FATAL FRAME / PROJECT ZERO: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

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Return to the island where you lost your memory, with a camera that can seal ghosts.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (89% of 1,986 reviews)
Players: 1
Controls: Controller recommended; mouse and keyboard supported on PC.
Made by: Koei Tecmo
Released: 2023

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store (PS4 and PS5)Xbox Nintendo Switch

What frightens Years after a group of children vanished during a festival on Rogetsu Isle and came back with no memory, they return as teenagers. In the moonlight and the thin beam of a flashlight you search Western-style mansions and an abandoned hospital, and the ghosts that drift out of the walls can only be driven off through the lens of an old camera.
Content: violence, jumpscares.

Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is the fourth Fatal Frame, or Project Zero, game, first released in Japan in 2008 and remastered worldwide in 2023. Girls who lost their memories as children on Rogetsu Isle go back as teenagers, exploring its dark mansions and hospital with a flashlight and the ghost-sealing Camera Obscura.

About FATAL FRAME / PROJECT ZERO: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse came out in Japan on the Wii in 2008 and never had an official release in the West until Koei Tecmo remastered it in March 2023 for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. The remaster brings better character models and films, improved shadows and flashlight beams, new costumes and a snap mode for posing characters and ghosts.

Years ago a group of children disappeared during a festival on Rogetsu Isle. They were found, but none remembered what had happened. Now, as teenagers, some of them return to the island looking for the truth, and the game moves between their stories.

You explore by flashlight and moonlight, reading old newspaper articles and notes to piece together the island's past and your own. When a ghost appears, you switch to the Camera Obscura, an old camera that can damage and seal spirits: frame them in the viewfinder and take the shot. The camera also reveals hidden clues and the way forward.

It is slower and quieter than most action horror, a Japanese ghost story about memory, a hospital's secrets and the people who did not come back. It suits fans of Maiden of Black Water and of classic third-person horror who like to read every note.

How to play FATAL FRAME / PROJECT ZERO: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

Buy the game on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox or Switch.
Explore Rogetsu Isle in third person, using your flashlight to see and find items.
Read notes and newspaper clippings to piece together what happened on the island.
When a ghost attacks, raise the Camera Obscura, keep it in frame and photograph it to damage and seal it.
Use the camera to reveal hidden keys and paths, and follow each girl's story to the end.

Screenshots

Mask of the Lunar Eclipse screenshot: a girl with a flashlight before a shrine gate and stairs inside a dark building

Mask of the Lunar Eclipse screenshot: an old operating room with a surgical lamp and a strange device

Mask of the Lunar Eclipse screenshot: a girl with a flashlight in a dim corridor by torn curtains

Mask of the Lunar Eclipse key art: a girl in moonlight beside masks hanging on a ruined wall

Tips

Shoot at the last moment before a ghost attacks for the most damage.
Keep stronger film for dangerous ghosts and use the basic film otherwise.
Search corners with the flashlight; items and notes are easy to miss in the dark.
Photograph passing spirits; many appear only briefly.