PDT
You should probably mention Ketsui's gimmick: by Mischief Maker 06/30/2026, 11:41am PDT
A cruel gimmick. Toying with them first! NT by Dan Flashes Boss 06/30/2026, 3:24pm PDT
91. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995, Arcade) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/02/2026, 12:03pm PDT
Enter the Ultimate Kombat Kode by Noob Saibot 07/04/2026, 2:39am PDT
canned combos + run button NT by suked 07/04/2026, 2:59pm PDT
Where can I listen to music that sounds like the MK3 soundtrack? Is it a genre? by Lobo 07/10/2026, 1:46am PDT
Good question by Noob Saibot 07/11/2026, 2:38pm PDT
Thank you. by Lobo 07/29/2026, 10:20am PDT
Re: Good question by Gary 07/29/2026, 11:36am PDT
Re: The 100 Greatest Video Games of All-Time by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/06/2026, 10:13am PDT
Re: The 100 Greatest Video Games of All-Time by pinback 07/06/2026, 3:48pm PDT
90. Paperboy (1985, Arcade) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/06/2026, 9:12pm PDT
Do you just find these on Craigslist? NT by Yaris 07/07/2026, 12:27pm PDT
Re: Do you just find these on Craigslist? by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/07/2026, 9:15pm PDT
This was one of the greats, I agree. by blackwater 07/07/2026, 4:16pm PDT
89. Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars (1996, DOS/Windows 95/Mac) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/09/2026, 8:52am PDT
How many spots above this is HoMM3 then? NT by the obvious question 07/09/2026, 8:19pm PDT
Well. Shit. NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/09/2026, 8:57pm PDT
Five second rule! He can still change it if it happens before NT by the next entry! 07/11/2026, 5:39am PDT
There are people who stick by HOMM2 over 3. Especially the music. NT by MM 07/11/2026, 5:55am PDT
HoMM2 is the one I played when it came out, but, regarding franchises by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/11/2026, 9:11am PDT
88. Links LS (1996, DOS) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/13/2026, 8:51pm PDT
87. Devil Daggers (2016, Windows 10) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/13/2026, 9:12pm PDT
86. Counterfeit Monkey (2012, Inform 7) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/21/2026, 9:13pm PDT
I know Jonsey mentioned the numerous interpreters available by But I play on Chromebook or phon 07/22/2026, 10:06pm PDT
This is great, thank you NT by Mysterio 07/23/2026, 9:27am PDT
You too?? NT by Lonnie 07/25/2026, 8:21pm PDT
Ha, no this is ongoing by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/26/2026, 11:26am PDT
85. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Windows 10 / Playstation 4 / Xbox One) by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/28/2026, 11:16am PDT
Re:What is your historical "importance" score weight for this list? NT by PC Gamer 07/29/2026, 2:30pm PDT
84. Rollercoaster Tycoon (1999, Windows 98) by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/05/2026, 6:28am PDT
|
|
