Japanese developer and publisher Koei Tecmo released a gameplay video for Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse on the Rogetsu Hall Hospital stage featuring the remastered version’s producer Yutaka Fukaya and original version director Makoto Shibata.
They comment on the adventure-horror-survival style, the concept of the stage being an abandoned sanitarium with time stopped/”frozen”, as well as the tedious process of reworking the graphics to make the look more crisp and detailed. It is stated that the setting reference was Western-style Japanese houses, but it also used a ryokan (typical Japanese inn) style.
Producer Yutaka Fukaya mentions changes such as improving camera movement to make it easier to explore the environment and locate objects such as a phone. This version also has a lot of tricks for adding sounds to radios, pianos, roll calls, and jukeboxes. Sound, according to director Makoto Shibata, is one of the themes in Mask of the Lunar Eclipse and the sounds will be associated with memories.
The hospital on Hogestu Island was built in an effort to treat Luna Sedata Syndrome, a psychological disorder in the game’s fantasy possibly related to several mysterious deaths on the island. Protagonist Ruka Minazuki explores the hospital to recover her memories. The environment in Rogetsu Hall is organized into several rooms, halls, offices, and a stage for Rogetsu: Lunar Eclipse Dais.
Fatal Frame: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will be released digitally for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S and PC on March 9, 2023. The horror game, also known as Fatal Frame 4, was originally released on Wii on July 31, 2008 in Japan only. The new version includes a visual remaster, photo mode, and new character costumes.
