We were finally able to get our hands on the remastered Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse and we’ll tell you about it in this review
The title we are going to review today is probably for long-time gamers, Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, may not sound new. Indeed it is so, we are faced with a version remastered of an old title released in 2008fourth title in the series Project Zeroknown in Japan with the name Zero ed in America with the name Fatal Frame. Not exactly a brand new video game, but one that despite the years behind it is still able to charm new players.
A couple of photos never hurts – Project Zero Review: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
We should start by doing the usual “recap” of the saga, considering that Mask of the Lunar Eclipse it is nothing but the fourth chapter of the saga. The first title bearing the name of Project Zero in fact sees its debut in 2001 are PlayStation 2 license plate Temco (which became Koei Temco in 2010), and the thing that struck more than anything else was the slightly out of the ordinary gameplay. In fact, the video game was not only based on a true story, but it was a third-person survival horror that placed an out of the ordinary weapon in the hands of the gamer, a camera.
And survival horror in which all the aspects of the plot were discovered by exploring, but which in some phases required a first-person approach equipped with a special camera. This was our best weapon against ghosts and restless spirits, which could be framed and by taking a picture of them it was possible to absorb their power until they disappeared completely. Stories and gameplay that did not vary much over timebut still attracted a large number of gamers who became fans.
Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse does not deviate so much from the canons of the saga, in fact it sees us impersonating girls (and a detective) who return to theRogetsu Islandin the south of the Japanlooking for their memories. Many years before during the festival of Rogetsu Kagura five little girls mysteriously disappeared and were rescued by the detective, however they have no recollection of what happened to them.
L’Rogetsu Island it was destroyed by a cataclysm and its inhabitants decimated, and since then the place will remain totally abandoned. Ten years after the festival of Rogetsu Kagura however two of the five girls died inexplicably, and this will lead the three survivors once again to Rotetsu Island in search of their memories. What better place to find them than an old abandoned psychiatric hospital full of restless spirits? In fact, it is there that they will go Misaki, Madoka, and Ruka.
Review Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse – Comparto tecnico old style
Talking about the technical sector of a remastered of a video game released in 2008 will sound a little strange, but we have to do it. In terms of graphics, no major upheavals have been made, the undoubted hand of “rejuvenation” of the title is there, and it shows, however it is still a video game that has that vintage flavor. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a title that mostly aims to be played by those who couldn’t play it at the time, like most of the remastered.
However, this is a defect if we speak strictly of game mechanics, which unfortunately remained those of fifteen years ago. Don’t get us wrong, the game has its undeniable charm, both in the plot and in the entire flow of the adventure, however in our opinion it would also have been optimal to “smooth out” those more “edgy” sides of this Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.
In exploring the environments we would need to illuminate precise points of the rooms with the torch, this is so that some objects can be highlighted with a bright spot. Before that we will not have any indication (except an icon at the bottom right) which will warn us of the presence of an object in that particular point. Which will lead us many times to follow the indicator at the bottom right, and then try to move the camera by rotating the analog in a random way, hoping that this will bring up the typical “bright dot”.
In the exploration phase, unfortunately, we will notice most of the technical limitations of times gone by, with the various animations obviously dated, and with a particularly slow walk and “run”, not to mention the movements of the various characters. But we can’t judge all of this a real flaw, if anything the flaw was that of not having optimized everything making it suitable for modern times.
In our opinion it would have been better to introduce some objects immediately visible to the player, or at least indicate with an icon the possibility of picking up an object without having to reveal it by pointing the flashlight around the rooms or corridors. Clearly these are objects such as power-ups, medicinal herbs, or camera lenses, in short, secondary objects, but not a little useful for making the adventure less difficult.
Putting aside these little “wrongs”, which still represent what was the standard at the time, we don’t have great things to highlight. Even the sound sector, although made cleaner and more engaging, still remains faithful to what is the standard of horror video games of the time. Between ourselves maybe play the title in a dark room and wearing headphones it would give you a gaming experience more faithful to what the title itself wants to convey.
An old-fashioned survival horror – Project Zero Review: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
It’s time to try our hand at the part of the review that we like the most, and that is to talk about how it behaves Project Zero: Mask of The Lunar Eclipse pad in hand. Let’s start with the obvious, and that is to remind you that we are talking about a remastered of a 2008 video game, the improvements have therefore been there, however much of the gameplay has been renewed very little. We are in the years when titles like Silent Hill o Forbidden Siren they dominated it.
There was a very different approach to horror than what we’ve seen in current times with the series Dark Picture Anthology, and at the time what was presented to us was the best we could enjoy on our consoles. Unfortunately, even the gameplay was not immediate or “fluid” as we know it now, even the camera was certainly not optimal.
The game looks like a survival horror in terza persona, in which we will be able to move the character in use at that moment (the story will be lived by three different characters) exploring what is in all respects a psychiatric hospital. Why you choose to focus everything in that place is something we will discover in the course of the adventure. The gameplay may seem, to purists, very wooden and the management of the camera a real hell, but in distant times this was what the convent used to do.
Exploring environmentsturn around, illuminate the various points with the flashlight (to highlight the objects to interact with, revealed only in that case) or even just centering the ghosts to take beautiful portraits of them, will be something that it will be mastered slowly during the first few hours of the game. It will not be at all uncommon that we will find it difficult to make our character turn around, to highlight a point with the flashlight to reveal an object, or to move and at the same time in first person with the camera in hand to tell the ghosts to make a nice smile.
Even the saves will be old-fashioned, it will in fact be possible to save using relative lanterns placed here and there in the environment, where it will also be possible to buy useful objects to heal us or films suitable for taking more “painful” photos of the various ghosts. There will also be the presence of cosmetics and clothing, all of which can be purchased through points that we will obtain in the game for photographing both the appearances of “harmless” ghosts and for dissolving those who do not appreciate our presence.
Fortunately to help us there will be various indicators, such as a indicator in the lower right corner which will glow more and more blue as we approach a point with which we can interact, or an object that we could reveal by pointing the flashlight in a certain direction. Not always infalliblebut at least it will still be a welcome little help, such as the appearance of ghosts who will literally guide us to the exact point where we must go to continue the story. In short, no empty excursions around the map.
In this regard it is correct to point out two things, the camera can also be upgraded with different lenses that can be found in the game, and sometimes there will be the presence of “paranormal forces” that will block the doors. When we find ourselves in front of being, all we have to do is take a photo of the door itself by correctly focusing on the “paranormal force” that blocks it, to understand what the suitable distance will be, just check the outline of the lens, when it turns blue it will indicate one optimal shot.
There will also be some environmental puzzles, useful for finding an object, which could be a key or something else. In reality, nothing that we have not been able to solve in a few minutes, the puzzles proposed in the game will mostly be solvable with a minimum of logic. Too bad for the camera which at times will be really difficult to manage.
Conclusion
Under review by Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse we have not found real bugs, not in the version we tested and that is that of PlayStation 5at least not in the strict sense of the term. Much of the title, both in terms of technical and gameplay, has remained very faithful to the original 2008, even if here and there there have been obvious renovation works. Unfortunately on the gameplay side, pad in hand, it is still very much anchored to what were the technicalities of the early 2000s.
Pointing out all this as a defect of the game would be almost out of place, after all we are talking about one remastered which derives all its charm from being able to present a game released in 2008 on platform Nintendo Wii, to a whole other group of gamers who perhaps weren’t able to get their hands on this title at that time. that I remember, we recommend playing with headphones and in the darkif you really want to enjoy the adventure to the fullest.
It’s not a video game to be avoided, on the contrary, we found it a fun and never frustrating title. There are only two unique real problems with the titlewhich could be a deterrent to the purchase, the absence of the Italian language and the difficulty tending upwards towards the last hours of the game. If for the second problem it would be enough to do a little backtracking and collect the stones useful for upgrading the camera, for the first problem there is no solution.
Having to understand the past of the protagonists or the events through notes…