Photography 201: Advanced Decomposition. Let's Play Fatal Frame!

IMAGE RELOCATION FROM PHOTOBUCKET TO IMGUR IN PROGRESS... PLEASE STANDBY

PROGRESS:
Part 0 - DONE
Part 1 - ABOUT HALF DONE
Part 2 -
Part 3
Part 4



Happy October!

As a former nightmare-prone kid with a ridiculously overactive imagination, I have never really gotten into the horror genre. That’s kind of an understatement. Growing up, I wouldn’t go into the basement alone for anything less than a parental order. Staticky TVs filled me with dread. Hell, I refused to watch The Munsters because I thought the characters looked scary. So what made me pick up the ghost-covered PS2 box at Blockbuster that one time? I have no freaking idea, but by the end of the intro I was thoroughly hooked. Somehow Fatal Frame actually managed to simultaneously scare me silly and convince me that this was actually a fun thing. Just don’t ask me to play it with the lights out.



So, yeah. Title screen. Oh, hey, it’s “BASED ON A TRUE STORY”! That’s keen. I will find out more about this TRUE STORY by asking the Internets!

Wow! That’s incredible! Seriously. I can’t credit it, and neither should anyone else. The closest Fatal Frame’s story comes to reality is that it was pieced together from some actual urban legends and myths about haunted houses – “actual” in the sense that the folk talks really exist, not that they happened. The “Himuro” name was invented for the game, as were the set designs. In fact, the TRUE STORY tagline didn’t appear anywhere on the Japanese release, and was only added to lend marketability to the title in foreign markets. But, I suppose if you really want to believe in the Himuro Mansion with all of your heart… what the hell is wrong with you?

Anyway, on with the game! The introduction takes place in flashback, represented here in grainy black and white.

Miku: I wonder how long it’s been since my brother and I began to see things other people can’t see…



My big brother, he was so sweet and kind.





He was the only one I could open up to about these visions. After our mother died, he was my only family.







In this set of images there should be a screenshot showing that Miku’s brother is carrying an old fashioned camera. Sadly, even though I played through this scene six or seven times, I couldn’t get a recognizable capture of the damn thing. Maybe the camera won’t allow itself to be photographed?

Also, sorry about the window headers on the screenshots. I didn’t notice that Snagit captured them until after I’d uploaded everything to Photobucket. Given a choice between cropping 100+ images and actually getting something posted this weekend, I opted for the latter.

Brother: So this is Himuro Mansion.

Miku and brother-guy talk in a slow, artificially spooky cadence, like they know they’re in a ghost story. It’s clearly an artistic choice, but I don’t like the unnaturalness of it.







Miku: My brother was in search of someone. Junsei Takamine, a famous novelist and a man my brother was very indebted to, disappeared while researching a book.









When he told me that he got a lead on Mr. Takamine’s whereabouts…

I felt uneasy, like he was going far away.











With that, we’ve got control. Brother’s got more to say, though:

Brother: The forbidden rituals of this area… It looks like Mr. Takamine was doing research into them. I wonder if his group is still here.

None of the speech in this game is subtitled, at least in the original PS2 release. The voice actors are clear enough, but it does mean that you really can’t play with the sound off.



We begin in the entrance hall. The mansion is badly preserved. You don’t have to worry about falling into the great big hole in the floor; it’s a navigational hazard, not a trap.

Hey, what’s over there to the right? Something’s on the wall, and there’s a shiny thing on the floor.











What a coincidence that this place has the same kind of film that our antique camera uses! This will come in handy when Brother wants to put together a vacation slide show of the time he went to look for his missing boss. And it came with a free tutorial! The tutorials in this game are all similar to this one: three to four pages of manual-style dialogue boxes that explain basic functions. There aren’t very many, and they’re not really intrusive. If you ever forget how to do something, you can review them via the menu, which I’ll get into later.

Let’s explore around the room. Heading back to the front door where we entered, and… hmm… The camera indicator just started glowing blue!

Approaching the lattice automatically causes the camera to change perspective, giving us a better view of what’s inside. It does not look at all suspicious!



But the camera reacted, so maybe we should take a closer look. Using the camera viewfinder puts us into a first-person perspective. The indicator – the “filament” – is now at the top of the screen and glows more brightly the closer we are to the correct area. When the positioning is just right, this blue circle will appear:



Snap the picture, and…



That’s… not normal. Well, the filament is no longer reacting, so we’ll just slip this into our file and keep going. I’m sure nothing has happened to Mr. Takamine!





The western side of the room. There’s a door on this wall that leads to elsewhere in the mansion, and in the corner is a camera on a pedestal. This is a save point. In addition to saving your game, you can stock up on Type 14 film (if you have fewer than 30 exposures remaining, this option will refill you to 30) and manage your photo album. This is a feature in all of the Fatal Frame games, but I have frankly never seen the point. But if you want, it is definitely a thing that you can do!

Let’s save our game and see what’s beyond the door.



It’s a long, T-shaped hallway decorated with thick ropes hanging from the ceiling. How avant-garde! But there doesn’t seem to be anything to do here, so let’s see what’s ahead.



The sound changed, and a guy just started walking across the hall! Let’s take a picture of him! Instead of, you know, saying hi or anything!



The man continues to the right side of the hallway without reacting to us and disappears from view. We’ve now seen the two types of non-threatening ghosts that appear in Fatal Frame. Hidden Ghosts hang around invisibly until you snap a picture of them. They usually cause your camera filament to glow blue, but not always – if you suddenly hear static, that’s a clue that there’s a Hidden Ghost around. Vanishing Ghosts are scripted events. They will appear and perform an action, usually only for a few seconds. You must take their picture quickly before they disappear. Photographing all non-threatening ghosts will score you points, which may prove useful in the future.



There’s a large mirror at the end of the hall. Brother seems disappointed by what he sees in it. I’m not sure what he was expecting.

So the ghost went right at the intersection. We’re clearly supposed to follow him, so in proper JRPG tradition, we go left!



… or not. Right it is.







This room has a large fireplace set into the floor and some spiffy antiques.



Collecting was the owner’s hobby?

Passing the fireplace causes the perspective to shift suddenly. It’s a photo op!

I’m not sure if this is an emulator glitch causing the ghost to not appear in the photo, but a title appeared so we’re all good. If you snap a photo of a ghost and no title appears, it doesn’t count and you will not receive any points.





This little alcove doesn't appear to go anywhere, since the stairs are broken.





Here’s a staircase that isn’t broken, and the wall next to the clock contains another hidden ghost.







The landing at the top of the stairs. There’s a shiny thing on the floor, and a door that’s not showing up very well in this screenshot. The balcony offers a nice view of the fireplace room below, and ends at the broken staircase in that little library nook. Let’s try the door.



Maybe the sparkling item will be the key, and this won’t turn out to be a long, drawn-out hunt?





Brother: This notebook… It’s Mr. Takamine’s!



No such luck. So if flashbacks are shown in black and white with film grain, how do they do flashbacks within flashbacks?



Answer: Even grainier black and white!

Takamine(?): I wonder if we’ll find anything here.

Woman: It’s cold!

Man: What a wreck!

Hey, that last guy looks like that ghost we’ve been playing paparazzi with! That’s not a good sign.





Those blurry things above Takamine’s party are grasping spirit hands, in case you can’t tell. Also not great as omens go.









More grasping spirit hands, this time surrounding a lady in a kimono. After she appears, the screen fades ominously to black.





Brother: That was Mr. Takamine! So he did come here.

Suddenly, loud footsteps start coming up the wooden steps…







Brother doesn’t see anything…





So he looks through the camera.



Oh, it’s a ghost. Hi, Mr. Ghost, are you friendly? Have you seen Mr. Takamine anywhere? He’s an old guy with lousy taste in vacation destinations.

EEP!



















It’s time for our first fight! The ghost was not visible except for a heat-haze through most of the fight – again, not sure if this is an emulation glitch. I hope not, or at least that this doesn’t persist throughout the game!

So this is the Bound Man. He’s pretty slow until he gets close, and then he lunges at you. He’s just about as easy as it gets, and it only takes two fully charged shots to do him in.

What does that, mean exactly? Well…



Here’s what the camera looks like when you’re not pointed at anything.



When you’re facing a ghost, the capture circle will turn blue, and the camera will start to charge. This is indicated by the runes at the bottom of the screen lighting up one by one. Shoot when the camera is fully charged to get the most damage out of your shots! It will also briefly stun the ghost, which an uncharged shot will not do.

The pale orange cross is the center of your frame. The pale orange circle is the “core” of the ghost. If you manage to snap a photo when the cross is centered in the circle, this is a Core Shot. It will give you extra points.



When the ghost is about to do its special attack – in this case, lunge at you – the capture circle will turn amber. If you snap during this time, the attack will be foiled, the ghost will be stunned and knocked back, and you’ll get extra damage and bonus points. It’s called a Zero Shot, but in later games it’s a Fatal Frame.

Charged shots, core shots, and zero shots all stack, points-wise.

Victory is ours.

Brother: I captured a ghost with this camera. This camera has the power to expose things the normal eye can’t see. I remember the incident from which I learned of its unique power to capture ghosts.

This bit of exposition is really awkward spoken aloud. Who is he talking to, anyway? I like to think that Miku’s brother narrates his entire life like this.

If we go back to the balcony, this happens:



At least one of the guides on gamefaqs claims that you can photograph this ghost for points, but I’ve never been able to manage it. This spirit doesn’t count towards completion, and won’t give you a titled photo if you are able to take its photo. It’s just there so that you know where to go next: back the way we came through the rope hallway.



In case we needed another hint.

Halfway down the hall…















Miku: It’s been two weeks since I last heard from my brother, but he left a note that led me to this place. I felt as though something was calling me here. Mafuyu…

Oh hey, I can stop calling him “Brother” now. He has a name.

A full-body pan up. Classy! So this is our first glimpse of Miku, the heroine of the story. I can’t say as how I’d choose a mini skirt and dressy blouse to go visit the haunted house from which a bunch of people vanished, but maybe that’s just me. At least those boots look like they offer ankle support.

Although, given that her reaction to her brother disappearing while looking for a novelist who disappeared while visiting someplace where local legend says that people disappear all the freaking time is to go to that place at night, alone, I’m not sure I should be awarding her any points for not wearing heels.





And we’ve caught up to the present, which means full color!













Miku: My brother was here..! Wh-what is this place?

Sudden black and white with film grain means a psychic flashback.





Um…

???: Help!

Miku: *gasp* Did… someone just..?





Yanno what? I’ve had a sudden rush of brains to the head, and I’m getting out of here! I’ll be back in the daytime! With pants and sensible shoes! And some cops! And a tank!



… awesome.

Nice LP so far! I picked up the Wii version of the second game in this series recently, so I'm looking forward to getting the background I need to decide it's too scary to play myself play it.

If I can do it, you can!

I have seen an LP of the second game, but yeah I don't like that which scares.

I like that the ghost pictures in the series will (usually) give you credit for at least some of the ghost in the shot, or barely any ghost in the shot. They turn out just like real photographs (of dubious veracity) of ghosts!

Yep! Later games in the series will score you depending on how good the shot is, too, but I think with Fatal Frame 1 it's entirely pass/fail.

In other news, while proofreading this update, I noticed that the moon is full when Mafuyu and Miku both entered the mansion... two weeks apart. Scary ghost shenanigans, or indifferent editing?

When we last left Miku, she was trapped in a haunted mansion alone at night, wearing stupid and impractical clothing, carrying only a flashlight. Let’s just hope fortune favors the bold. Or at least the terminally ill-prepared.

Like Mafuyu, we begin our exploration of the Himuro mansion in the entrance hall.



There’s something sparkling in the same spot where Mafuyu found the film.



Herbal medicine is a healing item that restores about a third of our HP bar. In Nightmare Mode, which can only be unlocked by finishing the game in Normal Mode and then completing Battle Mode, it restores less health.

There’s nothing else here, so let’s check out the rope hallway.





If only Mafuyu hadn’t taken the family’s only ghost-capturing camera and gotten himself disappeared with it!

This spirit can be photographed, but not on a first playthrough. Fatal Frame has a New Game+ mode, and Miku will start out with a camera in that. For those players looking for 100% completion, this isn’t the only reason you’ll want to play more than once.

That glowy blue spirit flame… thing… doesn’t seem to be vanishing. Maybe we should go check it out?



There is a small piece of paper on the floor. It looks like a piece of a notebook.

Research Notes

“September 12th
Now there’s another rope!
And another rope…!”

What an odd thing to be worried about. He looks like the man who was with Takamine. I am beginning to suspect that the intrepid party may have met with foul play.

Oh, well. Onward!



Back in the rope hallway. Maybe these ropes are what creeped that dude out so badly? Do they… multiply somehow?

Wait, what’s that over there?







It’s the family’s camera! Now with super psychometric action!

Mafuyu: Miku!



Miku: Did… something happen to my brother?

At a guess? Yeah, probably. Can we go now? Oh, wait. No, we can’t. Because we’re locked in. Well, might as well pick this camera up.



Look behind you!







Poor Mafuyu. He spends his entire life looking at mirrors and thinking that the only thing he sees in them are reflections, and then it turns out to be Miku who winds up seeing into Wonderland. If the White Queen is played by a creepy lady in a kimono.



Loot!

Camera
Mom’s old camera. My brother had this with him…

I found a new note inside Mafuyu’s notebook.

Also, a great big exposition dump!

Mafuyu’s Notebook:

“Himuro Mansion Investigation

“Himuro Mansion was once the home of a large landowner that controlled vast areas of land. They also say that the site held some special significance that had to do with Shinto rituals of the region. (I couldn’t find any detailed books about these Shinto rituals, though.)

“The last master of the Himuro family line massacred his entire household. Later, another family that tried to live there disappeared. Because of incidents like these, nobody visits the mansion today, and it lies in ruins.

“Maybe that’s why there aren’t any accounts of the Shinto rituals, and why the exact location of the place isn’t recorded anywhere.

“September 24th – I’ve had a bad feeling ever since I came to this mansion. I’m leaving notes in this notebook just in case anything happens to me. I’ve got to find Mr. Takamine and the others fast… I hope it’s not too late!”

***

There are many other notes and news articles inside the notebook.

It’s Reading Time! The rest of the stuff Miku picked up is available to read from the menu screen. We’ve got four more Research Notes and a News Clipping.

***

“August 20th
Mr. Takamine needs some background material for his next work. There’s a book about Himuro Mansion by a certain folklorist , and I’m supposed to look for it. A book about Shinto rituals and legends from every part of the country. Author: Ryozo Munakata. Title: Unknown.

“August 22nd
I can’t find the book, but I did some checking on the folklorist. I found out he moved into Himuro Mansion to do some research on it. But after some certain event, he and his whole family disappeared.

“I couldn’t find the book, but I found a news article from that period about it. It’s a small missing-persons story, but it might be helpful as background material.”

***

“September 10th, 11:00 am
It looks like the earthquake last month and the murders in that village have something to do with Himuro Mansion. This stuff is probably all going into Mr. Takamine’s next book. He really seems to be into this subject matter! His output rate should be good.

“September 10th, 4:00 pm
The entrance door is broken. When in the world did that happen? It won’t open. I’ll have to find another way out.”

***

“September 11th
I haven’t been feeling well since two nights ago. Actually, it’s more like ever since Tomoe took my picture… What in the world does the rope in this photo mean, I wonder?”

***

So the woman in Takamine’s party must be Tomoe. Also, the earlier note that we found freaking out over ropes would go here if read chronologically.

I’ll give you the next Research Note in screencaps, since it has an important bit about Japanese characters that I can’t type.







And, finally…

News Clipping: “Star Mystery Novelist Missing”

“There was a report yesterday that a star novelist, Junsei Takamine (age 42), has been missing since the 8th of this month. Mr. Takamine’s assistant, Tomoe Hirasaka, and his editor, Koji Ogata, are also missing.

“Mr. Takamine last made a phone call to his publishers on September 8th, regarding his research trip, and has not been heard from for 14 days. The publishers first assumed that the research was taking longer than expected, but since there were no calls from Mr. Ogata, they decided to file a missing person’s report.”

Our meticulous note writer must be Mr. Ogata. Isn’t it a little odd that an editor would accompany an author on a research expedition? He probably has other clients, and unless Takamine takes it into his head to write the whole damn book in the mansion, there shouldn’t be a whole lot of actual editing to do.

At any rate, now that we have read all the things, let’s continue. Miku picks up the enormous pile of crap left by her brother, stands up, and…



This ghost took me a completely ridiculous number of tries to capture, despite it being a supposedly easy shot. After the twelfth or fifteenth perfectly clear photograph of a ghost that didn’t count as a capture, I turned to Google. As it happens, this is a known emulator issue. If you select software rendering instead of hardware under video options, that will fix it.



That’s the stuff.

The door to the left of the mirror isn’t any less boarded up than it was when Mafuyu visited the mansion, so let’s head back into the fireplace room.

Miku’s not as polite as Mafuyu. She’s going to start going through drawers.



Black Notebook Scrap

“Plot of my next work
-Junsei Takamine

“A series of murders in a country village. Dead bodies turn up one after another. Murders that resemble cruel Shinto rituals of legend in the area. The acts of a man sworn to revenge, and the strange correlation between those acts and the folklore.

“The man is gradually influenced more and more by the legends. The work will be the story of this man, proceeding in parallel with the tales of the local lore. Records of the past discovered after an earthquake. The story gradually blurs the boundary between the present and the past.

“July 24th – About Himuro Mansion
Himuro Mansion is known as the home of a large landowner that controlled this region. But they say it was originally the place a shrine was built for performing a certain Shinto ritual, passed down through the generations.

“But the people of that time kept the ritual a deep, dark secret. They were even forbidden to speak its name aloud. Today, almost no accounts of the ritual exist, aside from a smattering of folklore legends.”

If this is a sample of the writing style of Japan’s Stephen King, no wonder he drags his editor around wherever he goes! The various diary scraps you’ll find in Fatal Frame are mostly labeled for your convenience. All black notebook scraps were written by Takamine. All research notes are Ogata’s.

Also, holy incredibly subtle foreshadowing, Batman!

I found a news clipping inside the notebook. There are news articles inside the notebook.

News Clipping: Quake Breaks Holy Mirrors

“The earthquake the other day destroyed all five mirrors (the Holy Mirrors) which were artifacts kept for centuries in the five shrines. These mirrors represent the five gods’ protection over the region.

“Most commonly known for the “Five Gods Festival” held every 10 years, when all five mirrors gather in one shrine. The priests of the shrine hope that this isn’t a bad omen.”

As we head into the center of the room…





It’s a ghostly Mafuyu! Well, there’ll be time to mourn later. We haven’t looked in all the drawers yet.





Or in the alcove…





Or upstairs at the top of the broken staircase.





Approach the top of the broken stairs, and:





That’s Ogata. But where is he going? More to the point, where are we going? There weren’t too many ways out of this room when we were here as Mafuyu.

I don’t suppose that door is magically unlocked?



Nope! Nowhere else to go but down, I guess.





Ogata just walked into that decorative screen! Wish we could do that. Seriously, game, three accessible rooms?

That’s a really easy photo op, by the way. When you bring up your camera, Miku automatically swivels to face the ghost. All you have to do is snap the shot.

Let’s take a look at that screen since Ogata tried so hard to draw it to our attention.

It’s the creepy little girl from before!





















Miku: Sh-should I take a photo?

In case that wasn’t a big enough hint, it’s time for another tutorial.

Camera Controls 2

In Finder mode, you can see things that can’t be seen with a naked eye. Try taking a photo if the controller vibrates or you hear strange noises.

With that, the filament glows, the screen starts shimmering, and I can hear “whooooom, whoooom” noises. With film being a more or less finite resource (sure, you can get more at save points, but that doesn’t mean you can’t run out), the game generally makes it very clear when it wants you to snap a photo of something.







So that means…

Miku: Just like in the photo!

Progress! We find ourselves in a long hallway with rather attractive lamps dangling from the ceiling. Many of them are still lit.



There’s another glowing spirit essence. Is it Ogata?



Tell me about it, brother. Well, we’ve got some places to start looking now!

There’s a door to the left…



And what looks like a closet at the end of the hall.



This little nook contains another boarded up door, as well as some more medicine.





Looks like only one way to go, and that’s through the door to the left.

From the doorway I can see something interesting on that dresser.



News Clipping: Dead Body Found on Mountain

“Late yesterday, a human body with no limbs was found on Himuro Mountain, located in the southern region of the prefecture. The body’s hands, feet, and head were all torn off. The police is investigating the case as both a murder and an accident.

“The body has not been identified, but it is believed to be a man around the age of 30. The police is also taking into consideration the fact that a body, mutilated in the same manner, was found in the same location 15 years ago.”



Upon entering the room proper, we see Mr. Ogata again.



That shot didn’t count because he was already fading. No title, no points, so let’s try again.



This room is the Library, though there don’t appear to actually be any books or scrolls around. It’s mostly just a big empty room with a bunch of partitioning screens haphazardly arranged around the area.

The ghost wants us to go to that corner behind the screen, but let’s have a look around first.

There’s a door leading to rooms unknown, but we can’t get in…



And some film in a little nook by the window.

That’s all. As we approach the corner where Ogata went, we hear something that sounds like a tape player that’s running out of batteries.



There’s a closet. And a cut scene.





Ah. Exactly like a dying tape player, then.


Miku gasps…



As a corpse topples over in front of her!



Miku: Wh-what was that?

This capture is a stone bitch to get. The body only lingers for a second, so you need to bring up the Finder window the instant you get out of cut scene, move the frame up and to the right, and hit the shutter and hope you were fast enough. This one took me five tries.

But there’s still loot to be gained here.





Touching the tape brings on another psychic flashback. It’s Ogata again. In obvious terror, he rushes into the library. After a moment of looking around wildly, he hides in the closet.













Something appears in the room…

It’s the kimono lady!





Does she see him?





Yup.



The door opens, and…





Poor Mr. Ogata.





Miku recoils back, but the tape player floats up toward her. At the same time, the door to the next room slides open.



I found a tape recorder in the closet.

An audio tape has been left inside the tape recorder.

Tapes can be played from the item menu.

White Tape 1

“September 9th, 5:40 PM. The mansion was nowhere to be seen on the map, so we finally had to ask the locals how to find it. They told us that Himuro Mansion had been empty for several decades now. The same ones who told us where it was also warned us not to come here, which was quite disconcerting.”

Entering the next room will trigger another of the game’s more annoying vanishing ghosts. This room is filled with kimonos on stands that act as barriers, much like the partition screens in the library. Ogata will appear as soon as you cross the threshold, but your view of him will be blocked.

So, quick like a bunny, enter here. Ignore the sparkling item on the floor at the base of one of the kimonos



and run down to where there’s a large gap between two of the kimonos



then snap your picture.



If you’re fast enough, you’ll be in time to catch him standing in front of the window.

Ogata: Mr. Takamine, Tomoe, where have you both gone?

Now you can go back and get the item at the entrance.



Searching around, we find a locked mirror stand. The trunk next to it is empty.



There’s also a hidden ghost in the corner.





Another item sparkles near the window where Ogata appeared. Approaching it triggers another cut scene…

… and Miku’s first battle!

Oh, good. The ghost isn’t being invisible this time. Guess the Bound Man was a one-time glitch. Editor Ogata isn’t really any harder than Mafuyu’s battle was. He slowly shambles toward you, zombie-like, then lurches forward when he gets close. He also has really low HP (shown at the top of the finder view. The blue bar to the right is Miku’s health), so two fully charged shots or one zero shot should be enough to do him in.



Ogata: Help me! The ropes, the ropes! A woman in a white kimono!





Cake. He really wasn’t trying that hard.



The camera’s seal…!

Time for another tutorial. I’m pretty sure this is the last one.

About Power-ups

You can acquire Mystical Power by damaging ghosts. Select “Camera” from the Menu Screen (triangle button) to access the Power-Up Screen. You can unlock the seal on the camera with the accumulated Mystical Power, and power up.

About Auxiliary Functions

When you unlock Auxiliary Functions Seal, you enable many special attacks. To use the enabled Auxiliary Function, press the L1 Button while in a shooting stance. The number of Auxiliary Functions you can use is limited to the number of Spirit Stones in your inventory, so be frugal.

Now that the fight is over, we can take a look at that glittering item near the window.



Now that all the options are finally selectable, let’s take a look at the menu.



Here’s the main screen. I think that the date refers to the in-game date, not the real-life day and time. But I’m not exactly sure, because I did actually play this section during the week of October 9. Coincidence!

So this screen shows our life bar, our score (the available points for camera upgrades), the currently equipped film and number of exposures, the number of Spirit Stones (none), and which bonus and special camera functions are currently equipped (none).



The map screen. The triangle indicates Miku’s current position. Green doors are unlocked, red doors are locked, and yellow doors are (I think) secret passages. Blue squares are save points.



Next up is Items. You can use medicine from this screen, or play tapes.

White Tape 2

“September 9th, 9:40 pm. It seemed dangerous to walk through the mountain at night, so we decided to spend the night here and continue our work. I’ve been through several rooms already. Unlike the exterior, the interior is still in quite good shape. A little earlier, I thought I saw a white shadowy figure of a woman in the hallway near the entrance. I’ll keep track of such sightings and publish them in a later account.”

The Photos subscreen lets you look at the non-plot-related photographs that you’ve taken. The game only saves a certain number of incidental photos, so if there’s a shot you’re particularly proud of, you can “protect” it and the game won’t purge it. I’ve never really seen much point in managing my photo album.



The File section is where you can review all of the documents that you collect throughout the game. You can also access the tutorials again if you need to. This screen is divided into Notebook (various character journals, arranged in order), Scraps (News Clippings and other misc info, also tutorials), Photos (plot related pics), and Correlation.



Correlation is nice for when you can’t remember who that dude was again. It auto-updates as you receive new information. Right now it’s rather sparse.

Finally, we’ve got the Camera submenu. This is where you can change your film, equip features, and spend points.



So far, we’ve got two types of film: Type 14 and Type 37. 37 is both more powerful and faster loading than 14. It’s also rarer, so I prefer to use 14 until I start having real difficulty with ghost battles. There are two other film types that we haven’t encountered yet. Type 74 is more powerful than 37 but slower loading, and Type 90 is the fastest and most powerful film. It’ll be a while before we start coming across the higher grade films.



Basic Performance is the screen where you spend your points to enhance the camera’s basic functions. Here you can enlarge your finder range, making it easier to snap fast-moving ghosts, you can make the camera faster, which reduces charge time, or you can increase the camera’s power, which will do more damage.

I threw a point each into Range and Speed.



Bonus functions can also be unlocked with points, but since the number of uses you have is limited to the number of Spirit Stones in your inventory (currently: none), it’s best to upgrade the camera first. Each function has a cost in points to unlock, then has unlockable levels similar to the basic performance ones.

The available bonus functions are:

Pressure – Pushes ghosts back
Slow – Slows down ghosts’ movement for a limited duration
See – Make ghosts more visible for a limited duration
Paralyze – Stop movements of ghosts for a limited duration
Search – Searches for locations of ghosts and tracks them automatically

Special Functions have to be unlocked twice. They are completely unavailable during the first playthrough, and most require the player to complete certain tasks in order to unlock them. Once they are made available, they must be purchased with points and can be upgraded just like Bonus functions.

Zoom (to unlock, complete game once) – Zoom in and out with L2/R2
Sense (to unlock, complete battle mode) – Enables radar to gauge the direction of ghosts
Chase (to unlock, complete all missions in battle mode with S rank) – Automatically chase after ghosts when you press R2
Zero (to unlock, complete ghost list) – Camera is always fully charged
None (to unlock, complete game in nightmare difficulty) – Taking pictures does not expend film

Only one Bonus Function and one Special Function may be equipped at any given time.

That’s the main menu. There’s also a smaller menu available when you hit the pause button, which allows you to adjust the controls, sound, and graphics, and also return to the title screen.

Well, that was certainly a great big wall of text. What were we doing again? Oh yeah, we just beat up a dead editor. There don’t seem to be any new ways out of the kimono room, so I guess we should backtrack.



As we pass the mirror stand, the game calls our attention to it.





I remember this thing! It was in the fireplace room. Well, now we’ve got a destination. And, apparently, a fetch quest! Exit the kimono room, head back through the library towards the lamp hallway…





The editor wants a rematch! We can fight him in the hallway or in the slightly more open library; either way he’s not any tougher this time around.





Anyway, the lamp hallway takes us back to the fireplace room.



There it is!





Miku is not very good at looting rooms. She should have noticed this the first time through. At any rate, quest item get! Back to the kimono room!

Rounding the corner in the lamp hallway and we see the reason why we couldn’t open the closet before:

Maybe there’s something in there..?















… nope. Where’d he go? Well, we’ve got better things to do than play hide and seek with dead guys. Back into the library!



Oh, there he is.





Ogata doesn’t give us any more trouble as we make our way back to the mirror stand in the kimono room.



The drawer slides open.







Is that the key I think it is? I bet it is!

Miku: It’s that person I just saw… *gasp* The ropes!

I think I’d probably lose my shit if I saw that on a picture of me, too.

Editor’s Photo
I can see the faint shadows of ropes on the man’s neck, arms and legs.

I got a small key from the drawer.

Hooray! Let’s go –



Aaaaaaah!



It’s battle number three against Koji Ogata. He’s faster now and has more health, but although he did manage to damage Miku this time, we dispatched him without too much fuss.









Our first Spirit Stone. Since I plan to max out the basic camera functions before unlocking any of the bonus features it’ll be a while before these are of any use.

Well, we’ve got a key, and a lock to put it in. Time to go see what’s on the second floor.

As we approach the stairs in the fireplace room…





Someone dashes up the stairs, too fast for us to see them!





Miku follows the mysterious figure up the steps, toward the locked door. She fits the key into the lock, which turns easily. The door opens…

Next time: Tomoe Hirasaka

The Correlation screen is a nice touch. I appreciate games that provide you reminders like that, for whenever it's a long period between gaming sessions.

Last update, Miku managed to find the Brass Key she needed to get into that second floor room. She also learned that dead editors aren’t much fun.

Let’s start back where we left off, at the locked door.



The next room is… dark. It’s called the tatami room, and it looks to be a general, hanging-out-in, parlor sort of room.



It also gives us the most exploration options we’ve seen yet, with exits on all four sides.



There’s also a lot of stuff to be found here.





“Secret Rituals of the Himuro Family

“Many rituals and customs have been passed down through generations of the Himuro family. Most of them are lost. The only things we have left now are some documents that record these rituals as a legend.

“Hardly any of the oral history remains. This is because all Himuro family members are dead, and those who were close to the family have kept quiet about the ritual.

“One ritual in particular, performed on December 13th, is shrouded in mystery. People who lived near the mansion stayed inside on that particular day, and even now, it is considered bad luck to leave the windows open on that date.

“I can only assume that this is due to the cruel nature of the ritual, but the truth remains unknown.”

This next item is “hidden” due to camera angles. It’s really in the middle of the floor but you’d never know it was there without doing something to change your perspective – like looking around the room through the camera finder.





The Stone Mirror is your get-out-of-death-free card. Like a bottled fairy in early Zelda games, it will activate at the point of death and instantly restore you to full health. Unlike bottled fairies, you can only hold one of them at a time.





While we’re at the northern corner of the room, let’s check out the sliding door.









This little balcony overlooks an attractive courtyard. There are no other exits, and there’s nothing left to do here, so let’s head back into the tatami room and try the eastern door.

Ah, a save point. Nice to not have to run all the way back to the entrance to save or stock up on film. This is the anteroom. Pretty cheerful, as far as locations in a haunted deathtrap go.





Red tapes are all recorded by Takamine’s personal assistant, Tomoe Hirasaka. Unlike Ogata’s white tapes, other voices – usually female – can be heard in the background.

“September 10th, 10:20 AM. We discovered some disturbing photos in a chest of drawers. Could these be the folklorist’s children mentioned in Koji’s notes? The photo is quite old, and shows some kids playing tag. In the corner of the photo there’s a faint image of a young girl in a white kimono. Her finger is pointed this way and she looks as if she’s making some silent accusation.” Other voice: “Save us..!”

It seems like the weird little girl is a habitual pointer. Nice to see she’s not just singling Miku out.





“August 20th
“It seems a folklorist named Ryozo Munakata was studying about the various rituals passed down at Himuro Mansion. He supposedly left a book of research, but I can’t find it anywhere. I wonder if there’s a copy in a library somewhere?

“August 30th
“I still can’t find the book. I’ll have Koji Ogata from the editing department do a search for it. I doubt he’ll be able to find it, though.”





There’s a very short door in the back of the room, but it’s a dead end.



So much for options! Back to the tatami room we go, through the only path left: the western door.



This is a T-shaped hallway much like the one with the ropes. There’s a closet nearby, and with no ghosts playing hide-and-seek in this one, getting the stuff inside is no problem.







This hallway has a large mirror as well.



Tomoe: I didn’t want to come here. My instincts told me not to.

I wonder if she constantly worried about only seeing normal things in mirrors. You know, before she died horribly. At the hands of a woman who likes to appear mysteriously in mirrors.

Tomoe is chatty, too. Her ghost will usually say something when it appears. Which is a pain if you want to hear what she has to say and take her picture.





Her ghost left behind a glimmering item.

Red Notebook Scrap

“August 27th
“The more I find out about Himuro Mansion, the creepier it gets. I’m sure it’s the perfect subject matter for Mr. Takamine’s next book, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t like this assignment one bit. It gives me a bad feeling…

“There’s no way I want to go to that mansion. But it’s my job, right? I guess I’ll have to go. And I wouldn’t want to waste the chance to work with Mr. Takamine just because of a little bit of uneasiness, either.

“It doesn’t help I have this sixth sense for the supernatural, either. There’s such a thing as knowing TOO much, sometimes…”



The long corridor ends at another item, and another door.







Which we won’t be entering. The hall to the left of the mirror ends in a staircase taking us back to the first floor.









Miku: Mafuyu!



Miku: Wait..!





Spurred into action, Miku dashes after her brother with all the speed of an unathletic kid being forced to run a mile in gym class. She plods. Slowly. While gasping and panting. Mafuyu quickly loses her with his leisurely saunter. Except… wait.









Maybe he heard her call out his name?