Fatal Frame - On this day

Demons, zombies, and mutants are the most common enemies in horror games. However, there are even worse types of opponents - those who are invisible and bulletproof. These are ghosts and demons, and when we think of them, we usually think of the horror adventure Fatal Frame that appeared on this day 20 years ago.

Fatal Frame was called Zero in Japan, and Project Zero in Europe. It was a third-person adventure in which we controlled the character of the girl Miku Hinasaki. Miku sought out her mentor Junsei at Villa Himuro, where she learned of the dark past and the location where ritual sacrifices took place to stop the spirits of the dead from passing into the world of the living.

The game was promoted on the Japanese market as a horror based on true events, which was not entirely true. But the setting was inspired by actual locations that were considered haunted. In addition, unlike other horror games from Japan, Fatal Frame is tied to original Japanese legends and the Japanese notion of ghosts (read: non-Hollywood).

The European and Japanese name of the game (Zero) referred to the interpretation of ghosts as zero beings of nothingness. The player confronted the ghosts in the first person - through a camera in whose frame the oncoming ghosts were to be captured. The longer the spirit was in the frame, the greater the damage inflicted on it. But the plot was that the ghosts were not visible all the time, but the protagonist could feel them with her sixth sense.

Fatal Frame was a very well-received game after its release on the PlayStation 2 console, although it sold poorly. For the Tecmo publishing house, the project was ultimately successful, and a year later it was transferred to the Xbox console. This was followed by four sequels and one spin-off title. Although there have been no new games in the series since 2014, the series is still alive, and the last part (Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water) came to life on PC and current consoles this year.