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A look at the Japanese Architecture contained within the game Fatal Frame and how it helped the game in engaging the audience and fulfilling the suspension of disbelief needed badly in a game in the horror genre in particular.
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John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 1 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
Traditional Japanese Architecture: Fatal Frame
The US and Japanese Special Edition box art of the game Fatal Frame. The Japanese
cover obviously has a much more Japanese style, while the US version is playing into the Horror and “based on a true story” aspects of the story
Game Summary (with parts from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Frame_%28video_game%29):
Fatal Frame, known in Japan as Zero (零~zero~?) and in Europe as Project Zero, is a
survival horror video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. The game revolves
around a girl named Miku Hinasaki, who goes to the “supposedly” haunted Himuro
Mansion to search for Mafuyu, her older brother. Mafuyu has been missing for almost a
week after visiting Himuro Mansion to look for his mentor. Throughout the course of
this paper, I will explain how the game uses Japanese architecture and culture in order
to provide an effective and immersive gameplay experience and why game designers
should use this information in order to improve the worlds in which they create.
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 2 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
1. How successful were the game/movie artists in depicting a "Japanese style?"
Fatal Frame was very successful in depicting a Japanese style. For starters, the
game takes place in the setting of Himuro Mansion, which is a large residence with a
distinct Japanese style to it. The mansion has a number places the player may visit
outside of the main building with a Japanese flair such as a shrine as well as a Buddha
room and rock garden. There is also a dock that contains many Japanese style elements
with lanterns lighting the way with a distinctly Japanese cover over them.
The idea from Japanese folklore of doing rituals in order to appease spirits and
keep evil away is also used in the overall story arch of the game. In fact, it is because of
one of those rituals going wrong that the different enemies in the game appear. To a
western audience this has a very Japanese feel as The Ring is what most Western
audiences think of when they refer to Japanese horror.
Left: In order to enter the shrine behind her Miku would have to pass a torii gate
Right: A torii gate outside of Ryoanji Temple
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 3 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
2. Part A: Is the notion of "Japanese" style played up in the description of the game/movie? Was it successful? The Japanese style was very paramount within the game’s description and
gameplay in general. The game uses specific elements of the Japanese horror style.
Japanese horror generally employs the use of folk legends and uses them in order to
create a fear instilled in Eastern audiences from childhood. It is with this folklore that
the idea of yūrei came from, which is the basis of the enemies that the player will
encounter in the game.
Yūrei are the Japanese equivalent to what Western audiences will refer to as
ghosts. Unlike the Western ghost, yūrei often are kept from passing on by some sort of
emotion, such as need for vengeance. The Ring is a good example of this kind of yūrei in
the form of modern cinema, though they have been featured in Japanese culture for a
very long time.
2. Part B: Are you able to tell what type of Japanese style you are looking at?
From the knowledge that I’ve gathered, the mansion in the game is centuries
old and dates back far further than the Edo period of Japan. However, while
experiencing the different areas throughout the game I felt as if the mansion was built
with the Edo period of Japanese history in mind. This is due to the way the areas inside
the mansion are built as well as the choices in terms of what materials were used in the
creation of it.
The main character and her brother come to the mansion at an undisclosed
time in the actual game. Therefore it could be from almost any period in recent history,
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 4 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
though it is presumed to take place in modern times. In later games in the series players
learn that the events of the first game takes place in October of 1986.
In terms of specific architecture, the Shinto shrine obviously employs the use
of Shinto architecture with the inclusion of a torii gate. The shrine was also built in the
middle of a forest keeping with the Japanese tradition of trees being sacred. Other areas
in the game also have torii gates placed before allowing the player to enter sacred
buildings. Shōji doors were often employed in areas, as well as more modern wooden
ones used to keep players from seeing where ghosts may spring up for the convenience
of surprise tactics.
A side-‐by-‐side comparison of a game screenshot and an interior shot of the Shokintei located in Koyto built
in the 17th Century during the Edo period.
3. Does the depiction of the environment's style help, hinder, or do nothing for the game play or movie's suspension of disbelief? Without the inclusion of the Japanese environmental aspects of the game, I
feel the game would be hindered by a number of different problems. Players with a
Western background playing the game are unfamiliar with the territory of the game and
as such feel even more alienated in the game. Eastern audiences don’t feel alienated in
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 5 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
terms of what the game area looks like due to familiarity with some aspects of the
folklore, but still have plenty of opportunities to be frightened. Different areas in the
mansion give the player the feeling of claustrophobia due to smaller corridors. This
causes tension to the player and gives them a more “on edge” feeling as if they could be
in trouble at any time, which is the goal in a horror game in certain areas.
In this tutorial section of the game, the player is given a wide area in which to travel in letting them feel
free to experiment as they experiment and get a feel for gameplay.
4. If "conflict" is portrayed in the game/movie, is destruction of environmental items portrayed accurately and convincingly? “Conflict” in Fatal Frame is done in a way different than any other survival horror
title of its time. Miku (the player) will use throughout her search of Himuro Mansion a
camera that she inherited from her mother. The camera has the unique power of being
able to send yūrei to “the other side” as well as reveal other things that normal people
cannot see. When using the camera the game switches a first person viewpoint. The
amount of damage caused in each shot depends on how long the player keeps the lens
focused on the yūrei before taking the shot (a charge meter is at the bottom) and how
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 6 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
close the enemy is to the camera itself. This provides a risk/reward mechanic that the
player will have to use in deciding if being frightened is worth more to them than not as
the player will get a large bonus for taking a shot as the yūrei is right about to get
him/her. However, if the player misses the shot they will loose health that would be
very hard to recover during the course of the game.
It is also worth noting that the camera is also used in exploring the architecture
of the game by letting the player see anywhere in the game’s world where as the rest of
the game is placed in a fixed camera mode in order to add to the tension that the player
will experience.
Screenshots of the combat system in Fatal Frame. Should a picture be taken at this moment the player will knock back the enemy and damage them. The right left side will only do a small amount of damage where
as the right will be a very deadly blow.
5. Are characters depicted accurately in terms of "Japanese style and culture”?
In terms of Miku and her brother I believe the characters are made to be as non-‐
impressionable as possible in order to let the player believe they are in the shoes to
promote suspension of disbelief. As the player continues the game, the intention of the
designer is that they will come to believe that they are in Miku’s shoes and that they are
in fact trying to save someone that means something to them. With that being said, the
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 7 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
original Japanese version of the game makes it quite clear to the player that she is a
Japanese schoolgirl by her outfit and mannerisms.
The other characters in the game are very accurate in terms of the Japanese
style and culture as they are characters taken out of Japanese folklore. Enemies in the
game take the form of yūrei that haunt the mansion. These enemies often wear
kimonos and/or other Japanese items such as traditional masks. Depending on how they
died, they may look differently than how they did in life.
The main character and antagonist of Fatal Frame. Note the distinctly Japanese feel that each character has. For the American version of the game the right side of Miku is used as the character model in order to
be more familiar to a Western audience to relate easier.
In conclusion, Fatal Frame contains many of the various elements found with
Japanese architecture and culture. Through use of those aspects, the game creates a
very interesting world and experience in which people from both Western and Eastern
audiences can appreciate. Game Designers would do well to look at and analyze how
they can use culture and architecture style within their games with Fatal Frame being a
prime example of how it can make a game shine.
John Doran ART310
http://johnpdoran.com
Page 8 of 8 All content © 2009 DigiPen (USA) Corporation, all rights reserved.
Bibilography:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/image/529305.html
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iii-‐the-‐tormented-‐20051116105804515.jpg
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bin/img.pl?image=/reviews/ps2/fatal/&img=1&imgnum=4&sys=&game=&ti
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http://www.daninjapan.com/1.23/index.html
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