Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water - Review

Fatal Frame, or Project Zero depending on your place of residence in the world, is a deep dive into the world of Japanese Supernatural. Using parts of Japanese culture and accentuating the stories around them, the series has often brought new light to the horror genre and created a generation spanning series that people cannot get enough of. Seven years after the release of Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water on the Wii U, we have been brought back into the universe with a modern-day port of this well received title. As someone who has had major love for the series, I was very excited to see this game get another chance, as it raises some hope that some of the older titles will also get a modern-day remaster and love.

Unfortunately, despite the care put into bringing the title across, if you are picking this game up without the ability to patch it, you’re going to be in for a bad time. Without a controller the game wasn’t possible to be started. The menus did not have any mouse control interaction and setting key bindings for mouse and keyboard was not intuitive and I was unable to do so without having a controller.

If you are using a modern-day monitor, you’re also likely using 144 or 200hz refresh rates, the game itself did not have an internal method of setting frame rate, and so if you have a monitor refresh rate any higher than 60hz, the game will run up to 4x speed, as it did for me. This meant that controlling the menu was damn near impossible, on top of the game itself being almost ridiculous to play at rapid speed. Troubleshooting these issues was not my forte and I was unable to efficiently play the game before some troubleshooting tips came out after release.

It’s unfortunate that Maiden of Black Water was plagued with such heavy technical difficulties at release. Thankfully the game appears to be in a much better place now after being patched. So, let’s look at the gameplay itself and see if it’s worth your time to pick up.

My biggest thing with remasters and ports to modern consoles and PCs, is that they should include a decent number of quality-of-life increases, alongside any additional content. Beyond the updated controls and an enhanced resolution (the game looks gorgeous), most of the additions are little more than cosmetic. The biggest addition to the game is the inclusion of a photo mode, a very poignant touch given the game is about using a camera. Photo modes are becoming more and more prevalent in modern day games, allowing you to pause the gameplay itself and take unique pictures inside the game world. Whilst not something that really appeals to me, some people will get a real kick out of this, and you can capture some really cool screenshots of the game with different frames and poses.

Unfortunately, the actual gameplay itself isn’t all that improved, the disembodied hands are nearly impossible to judge as to when they might appear, an indicator of some kind would be nice. The previously mentioned frame rate issues also impact here as well, providing a real challenge to dodging enemies, if you aren’t completely locked to 60fps. This is of course a PC only issue, so if you are playing with the console release, you are unlikely to have to worry about that. New Costumes are fun, and it’s nice to change the character’s to look as you think would be most entertaining for your playthrough, but beyond the cosmetic changes, this is almost completely a dedicated port, with a DLC that includes art and behind the scenes materials from previous titles.

The game does control much better than it did on the WiiU, and definitely feels more playable with a controller, than it does with mouse and keyboard. The characters still feel a little too flighty at times, and the minute control of the Camera Obscura rotation, feels it still would feel better with a motion capable controller, rather than the analog sticks. I know it sounds like I have a lot of issues with the game, but that’s because the game has such potential even as a direct port.

For those who did not experience the game originally, this is a great way to do so, despite the issues with the PC version on release, most of these have been fixed. The game itself is an exemplary form of the Project Zero series. The scares themselves hold up well and battling the ghosts is still deeply stressful and terrifying, yet somehow satisfying when you are victorious. The story, whilst being very Eastern, is something that can be easily followed and understood by anyone. There are a huge number of random events to document throughout the game, as well as deeper and darker storylines behind some of the ghosts, should you really wish to experience everything.

The characters themselves are all relatively interesting, even if they do feel a little bit vapid at times. Miu and Ren have unique abilities with their cameras that make them feel unique and different from each other, lending themselves a different playstyle in their individual sections.

While the age of the game has not helped in some areas, like the flighty controls, this remaster of Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water is definitely the most accessible way of playing the game today, as long as you get it on console or are prepared to fight with some PC issues. Hopefully with a good response to this game, and the developers being invested in ensuring the game works perfectly, we are on track to see a revival of the series in either a brand-new game, or possibly a remaster of the original trilogy of games that brought the Project Zero series into horrifying focus.

The Score

7.0

Review code provided by Koei Tecmo

The Pros

+Looks wonderful

+Story and scares hold up

+Photo mode and new Costumes

The Cons

-PC Plagued with Technical difficulties

-Lack of quality-of-life improvements

-No new gameplay content