Horror has been one of the most important genres for gaming in 2021, from the return of beloved franchises such as Resident Evil, to successful brand new IP like The Medium, multiple games this year have proven the strength of the genre in today's gaming space. One of the longest-running horror franchises, Fatal Frame has struggled to find success in the west due to its heavy use of Japanese supernatural horror, however the remaster of its fifth installment, Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, could change everything when it releases just in time for Halloween this year.
Fatal Frame, known as Zero in Japan and Project Zero in Europe, is a survival horror series that first debuted on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2001. The game centered around the player exploring a haunted Japanese mansion and using a camera to fight off the ghosts that resided in it. The game was inspired by the original Silent Hill, and went on to inspire a series, with the most recent entry being 2014's Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, the fifth entry in the series released on the Wii U. The game was released in English by Nintendo a year later, however the game was only released physically in Europe, making it extremely rare.
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After its announcement during the E3 2021 Nintendo Direct, Koei Tecmo has finally unveiled a full look at the upcoming remaster for the Wii U game, which brings it to multiple platforms for the first time, revealing the game's setting of Hikami Mountain, a fictional mountain in Japan synonymous with suicides and spiritual activity. The trailer also reveals the game's three different protagonists, which are of no surprise to those who originally played the Wii U version. What will excite those who played the original is that this remaster will include a new story focused on Ayane, a character from Koei Tecmo's Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises.
This isn't the first time Ayane has crossed over into other Koei Tecmo franchises, as the character first debuted in Dead or Alive only for her to play a major role in the Ninja Gaiden reboot series. Ayane has also appeared in various Dynasty Warriors games, and even Senran Kagura: Estival Versus. This marks the first time the character has appeared in the Fatal Frame series. The remaster of Maiden of Black Water will also add various costumes for the characters to wear, replacing the Nintendo-themed ones included in the original Wii U release. One of these costumes is based on Ryza from Gust's Atelier Ryza series.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water will release on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 28th 2021.