The Fatal Frame series is my favorite when it comes to survival-horror. The settings are filled with disturbing atmosphere and imagery. The narrations are centered around ancient Japanese mythology; a subject I’ve always found fascinating. The ghosts are creepy and typically don’t rely on jump scares. And of course, the Camera Obscura is still one of the most creative “weapons” in a video game. All of these features are in Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir for the Nintendo 3DS. Spirit Camera isn’t a full-fledged entry in the Fatal Frame/Project Zero series. Instead, it’s a collection of games that force players to use the 3DS’ built-in camera and gyroscope. One of those games is Fatal Frame: The Diary of Faces, which I will be discussing the most in the review.
Chances are folks will be spending the most time with that since the other games available, Cursed Pages and Haunted Visions, are meant to be experienced in tiny bursts. Or ignored altogether. Actually, before getting into anything, I need to reiterate that Spirit Camera requires usage of the 3DS’ camera and gyroscope. To hammer this point home further, the camera will be required to work alongside the included AR Booklet. If your game doesn’t include this booklet, (because people still throw away manuals) then you’ll have to look for a PDF version of it. Otherwise, you won’t be able to play anything in Spirit Camera.
Anyways. The review. In The Diary of Faces, you find yourself in an old house after receiving the titular tome. The urban myth behind this diary is that a woman clad in black will suck you into the book, rip off your face, and keep your remains trapped in the book for all eternity. Luckily, you have the Camera Obscura and meet a girl named Maya who has been hiding in this house. Unluckily, Maya forgot her memories. While she could have ties to the diary and the woman in black, the burden mostly falls on you to figure out how to break the curse of this diary. The setup for The Diary of Faces sounds familiar to other entries in the series with some noticeable difference. One is that the game has you, a mute protagonist, taking the lead. Another is that the game breaks down the story bits in chapters. It’s easier to digest this way, but a lot of the fun from previous entries was that the story slowly unraveled through narratives, texts, voice messages, journals, and more. Those are all in The Diary of Faces, but Maya it all down.
But, the biggest difference is that The Diary of Faces plays out more like an interactive visual novel. You’re not moving from room to room from a third-person perspective. The process for the game’s entirety goes like this: You’ll move the 3DS so you have Maya in your view, you’ll talk to her, and you’ll be instructed to move the 3DS over the included AR Booklet aka The Diary of Faces. Doing so will lead to a puzzle or more story bits. I’ll admit that, at first, this was pretty neat. It’s like you had the Camera Obscura in your hands and could see new things using AR technology. But, there are a lot of problems. And not just with The Diary of Faces, but this type of game on the whole. I don’t know about you, but when I play a portable console, I don’t want to have to keep adjusting myself this and that way so the camera hits something at just the right angle. I want to kick back and relax. But, you can’t do that here. You’ll constantly need a good light source and The Diary of Faces at the ready.
The “fun” doesn’t stop there. This is Fatal Frame, so some moments will have you combating wraiths with the Camera Obscura. The filament at the top of the screen will point you towards their direction, you’ll move your 3DS, keep the ghost in your sights and hit the shutter button just as the screen flashes red. It’s a new look at a familiar formula that, once again, is fun at first. Not timing your shots right or getting hit by the ghost will cause you to lose life. The good news is game overs are very forgiving. Fighting the ghosts is a mixture of things. It’s rewarding, frustrating, and dizzying. But mostly, it’s short. The number of ghost battles are few and far between. Truth be told The Diary of Faces can be finished in an afternoon sitting even with a few game overs here and there.
This means Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir can be finished quickly. Dabbling in the other mini-games that use the AR/camera features is amusing for a few minutes. It’s for this reason that it’s hard for me, a big fan of Fatal Frame and horror, to recommend this. It doesn’t last long, and actually playing it can be frustrating. Due to all of the physicality required, there’s nothing spooky about Spirit Camera. Things might look and sound eerie for a minute, but that atmosphere is fleeting when you have to start moving yourself into the right position to keep things moving. I want to give Koei Tecmo some credit for trying something new, but this was ultimately a letdown.
Overall, 5/10: Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir relies more on the Nintendo 3DS’ hardware than the goods that make Fatal Frame such a special series.