I hope I can help! (sorry if this is just an info dump)
Experience:
1-3 (PS2)
The PCSX2 does a pretty good job with the first three imo. As long as you have an okay computer, it should be fine. I don’t believe anything was missing when I played the emulation VS the console. However, as my computer got older/slower, it had issues when there were a lot of ghosts (or a particularly “busy” ghost). But I had no issues with rendering, sounds, unlockables, etc. I did have to tinker a bit with the third one, but it wasn’t anything crazy (and I can’t find it now, but I followed a settings guide online). 2 has an Xbox edition, but I’ve only played that on the console, not emulated. Of course all play well on the original PS2
2 (Wii)
For 2, there is a very nice wii addition that I believe was UK only, so for that one you may be stuck using the dolphin emulator. That one plays more like the more recent additions (4 & 5), as in it has the “hands,” and the camera just follows you instead of the normal fixed camera positions (think silent hill). I played that one the most when I didn’t have a TV and found it enjoyable. I loved the additional endings, and they added a few extra ghosts battles that I loved. Getting the controls can be finicky if you don’t have a wii remote, but I had little issues playing with my controller once I got everything mapped out. However, I could not do the haunted house side game via the emulator.
Extra: if you are willing to drop some change, the dolphin bar and/or two candles (to mimick the sensors) and a wii remote works well. However, the dolphin bar will not work with a bootleg remote (when I tried anyway) so the most expensive thing would be getting a wii controller of you want to go that route.
4 (Wii)
Initially, 4 was Japan only, so you would have had to use the emulator as well as a patch as the text was usually garbled. Otherwise, it played fine, though there were also patches for some of the unlockables as not all ghosts were available, as well as some outfits. You also cannot hear the phone calls unless you have a wii remote for the speaker. I tried to just have the sound come out of literally anything else, but didn’t work. When my computer got slow, it would lag when it played a certain song, but was otherwise fine (you’ll know the song when you hear it)
4(PS4/5)
Works great. No issues. Was finally able to hear the phone calls and such. Nice addition to the series.
5 (WiiU)
Now, I never had an emulator for this one, so I bought a WiiU just for this game (I’m into it 👀). The pad is nice, but more of a gimmick than anything. But I did like rolling around to take pictures of ghosts.
5(PS5)
Came over nice and I didn’t miss the wii pad at all. A very “pretty” game. It goes give you the option to use motion controls, but I found that more of a hindrance than anything.
Can’t remember the name but the DS one:
I think I may be the only one who actually liked it? It’s short and cute and comes with a little interactive book. Never emulated it though, so unsure how it would work as it requires you to take photos of yourself and the book. However, there are copies of the book online that can be used if you end up with just a cartridge of it.
Playing:
Of course, I’m super bias because I love the series, but I believe the first 3 are the best, with 3 being my absolute favorite game period. The stories are nice and I believe 3 would have been a nice conclusion for those particular characters. 1 does have slightly different controls than the others. If you have to pick just one, I would suggest 2 since that’s the darling, and I would not play 3 without the other two because I think the story hits harder with the prior knowledge. I think you can play 1 & 2 without any other games prior and be fine. 3 is the game that brings them together.
Favorite Part of 1: Final boss.
Favorite part of 2: Twins’ household. And the “extra” battle at the end, should you unlock it.
Favorite Part of 3: it low key comes out swinging, I liked all of it. Plays well, love the story, and I love when the ghosts start breaking free from the dream.
Issues: The camera for these can be annoying sometimes, and capturing some of the ghosts requires you to know they’re coming which can be frustrating. The story is can also be formulaic, but it’s more about the result of their actions than the actions themselves.
4 was a bit of a revamp for them. They added some other ghosts/events (the grabby hands) and I believe this was when they started having the camera follow you instead of a fixed position. You do not need to play any of the prior ones to understand or enjoy the 4th one.
Favorite Part: “Watashi”
Least Favorite Part: There is a battle with 4 kids and a dancer and I hate it.
5 is… Fine. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t feel as scary. It’s all very beautiful to look at, but if you had to skip one, this would be it. Part of the story is also kind of ass and ruins 3 imo, so I’m always for skipping it unless you’re into it. Controls are fine, and I loved the “glance” feature they added, and their surveillance chapters. I honestly just go back and play those chapters. They were the most fun. However, if you just like looking at boobies, then this is your game because every ghost is fucking stacked for some reason.
Favorite Part: Camera monitoring chapters, and whenever I got to “glance.”
Least favorite part: The shamans (the ones with the staffs). They come out in groups and are tedious imo
Tips:
When just walking around, keep yourself on the lowest most basic film to not use up your good film. Get into the habit of switching back to the basic one before heading out, as passing ghost photos pull from the same bucket as a battle. When you start a chapter, it usually starts you with the film after basic (14) so make sure you check before you start a chapter.
Most of the children ghosts like to grab. Some from the ground, and some run around. Keep moving during those battles if possible.
To fully complete any of these games, you need to play them 2-3 times. The second play through usually gives you a sensor for hidden ghosts if that’s your only focus.
For 2 specifically, there is a long tunnel before the boss. There are no saves in there. Do not use your good film getting through it unless you’re well stocked.
You can beat any ghost, even the boss, with any film. Just takes longer.
The “fatal frame” requires the ghosts to get rather close before the attack. Make sure you’re not too close to a wall as it makes it safer to bait them into the fatal frame (usually stand and let them get almost too close and then start to back up).
Have fun!
Edit: 8. Most random ghosts will cause the camera to turn you to the ghost automatically , even if you bring up the camera (which you should do) . At most, you’ll have to tilt up or down. You may get spooked a few times before you get it. Which I hope happens cause that’s the fun part.
Wow, thank you. I’d keep that comment as my guiding compass in that game-verse. Infodump is what I was looking for, and I could’ve asked you to do it harder if you hadn’t exhausted my demand in the first run (:
If you’re starting from the beginning, it’s clunky. The controls, the pacing, the acting. It’s all very dated feeling by today’s standards, but the story is genuinely worth playing, and the scares are still damn good.
If you drop the first, I’d honestly say try 2, it was a step up, and after that, anything up until the Wii U one(Maiden of the Black Water) is pretty solid.
Just be aware that after 2 until that Wii U one, it’s all Japanese vocals, afaik. The series stopped getting translated for awhile.
EDIT: Both at work and stoned, forget the title, remembered it, fixed. It’s the fifth game.
Shit, they ported that one even further on, too. Looks like the PC port was treated decently, it’s got higher review scores than I remember the first release ever getting.
I love to see that Fatal Frame has not been forgotten ❤️
I’m nearly sold on trying it on emulator, but I wonder what a fan can say to prepare me for that journey.
I hope I can help! (sorry if this is just an info dump)
Experience:
1-3 (PS2) The PCSX2 does a pretty good job with the first three imo. As long as you have an okay computer, it should be fine. I don’t believe anything was missing when I played the emulation VS the console. However, as my computer got older/slower, it had issues when there were a lot of ghosts (or a particularly “busy” ghost). But I had no issues with rendering, sounds, unlockables, etc. I did have to tinker a bit with the third one, but it wasn’t anything crazy (and I can’t find it now, but I followed a settings guide online). 2 has an Xbox edition, but I’ve only played that on the console, not emulated. Of course all play well on the original PS2
2 (Wii) For 2, there is a very nice wii addition that I believe was UK only, so for that one you may be stuck using the dolphin emulator. That one plays more like the more recent additions (4 & 5), as in it has the “hands,” and the camera just follows you instead of the normal fixed camera positions (think silent hill). I played that one the most when I didn’t have a TV and found it enjoyable. I loved the additional endings, and they added a few extra ghosts battles that I loved. Getting the controls can be finicky if you don’t have a wii remote, but I had little issues playing with my controller once I got everything mapped out. However, I could not do the haunted house side game via the emulator.
Extra: if you are willing to drop some change, the dolphin bar and/or two candles (to mimick the sensors) and a wii remote works well. However, the dolphin bar will not work with a bootleg remote (when I tried anyway) so the most expensive thing would be getting a wii controller of you want to go that route.
4 (Wii) Initially, 4 was Japan only, so you would have had to use the emulator as well as a patch as the text was usually garbled. Otherwise, it played fine, though there were also patches for some of the unlockables as not all ghosts were available, as well as some outfits. You also cannot hear the phone calls unless you have a wii remote for the speaker. I tried to just have the sound come out of literally anything else, but didn’t work. When my computer got slow, it would lag when it played a certain song, but was otherwise fine (you’ll know the song when you hear it)
4(PS4/5) Works great. No issues. Was finally able to hear the phone calls and such. Nice addition to the series.
5 (WiiU) Now, I never had an emulator for this one, so I bought a WiiU just for this game (I’m into it 👀). The pad is nice, but more of a gimmick than anything. But I did like rolling around to take pictures of ghosts.
5(PS5) Came over nice and I didn’t miss the wii pad at all. A very “pretty” game. It goes give you the option to use motion controls, but I found that more of a hindrance than anything.
Can’t remember the name but the DS one: I think I may be the only one who actually liked it? It’s short and cute and comes with a little interactive book. Never emulated it though, so unsure how it would work as it requires you to take photos of yourself and the book. However, there are copies of the book online that can be used if you end up with just a cartridge of it.
Playing:
Of course, I’m super bias because I love the series, but I believe the first 3 are the best, with 3 being my absolute favorite game period. The stories are nice and I believe 3 would have been a nice conclusion for those particular characters. 1 does have slightly different controls than the others. If you have to pick just one, I would suggest 2 since that’s the darling, and I would not play 3 without the other two because I think the story hits harder with the prior knowledge. I think you can play 1 & 2 without any other games prior and be fine. 3 is the game that brings them together.
Favorite Part of 1: Final boss. Favorite part of 2: Twins’ household. And the “extra” battle at the end, should you unlock it. Favorite Part of 3: it low key comes out swinging, I liked all of it. Plays well, love the story, and I love when the ghosts start breaking free from the dream.
Issues: The camera for these can be annoying sometimes, and capturing some of the ghosts requires you to know they’re coming which can be frustrating. The story is can also be formulaic, but it’s more about the result of their actions than the actions themselves.
4 was a bit of a revamp for them. They added some other ghosts/events (the grabby hands) and I believe this was when they started having the camera follow you instead of a fixed position. You do not need to play any of the prior ones to understand or enjoy the 4th one.
Favorite Part: “Watashi” Least Favorite Part: There is a battle with 4 kids and a dancer and I hate it.
5 is… Fine. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t feel as scary. It’s all very beautiful to look at, but if you had to skip one, this would be it. Part of the story is also kind of ass and ruins 3 imo, so I’m always for skipping it unless you’re into it. Controls are fine, and I loved the “glance” feature they added, and their surveillance chapters. I honestly just go back and play those chapters. They were the most fun. However, if you just like looking at boobies, then this is your game because every ghost is fucking stacked for some reason.
Favorite Part: Camera monitoring chapters, and whenever I got to “glance.” Least favorite part: The shamans (the ones with the staffs). They come out in groups and are tedious imo
Tips:
When just walking around, keep yourself on the lowest most basic film to not use up your good film. Get into the habit of switching back to the basic one before heading out, as passing ghost photos pull from the same bucket as a battle. When you start a chapter, it usually starts you with the film after basic (14) so make sure you check before you start a chapter.
Most of the children ghosts like to grab. Some from the ground, and some run around. Keep moving during those battles if possible.
To fully complete any of these games, you need to play them 2-3 times. The second play through usually gives you a sensor for hidden ghosts if that’s your only focus.
For 2 specifically, there is a long tunnel before the boss. There are no saves in there. Do not use your good film getting through it unless you’re well stocked.
You can beat any ghost, even the boss, with any film. Just takes longer.
The “fatal frame” requires the ghosts to get rather close before the attack. Make sure you’re not too close to a wall as it makes it safer to bait them into the fatal frame (usually stand and let them get almost too close and then start to back up).
Have fun!
Edit: 8. Most random ghosts will cause the camera to turn you to the ghost automatically , even if you bring up the camera (which you should do) . At most, you’ll have to tilt up or down. You may get spooked a few times before you get it. Which I hope happens cause that’s the fun part.
My personal ranking:
3 2 4 1 DS 5
Wow, thank you. I’d keep that comment as my guiding compass in that game-verse. Infodump is what I was looking for, and I could’ve asked you to do it harder if you hadn’t exhausted my demand in the first run (:
I was just happy to finally have a use for my FF knowledge. You made my day. ❤️
This is exactly why I love lemmy, and why I used to love reddit.
Thank you so much for posting this in-depth starting guide for one of my favorite semi-obscure IPs
Which one you looking to try?
If you’re starting from the beginning, it’s clunky. The controls, the pacing, the acting. It’s all very dated feeling by today’s standards, but the story is genuinely worth playing, and the scares are still damn good.
The first one, but what part would you recommend if I drop it?
If you drop the first, I’d honestly say try 2, it was a step up, and after that, anything up until the Wii U one(Maiden of the Black Water) is pretty solid.
Just be aware that after 2 until that Wii U one, it’s all Japanese vocals, afaik. The series stopped getting translated for awhile.
EDIT: Both at work and stoned, forget the title, remembered it, fixed. It’s the fifth game.
Thanks.
(At first I was surprised FF series got to Wii U times, only to learn that Wii U is twelve years old. Damn I’m ancient)
Shit, they ported that one even further on, too. Looks like the PC port was treated decently, it’s got higher review scores than I remember the first release ever getting.