Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly

"Didn't we always promise each other... that we would always be together?"

―Mayu Amakura (to Mio Amakura)^src

Mio and Mayu, twin sisters, are visiting their childhood home. This spot, a secret hideaway for the pair, is due to be swallowed up by a lake come the end of the summer.

Lost in her memories, Mio finally raises her head to find that Mayu has vanished. Looking around, Mio spots her sister following a crimson butterfly deep into the forest.

Mayu flees through the forest as if being led on by the fluttering insect. As she runs, her fleeting form begins to be overlaid with that of a woman dressed in white.

Chasing after her sister, Mio suddenly finds herself alone on a foggy mountain road.

Carried on by the wind, a sad song floats towards her ears. Then, she starts to see lights through the gaps in the trees.

As though accepting their unspoken invitation, Mio follows the road of festival lights.

However, when the dense forest opens into a clearing, it is Mayu who is standing there, alone, surrounded by countless crimson butterflies,

"...Mayu?"

Responding to Mio's call, Mayu slowly turns around. The crimson butterflies dance away as one,

"The Lost...Village..."

Spreading there before the twins, crouching in fog and darkness lies a mysterious village...

The vanished village, "All God's Village."

The village is said to have once stood in the forest, deep in the mountains. This forest is soon to be lost due to the creation of a new dam.

The story goes, that on the eve of a special festival, the village suddenly vanished, leaving the forest wreathed in thick fog.

Many also say that should you happen to get lost in this forest, you will be spirited away to the lost village.

The village where the crimson butterflies dance. The village held forever in the grip of a never-ending night.

- - -

- Opening description from the "Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly" Manual.

Release dates

PlayStation 2

• Japan - November 27th 2003

• US - December 10th 2003

• Europe - April 30th 2004

• Japan re-issue (PlayStation 2 The Best) - August 5th 2004

• Japan re-issue (PlayStation 2 The Best) - November 11th 2007

Xbox

• Japan - November 11th 2004

• US - November 1st 2004

• Europe - February 4th 2005

Main Characters

Mio Amakura(天倉 澪) (15)

Mio is the younger sister of a set of twins. She has a slight sixth sense, but not as strong as her twin sister Mayu. When Mio and Mayu were little Mio playfully ran away from Mayu in the forest. Mayu, trying to keep up, slid and fell, resulting in a permanent limp to her right leg. After this happened, Mio felt so guilty she promised she would never leave Mayu behind again. She's been protecting and looking out for Mayu ever since. When Mayu wanders off into the forest chasing a butterfly, Mio chases after her.

Mayu Amakura(天倉 繭) (15)

Mayu is the older twin sister of Mio. She has a very strong sixth sense. Due to her injury, Mayu can't walk very fast, and always walks with a limp. When Mio and Mayu were little Mio playfully ran away from Mayu in the forest. Mayu, trying to keep up, slid and fell, resulting in a permanent limp to her right leg. Mayu's worst fear is being left behind by her sister. When she and Mio are visiting their secret place in the forest, she spots a crimson butterfly and chases after it.

Chapters

• Chapter 1

The Lost Village

• Chapter 2

Twin Shrine Maidens

• Chapter 3

The Repentance

• Chapter 4

Forbidden Ritual

• Chapter 5

The Sacrifice

• Chapter 6

The Remaining

• Chapter 7

Sae

• Chapter 8

Half Moon

• Final Chapter

Crimson Butterfly

• Chapter Zero

Hellish Abyss

Regional & Console Differences

Regional

• As always, the main series name differs in Japan, Europe, and North America.
• Voice actors.
• Some of the hidden ghosts in the game have different names depending on region. In Japan, the ghosts were of creators Keisuke Kikuchi & Makoto Shibata and people in the game industry connected with Famitsu Magazine. For the US, they were instead editors of video game magazines, but the creators were not replaced. The European version had six completely different ghosts replacing the creators as well as the four ghosts.
• In the Japanese version, Mio calls Mayu "Onee-chan" (which translates to "older sister"), although no mention of which twin is the elder is mentioned in most other languages. This set up a plot twist wherein the player thought they were playing the younger twin, the one destined to be sacrificed, until it was revealed late in the game that the village considered the older twin to be the one who was born second, making Mio instead the twin who was destined to sacrifice her sister. While there is some vague, offhanded reference to this in other regions, the decision to have Mio call Mayu by her name instead made it much less likely that players would pick up on the plot twist.
• After the game was originally released on the PS2 in all regions, it was ported to the Xbox with a litany of new features and a few other changes detailed below. The Japanese Xbox re-release has all the bug fixes from the North American version - and the English-language cut scenes, albeit with Japanese subtitles added. For this reason, the Japanese version of this game uses the "Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly" name, instead of 零～紅い蝶～.

Console

• North America & Japan: The Xbox version of the game changed the above-mentioned "regional" ghosts, using a completely new set of ghosts. The creators were not changed in the US version. For the Japanese version, Tecmo held a contest for fans to be included as these ghosts.
• In the PS2 version of the title screen animation, an eerie instrumental melody plays over a simple image of two shrine maidens. For the Xbox version, this is replaced with a slideshow of various locations, including the Kureha Shrine and the small outdoor garden in the Kurosawa House, set to the chanting of the Veiled Priests.
• The Xbox version also includes two new modes: "FPS", a fully first-person mode with a redesigned camera, and Survival Mode, a mini-game of sorts with a new boss. Also included was a new difficulty level ("Fatal") and a new fully-rendered ending ("Promise"), as well as several new costumes and accessories.

Box Art

US, PS2	US, Xbox	EU, PS2	EU, Xbox
JP, PS2	JP, Xbox

Game Inspiration

Based on a True Story?

Keisuke Kikuchi has stated in interviews that Fatal Frame II drew inspiration from Japanese detective stories of Seishi Yokomizo and both eastern & western horror cinema (specifically The Shining, since it is Kikuchi's favourite movie).^[1] Makoto Shibata has mentioned in Japanese interviews that his grandfather's old house served as inspiration for some of the structures in Minakami Village.

From interview with Keisuke Kikuchi: ^[2]