Widely considered to be the greatest instalment in the Japanese horror franchise, the Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake launching in March looks to be another standout horror game for 2026, right alongside Resident Evil Requiem.
It arrives just two weeks after the Capcom effort, on 12th March 2026, and a new PlayStation Blog post provides a deep dive into the remake and all its updates.
Keeping the story and its universe intact, Team Ninja leads Hidehiko Nakajima and Makoto Shibata touch on how the gameplay is being improved and modernised. The camera has been changed from the fixed camera angles in the PS2 original to a behind-the-shoulder perspective that allows for free movement. The gameplay has been "restructured" to suit this new look.
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The famous Camera Obscura mechanic has also been expanded with new focus, zoom, and filter options, and then an entirely new Willpower feature leaves you in a critical condition if you come into contact with too many spirits. Further, environments themselves are more interactive, as coming into contact with them can break or move objects.
Team Ninja also reveals it's using the PS5 SSD to make use of fast loading, and 3D Audio "allows players to perceive spirit locations clearly while also conveying the unsettling atmosphere of Minakami Village through sounds such as rustling trees and the faint whisper of wind".
Finally, it's teased how this isn't just a remake of the original experience; it's also an expansion with new side stories and bonus areas. "And as well as the original ending, a special new ending has been added which features a newly written song, 'Utsushie', composed by Tsukiko Amano," teased Nakajima.
Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly comes to PS5 on 12th March 2026. Are you excited to play the horror game for the first time, or return to it having played through it before? Let us know in the comments below.
[source blog.playstation.com]
Comments 10
Got my pre order in for the physical edition, can't wait for this one.
RE9 and FF2R back to back, we are eating good horror fans!
Hope this sells well. We need Project Zero 6 already
Do you need to have played the first game in order to understand and enjoy the second? Do they follow on from one another..?
@Fiendish-Beaver No it's a stand alone story, think like Silent Hill 2 is it's own thing.
Ideal. Thank you, @Oram77. Does it have returning characters? Characters that are in both games...?
So have they given up on the Project Zero name in Europe? UK PSN has the title as Fatal Frame.
@Fiendish-Beaver There is one side character who is present in both 1 and 2.
This looks a fantastic remake. So good, in fact, there’s no chance in hell I’m going to play it. I could barely make it through the demo of the original.
Superb game, genuinely fun mechanics, but too upsettingly tense and terrifying for this scaredy-cat. Hope it does well though!
I'm looking forward to this, but I don't see a pre-order for the physical version on Amazon US. I guess I'll wait until closer to release date.
Cannot wait for this. The Project Zero games are very cool survival horrors, especially Crimson Butterfly and The Tormented.
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