esterday I had the opportunity to attend a very special (and spooky) event for Tecmo’s upcoming Xbox horror game Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director’s Cut.  Holing up in the haunted Queen Anne Hotel in San Fransisco, California, attendees took part in a bevy of spooky events, including getting some hands-on time with the game and the opportunity to pose some questions to the game’s producer and creator, Keisuke Kikuchi.

Informer: You released the first Fatal Frame on the PS2 and followed that title up with the Xbox version.  Now you’ve released the sequel on the PS2 and also followed that up with this new Xbox version.  Have there ever been any thoughts on releasing the game for both platforms simultaneously?

Keisuke Kikuchi:  I think that the idea of multiplatform and simultaneous releases is done often but it’s not really possible.  If you really want to fully utilize the characteristics of each console you’d have to design the game differently for each system.  To do that it’s just very difficult to bring it out at the same time.  So in this case the original PS2 version was designed for PS2 and the Director’s Cut was designed to fully utilize the unique characteristics of the Xbox.

GI: So it is mostly just an issue of technology and capability?  If the Director’s Cut is really sort of the epitome of what Fatal Frame II should be, is there a feeling that maybe you should just release the game for the Xbox only since that version should be the final and most complete version of the game?

KK:  I think that it’s a business decision that we have to make and because this game is originally designed for the Japanese market we have to look at the number of consoles and the installed base in Japan.  When we do that, of course, we cannot avoid the PS2.  My team is very accustomed to making games on the PS2 so we can make a PS2 game fairly quickly, so that may be another answer to your question.

GI: Since the game is originally designed for the Japanese market, how do you feel about the current crop of American horror games?  How do you think they stack up against their American counterparts?

KK: The biggest difference is that the Japanese idea of horror is not about being direct with the graphics, like blood splattering.  It’s the eerie world, the space, the environment.

GI: Like more of a psychological horror?

KK: Right.  It’s more of a psycho-thriller type of thing and that’s what I focus on.  That’s what I feel is the Japanese idea of horror games.

GI: Getting to the game, what sort of new modes and features can we expect in the Xbox Director’s Cut, outside of the first person perspective that we discussed back at E3 in May?

KK: The new mode is called Survival.  Within the “All God’s Village” you start off at point A and you need to make it to point B and along the way you’ll be encountering many ghosts.  If you allow the ghosts to attack you, you’re dead, the game is over.  But if you obtain the item that allows you to come back to life after you die (stone mirror), you can keep playing.  It’s important that in the Story Mode that you learn all the special characteristics and movement patterns of the ghosts and how you should fight them. 

Also the game has new costumes and new accessories that you can acquire.  Another function that we’ve added to the camera is a self timer.  If you go to a save point you can place the camera on it and from that perspective you can take a photo of yourself (Kakiuchi-san passes around some funny pics showing off Mayu and Miyu in strange outfits in a variety of different locales, including some outfits taken from Deception 2 and Deception 3). 

GI: Stepping back from the game for a bit, do you ever get scared of your own creation?  I know you’re involved with the project from day one, but have you ever just gotten creeped out when you look back at what you’ve created?

KK: One time I was in the office at two o’clock in the morning and bug testing the game.  Suddenly a ghost of a child appeared out of the middle of nowhere that I didn’t know about, my staff hadn’t told me about it yet.  I literally fell off my chair!  Since I was testing for bugs I was sitting really close to the screen with my nose basically up against it and then suddenly this thing appears and it really scared me.

GI:  I talked to you at E3 and you dropped the bomb that Fatal Frame 3 was currently in development.  Can you talk about that project at all?  How far along is it and have there been any thoughts on what platform it will release on?

K: First of all we’re planning to release the game sometime next year.  Compared to the worlds that we created in Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame II, it’s going to be completely different.  It’s still Japanese style, but it’s not going to be this kind of old fashioned Japanese environment?

GI: A modern setting?

KK: That, too, but all I can say is that you might not even recognize it as a Fatal Frame game at first. 

GI: This is sort of an odd question, so bear with me.  I know Tecmo isn’t in the peripheral business, but the Japanese market for quirky controllers and accessories is pretty creative.  Have you ever tossed around the idea of making a camera controller that you could use to play the game?

KK: I’ve actually already experimented with the idea.  That’s when we didn’t have the first person mode and it was with the third person perspective.  It just didn’t work out very well in third person.  But this time, if we get good reviews and good response from the consumers on the first person mode, I might try again. 

GI: My last question is a bit of stumper.  What do you think will compel gamers who own both a PS2 and Xbox, as well as the PS2 version of the game, to go out and buy the new Director’s Cut?

KK: The biggest difference is the first person viewpoint that’s not available on the PS2 version, so just for that they should definitely get the Xbox version.  Also, if you don’t clear the Survival Mode in the Xbox version you really can’t say that you’ve conquered Fatal Frame II.  In order to do that you will experience fear and excitement trying to get through that mode.  And, of course, there are a few more bonuses that are hidden, especially if you like different costumes for the characters. 

GI: Great, thanks for taking the time to talk to use about Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly The Director’s Cut.

Overall my time hands-on time with Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly The Director’s Cut was both terrifying and incredibly enjoyable.  The new Survival Mode really takes the game in a more challenging direction and will offer up a hefty challenge to even the most experienced gamers.  One thing that Kakiuchi-san didn’t mention is that the Xbox version of the game also contains a neat Shop mode where you can use your accumulated points to buy items when you’re playing through the game.  You’ll be able to pick up all sorts of handy sundries, including herbal medicines and different types of film.

On the visuals front the Xbox version of the game is clearly a step up from its PS2 cousin.  Character models seem more fluidly animated and darker areas that were once visually unflattering are now more realistic and foreboding.  New ghosts and other visual stimuli have also been added, which ensures that you’ll get plenty of shocks and surprises when playing the game.  Running through an area that’s familiar from the PS2 version of the game may now yield a ghost battle in the Xbox version, not to mention eerie and disturbing voice clips.  If you were scared of the PS2 installment of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, prepare to wet your pants out of both fear and joy.  It’s just that scary.