Do I need to play Maiden of Black Water before this?

[floppy]

I noticed this game has better reviews and am interested, but haven't played the first. Can I skip the other one?

[floppy]

Ok thanks gonna try it.

[sidneyc1990]

Maiden of Black Water is Fatal Frame 5. Mask of Lunar Eclipse is fatal frame 4. You ought to consider checking out 1-3 too next time!

[PL]

Hi there !

All Fatal Frame games are a shared universe, meaning that main / secondary / background characters tend to appear throughout the entire series. Sometimes it's a name drop, sometimes it's a cameo, sometimes it's a bigger role.

We long time fans have sort of an advantage because we get all the fan service, references and cool nods for each new episode we discover. You might not for now but I'm sure you will eventually, if you end up liking the series.

Maiden of Black Water (Fatal Frame 5) is the most recent one so it has some quality of life improvements that the previous games do not. Namely your character can actually RUN. Just a detail, but Fatal Frame's traditional slow pace might bother a lot of people.

[DogMeat]

Originally posted by sidneyc1990:

Maiden of Black Water is Fatal Frame 5. Mask of Lunar Eclipse is fatal frame 4. You ought to consider checking out 1-3 too next time!

This. I purchased the fifth game (Maiden of Black Water) on sale, but decided to play the others before actually playing it... and I'm really enjoying them.

They have their faults. The first game has a pretty bad dub and you can get stuck on the environment frequently (ladders and tight doorways). The second is a bit too obtuse in places. I can't remember the last time I've had to consult a guide / walkthrough so frequently. Those things said I'm having a lot of fun playing them. Series has some great jump scares and tension building even though there is very little gore.

I've just started the third. It's a graphical marvel for a PS2 game. It is tying the first two games together when they didn't appear to have any story threads which is pretty neat as I initially thought the first two were completely unrelated except for gameplay mechanics and the origin of the Camera Obscura.

This one is apparently a prequel to the first 3, taking place in 1980 while the first 3 are mid-to-late 80s. Not sure if its best to play this one first or play in release order. I've already committed to release order. The fifth (MoBW) takes place decades after the first 4 in relatively modern times.