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FATAL FRAME

kinda funny how this has somehow evaded its rightful classification as an action game. you're required to do 180 noscopes; you got a gun parry; you're freezing time, using Type 90 Rounds to re-murder ghosts, & can upgrade your gun using points you exclusively accrue by killing stuff good. how did this ever get a reputation for being TRUE & REAL HORROR when half the bestiary could be transplanted into DMC1 without a single alteration. i already know later games added combos, and if makoto shibata was honest with himself he'd put a style meter in there too

but i get it: the potency of images is second to none, the atmosphere is uniquely odious, and the way threats bleed in & out of the sensory peripheral is a big success across the board. sure, it can feel like the least interesting parts of hellblade when it sends your ass up and down the mansion to do the nth prop hunt of the hour, but there are armfuls of (literal) snapshots that serve as testament to its sublime command of fucked up energies. fatal frame understands that all you need to do is land enough of those brief moments successfully, and it does. the rope hallway. the mask room. the long arm man. it knows that capturing the uncanny & ephemeral is far more important long term than any amount of consistency. no one on earth will remember some arcane scripted event a couple years later, but they're gonna remember the monk

really, there's a lot to be fond of here, especially now that i'm not playing it. looking forward to not playing it for even longer so i can develop an even richer fondness. by the time i play fatal frame 2 i expect to be exceptionally fond & potentially very mad about whatever its sequel does differently. look forward to it