14 replies to this topic

[Adda]

So, this game is officiallly the most ridiculously difficult game I've ever played. I find myself frustrated rather than scared, and seriously start questioning whether playing it further is worth it. It's incredibly unreliable when it comes to trying to predicting ghost movements and very clumsy and slow when it comes to controlling the character. One of my last ghost battles almost made me drop the game entirely: I ended up replaying the same ghost battle over and over for hours, only to die from another ghost after a case of miraculous success, after heading to save room in hope to save!

 

But people have played this game, surely there's something I've missed. It can't be that difficult, otherwise it would be universally considered a bad game, rather than old-school-style-difficult.

 

If that helps, I'm stuck in the second night, just after getting an angry mask now. The first night was easy, but now I've been moving at a snail pace, mostly stopping to play each night because of frustration. I have upgraded basic camera functions 3-4-3, i.e. speed is fully upgraded, range and value not yet. No bonus or special functions.

 

I especially HATE one thing about battles: here it is, the orange circle, the ghost is right in front of you, the camera is fully charged, here comes zero shot! But wait, no, when you press the button that's exactly when the circle disappears completely for a split second (even though the camera is still upon the ghost), only to reappear a split second later when you've made your shot! And voila, your shot hit nothing, and then you're hit quickly by the ghost, half of life gone. Makes me want to smash something... This is plain cheating, done by the game! 

[Hex]

It sounds like you need to work on timing your shots and getting used to the combat a bit more.  Once you start unlocking functions for the camera, the battles get considerably easier, but for now just rely on stronger film and Stone Mirrors.  

 

Unfortunately, the next night can be pretty tough, but hopefully you'll have mastered it by then.  

[Adda]

Well, right now I can't pass beyond the ghost in the room with Buddha statues, after taking a mask of reflection. Each time, save the very first one, it approaches by teleporting multiple times, and the last teleport is way too close to Miku in order to make a shot! Yet if I run away, I need to start charging from the very beginning. It makes me think that the only way to battle this ghost with its big health bar is to use strong film and make only blue-circle-shots from some distance to avoid dying. Any other possible strategies for that one?

 

I don't understand how one can learn to time shots if the game is random. There's no way to predict if the orange circle is going to disappear or not in cases like I described in the ending of my first post. It feels like some battles are based on luck and lucky guesses.

Edited by Adda, 05 June 2014 - 09:55 PM.

[Hex]

The Zero Shots don't flash on and off at random, there are patterns, don't worry.  Even if it might not seem like it, every ghost has a strategy.  With Ryozo, he'll mostly teleport either to the left or right of Miku, so whatever direction he's moving in you can guess where he'll pop up next.  His last teleport gives you the Zero Shot which does take some practice to get but it can be done.  Stick with Type-37 if you can.

[AnimalLover47999]

The game is hard but not anywhere near unbeatable.  Here's some tips.

 

First of all when the game has a really big cutscene for a ghost appearance you should probably use Type 37 Film.  They are the stronger ghosts (Takamine and Blinded Woman and Ryozo for the ones you've met so far) it will deplete their health quicker.  This is a Horror game so you should be conservative on your healing items.  The game is hard like a Horror game should be but it's only downright brutal if you are doing what Fatal Frame 2 encourages you to do and heal after every little bit of damage.  This game doesn't give out healing items like it's candy like 2 does and I think that's a good thing.  What you should do is use the Stone Mirrors scattered all throughout the mansion as your healing items for the first two nights and then use your Herbal Medicines and Sacred Waters for night 3 as it has the least amount of healing items and has the most powerful ghosts.

 

Also try to take the Zero shots the instant they appear or sometimes wait a bit before taking them as some ghosts Zero Shots actually register once they are about to complete their attack.

 

I hope this helps.

[deer]

I beat Ryozo using Paralyze.

[Adda]

I have no paralyze. But I have 36000 points and don't know what I should spend them on. Fully upgrade range or max charge, or buy paralyze or another function? Does paralyze work on all ghosts? Suggestions are most welcome.

 

Ok, my main gripes:

- often orange circle shots aren't registering, even though I'm 100% sure that I hit the button on time

- ghost speed is very likely random, i.e. it can be altered unexpectedly, so sometimes they hit Miku when you were sure she'd run away successfully without being hit

- circles appear in a way that requires many replays to fathom, e.g. headless priest: when he's going towards you without head there's no circle, then he comes closer and there is; now tell me how am I supposed to learn such intricacies without dying multiple times first?!

- sometimes circles appear for a split second only, so even if you're good at online shooter games it isn't going to help; I swear this game requires reflexes that put any advanced shooting game to shame! in other words, I can't react so fast reliably, which makes this type of shot depend solely on luck

- sometimes one and the same ghost is easy or difficult, e.g. the blinded woman is so easy to beat sometimes, and I don't know why, but it adds to the feeling of overall randomness

 

Well, now I'm trying to beat a headless priest, dying just to learn his strategy. It destroys the feeling of survival horror when you realize that your character has to die a lot of times fighting each type of ghost just to figure out how to fight them. It's not survival anymore, because I know very well that Miku couldn't EVER survive. She wouldn't know the ghost patterns to fight them effectively if she didn't die many times to test them first. Yes, I agree that survival games must be difficult, but they shouldn't require your character to keep dying in order to progress. If you're good you should be able to play the game without dying too many times, which doesn't look possible as far as this game is concerned. It's like dying is mandatory here, required by design.

 

Also here randomness shows: when the headless priest is going towards you sometimes you can see an orange circle when he's very close, but sometimes you can't and he just hits you instead, while you're waiting for it to appear! And also I still can't figure out what he does when he hits you at distance without touching (some weird posture and you lose health) and what those blue lights are (they don't seem to hurt Miku at all). I wonder how many more times does Miku needs to die for me to figure these things out?!

 

P.S. I hope I don't sound too frustrated, but I really wanted to enjoy this game. The first night was so marvelous, I loved it, the atmosphere, the mansion, the ghosts, it was great! But now it feels like a game whose point is to feel hardcore about devising ghost strategies through dying, rather than a horror game. All the magical feeling is lost.

Edited by Adda, 06 June 2014 - 07:44 PM.

[Chasind_Valentine]

I can get through the first game relatively quick by now after playing it many times.

However on my first few runs i really struggled.

Something that hurt me greatly was relying too much on fatal frames/critical shots/whatever they're called to beat ghosts. That's an effective way if you know what you're doing and are very familiar with each ghosts' patterns and movements. But then i tried taking a lot of regular shots with full/decent charge in them. It worked so much better for me as far as helping me not die. Sure you run out of film quicker that way but it's not too much of a problem when you can just run to a save point and grab some more!

 

Give it a try if you get stuck! It may seem more boring but it might save your life

 

And a quick hint for the headless priests, if i remember correctly, if you take a picture of the priest while the blue flame he throws at you is in the shot, it will go away! Which means you avoid unnecessary damage!

 

Best of luck!

[AnimalLover47999]

The game is more than possible to beat without dying.  I've done it countless times.  Trust me the ghosts aren't being random.  They have a pattern you just need to study them and make sure you take your pictures on time (sometimes you should wait till they are almost through with their attack animation before taking the Zero Shot).

 

I'd recommend paralyze as it works on all ghosts and stops them in their tracks for about 3-4 seconds allowing you to get free shots in (particularly Zero Shots).

 

The game isn't designed for you to die.  It just requires patience and a good amount of skill to do.  Sadly those who played Fatal Frame 2 first are spoiled by it's super easy and non scaryness so they'll have a much harder time with this game because it's actually well made in terms of difficulty.  Just keep trying.  I promise you the game isn't cheap overall and is a very scary, tense, atmospheric, and well made Survival Horror game.

[deer]

If I remember correctly, my strategy to beat the game was:

-Find a safe spot in the middle of the room so you can track the ghost easily and you have enough space to back away while the camera charges.

-Walk away slowly waiting for a Critical Shot.

-Use paralyze to get Zero Shots regularly. This may be more effective than waiting for Critical Shots and if I remember correctly you can also use paralyze when the ghost is about to attack and it's easier to get a Critical Shot.

-Run away from the ghost so you have enough space again. (This doesn't work with some ghosts for example, Blinded Woman, but this is critical for some others like Lord Himuro)

-Save regularly and get more film each time you save.

-Save stronger film for the stronger ghosts.

-Save health items and always have a Stone Mirror, even if you have to walk a lot to get another one, do it.

 

The camera's work differently in each game so it takes a while to get used to each one. Once you get used to it, it'll be really easy. Dont' worry I understand your frustration, It happened to me also, but I replayed the game countless times to get used to the camera system. It's how pkstarstorm1up said, if you played FFII first, you'll have some trouble at getting used to the battle system.

[Adda]

Thanks, everyone! I'll try to beat the game.

 

What I noticed by the third night, though, is that all emotions in the fear spectrum are completely gone! Maybe I just got desentisized to them after playing through first and second night (which were really scary)? Or maybe it's because of too much die\reload, it sort of made me feel invulnerable. Nothing to fear if you can always reload. I sure hope that's the reason, it would be sad to get desensitized to horror games.

[Adda]

I've actually managed to finish the game! And after seeing the mission mode I think it should've been given access to before the game, not after. Then maybe normal people like me could learn the ghosts and their routines. It would diminish fear through familiarity, but maybe then fear wouldn't disappear completely, like it did for me after too many repeated deaths and "resurrections". Why fear if your character always goes on, no matter if she died or not.

 

I still mantain my opinion that fighting involves a lot of luck. At least in the first playthrough, while it's done without bonus and auxiliary functions.

 

The plot was a nice touch to this game, as well as a huge scare factor of the first night. I don't think any other game has ever scared me as much as the first night in this one. I liked the unpredictable ending, so different to what a Western mind would expect.

[midwinter]

Congratulations on completing it! Some of the ghosts in FF1 are really tricky and fast; I still have trouble with them myself sometimes, and I fondly remember dying about fifty times on Night 3. Ah, memories.... If it's any comfort, FF1 is definitely the most brutal, and you'll find the others much easier after that.

[Adda]

Yep, I'm still going to try the other games! But in a while, not right now, I'm completely desensitized to fear at the moment and I think I need to more or less forget the experience first.

 

What is interesting about this game is that it's so old, but its graphics didn't age at all. I didn't feel like I was playing an old game.

[Zuhna]

FF1 is the hardest of the games like midwinter said. If you enjoyed the graphics of 1st game the others will blow your mind. They did really good work with them. I hope you have more fun time and scary moments with the rest of the series.