Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water Gets New 'Very Easy' Difficulty Option

Still waiting patiently for my physical copy to arrive (recently updated from Nov 15 to Nov 30!)

I’ve actually been enjoying the game so far. Not really scary but I like the creepy atmosphere around it.

So I guess they're not even gonna try improving the performance? -_-

@Itachi2099

・Fixed various bugs and defects.
・Fixed display issues.

Not what you had in mind?

Great to have options. Nothing worse than paying full or nearly rrp for a game to be stuck at near the start...

@thiz

Agreed, I always thought the point of a horror game was to feel a sense of helplessness and fear. An easy mode seems like it'd detract from that. But what do I know, I'm just an onion.

As a point of reference, when my dad played his 360 he struggled with even mildly demanding gameplay (that wasn't NHL-related anyway) but he adored the creepy atmosphere of several games like BioShock, so he'd watch while I played instead. This would be a difficulty option for someone like him when there's nobody to hand the remote to.

@thiz

1) Not everybody's idea of difficult is the same. This may still be hard for some people.

2) Some may want to build up to a challenge. Using a lower difficulty to practice and learn the controls and skills to play.

3) Some may not want a combat challenge, but may still like the horror atmosphere and puzzle and problem solving. Sitting in front of a movie might solve the difficulty factor but also does not offer a mental challenge either.

4) The higher difficulties are still there and a lower one does not hurt your experience. If you are upset by a very low difficulty, then why not just remove all difficulties below the highest one? I mean, since the only way to really experience the game is at higher difficulty, there's no point in anything lower, right?

@IAmGamer2022 I really don't understand this mindset. There are a lot of games and I avoid the games I don't like playing. Devs shouldn't have to consider making their game for everyone. It is nice whenever devs make lots of difficulty modes and accessibility features, but that decision is at the sole discretion of the developer and they are under no obligation to do so.

For example, I don't like RTS's but I can see how if they added a very easy mode where you have unlimited resources, it would ruin the developer's design and the game you would be playing wouldn't be what was intended anymore. So I don't play RTS's and that's fine.

This being said, I'm always glad to see more people of all skill and ability levels playing the games I enjoy and celebrate devs taking steps to get their games into more hands.

I could never imagine being upset that more people will now be willing and/or able to play a video game on an optional setting 🥴

@thiz I mean, Frictional made SOMA and that game literally had a Story Mode option that allowed you to play the game with no encounters. If the dev wants to sacrifice part of their design so more people can enjoy other aspects of their game, that's their choice. There is more to a game than just its encounter design. Atmosphere and puzzles are a huge part of horror games.

I too, get offended when there's more options for people and the option I prefer is already readily available for me

Game's already pretty easy on Normal really, especially compared to the previous games. They give you a lot of healing items from the start of each chapter so you're pretty much never gonna die outside one or two sections where running into the boss is an instant game over

@thiz I'm really not upset, I swear! I just find this discussion interesting. And honestly, I agree with you more than I don't. I truly don't see the appeal in playing a watered down version of a game. I think that anyone who would be interested playing the "Very Easy" version of this game would probably find better return for their time investment elsewhere, like any number of the point and click adventure horror games on PC. But if they're deadset on playing FF5, they should have at it.

I said earlier in the thread, devs are under no obligation to add these features into games and I stand by that. Games shouldn't necessarily be playable by everyone. If a dev thinks something like this ruins what their game is all about, I support their decision to not add it.

@thiz Easy mode doesn't just mean the challenge are not there, they're still there just that the struggle got reduce a bit. For example in the case of say Resident Evil, easy mode means more ink ribbons could be found, more herbs a plenty, dumber zombies (they don't chase you even if they see you), game allows you to carry more max ammos so instead of 5 max ammos you could carry up to 20, bosses took less hits to kill, repetitive feature from enemies may be disable such as an enemy that could regenerate more arms/legs or more health, losing let you keep inventory you already had, harder to get weapons and items are easily accessible, purchasing items and weapons are cheaper, the true ending is not seen and you get a congrats screen instead.

Good for those that want/need it.

That said, I didn't find it to be particularly challenging on Normal. Sure, there are a few cheap moments where you'll get surrounded in a tight place, but even then the game throws so many healing items at you you're never in any real danger of dying (you start out every mission with a restocked inventory, and can pick up more during the mission).

"VERY EASY difficulty is for players who want to enjoy the story safely."

Sounds perfectly reasonable. Fun fact: stories can be scary, too.

Feeling safe is exactly what a horror game needs. Hope the ghosts hand out candy too.

@Matty1988 The Japanese version is available now, also comes in English but the packaging may be in Japanese...but yeah, I'm in the same boat.

@thiz "Its always the people who want acceptance that dont accept any other opinion."
That's a nice fallacy right there. Your attempt at a paradox would make sense if people who want to play the game on easy mode were criticizing your choice of playing it on hard mode while at the same time complaining about your criticism of their own choice. But that's plainly not the case here.
No one is telling you how you should play these games, but you are telling everyone how they should be playing them.

@thiz So you wanted to give criticism, but didn't want any criticism in return?

Funny how the ones who want to criticise are the ones who don't want to recieve the criticism.

@Meteoroid I totally agree with you on a personal level. In my mind, that wouldn't even be Resident Evil anymore, but we don't define what is fun for everyone. I hate playing RE with the tank controls off. I think it ruins the experience to play with modern 3D controls, but the devs put it in the game and people are happy with it, so I'm happy someone else gets to enjoy a game, even if me on my high horse feels like we're not playing the same game anymore.

@thiz Well, I can say for certain that I hate the idea of devs changing their game because they feel pressured by the masses. I hated it when they changed the ending to ME3, even though I didn't like it, because the game was released as intended and it felt dishonest for them to change it after the fact. I hated that they added a save state to Returnal, even though I wouldn't have a prayer of a chance of playing it without one, because it wasn't what the developers intended when they released, otherwise it would've been there from the start.

@thiz as @thaliard said, "to each their own" is not a defense against what comes next, and if "but I dislike this" had come next, if that was what you said, it wouldn't be an issue, but you didn't say that. You said "but why play a Horror Game if you dont want a challenge. Its like playing Amnesia and modding out all the encounters. Cmon bruh." which isn't giving your preference, it's criticising the preference of others.

I don't think understand the difference, but there is a difference. When talking the existence of electric push bikes, it's like saying "I prefer to ride a bike because I enjoy the exercise and the challenge" vs "to each their own, but why even ride a bike if you are just going to put a motor on it. It's like having a motorbike. Cmon bruh".

Do you honestly not understand the tone and implications of those two structures of sentences?

I love my Wii U LE that us lucky Aussies got, the game won't be the same without the gamepad as a 2nd screen/camera
So much better atmosphere wise and gameplay wise.
I'll stick to my Wii U version.
Also, it doesn't need an easy mode, it wasn't hard to begin with.

@thiz for me it‘s now perfect. I don‘t liked the difficulty.

I'm a person who avoids the majority of horror games because they are just too much for me, largely because of the enemies who can and will kill me. I struggled through Resi 4 when it first came out and the best I've done since then is like the first 20 minutes of a horror game knowing it was before any enemies actually show up. I love the idea of most of them but I'll never actually play 'em, I don't own enough spare underwear to do that.

That said: I don't understand the appeal of this at all either. At this point, they're just walking simulators that weren't designed to be walking simulators, thus will also likely be missing any of the design choices that would make a walking simulator more than just a joke.

I think people just need to start accepting not everything needs to be made for them. If I see a horror game, I just don't play it because it isn't intended for me. Spending however much money to kind of not even play the game sounds ridiculous when if all I want is the story, YouTube provides about the same experience as what is basically God mode.

But hey, it ain't my money. Just my two cents and if you're happy to pay for this, happy for you. I just don't get it though, even as somebody this should probably appeal to.

I'm glad they added this, especially if it means more people get to enjoy the game. Accessibility features should be mandatory, people play games for different reasons. From what I've seen a lot of people just enjoy the atmosphere and pace of these games so they can enjoy that without being forced out. But hey, if they also wanted to add another extra higher difficulty after Nightmare I'd be pretty happy with that too...

@Matty1988 I ordered one on Play-Asia and very excited for it, Nov 30th seems so far away still though!

@haniwa I woke my son up on a Saturday morning and paid him $10 to get me past the one started on the beach. This is what passes for chores in my household.

@mr_somewhere I think the big problem that people, including myself, generally have with shoehorned easy difficulties is it's kinda like watching a Scorsese movie with no swears or violence. It's part of the experience and if you can't handle it, then why even bother in the first place? There's plenty of other fantastic media out there that's uncompromised, absolutely worth your time, and designed more to your tastes. There's no one game out there that everyone must play or you're a terrible gamer.

However, I'm all for devs putting in low difficulties and accessibility features into games as long as the developer decides it's a way they want their game to be experienced. I have no problem with this bit of news; in fact, I'm happy this will make someone happy and the devs did it of their own free will. I'm just sick of people trying to coerce From into making an easy mode for Dark Souls. If they want to make one, they'll make one, but they're not awful for not including one.

@GoodGoshJosh Yup, it was originally due for delivery on Oct 31st, it was updated to Nov 15th on the 29th, and on Nov 13th it updated to Nov 30th!

I look forward to playing it in April 2022

I was excited by this headline when I read it, but I guess that's controversial. I absolutely hate horror, but I love Bioshock/spooky atmospheres in media. This update is for me. People who love the idea, but hate the encounters. This Fatal Frame has been such a big part of media over the years (since it was a Wii U exclusive and always speculated to be ported to switch) that I've always wanted to try it but had this barrier blocking me. I may actually pick it up, and that's an exciting thought that I might enjoy it too.

Who actually plays horror games for the gameplay? Being in control adds tension, sure, but if you keep failing a section due to difficulty then all horror goes out the window. Horror legends like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil (the old ones) and Silent Hill are all delightfully spooky but not much fun to actually PLAY. I'm all for options like this.

@Matty1988 Ha, don't jinx it!

@Zebetite That's a great point. There is a running thread in this comment section that people experience horror in different ways. For me, being constantly bombarded with hideous monsters is not scary, nor is dying in a game. The horror genre in games and movies focuses heavily on this and doesn't do tension as well. So we might interpret this as the only way to do horror and that difficulty = more scary, but it isn't the case.

Focusing just on the story might expand the horror for people not interested in fighting ghosts. I haven't played this game but it's on my list. I watched someone play this on Twitch today and I found the combat not to my taste. But I do find the story concept spooky enough and I just might be interested in playing on super easy mode.

@Zebetite That's a really fair point. I've never really looked at it like that before, but you're 100% right. Tension comes from the threat of death, not death itself, and if you can feel that threat with no death, then the game is doing its job. Thanks for helping me understand this mode a little better.

@Thaliard Exactly! You have the right of it. The best horror games put the players in danger and cause tension but don't make the player struggle to get through. An example that comes to mind is Corpse Party, there are situations where you have to move quickly and carefully but there's nothing in the game that's going to demand you try it a dozen times, and that game is incredibly spooky.

@Meteoroid I respect your opinion, but I wholeheartedly disagree. The old tank controls work better with the static camera angles and wrestling with the controls during combat adds a level of tension that I adore. I get that it's a huge barrier for a ton of people, thus I'm glad that they added it so more people can enjoy a game I love, but in order to get what I believe to be the true RE experience, you gotta play with tank controls! I say this with the utmost love and respect to those who hate it.

@Zebetite Lol, ironically, Corpse Party is one of the games I've struggled the most with because of the situations where you have to move quickly. Just goes to show, different strokes for different folks. I played it back on PSP, did they change the "run away" segments to be easier in subsequent releases?

@Thaliard speaking frankly, for me, the resistance these games put up is part of the fun, I find the gameplay loop and challenge of the Ghosts very rewarding, but at the same time I wouldn't begrudge anybody who finds that off putting.

The way I see it is like this: Does the addition of these options actively take anything away from the game? I think the answer is clearly no, especially considering this was a patch after the fact. The core game is still there and hopefully, when the player is better adjusted, they'll give that a go. I understand how you feel I used to think the same way especially back when this conversation came up when Dark Souls originally released but reflecting on it later I think that if these options are designed around the game and will allow people to adjust themselves to the experience it can only be a good thing, it's an invitation for those who may well never have otherwise experienced something they would like. I hope that makes sense.

@Meteoroid I agree that whichever you enjoy more is the one you should play with, but I remain unconvinced that anything other than tank controls is how they were intended to be played.

Static cameras or fixed dynamic cameras simply control more intuitively with tank controls. When the camera cuts suddenly, you have to change the movement direction immediately or you're going to walk back where you came from in many instances. Devil May Cry made it to where you keep moving forward no matter where your stick is pointed until you change your input direction, but this feels like a bandaid on a bigger problem and doesn't completely solve the problem in all circumstances. Silent Hill 2 on release offered both control methods (to my memory), but still defaults at tank controls because it just works better for what the developer intended.

Combat in survival horror games isn't particularly complex anyway, and with the addition of snap targeting and quick turning in RE:DC and beyond, it makes any fumbling much more manageable, if not non-existent.

These games were designed with tank controls in mind, first and foremost. Any modern control scheme option put in these games feel like an afterthought to me. That's just me, though, and I'm glad there are those options for people who can't stand the way original controls play. Everything's better when everyone is having a good time.

@burninmylight so does this run good on Switch most of the time.

@anoyonmus Beats me. I have the Wii U version.