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

Neat!

If the Reflection Mask will copy any of them (and it will), I want to make sure I have that with me!



Now let’s get into that pesky locked Mask Door!







This is the room where the Blind Demons are created, and it’s gorgeous. Black lacquer and ornate inlays everywhere. I don’t know if it’s kindness or cruelty to have the women’s last sight be of such a lovely room. I think if I had to choose I’d go with DON’T GOUGE PEOPLE’S EYES OUT WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU.











This mask is different from the others.

Gee, you think?

Maybe it’s supposed to be used somewhere else?

Well, all the 8x10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows seem to think that this ghoulish thing opens up the giant door in the basement, but I’m open to other suggestions.

Munakata shows up again when we leave the Blinding Room.



Munakata: The altar… the Strangling Ritual…





Yes. Yes, I think it was.

So. Time to head back to the charmingly named Demon Mouth, where the giant door is. There was an earthquake when Miku entered the rubble room, but nothing else of note happened. Enter the Demon Mouth from the corridor, and the folklorist attacks again!

The second fight with Munakata is pretty awful, because he attacks you as soon as you walk in the room, and you’re on a narrow ledge with absolutely no room to maneuver. Trying to climb down and face him on the ground is a really bad idea, since he’s free to damage Miku during the incredibly slow ladder animation. I used Type 37 film and didn’t bother with trying to charge the camera; if I had him in my sights I snapped a shot.

When you kill him, he says, ” The Blinding Mask is the key to the door.”

Trying to hang the Blinding Mask on the pillar next to the big door triggers a cut scene.





Miku is suddenly surrounded by the creepy chanting voices of children.









It’s probably those kids.



They vanish, and the chanting stops.



And back again!











This is exceptionally dense, even for Miku.

They are really enjoying fucking with her.







RAWR!

Last fight with Blinded. Finally. She’s got a ton of health and hits hard if she gets you, but there’s plenty of room to maneuver and her strat doesn’t change.



At death, she shrieks, ” The Blinding Mask!”

Good riddance.

Now it’s safe to put the Blinding Mask on the pillar, but first it’s checklist time! At this point, we should have the following:

3 Lady’s Diary Scraps
4 Old Diary Scraps
5 Mafuyu’s Notes
7 Research Scraps
Blind Demon Ritual Document
Child’s Writing
Yae’s Death Note

Where exactly is Miku keeping all of this paper, anyway? She’s carting around enough documentation to fill a briefcase.

Anyway! Let’s open a door that probably should be opened under absolutely no circumstances, shall we?







It’s a multi-tasker. Alton Brown would be so pleased.







Munakata: The door is finally opening!

Hey, he made it this far! I wonder what finally did him in.















…oh.













And you’re going in there? Seriously?

Why don’t you just ask what that noise is or do some drugs, while you’re at it? You can’t split the party or have sex with anyone, which I suppose is a blessing.





Hey, she didn’t get eaten by anything! Are you surprised? I was surprised.

This area is called the Banned Path. You can’t do much other than collect a cut scene.









Miku: Oh!









Miku: It’s another piece of the mirror!

What’s that noise?

Miku: Kirie!

Yup. Gonna try running for your life this time?





Well, we can try…





But we can’t leave the area so she’s going to get us.





A ghost horde. Excellent.







And Miku’s backed up against a cave-in.











I am so disappointed in you.

The family master has a katana and is not afraid to use it.









Lightning flashes, ominously illuminating this attractive painted screen.

It looks like all of those monuments we’ve been finding are graves.













Yay, Miku isn’t dead!

Miku: Mafuyu…









Things are not looking good for Our Heroine. She’s running out of unmarked extremities.

I like the "grainy flashback" visual motif a lot more than the "porcelain face present" one. Though to be fair I can see how the former is a lot more effective when used in small doses.

So Miku got attacked by Kirie! Again! And marked by ropes! Again! And now she’s back outside the giant double doors that presumably lead to the site of the Strangling Ritual.





Upon entering the area, we’re immediately attacked by People Killed. These guys are about as tough as Bound Man, and they’re weak enough to go down in two good hits. The trick to them is that they come in groups of three.







The best strategy for these is to plant Miku’s back against a far wall and keep them all in sight. If they start to circle, move her past them and keep backing up until they’re all visible again. Double and triple shots will help take them down quickly, as well as rack up yummy points.









As we saw at the end of the last night, the Banned Path ends in a cave-in.









Miku: Mafuyu! Don’t you recognize me?

Dude, he’s not even looking at you. Also, you know what sort of person can get through impassible walls of rubble? The kind of people you vanquish with your camera. I’m just sayin’.

”The Calamity

“In the year 1837, on the 13th day of the 12th month—

“The Strangling Ritual failed and caused the Calamity.

“Malice escaped, and 1347 souls were lost.”

And then I got attacked by a random Broken Neck, which is rude considering I just fought off a swarm of People Killed in this same room a minute ago. Random encounters happen much more often during the third night.

Nothing more to do here, so I guess it’s time to backtrack and see what areas of the mansion have opened up tonight.







Look, I looted this hallway. There is nothing over there!



…





And Li’l Kirie pulled her standard “wait until Miku looks where I’m pointing then vanish like a ninja” trick. Miku never ceases to fall for that.



There’s a hidden ghost here, too. It wasn’t here until the cutscene with Li’l Kirie.





Most of the nonhostile ghosts during this night are hidden, and each one is worth a whopping 3,000 points.





”Moon Shrine

“The small shrine in the atrium of Himuro Mansion is called the Moon Shrine. It enshrines the maidens who were sacrificed in rituals. Inside the Moon Shrine is an empty well called the Moon Well. The moonlight shines down to the bottom on the night of the ritual.

“The Rope Shrine Maiden is supposed to purify her body with moonlight at the bottom of the well. The bottom of the well is connected to the basement, and only the Maiden uses this path to reach the basement.

“According to the legend, the first Rope Shrine Maiden was buried in the Moon Shrine. However, no body or documents were found inside. I wonder where the first Rope Maiden has been enshrined…”

This will be that door in the Atrium that has been inaccessible up until now. What do you want to bet that we can get in there now?

Oh, come on. More People Killed?





These guys can appear as a random encounter, so at least one of these fights was unscheduled, but I’m not sure which one. I do know that I haven’t been lollygagging in here long enough for two damn random battles to trigger!

We do have enough points to finish upgrading the camera’s range now, though. Unless someone spoils the vote between now and Sunday, it looks like the next thing we’ll be spending points on is the Paralyze function.



In the Demon Mouth there’s a single Type 14 film on the highest level. The game does a decent job of making sure you can’t run out of film between the start of a night and the closest save point.





In the Corridor we’re attacked by a new enemy: Floating Face.





Looks more like Small Localized Blizzard.



When you damage it, you can see faces in the smoke.

This thing isn’t too hard, but it does like to rush you and it can move pretty quickly. Zero shots are plentiful and easy to take advantage of.



The door leading from the Rubble Room to the Burial Room is warded.



And the seal is located in a pile of garbage in the same room. Convenient!







There’s a new vanishing ghost waiting for us in the Burial Room.

That’s the family master, still wearing the Mask of Reflection. Did you notice that it showed the demon face as early as the Blinding Ceremony, which happened a full month before the Strangling Ritual failed? I don’t think he was a very nice man even before the Calamity made him go insane and kill everyone.



The candles are back to being a mess.



Ugh.

Wanna know why most abandoned Fatal Frame playthroughs happen? It’s this guy right here: Wandering Monk. He’s fast, he teleports 2-3 feet right or left at random every second or two, he shoots blue fireballs, Type 14 film doesn’t hurt him very much, and if he manages to grab you he hits hard. In short, he’s about as difficult as a boss, but he’s a random encounter. The good news is that he only shows up during the third night. The bad news is that he can show up pretty damn often.

If you’re going for spirit photo completion you have to defeat him at least once. The rest of the time, feel free to run for it. He usually gives chase for two or three rooms before giving up the ghost, as it were.

If you opt to fight him, load up Type 37 or 74, and keep your distance so you see which way he jumps when he side-teleports. His fireballs can’t be outrun, but if you photograph them they will dissipate. Don’t let him get close enough to grab you. Get zero shots when you can – that knockback is a lifesaver.







Time to check out the Cherry Atrium!







The broken door is indeed fixed now. And it looks like we’ll find the stone we need to open the door in the altar of the Buddha Room.

Vanishing ghosts are like V.I.L.E. henchmen… you see them when you’re heading in the right direction.



Here’s the door to the Buddha Room.



It promptly locks behind Miku.



The other way out isn’t working, either. I have a bad feeling about this.





The ropes vanishing from the posts is a nice touch, especially since most of the important objects are the same sparkling motes as random healing items.







”Show the maiden no mercy.

“Cast the rope on her limbs from right arm, then the other.

“From the right foot, then the other.”

We’ve got some ropes, and we’ve got some giant Buddha statues, each of which is damaged in some body part or another. One plus one is…











As with all of the puzzles, if you get the order wrong, you can try again without penalty. If you don’t see the little cut scene with the rope, you’ve done something wrong.

The same CS is reused for each statue.

Door key GET!







The door bursts open and a priest runs in. He seems frantic.





He has good reason.







Unarmed priest is screwed, isn’t he?

Yup.











NOW you look away? Really? You watched the freaking Blinding Ritual without flinching – this is merciful in comparison!











Oh, joy. He sees us.

Playing this on an emulator, the game hung consistently on the last frame of that cut scene. I was able to bypass it by skipping the CS and going straight to the fight.



The Himuro family master likes to teleport like the Wandering Monk; he blinks 3-4 feet to either side of where he was standing as he advances toward you. This is a really effective way of making him hard to target. When he gets close enough expect a lunge, and with that sword he’s got a long reach. He does move pretty slowly, though.



He also has an attack that will cause the screen to wobble and spin wildly, making it very hard to see where you’re going or what you’re doing. It lasts for several seconds and caused me to run headlong into a katana slash. Oops!



Finally, he can occasionally send his floating skulls after you. You can outrun them, or banish them by taking their picture.



The doors unlock once the master is defeated. Now we can go open the door to the Moon Shrine.





It’s not the most exciting location in the game.











”The Mystery of the Cabinet and the Moon Well

“The Moon Well, inside the Moon Shrine, is hidden with a trick mechanism. The cabinet moves and opens up the entrance to the Moon Well when a certain routine has been performed, but I have no idea how this is done.

“There is only a vague description of the trick device. ‘Acquire the symbols from the four rope-pullers, and show the Himuro family master’s seal.’

“This must mean that opening the door requires the symbols carried by the four priests participating in the ceremony, and the Himuro family master’s seal. However, now that the family has ceased to exist, there is no way of knowing how to acquire either the symbols or the seal.”

Now the panels on all four sides of the cabinet cause the camera to react. Pay close attention to which picture goes with which side, because it will be on the final.

So what we’re looking at are photographs of the four grave monuments we’ve seen throughout the game. During the final cut scene of Night 2, we learned that a priest died at each one (convenient that, given that the monuments existed before the Calamity). We need to revisit each monument and find the spirit of the priest that’s tied there.

The first one is located right outside the Moon Shrine for your convenience, in the Cherry Atrium.



Priest: Kirie… poor girl… It’s too bad, but it must be sealed.

Since the priests were beheaded by the master, they spend much of the battle without their head. They don’t do much while headless, but they can’t be damaged during that time either. This one just sweeps back and forth quickly, but doesn’t seem to have too many tricks up his sleeve other than speed. He went down pretty quickly.







Priest (upon death): Shrine maiden… Her only purpose is to die.



The final photo you take morphs into a symbol. This will have to be entered into the panel on the correct cabinet side – in this case, the left.



The picture morphs back once you’ve looked at it.





”Kirie has been acting strangely ever since she met the young guest. I do not suppose she is attracted to him…? If she becomes too deeply involved with this world because of him, she may lose her potential as a proper Shrine Maiden. We will have to do something, and quickly.”

It sounds like the success of the ritual depends on the Shrine Maiden being a willing sacrifice. If she’s “attached to the world” – in other words, if she has something to want to live for – that’s when Calamities happen.

The next grave site is in the Abyss.





I wonder why Tomoe’s ghost is associated with the water wheel; we know it’s not what killed her.

Priest: Kirie! Why did you become attached to this world? You’ll only suffer!







The second priest is pretty much like the first one. Fighting on the pier is a bad idea – run to land and fight among the lanterns where you can move around.

Priest (upon death): He went insane! He began to murder every person in his sight.



This symbol should be entered at the rear of the cabinet.





”We followed the master’s orders and hid the guest. I told Kirie our guest had gone home. We will have to carry the body far, far away, so that Kirie never finds out. I felt sorry for the poor man, but what else could I do? We priests must protect the Rope Shrine Maiden at all costs.”

This will end well!

The third grave is in the Square Garden, that little courtyard near the mask rooms.



Priest: Let the ritual begin! Bring along Kirie.







This priest has a new trick. Every once in a while he plugs his nose and sinks into the floor. When this happens, MOVE – he’s about to pop out of the ground at Miku’s feet and slash at her with a knife. You can get a zero shot when he emerges, but it’s tricky. It’s way safer to just get out of the way and snap some regular shots.

Priest (upon death): We must seal it again, before it’s too late. Hurry!



This symbol should be entered in the cabinet’s front panel.





”The ritual failed. The mansion is filled with the Malice. And that Malice has made the master lose his sanity. Who would have thought this Calamity would happen…? It is all over now. There is no telling what will happen unless we find a way to close the gate before it opens completely!”

Malice is that glowy green miasma that hangs over certain areas in the mansion. It’s basically Pure Evil in aerosol form. Miku’s probably gonna get cancer or something after spending so much time inhaling it.

This is a much shorter night than the other two, so it doesn’t really have any natural stopping points. To make up for the smaller update and abrupt end, let’s talk about Blinded!

I don’t know if the game explains it better in Japanese, but in the English translation the reason behind some of the rituals isn’t obvious. We know exactly why the Strangling Ritual is performed, but what about the Blinding Ritual? And what’s up with Demon Tag? The answer to both of these questions is found in the Zero Perfect Guide, which was exclusively released in Japan.

Shortly before the Rope Shrine Maiden is sacrificed, the next cycle’s Maiden must be chosen. The twin rituals of Blinding and Demon Tag are used for this purpose. A young woman is ritually blinded, and then brought to the sacred circle of stalagmites in the Demon Mouth where all of the seven-year-old girls in the mansion are waiting. What follows is Demon Tag – a seriously gruesome game of Blind Man’s Bluff in which the Demon, still wearing the Blinding Mask, must catch all of the children. The first child to be caught will eventually become the next Blind Demon, while the girl “pure” enough to evade the Demon longer than the others will be immediately sequestered as the next Rope Shrine Maiden. This cycle repeats every ten years.

It’s unclear whether the girls are told the true nature of the Demon Tag Ritual before they perform in it. I’d guess not, since “we’re gonna draw and quint you before you’re old enough to vote” isn’t really a very good incentive to win. Blinded’s ultimate fate is unknown as well. Is she nursed back to (relative) health, or is she abandoned to die of her wounds once her purpose is fulfilled? If she does recover, is she cared for, or is she shunned by the family as someone possessed or cursed?

The version of Demon Tag that the local children play – the one that Mikoto’s friends taught to her – echoes the ritual. It’s more like hide-and-seek than Blind Man’s Bluff, but the first to be found is still designated the next “demon”. The last child found is declared to be the “princess” (or, presumably, “prince”) and the winner of the round. Like the European tradition of finding an uncooked bean in a Christmas cake, the darker origins of the game are mostly forgotten.

Next time: Moon Well

Plus, she's never going to wash all of that out of her clothing, and you know how much it costs to do all your laundry in holy water.

I don't remember, has the aforementioned young guest shown up as a ghost anywhere? Or do pre-Calamity horrible deaths not count?

You get him as a hidden ghost in the final night, but nothing more active than that.

There's an extra boss you can fight in Fatal Mode on the XBOX version, but that's explicitly a different young visitor who fell in love with a different Rope Shrine Maiden. His love didn't cause a Calamity either, so she must not have been that into him.

Three priests down, one to go! The final gravesite is in the backyard, but there are advantages to not going directly there. There is a lot of loot and several hidden ghosts to be found in the rest of the mansion. Since every hidden ghost gives you 3,000 points during Night 3, that’s a really good incentive to go exploring. On the other hand, the less plot-relevant stuff you do, the more likely you are to have to face Wandering Monk over and over.

Really, it’s no decision. We ain’t afraid of no ghosts -- let’s go side-questing!

Last week’s update ended in the square garden. The Mask Room is nearby.





I’ve been using Type 37 film here and there, so our inventory of it isn’t capped anymore.





I was hoping to be able to visit the rest of the secret rooms from here, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.



Next on our treasure tour is the Library, where Ogata died.







Then we got attacked!



The Former Rope Shrine Maiden is a new enemy ghost. We’ll encounter her more formally during the final night, but she can appear as a random battle during Night Three. She basically has two tricks: she crawls along the floor toward you, or she can teleport to the floor behind you. So if she suddenly vanishes, move! As a random encounter she’s very slow and zero shots are easy to get. She’s honestly about as easy as it gets.







Next stop, Kimono Room!

And the Fireplace Room…





There’s a Spirit Stone in the fireplace, but it’s hidden (non-sparkling) and can only be found if you search the fireplace from the correct side.











”Himuro Rituals and Other-World Beliefs

“The supposed purpose of the Strangling Ritual is to close the ‘gate.’ Since ‘gate’ is a word that signifies boundary, the Strangling Ritual must have some connection to the other-world beliefs of this region.

“This region has strong beliefs in ‘other worlds’ since ancient times. The other-world beliefs are found in other parts of the country. In most cases, ‘gate’ means ‘land of the dead.’

“It’s safe to assume that the ‘gate’ mentioned here is a door that connects this world to the land of the dead. A disaster called the Calamity will occur if that door opens. According to the legend, at the moment the door opens, the Malice pours out of hell, and the dead come back to this world.

“My theory is that a maiden is sacrificed in the Strangling Ritual in order to close and seal the gate, and to prevent the Calamity.”

You can tell we’re nearing the end of the game; they’re starting to spell things out for us.

Rope Hallway is next.





And time to spend some points. I unlocked Paralyze by popular vote, and See because I had just enough points left over to do so.





Next up is the Entrance Hall.

There’s nothing in the secret passage, but the Blinding Room is worth the trip.











Time to backtrack to the Tatami Room.









And the balcony…





The circular hallway has a Stone Mirror in the crevice.





Doll Room!

Whew – that’s a lot of stuff. And a lot of random encounters! During all that running around, I fought:

Wandering Man 1
Former Rope Shrine Maiden 4
Long Hair Woman 1
People Killed (x3) 3
Broken Neck 1
Wandering Monk 3
Floating Head 1
Bound Man 2

And I ran from two other Wandering Monks, too.

Now it’s time to head to the backyard and advance the plot!



Entering the Fish Tank Room triggers what I think is one of the hardest fights in the game. It’s a tag team match against Floating Woman and Floating Face. She likes to swoop in circles around you, and the face attacks head-on. To make matters worse, the face is only visible in Finder Mode. And, of course, you’re in the fucking Fish Tank Room, which is a series of very narrow paths and bridges, so forget about running around the room. Also, the doors lock when you enter, so forget about leading them out to a more Miku-friendly location like the cherry atrium. I used Type-37 film (although 74 might not be a bad idea if you have it to spare), backed Miku in a corner and targeted whichever ghost was closest to me and just shot until it died before going after the other one. Trying for fancy camera tricks like double shots or zero shots is asking for a Game Over screen here.













As usual, the door to the backyard is password-protected.



The answer is found in the Calamity scroll that we found last update:



So the password to the door is 1347. I can’t tell you how impressed I am that someone not only had the wherewithal to make a scroll documenting the Calamity in the middle of the event itself, but also reset the door password to the backyard while the Malice was pouring out of the hell gate and the family master was going all Kurgan on the rest of the Himuros. That’s dedication. It’s also the reason why nobody made it out alive. These people don’t have any more self-preservation instinct than Miku does.



Priest: The ritual has failed! It’s all over!



This is the last priest, and he’s the worst by far. In addition to the disappearing head trick and the fireballs we’ve seen from his buddies, he also has a scourge which he can lash at Miku. Finally, he likes to take to the air and zoom directly at you at twice the speed of Superman. You can block the attack with a zero shot, but you must target his head in order to pull it off. If you don’t do it perfectly, he won’t even take damage but you will.





Priest (death): When the Calamity comes, we’re all dead.

”I believe now that the master’s decision was a poor one. Kirie has realized that we hid the guest.

“Kirie is depressed and anxious. The day of the ritual is fast approaching. I hope and pray everything goes well…!”

So in retrospect, cold-blooded murder might not have been the best plan. Who knew?

From the backyard, we can revisit Narukami Shrine and pick up some shinies and another hidden ghost.











You can hear static at the altar, but the camera doesn’t react. Point up to where we saw Takamine last time.







We’ve got enough points to unlock Search now.

We’ve got all four of the priests’ symbols, but there is still one place we haven’t visited. I missed the storeroom when I was passing through the circular hallway because I was running from a Wandering Monk and didn’t want to get stuck fighting him in that cluttered room.





And I somehow managed to miss screencapping the actual hint. Go me! It was something along the lines of “When did the Calamity happen”.

Looking at our Calamity scroll again, it took place in 1837. So I’ll just input that, and…



What? But the only other possible number is the thirteenth of December, but every Strangling Ritual happened on that date, so it’s not like it’s unique!





… that makes NO sense.

And that’s it. Let’s go back to the Moon Shrine and enter the symbols in the panels.





The game does remind you which symbol should be entered on which side of the cabinet, if you review the photos in your file. Starting at the front and going clockwise, they should be entered in this order:









Getting it right will give you this message:



Once all four symbols are entered correctly, the pedestal in the front of the cabinet will raise, exposing a slot for the Master’s Seal. Which we don’t have yet.