Have you ever thought how cool it would be to play Fatal Frame on a handheld system? No? Well… um… It happened. And it wasn’t that good. Spirit Camera on the Nintendo 3DS is what we got instead of Fatal Frame IV.
It has always bothered me that Fatal Frame IV was a Wii exclusive title and it wasn’t brought over from Japan. And now since Fatal Frame V is going to be on the Wii U, I have a feeling that it, as well, will never see the American shores. But yet Spirit Camera, the spin-off of the series, was brought over and it wasn’t even that good.
The story is that you are now the owner of a cursed journal and camera. You are not supposed to open the journal or take a photo of yourself with the camera. But what’s the fun of that? Of course, you do it anyway and now you are cursed. Good job idiot… From the journal emerges a spirit by the name of Maya, who doesn’t remember a silly thing but her name. You are now on a struggle to help Maya remember her memories and stop yourself from becoming the next victim of the cursed journal.
From the game being a 3DS title, you guessed it. The camera is the focus point of gameplay. Everything revolves around the camera. Problem is… You need excellent lighting otherwise you’re screwed. I had to relocate myself from my bedroom to the dinner room where the lighting was better. I remember reading on Tumblr that people had to go to the bathroom to play the game cause of the lighting issues. The camera needs to be able to read the small journal that comes with the game and great lighting is needed.
The game was too short and there wasn’t a lot of exploration if any. With Spirit Camera being a spin-off of Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame being known for with it excessive amount of walking, this game had none. It’s basically boss fight, puzzle with book, boss fight, talk with Maya, puzzle with book, rinse and repeat. You could beat the game in less than a day.
With that said, I was disappointed with the game and even more disappointed that it was brought over instead of Fatal Frame IV. It was too short and it heavily relied on the 3DS AR camera for the whole game. It’s an okay game but I wouldn’t waste time on it.
Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir
1.5/5
