Building upon the successes and learning from the criticisms from the original, Tecmo have delivered the eagerly anticipated sequel. Perhaps ironically, however, by listening to these criticisms, Tecmo have actually made the game inferior to the original. After many complaints of Fatal Frame being too hard, the sequel entirely lacks the correct balance of difficulty, essential for creating a successful horror game.

Similar to how Silent Hill 3 created incredibly atmospheric moments that often lead to nothing, Fatal Frame 2 creates some wonderfully frightening scenes but, sadly, lacks the bite to back up the bark. As such, the potency of such atmosphere is lost. The building up of the atmosphere is handled as expertly and powerfully as one would expect with this sequel, however knowing that the attack itself will be weak and feeble is seriously damaging to the effectiveness of what Tecmo are trying to achieve.

What Tecmo are trying to achieve is, of course, the most terrifying game ever created. Witness the box and its WARNING complete with “Do not play this game alone!” and “Sequel to the most frightening game of all time” caveats. For the most part, they have done an excellent job, too. Indeed, some of the more extreme cutscenes are among the most hostile and vivid the videogame medium has ever witnessed. Rarely have such scene-building animations been so precisely engineered to scare and unnerve. The quality of such scenes is largely down to excellent direction, though the use of black & white is particularly striking too, something which is used smartly during actual play. Though the graphics are impressive in Fatal Frame 2, what really distinguishes the actual style is how the use of the colour red is highlighted so obviously above other hues, playing up to the games subtitle and story catalyst – the Crimson Butterfly.

It’s these crimson butterflies that cause Mayu to leave her twin sister Mio behind in the forest, causing them both to venture in further than they had done on previous occasions. As they get closer to the game’s central location - All Gods Village - things quickly begin to go awry. By cunningly settling on top of the mouth of Hell, the villagers have historically sacrificed twin girls in order to keep things in their natural order. Since this is a ghost story, however, things clearly went wrong during the last sacrifice, causing the evident chaos the protagonists now face. Though the central story of ritual sacrifices is not an original one, especially within the genre, the use of twins allows Tecmo to weave a surprisingly effective tale with plenty of intrigue and surprise.

The amount of information you find on the periphery of the main plot-line is approaching Silent Hill’s level of detail. Similar to that game, FF2 is able to place history on the locations you visit, forcing unsettling knowledge upon you just before you must enter a new area. Indeed, the setting of All Gods Village is extremely well realised, looking and feeling like one would expect from an old Japanese village. Great detail has been placed within each of the game’s many buildings, with each room packed with furnishing and eye-catching features. All of this detail really hits home when coming face to face with the ghosts themselves, as often you have learnt about their life and, sometimes, how they actually died. Needless to say, the ghosts themselves are all fascinating creations with great animation and technical wizardry. A special mention must go to the sound as well, which is so brilliantly distorted, twisted and imaginative that it lingers in the mind far longer than it does within the game.

Though Tecmo have done a great job improving upon the original in many areas, there are a few near-fatal mistakes, mostly revolving around one of the central characters. Despite being a key part to the story, Mayu - the sister - has been implemented into the gameplay mechanic very poorly. As Mio, you are instructed not to let Mayu die, yet she has such high levels of energy that using her as a shield is often the most sensible thing to do when being attacked. It can become difficult to care for her emotionally when she is best used to protect you physically. Though Mayu can die, reaching the point of Game Over is almost only going to be achieved through effort rather than lack of skill. This is just one reason why Fatal Frame 2 is such an easy game and, after factoring-in a ridiculous abundance of health packs (of which even the smallest one all but fully restores your health), you end up with a game that is far too easy. Mayu seems awfully intent on getting in your way during exploration too, which doesn’t help matters.

Minor faults are of course present, such as the odd removal of the 180 turn when using the game’s only weapon (the spirit-busting Camera Obscura), or the overuse of irritating backtracking puzzles, but these are quite unimportant when sat next to the bigger problems the game features.

What Tecmo were trying to achieve, though, has almost been accomplished – Fatal Frame 2 is easily one of the most frightening games ever created. There are moments of such genius that it is almost impossible not to become entirely immersed within the game’s haunted world. Yet all its terrifying beauty, with a better-judged difficulty and the problems with the second character ironed out, FF2 could have been the finest game in the horror genre. A shame, then, but this doesn't prevent Fatal Frame 2 being a title worthy of recommendation.