Fatal Frame III: The Tormented is a survival horror video game created by Tecmo for the PlayStation 2. It is the third game in the Fatal Frame series. Tecmo released it in Japan and North America in 2005, and Take-Two Interactive released it in Europe in 2006. The story takes place after the events of the first two games. It follows three characters who have lost loved ones and are drawn into the supernatural Manor of Sleep. Players explore the Manor and fight hostile ghosts using a special tool called the Camera Obscura. Each character has unique abilities, such as stronger attacks or better stealth skills.
Development of Fatal Frame III began after Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003). It was planned as the final Fatal Frame game for the PlayStation 2. Makoto Shibata and Keisuke Kikuchi returned as director and producer, Tsuyoshi Iuchi as lead writer, and Tsuki Amano as the writer and performer of the theme song. The game’s concept and story were inspired by Shibata’s nightmares, focusing on horror that emerges from familiar situations. Sales met Tecmo’s expectations, and the game received positive reviews from journalists. It was praised for its atmosphere and story, but some critics noted that the gameplay lacked new ideas.
Gameplay
Fatal Frame III: The Tormented is a survival horror video game where players control three characters—Rei Kurosawa, Miku Hinasaki, and Kei Amakura. These characters explore the supernatural Manor of Sleep, a haunted house that appears in their dreams, and fight ghosts using a special tool called the Camera Obscura. The game uses a fixed third-person camera angle for most scenes, but the Camera Obscura is viewed from the player’s perspective, like looking through a camera lens.
The game takes place in two locations: the Manor of Sleep, which represents the characters’ dreams, and Rei’s apartment in the real world. In the real world, Rei researches clues with help from Miku and Kei. Later in the game, passive ghosts appear in Rei’s apartment. In the Manor of Sleep, players explore rooms to find items that solve puzzles or reveal parts of the story. Players can move normally or use a dedicated run button. Healing herbs and film used by the Camera Obscura are found in the Manor. When players leave the Manor, their health and film type reset to default settings. Progress is saved either at lanterns inside the Manor or in Rei’s apartment using the Camera Obscura.
Combat is based on using the Camera Obscura to fight ghosts. Damage depends on the distance from the ghost, the angle of the shot, and the type of film used. These factors also determine how many points players earn for each shot. If a ghost attacks and the Camera Obscura’s lens flashes red, players get a chance to take a powerful shot called a "Shutter Chance." During this chance, a "Fatal Frame" can be triggered, which increases damage and stuns the ghost. Combat points earned are used at save points to buy items or upgrade the Camera Obscura with special lenses that improve damage or add abilities. Passive ghosts can also be photographed for points, which are added to an in-game album.
Each character has unique abilities that affect gameplay. Rei is balanced, with more upgrade options and a "Flash" ability to push ghosts away. Miku has stronger attack power and can slow ghosts temporarily, but she cannot use upgraded lenses. She can also move through small spaces in the Manor. Kei has weaker attack power but high health, allowing him to survive more hits. He can hide from some ghosts and move heavy objects to open new paths.
Synopsis
After surviving a car accident that killed her fiancé, Yuu Asou, independent photographer Rei Kurosawa continues to grieve and begins photographing places said to be haunted. She is helped by her roommate, Miku Hinasaki, who lost her brother, Mafuyu, to supernatural events. While photographing the ruins of Kuze Shrine, Rei sees a vision of Yuu and follows him into a place later called the Manor of Sleep. She encounters the ghost of a tattooed woman and returns to reality. That night, she dreams of the Manor of Sleep and wakes up with a tattoo appearing on her body. She starts investigating Kuze Shrine with Miku and Kei Amakura, a friend of Yuu and the uncle of Mio, whose sister, Mayu, died in a supernatural event.
It is learned that Kuze Shrine was the site of a ritual where a chosen priestess received tattoos that showed someone’s sadness. Eventually, the priestess was pierced in a holy room so her spirit could carry the grief into the next life. The last priestess, Reika, chose to take this role because she believed Kaname, the child of a previous priestess, had died in an earthquake. After the ritual, Kaname visited Reika to comfort her, but he was killed by the high priestess of Kuze Shrine for entering the sacred area. This caused Reika’s tattoos to become too powerful, destroying the shrine. Now, Reika haunts the dreams of people who have lost loved ones, luring them into the Manor of Sleep, a spiritual version of Kuze Shrine. Those who reach the center of the Manor die in the real world and turn to ash.
Miku is led by Mafuyu’s spirit into the Manor and falls into a coma. Kei believes the ritual failed and tries to repeat it in the dream, but he faces Reika. Rei reaches the center of the Manor of Sleep and calms Reika, sending her and Kaname to the afterlife. This ends the curse, allowing trapped spirits to leave. Yuu appears, takes the tattoo curse from Rei, and then passes on. Rei and Miku wake from the dream and decide to keep living despite their pain. Whether certain key items are found during a second visit to the Manor, Kei either falls to the curse or wakes up with Mio and meets Rei and Miku.
Development
Fatal Frame III was developed by Tecmo, the company that created the series. Makoto Shibata returned as the director, and Keisuke Kikuchi returned as the producer. Kenishi Asami was the lead programmer. Shibata came up with the idea for Fatal Frame III while working on the final part of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003). He wanted to create a game with a stronger sense of horror. Because the PlayStation 3 was coming soon, Shibata made Fatal Frame III the last game for the PlayStation 2, completing the series as a trilogy. The game’s theme focused on fear that appears in normal, everyday situations. The setting included a dream-based location, which added beauty to the environment. Like earlier games, Shibata was inspired by the Japanese horror movie Ring and the manga Yōkai Hunter by Daijiro Morohoshi. The idea of dreams also connected to Japanese creatures like the baku, which are linked to dreams. The team studied ancient Japanese beliefs to accurately show the game’s themes and supernatural events.
Kikuchi wanted to try something new by creating a design theme called “interactive fear.” This showed the main character’s growing fear as the story’s secrets were revealed. He also wanted to explore different types of fear and gameplay through multiple characters. The game used a real-world setting with two locations, which had not been done before. Each character’s gameplay was designed based on their appearance and how they could be used in the game. The number of ghost battles was reduced, but the difficulty and complexity of those battles increased. This was meant to show a world completely controlled by ghosts. Ghost behavior combined elements from the first two games, including how ghosts move and disappear to challenge players. Kikuchi believed the team successfully included all their planned ideas in the final game.
The story was written by Shibata and Tsuyoshi Iuchi. Iuchi wrote the game’s script, a role he had before. Shibata was inspired by his nightmares when designing the game’s setting, including a dream about a haunted mansion filled with the spirits of dead loved ones. The horror theme was meant to feel “indigenous” instead of using fantastical threats from earlier games. Because of the story’s focus on suffering and the presence of a tattoo, a more mature heroine was chosen as the main character. Fatal Frame III followed the two previous games but was written so that new players could understand the story. Kei was added as a male protagonist based on fan requests. Earlier games ended in tragedy, but Fatal Frame III started with the worst possible situation and ended with a positive resolution. Shibata decided that Rei would survive and remember Yuu, believing that death would betray the memories of Yuu and others in the Manor of Sleep. This idea was inspired by a poem by Japanese writer Kyoko Inaba. The ending where Rei, Miku, and Kei all survive is considered the official ending. Shibata’s first draft of the ending was thirteen minutes long, but it was shortened for the final version.
Rei was designed to be more mature than earlier main characters while keeping the same slender style. Her role as a photographer helped bring back a plan from the first game to have a professional photographer as the main character. Miku’s design changed slightly from the first game to show her growing maturity. Kei’s design reflected his personality, which includes being unlucky with women and having stealth-based gameplay abilities. The main color of the game was blue, with the Japanese character for blue used in the title as a double meaning. The game’s engine was improved to allow more detailed environments and ghost designs, increasing the sense of fear for players. CGI cutscenes were created by Polygon Pictures.
The music was composed by Ayako Toyoda. Unlike the first two games, there was no music for the haunted location, instead using ambient and environmental sounds. Music was mostly used in real-world locations but remained dark and unsettling. One piece of music used in the Manor of Sleep was a lullaby performed by child actress Miyū Tsuzurahara, who also voiced the child ghosts. The theme song “Voice” was written and performed by Japanese singer Tsuki Amano, who had previously sung the vocal theme for Crimson Butterfly. Shibata decided to bring Amano back because he used her album Meg & Lion as background music while writing the game. Other singers were considered, but Shibata wanted a song that matched the game’s ending, describing it as a mix of Amano’s work up to that point. Amano began creating the song under the name “Tattoo” before being contacted and later changed the title to “Voice” to better fit the game. She based the song on moving past grief, inspired by a close friend who had lost her fiancé in real life. There was some disagreement between Amano and Shibata about the song’s focus on moving on versus Shibata’s wish for a song about remembrance, which Kikuchi helped resolve.
Release
Fatal Frame III was announced in Japan in March 2005 in an issue of the Japanese magazine Famitsu, under the title Zero: Rei. At that time, the game was said to be 60% complete. It was released in Japan on July 28, 2005, under the title Zero: Shisei no Koe. Kikuchi chose a summer release to match Japan's traditional ghost story season. Unlike other games in the series, this title was not numbered in Japan. Starting in May, a pre-order bonus program offered a DVD containing summaries of the first two Fatal Frame games. Enterbrain published two guidebooks for the game that year; the first was released on July 28, and the second on October 7, which included behind-the-scenes information about the story and characters. The song "Voice" was released as a single and included in Amano's album A Moon Child In The Sky on September 21, 2005, by Pony Canyon. Tecmo published the game in North America as Fatal Frame III: The Tormented on November 8, 2005. In Europe, Take-Two Interactive released it as Project Zero 3: The Tormented on February 24, 2006. Unlike earlier titles, which were ported to the Xbox with extra content, no plans were made to port Fatal Frame III to the Xbox. An emulated version for the PlayStation 3 was released as a PlayStation 2 Classic in North America on October 2, 2013.
Reception
In Japan, Fatal Frame III started in fifth place on the sales charts during its first week. By the end of 2005, the game sold more than 69,000 copies, placing it among the top 200 best-selling games for that time. In a report from February 2006, Tecmo stated that the game met their expectations for sales.
Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu gave high praise for the story’s tone and atmosphere. Electronic Gaming Monthly liked the game’s setting but thought the story was not strong enough. Kristan Reed from Eurogamer noted that the game resolved story elements from earlier games well. Bethany Massimilla from GameSpot found the story interesting and said the theme helped carry the story, even though there were too many storylines. Bryan Stratton from GameSpy liked the story’s pacing and tone. Jeremy Dunham from IGN said the story was clearer than in the previous game, Crimson Butterfly, and that each character’s personality was included in the gameplay.
Massimilla appreciated the visual tone, and Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the graphic design for helping create the atmosphere. Scott Sharkey from 1Up.com agreed that the gameplay was similar to earlier games and noted little improvement in graphics. Dunham praised the environmental designs and the way characters looked and acted. The music and sound design were generally well-received.
Electronic Gaming Monthly enjoyed the gameplay and scary moments but said the levels repeated too much. Massimilla liked the improved combat but found the controls difficult to use. Stratton thought the gameplay relied too much on old ideas and had tedious puzzles, a view shared by Reed, who compared it to earlier Resident Evil games. Sharkey said the game did not offer many new ideas and had little to say about gameplay. Dunham enjoyed fighting ghosts but said the controls and puzzles were outdated and hard to enjoy. Many reviewers also mentioned that the game was harder than previous versions.