Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen | |
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Developer(s) |
Tecmo Koei Grasshopper Manufacture Nintendo SPD |
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Director(s) | Makoto Shibata Goichi Suda |
Producer(s) | Keisuke Kikuchi |
Designer(s) | Goichi Suda |
Artist(s) | Takashi Ito Kazuma Norisada Yasuo Inoue Sawaki Takeyasu |
Writer(s) | Makoto Shibata Masahiro Yuki Goichi Suda |
Composer(s) |
Masafumi Takada Etsuko Ichikawa |
Series | Fatal Frame |
Platform(s) | Wii |
Release date(s) |
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Genre(s) | Survival horror |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Review scores | |
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Publication | Score |
Edge | 8/10 |
Eurogamer | 7/10 |
Famitsu | 34/40 |
Nintendo Life | 8/10 |
Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen (零〜月蝕の仮面〜?, lit. Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse), commonly referred to as Fatal Frame / Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse in Western territories, is a survival horror video game developed by Tecmo Koei, Grasshopper Manufacture and Nintendo. It was published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The fourth installment in the Fatal Frame series and the first on a Nintendo console, it was released in Japan on July 31, 2008. Despite a European release being announced, the game has never been released outside Japan. A fan translation was released in 2010.
The story, set on the fictional Rougetsu Island, focuses on Ruka Minazuki, one of a group of girls who was held captive on the island for unknown reasons. Years after their rescue, still suffering from amnesia, Ruka and the two surviving girls return to the island to seek out the truth. The game's title stems from a ritual mask key to the story. The gameplay, as with previous entries in the series, revolves around the main character exploring environments and tackling hostile ghosts using the Camera Obscura.
The idea for Mask of the Lunar Eclipse came to series co-creator Keisuke Kikuchi when he first saw the Wii hardware. Kikuchi and series co-creator Makoto Shibata returned as respective producer and director, while Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda acted as co-director, co-writer and designer. The gameplay concept was making the player literally feel the fear evoked in the game. The addition of further developers to the project enabled the team to reconsider the standard formula, although it proved to be a chaotic experience. As with previous games, the theme songs were sung by Tsuki Amano. When released, it became the best-selling entry in the series to that date, and received mixed to positive from Japanese and Western critics.
Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen, commonly referred to in the West as Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, has players taking control of four different character navigating a variety of different environments, including traditional Japanese houses and a Meiji-era sanatorium-turned-hotel. Environments are navigated from a third-person perspective using the Wii Nunchuk. During exploration, the characters are regularly attacked by hostile spirits, who take away the characters' health through touch.