Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen [Japan Import]

Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen (Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse) is a Japanese exclusive for the Wii that is part of the Fatal Frame ("Project Zero" in Europe) survival horror series that for once IS scary. It made a lot of people upset that it never left Japan that a group of people made an English patch for the game (Google it). From my personal experience I love this game. I love the Fatal Frame series because its the only game series that would make a jaded person like myself jump and feel uncomfortable and I have the most respect for this series because of that. It takes a lot to scare me and the first game of this series on the PS2 has done it more than once within 20 minutes of starting the game. Now how about the story? 10 years ago (in the game)there was an incident that took place in the island of Rougetsu. Every 10 years they celebrate in a festival and the main event is a dance. 5 girls of the age of 7 were kidnapped during the dance as a plot to have a secret ritual but it failed. 10 years later two of the girls who were kidnapped died in a strange way. Misaki, Madoka, and Ruka come back to the island in hopes of finding the truth of what happened. Nether seem to remember anything that has happened before they were kidnapped. Will they find the truth? Or is it better not knowing? The controls sound hard but they are pretty simple. To walk around you use the joy stick on the nunchunk, if you hold Z you can run, and if you hold C you can move side to side (you wont need this). On the WiiMote you simply tilt it up or down to move the camera up or down. You use A to open doors and to examine things. If you swing the WiiMote you will be able to turn at a 180 degree angle. You use B to take out the camera. While you're using the camera you use A to snap a photo, Z (on the nunchuk) to lock onto your enemy, you use the D-Pad (on the WiiMote) to change the film type by pressing left or right (on the D-Pad) or up and down to change the camera lens(es). If you want to move the angle of the camera you can use the joy stick to move left or right and while holding Z you can move the camera even faster. If you press C you can use your special camera lens(es) if the spirit power you have gathered is enough to use them (you can upgrade this to make them more powerful). To put the camera away just press B. You can upgrade your camera and camera lenses as you progress through the game. Fatal Frame 4 is a hidden gem and one of the best games on the Wii that never made it outside of Japan. The English patch is available for non-Japanese speakers and I believe it is translated in other languages as well. You dont need to play the previous games to understand the game if you haven't played them already, it is a standalone game as Im typing this review. This is honestly one game I do not regret buying and hope other people will enjoy it as much as I have as well as the series.

Fatal Frame 4 is by far one of the best games I've ever played. I've been a fan of the series since the beginning and though I was hesitant to buy this at first because of the price and unsure if the English patch would truly work, I'm thankful I didn't pass this up and went thru with the purchase. The graphics are the best I've seen on the Wii. It hasn't downgraded in quality in the least when comparing it to the PS2 installments. I like the new hospital setting; the atmosphere is very unsettling and it has a bit of a Silent Hill/Siren feel with the Fatal Frame twist. The challenge in this game has been turned up a notch since the last 3; the ghosts have quite a few new abilities like the lady in black who can spawn clones of herself and surround you. The puzzles are ingenious and will take some time to solve for most people. The story is very well written, complex, emotional and though it's not directly related to 1-3, there are some good tie-ins. I was disappointed about the over-the-shoulder camera vs. the more cinematic camera views from previous titles but I grew to liking it better once I realized it made exploration and finding items much easier (ex. finding the cursed dolls). For those of you nervous about buying short games, this is NOT one of those. So far, I'm almost 11 hours in and still have a ways to go. There's things you'll probably miss the first time around and end up playing it through again so there's definitely replay value. Overall, I give this game a 10 because it delivers flawlessly in creepy atmosphere, excellent story-telling, constant unexpected jump-out-of-your-skin moments, beautifully designed environments, easy controls for a Wii game in this category, and being an ambitious franchise that always raises the bar and shows improvement rather than falling off and getting lazy or making unnecessary changes that earned it's original fan base (no need for examples). One thing I do feel I should point out to anyone who is considering purchasing this game (living in countries other than Japan) is that unless you have Priiloader and the HomeBrew Channel and have set your Wii to region free, the english patch is useless because the disc can't be detected otherwise. Also, so far there is no patch that works with Wii system menu 4.3 so I don't recommend updating if you haven't yet or if you have, you should get on YouTube and watch a few videos on downgrading to 4.1 (I had to do all of this with my Wii and it worked perfectly. I'm not that experienced with computers or modding so if you're good at following directions, you'll be ok).

I love the fatal frame games, and I do believe that this is their best one yet. I just wish I knew how to read japanse. But hey that's where game through come in handy.

-the following is an opinion- It seems the fatal frame series of games are the scariest out there. There is hope if you do not read or understand japanese but want to experience this one. Although this IS a japanese game in japanese first of all -It IS possible thanks to the dedicated work of some fans- to be played with english subtitles and menus but you need to have a wii with an older operating system (at least that's how I did it)and an sd card,card reader,along with some free files that are available online. Because I am a confirmed fatal frame fanatic,I found a wii on ebay with an old os for cheap, got an sd card , the files etc.. -And may I exclaim ! it was worth it ! . (by the way it seems nintendo of america,not tecmo, is to blame for not bringing this title to the west - a curse on them!) This is in my opinion the spookiest fatal frame yet - not by a whole lot,but that's my opinion. Graphics are very,very nice and the background sounds and atmospheres magnify the whole experience. The japanese voice acting is also top-notch showing many meaningful,subtle inflections. The story behind the game is very solid and very weird. Fatal frame games have always been very scary - mostly involving slowly making your way around an environment while gathering clues and items and unraveling the story bit by bit - at the same time facing off against hostile spirits of the dead using only your special camera (which gets stronger as you find certain upgrades). If you like your games non-stop,running around, fast-paced,blasting everything in your path getting some kind of adrenaline rush - then this is not the game for you. -But if you can appreciate exquisite atmosphere,unseen fears and hostile,sometimes tragic ghosts, then try it - it will definitely provide a rush of a different variety,probably also including some adrenaline from simple terror it would seem.. This to me,is about playing all alone in a dark or darkened room with no outside interruptions - taking your time not to miss important items(many of which are almost a necessity to finish the game) ,exploring every area thoroughly -always at the ready to photograph fleeting,mostly benign spirits(which provide points to spend)and -if it gets too scary,just come back later when you have found the courage. Any fatal frame fan (who does not understand japanese) should take the steps I did to experience this supremely spooky title,and if you are not familiar with project Zero but yearn for creepy games,this is approaching the level of Art. -And let's hope that the next one makes it to the west.

I think with shipping it came out to about $90 which normally is an insane amount for a video game, especially for the Wii which generally doesn't go above $50 for new games, but the fact that it's only in Japanese and the GAME PLAY makes it's completely worth it if you're as much in love with the Project Zero/Fatal Frame series as I am. Something about hearing the org voice actors instead of our more monotone like ones in English just makes the game all the more creepier and the graphics are by far amazing, especially since it's on the Wii, which doesn't usually have very good quality when compared to the ps3. I knew that, being that it's coming from Japan, that the shipping would take a long time, and the estimated time did say it could take nearly a month so I REALLY wasn't expecting it to be sitting pretty in my mail box (I kid not) not even a full week after ordering it! I actually think I scared my neighbor when I pulled it out since I started squealing and dancing around... Now getting the English patch on my Wii was a major pain and a half and I had to enlist the help of my husband who ended up spending nearly two days to get it on there right and get it to work, but the hassle of the patch is worth it. The only thing I really have to say about the game that would be considered negative was the boss...pretty much child's play when compared to the ones in 2 and 3 which was kind of a let down, seeing as how the sounds your camera makes when you're near one of those dolls gave me more chills than the boss lol. Still, it's an amazing game that is worth every penny, every day waiting for the mail, every hassle with the English patch, and a game that you'll never want to put down when you start (and will want to keep playing even after beating it) if you are even a basic fan of the series.

Worth the money. The scariest Fatal Frame to ever be made. I can't believe Nintendo didn't actually release it here. Its not too buggy, and who even cares about a ghost list? Anyway the game is amazing and I urge any Fatal Frame fan to get this game. Hours of play scares around EVERY corner!!! One of the best purchases I have made. NOTE: The english patch for this game as of July 2013 is NOT covered for the latest update: 4.3 Wiis! So check your wii firmware before purchasing. You can still play the game on American Wiis by modding your wii and running the game through the Homebrew Channel which you can find out how to download. You will also need an SD card with the Gecko App on it so you can run it with the homebrew channel. Its a little bit of work, but Gecko allows you to make your wii region free and to play games from any country. You will need to look it up how to get it and you need to go to letterbomb to get it. But again it is worth the time and effort!!! AMAZING AMAZING GAME.

Definitely the “down right” scariest and creepiest fatal frame of all. Absolutely chilling story and an eerie setting. It has significant more jumps than the previous one, especially you are at “shoulder height” with the character vs completely 3rd person view in the previous games. I love the story and better graphics, but a number of bugs that I find irritating and lack of consideration for players. I will not mention small bugs but the piano puzzles are VERY annoying. Does the developers not know WII isn’t a very precise pointing device. Took me lots of tries to do those. It’s not hard, just a stupid waste of time that should not have been there.

THE BAD: My copy didn't come for a MONTH! And that's with the expedited shipping! The Japanese sellers also jacked up the price. $100.00 is just ridiculous. Also, the English translation patch was a little confusing for me to get started. THE GOOD: This fresh new take on Fatal Frame gameplay and the Western setting is really fun for me. I love how the difficulty was turned up a bit. The ghosts are definitely smarter and have some new tricks up their sleeves. For me, this game may not be as artistic-looking like Fatal Frame 2 or 3, but the scare factor makes it a candidate for the top spot in levels of scariness. I felt very claustrophobic throughout the entire game because there isn't much space to move around like all God's Village, or the Cherry Atrium, or the Kuze Shrine. So, I paid $100.00 to get scared, and it was worth every penny. I can't thank the translation team from Beyond the Camera's Lens enough. Great work for letting us non-Japanese speakers enjoy this great installment to my favorite survival-horror series.

リマスター版より wii版が好きです。

良かった

買ってから一回しかやってなかった、結局好きじゃない作品です。

現在では現行機でリマスター版が制作されているほど、人気のホラーゲーム「零シリーズ」四作目のWiiオリジナル版です。 本作はホラーゲームですので、当然、明かりの少ない暗めのシーンが多いのですが、グラフィックが絶妙に綺麗で、見やすいのが良かったです。 自分がゲームが下手だからでしょうか、序盤から射影機を使用した戦闘は少し難しく感じましたが、ストーリーが気になるので諦めずにがんばろうと思います。