4/5 ★ – Visionary_Gamer's review of Fatal Frame.

Fatal Frame is as deep as the ocean in its story, lore and setting. It tells a harrowing story through flashback cutscenes and not you’ll find all over the mansion. And as you piece it together, you’ll be more and more horrified. No jump scares here, just horrific, disturbing story telling. Despite the graphics being only just better than Silent Hill 1, Fatal Frame is so different that it’s not really comparable to its survival horror counterparts. It uses a unique camera combat system that is fun and innovative. It doesn’t need amazing graphics to be a unique premise as it has the visuals, sound design and gameplay to back it up. The enemy design is excellent. They all do the same thing, but each ghost means something to the story and will give you visual clues as to who they are from the notes you will find. Learning about the ritualistic limb stretching torture then encountering an enemy with elongated limbs. The ghosts screaming in pain in relation to what happened to them. To me, that’s true horror. The puzzles aren’t too hard, and end up being more like fetch quests. But it was still enjoyable to navigate the mansion nonetheless. Another game I would have never experienced if it wasn’t for my urge to ply classic games. Recommended for any survival horror fan and looking forward to the even more critically acclaimed follow ups.