Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is just as good as the three previous PS2 games in the series. I know that when word got out that Nintendo was not going to release this game in US/UK/AUS territories - and indeed, not allow Tecmo to publish it on their own - the game had to endure some well-intentioned guff that the game must suck. Like, it wasn't up to Nintendo's standards. Bad controls were mentioned. A glitchy Ghost List was brought up.
Aside from the non-intuitive flashlight (the Remote only points the light up and down; you must use the analog stick for right-left), I saw no control issues. As for the Ghost List, I'm sure that could have been fixed as the game went into final prep for worldwide release. I'd love to know the real reason Nintendo squashed it. It must be money related. Given that Nintendo has put out quite a lot of warmed-over rehashes for the Wii, from Animal Crossing to New Super Mario Bros Wii to the New Play Control series, I don't think they're overly concerned about a first-party game looking and feeling last-gen. (Which, although the graphics in FF4 are very nice overall, the menus and inky textures are very PS2.)
Nintendo gave us the no-frills, unloved Endless Ocean for $30, a month before Smash Bros came out. I think they could have floated a slightly creaky and brilliantly creepy horror game. Especially one with such a unique hook... I mean, this isn't just some kind of lame Resident Evil pretender. This isn't like how nobody bought The Conduit because the kind of people who would have liked The Conduit are pretty much only buying those types of games on the 360/PS3. No one would accuse Fatal Frame on Wii of being the lesser RE.
To the point about horror content, I found FF4 less disturbing that the previous games. Across the three PS2 titles, we've had the Blinding Mask, twins strangling each other, people staked to the ground... and lots of ghosts of dead children. None of this is explicitly gory. In the Hitchcock tradition, these sorts of things are mostly handled offscreen. Or with aftermath hints (like Sae's bloody kimono in FF2) rather than direct displays of violence. Which, of course, is why Fatal Frame is such effective horror.
Fatal Frame 4, while it trades in the same themes and setup as the ancestor games, opts for mental delirium and psychic hoodoo rather than overt violence.
Although I find it difficult to rank my four precious Fatal Frame games, I think I'd place #4 above #3, on par with #1 (for story, not for gameplay... #1 had some design flaws that were fixed for successive games). But not as good as #2. I don't imagine any game could best Crimson Butterfly.
Speaking of ranking, here's mine (some end-of-game spoilers follow, but nothing pertaining to the story):
D! Man, I hate that. I nailed over half of the Ghost List (most of the remainder you can't get on the first playthrough anyway) and 51 out of 79 hozuki dolls! And because I love the game so damn much, I took my time and enjoyed 13 hours 22 minutes of it... which I assume punishes my score because I took too long. Oh well, at least the rank means nothing, unlockiwise.
Funny story about the hozuki. They're little dolls hidden throughout the game, and you have to take pictures of them as an optional collectible series. At first you just have to spot them Where's Waldo-style, but eventually you receive a camera upgrade that makes chime noises when you are near one.
As I was entering the game's finale, I was at 49 dolls. I tramped through the last part hoping against hope that I would find doll #50. Because 50 sounds like a great number, right? How crappy would it have been to make it through the entire game and only miss one solitary doll?
Finally I found my fiftieth doll. I was sure that was the last one and I was proud for having caught them all. Then I entered the big boss confrontation and found another doll! 51?!? Uh-oh. After the credits rolled I saw the screen that revealed 79 total dolls. 79?!?!? What kind of stupid number is 79? Maybe that's what Nintendo hated.
Here's the crazy list of items unlocked after my first playthrough:
All of that stuff (except for Mission Mode and Hard Mode) has to be purchased with in-game points. I found one of my unlocked costumes particularly appealing...
That one will make this the best ever version of Luigi's Mansion.
It goes without saying that I am incredibly happy to have played this game. Worth every penny to import. I'm positively thankful for it, especially knowing that it rides on the backs of a group of devoted fans who churned some serious alchemy to make it happen. I'm still boggled by what they did.
Given my penchant for pessimism, the corporate support failure of Fatal Frame 4 makes me think the franchise is over. On the other hand, who would have predicted we'd get four games in this series in the first place.
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