QuickView:
Good: Presentation, story
Bad: Taking pictures does not have longevity
Style: Eerie, eerie and more eerie
In a year that I have deemed Resident Evil 4 as the greatest game this gen, I was a bit pretentious in playing Fatal Frame III. This isn't a knock on FFIII; it's just that it had some good competition. Well the game comes through with flying colors and delivered a much better experience than I expected. In fact, I'd go ahead and say that this is the best in the series because of how this installment, unlike previous ones, actually sucks the gamer into the FFIII world. With a tremendously engrossing story and superb presentation, FFIII proves the saying "the third time is a charm."
FFIII is about Rei who had lost her fiance who tragically died in a car accident. In the aftermath, as Rei is mourning and desperately trying to move on, she somehow sees her fiance's ghost at a house while on a job. Rei is a photographer and she catches an image of the lost lover in one of her pictures. Of course this is the beginning to Rei's adventure of uncovering the strangeness of this occurrence. And this is the best part of FFIII. The story is much improved on and I simply could not put the controller down as I was completely addicted in progressing the story.
You'll come across mind-boggling twists, suspenseful situations, and the ever so loveable cheap scare where you end up out of your chair. The eerie environments and excellent voice work drive the game with some beautiful ambient music to keep the hairs up on your arm. FFIII's gameplay may not be revolutionary in any means, but Tecmo, the developer, really worked hard on the game's story and presentation.
To reiterate, I really enjoyed the visuals. They don't necessarily have the best detail, texturing, polygon count, or any of that technical mumbo jumbo but the one technical aspect that the game nails down is lighting. No doubt lighting could be one, if not the most important factors when it comes to visuals in a survival horror. Lighting is key because it adds another dimension to all the areas you explore. They drastically change as the lighting changes and if it's dark or light outside really affects the variety in most of the game. After coming back to an area that was fully lighted earlier, now that it's almost pitch black, it seems like a brand new area. The game uses preset camera angles of which I'm usually not a fan. But since this game is so heavy on visuals and presentation, the preset angles provide some artistic cinematography and camera angles.
The basic gameplay of FFIII is pretty simple. The objective of the game is to go on different missions at different locations with your trusty camera. What's a photographer to do without it? Anyways, there are three playable characters which are incorporated into the story. Obviously Rei is one but you'll also get to work with Miku and Kei. All have their own specific abilities such as Miku with her magic for combat or Kei with her strength to move large objects. It adds variety to what is already somewhat dull gameplay. As you go on these missions and explore these creepy areas, you'll have to exorcize ghosts by using your camera. The theme of the FF series is that by capturing the ghosts in your camera, you'll free their spirits and they'll no longer haunt you or anyone else.
You can upgrade your camera as you go on. The problem with this style of gameplay is that it does get old after a few hours. Believe it or not but taking pictures as the main means of action doesn't tend to hold up its excitement. Featured as well in the gameplay is the traveling across two dimensions. You'll be traveling between the nightmare/dream realm and true reality. It's an interesting concept because in order to progress the missions, you'll have to of activated or unlocked something in previous ones. This causes for backtracking between the nightmare realm and reality. This also relates to changing environments and how the visuals affect the gameplay.
FFIII definitely has its negatives but easily makes up for it with the story and artistic visuals. Even though the game progresses a bit slower than I would like, the pacing seems to be decent enough to not frustrate gamers or turn them off. Survival horror fans should not miss out on this and those looking for a short but sweet experience should also give it a chance.
Graphics: B+
Sound: B
First Play: B+
Last Play: B
Gameplay: B
Overall: 84% B
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