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Project Zero/Fatal Frame 5 Review Thread

Red Devil

Member
Somehow I expected this game to review a little better than this but not a lot better either. I guess I'll try the demo anyway, too bad as per GameXplain's review the prologue and the first chapter seem to be the weakest of the game.

The same way previous Fatal Frame games worked: with a traditional controller.

You mean like how the 4th one used these?

B000IMYKQ0-1-lg.jpg

Hopefully we'll see something from Supermassive in future, seems like the horror-genre is slowly dying.

Until Dawn begs to differ.

Guess people don't like old school horror which makes me sad, doubt re2 remake will do great if it sticks to old school.

RE2 Remake has the Resident Evil name attached to it so it'll be okay.
 

Mrmask

Member
Even if they did, the Wii U is regionlocked, you'd need a European Wii U too.

I'm aware of that. If I had a physical copy, I would then be willing to pick up the US digital copy as that is the only reason I don't want to buy the US version.

Edit: They do not ship to US. :(
 
Somehow I expected this game to review a little better than this but not a lot better either. I guess I'll try the demo anyway, too bad as per GameXplain's review the prologue and the first chapter seem to be the weakest of the game.



You mean like how the 4th one used these?





Until Dawn begs to differ.



RE2 Remake has the Resident Evil name attached to it so it'll be okay.


As much as I love Until Dawn, there is literally no way to lose in that game and while it's camera and setting is very much in the style of old survival horror, is lacking combat, item management, and a sense that you can die at any time. Very different beasts.
 
Jim's review reminds me of FF3. Crippling repetition. Really neat conceit and quite scary but just wasn't fun to play.

Yeah I didn't have that much fun with 3. Bizarrely it was double the length of the first game, no hyperbole. And it really felt it to. I couldn't believe how long it was compared to the previous two games. Near the end I was just forcing myself through it.

The whole haunted apartment aspect was a nice touch though.
 

Ridley327

Member
Jim's review reminds me of FF3. Crippling repetition. Really neat conceit and quite scary but just wasn't fun to play.

How many classic survival horror titles are fun to play, though? Call it a higher level of tolerance on the part of the fans of such titles or something else, but I think everyone knows what they're in for with this style of game. Even Resident Evil started moving into a more action packed direction with 2 and never really looked back, beyond the much-appreciated REmake.
 

chrono01

Member
With scores like this, I doubt NoA will bother releasing a physical version here in NA [at a later date], and that depresses me. Even with reviews such as this, I'm excited to play it, but not enough to have to purchase a secondary device to do so. :(
 
All I need is the unique atmosphere of this franchise. This japanese tale of spirits and curses that haunt you, that you can't escape... it will not fail to creep me out. Reviews have zero influence on me in this case. Even if well written and reasonable.
 

kunonabi

Member
How many classic survival horror titles are fun to play, though? Call it a higher level of tolerance on the part of the fans of such titles or something else, but I think everyone knows what they're in for with this style of game. Even Resident Evil started moving into a more action packed direction with 2 and never really looked back, beyond the much-appreciated REmake.

Plenty of old survival horror games are fun to play, the enjoyment just comes from a different approach than most people expect. Managing inventory, figuring out the best ways to get a low completion time, learning enemy placements and behaviors to facilitate juking them, knife runs, unlocking extras, etc. are all involving and enjoyable to fans of the genre. Tolerance has nothing to do with it. I like survival horror because of how they play and how different they are from everything else.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
How many classic survival horror titles are fun to play, though? Call it a higher level of tolerance on the part of the fans of such titles or something else, but I think everyone knows what they're in for with this style of game. Even Resident Evil started moving into a more action packed direction with 2 and never really looked back, beyond the much-appreciated REmake.

i've always loved this series precisely because i find it extremely fun to play. i love the combat: learning the patterns of the tougher ghosts and nailing those ff combo shots is very satisfying. the wonderful atmosphere and backstories for all the ghosts is the icing on the cake.

i guess that's why the length and 'repetition' of the later games never bothered me in the slightest. horror games haven't been able to frighten me for at least 20 years, so it's certainly not that aspect that keeps me coming back to them. my only actual issue with the zero series in particular is that most of the time they're far, far too easy. 2 and 4 are the worst about this. 4's only actual challenge is kageri and watashi, while sakuya was easily the most pathetic final boss in the series.
 

Ridley327

Member
i've always loved this series precisely because i find it extremely fun to play. i love the combat: learning the patterns of the tougher ghosts and nailing those ff combo shots is very satisfying. the wonderful atmosphere and backstories for all the ghosts is the icing on the cake.

i guess that's why the length and 'repetition' of the later games never bothered me in the slightest. horror games haven't been able to frighten me for at least 20 years, so it's certainly not that aspect that keeps me coming back to them. my only actual issue with the zero series in particular is that most of the time they're far, far too easy. 2 and 4 are the worst about this. 4's only actual challenge is kageri and watashi, while sakuya was easily the most pathetic final boss in the series.
It's really not meant to be an insult, and Fatal Frame is a bit more exempt because combat has always been a focus of the series, but if you poll 100 people on what they liked most about Silent Hill 2, I doubt you'd see many people putting "melee combat" in their top spot.
 

Reebot

Member
It's really not meant to be an insult, and Fatal Frame is a bit more exempt because combat has always been a focus of the series, but if you poll 100 people on what they liked most about Silent Hill 2, I doubt you'd see many people putting "melee combat" in their top spot.

I think that's kind of the genius of Fatal Frame though, they came up with a combat mechanic that's fun, fitting, and scary.
 

kunonabi

Member
It's really not meant to be an insult, and Fatal Frame is a bit more exempt because combat has always been a focus of the series, but if you poll 100 people on what they liked most about Silent Hill 2, I doubt you'd see many people putting "melee combat" in their top spot.

again, playing a game entails more than just the combat.
 

Ridley327

Member
again, playing a game entails more than just the combat.

I wouldn't disagree. That being said, there are a lot of nice things I'd call Silent Hill 2. One of those things would not be a fun game.

But I don't go into a survival horror game expecting that. That's all I'm getting at.
 

greg400

Banned
Which is something else entirely but yea context, who cares.
But yea context? Lol...

Bayonetta 2 has costumes even more risqué than the one's the removed from this game. Claiming it's because NoA and NoE have "basic principles" they need to uphold is absurd.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Having read through more reviews, a lot of the complains are about the game being a game in the style of Fatal Frame, which I find a bit odd. Well, it's not the first time I see reviewers complain about a game not reinventing itself. I'm only worried about Jim's review, which is really harsh. Almost personal.
 

ohlawd

Member
lol the mature rating couldn't be downgraded to teen no matter what and Nintendo still had to censor some costumes

this company is dumb as fuck. I can understand doing it for Bravely Default but not here
 

chrono01

Member
Personally, the NA release being censored is the final nail in the coffin for me. I was already hesitant to purchase it, due to it being a digital-only release [with a rather insane download/install size], but if it everything remained intact content-wise, I probably would have tried to fit it on my 32GB Wii U [by deleting stuff] or purchasing an external device [HDD/USB]. However, now that I know that content was cut [I know, "lewd optional content", but content nonetheless] and it's gone from a "maybe" to a "definite pass". It seriously upsets me.

This game is an M-rated game, with talks of suicide/violence/etc. A few scantily-clad optional costumes wouldn't be the end of the world, but I guess we can't have that on a Nintendo console in NA/EU [despite Bayonetta showing quite a bit of skin, as previously mentioned]. There's a few more "sexual" situations present in the main game, I wonder if they censored those too. Knowing Nintendo, I wouldn't put I past them.

This will probably impact sales in NA, but it's not as though NoA really cares anyway. The amount of effort they put into this release [lack of advertising, digital-only, etc.] shows their lack of interest. I know Nintendo are responsible for the Fatal Frame series now and everything, but I wish they would give it to someone else so we could actually have the content as it's presented and, if not, at least the means to import it if we want [thank you, region-lock]. :/
 

m0t0k1

Member
Thanks for the feedback! I admit, I do have a problem with talking too quickly and I find it difficult to read my reviews at a consistently clear and even pace. It's actually a lot harder than you'd think! What you heard was the result of several retakes. :p

I know exactly that its really hard. I did some videos with a voice over for some local companies. It is really hard yeah I was a bit nervous the first time I did it and you heard my voice crackling a bit. I also talk a lot deep inside of my mouth dunno really how to explain this. So practising speaking clear and in front of the mouth, so my you can hear the sound better took some time :p and i also had many retakes so don't sweat it. But you know what they say practise makes perfect. Just thought I could help you out a bit maybe.


Many thanks finally have time to read these.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Having read through more reviews, a lot of the complains are about the game being a game in the style of Fatal Frame, which I find a bit odd. Well, it's not the first time I see reviewers complain about a game not reinventing itself. I'm only worried about Jim's review, which is really harsh. Almost personal.

as much as i respect what jim does, his review strikes me as bizarrely hostile and critical of a game for being similar to the ones that preceded it. for him being someone who loves the musou games and understands the niche it appeals to, i would have thought he'd be a little more understanding of a similarly niche series with it's own quirky appeal instead of fierce, dispassionate condemnation.

edit: not to say that his review shouldn't reflect his feelings. if he hates the game, he hates it. i wouldn't want him sugarcoat the review to not offend anyone either.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
as much as i respect what jim does, his review strikes me as bizarrely hostile and critical of a game for being similar to the ones that preceded it. for him being someone who loves the musou games and understands the niche it appeals to, i would have thought he'd be a little more understanding of a similarly niche series with it's own quirky appeal instead of fierce, dispassionate condemnation.

Yeah, exactly this is the style, very hostile for some reason. And I don't know if it's indeed that boring that makes you scream or if he went in with some big expectations. Like someone forced him to go through the game in one session or something, but he has no boss, so really strange. I respect his opinion and maybe it is indeed that boring, I will see for myself next week. And it's not that it's really lacking something from the previous games in the series or so it seems.
 

Kusagari

Member
I really feel like flat out not buying the game because of the censorship. I wouldn't have even used the costumes but holy shit this annoys me.

The game is a digital only release still rated M. Heaven forbid Nintendo let some bikinis in.

Fuck off, Reggie.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
I think the costume thing is being overblown, it was done in FF2Wii as well, but in this case they replaced the costumes taken out with entirely new costumes at least (the Zelda and Zero Suit Samus costume are completely new, weren't in the Japanese version of the game).
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Wow, this is incredibly disappointing. This series deserves a better gatekeeper than fucking Nintendo.

Isn't the developer responsible for the quality of the game? The complains from the reviews are not related to anything that can be blamed on the producer, like rushing the game, bugs etc. It's all on the developer, really.
 

TI82

Banned
Isn't the developer responsible for the quality of the game? The complains from the reviews are not related to anything that can be blamed on the producer, like rushing the game, bugs etc. It's all on the developer, really.

It's on Nintendo for releasing it how it is though
 
Not that I'm a fan of censorship, but no bikinis is the least of my concerns. Was anyone really playing the game just for that extra? The lack of a physical release in NA is still the real problem here. The middling reviews and lack of skimpy outfits don't put me off, but I won't be purchasing this game as long as it's digital only.
 

kunonabi

Member
I think the costume thing is being overblown, it was done in FF2Wii as well, but in this case they replaced the costumes taken out with entirely new costumes at least (the Zelda and Zero Suit Samus costume are completely new, weren't in the Japanese version of the game).

It's not overblown as the costumes shouldn't have been removed period. I'm not going to use the extra costumes much either but I shouldn't have the option taken away from me. We've had the Zero Suit as a bonus in a bunch of games now and I'm sick of seeing it again and again.

At least with the Fatal Frame 2 wiimake you could patch the costumes back in with little effort.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
It's on Nintendo for releasing it how it is though

I mean I know who you are already, but this is over the board even by your standards, really. Ninjablade I understand, but you at least always faked some logic.

If the producers would release only games with great critical reception, there would be only a handful of releases yearly. Not to mention that this is a game already released in Japan a year ago. It's not an unfinished game, it doesn't have bugs, but its concept and gameplay are not appealing for some. Overall, it's an average game by critics standards. But people play also average games because if they wouldn't, the average would be much higher.
 

Barakov

Member
The only thing being censored is the alts right?

That's what it seems like so far. It would be absolutely asinine to censor parts of the story of a M-rated, digital only title released on the e-shop. Then again, this is Nintendo of America we're talking about here.
 
Isn't the developer responsible for the quality of the game? The complains from the reviews are not related to anything that can be blamed on the producer, like rushing the game, bugs etc. It's all on the developer, really.

Not if the publisher has demands that must be met for release, no. Publisher has the final say. But after more reading it seems like maybe the censoring isn't important bits, so it's a wait-and-see scenario.

I won't be buying this at launch though. And it really sucks to see this amazing franchise get this treatment. Anyone but Nintendo should be holding the rights to this in my opinion.
 

Porcile

Member
The GAF outrage is strong in this one.

The reviews don't put me off at all, but not having a physical edition really sucks.

So thank fuck I'm European and have the physical edition pre-ordered. :p
 

Akibared

Member
Going by reviews and impressions the answer is yes. The alternative bikini outfits have been replaced with the Zelda and ZSS outfit, but the story skimpy moment are still there.

That's what it seems like so far. It would be absolutely asinine to censor parts of the story of a M-rated, digital only title released on the e-shop. Then again, this is Nintendo of America we're talking about here.

That's fine with me. All this not buying talk had me worried it was something bigger than that.
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
Seeing a lot of people refusing to buy the game because it's digital and censored, I mean yeah it's their money so their choice but do they realise that Nintendo is just going take that to mean the US market doesn't care for Project Zero and that they made a mistake in localizing it?

Do you really want to take the risk of any future games in the series not getting localized?


Is the game uncensored in EU? I'm thinking of importing a copy just to support them.

From what I have heard superior (lewd) European got the uncensored version. But the getting the copy will be difficult as it's either sold out or can't be shipped out of Europe/UK.
 
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