Zero ~ Crow Witch ~ is a Japanese horror adventure game co-produced by KOEI TECMO GAMES and Nintendo, and the recently launched Steam platform "Maiden of Black Water" is the fifth canon of the Fatal Frame/Project Zero series.
The game is set in the setting of a Japanese spiritual mountain, "Nippon Mountain", which has a huge lake at the top of the mountain. It is rumored that the folk around "Nippon Mountain" have a special belief that "water" is used as the imperial spirit body, and there is a reincarnation concept of "being born from water and returning from water", and people who want to commit suicide will be "hidden" after entering the mountain, so it is believed that "those who want to meet the dead" will visit the spiritual realm. The story unfolds from this, and the three people of "Bu Lai Fang Xi Li", "Release Lotus" and "Daisaki Fuka yu" together weave a strange fantasy and fantasy.
Under the construction of the "projector" in this game, these previously untouchable beings such as the ghost soul can also be destroyed, and the player can eliminate it by using the projector in the game (it is ineffective for the final boss, it is killed for the story).
"Camera Exterminator" has always been the core gameplay of the series, and each work will make some changes to the function of the projector. At the same time, since the original works from the fourth generation were exclusive to the Wii console, it is very convenient to use the GamePad that comes with the machine as a camera for somatosensory control. However, after the transplantation, this game initially only supported the handle control, and then added the key and mouse control but helplessly optimized too poorly, resulting in a far less comfortable experience than directly using the controller.
Shutter opportunity
In addition to the normal camera mode for exorcising ghosts, the projector can also trigger additional special skills after certain conditions are met. When the player captures more than five targets at once in the camera, the projector automatically enters the "Shutter Chance", which can deal a large amount of damage to the spirit.
A fatal blow
At the moment of the Wraith attack, the player can choose to dodge, or take advantage of the red frame of the screen to enter the "Fatal Frame" state, which can not only give the spirit a lot of damage but also shorten the CD interval for taking pictures.
(Careful readers have discovered that the name of the American version of the series I wrote at the beginning is actually derived from this skill)
In addition, the projector occasionally resonates in various scenes to remind the player of the clue setting of the game's story here. Players need to choose the right angle, focal length to shoot in order to get hidden clues, often missed and then disappeared directly, in the game as a clue collection, while using this function can also be in the spirit world can not see or touch the props back to solve the puzzle.
Hidden mysteries
Since the character's movement is not so flexible, it is quite difficult to shoot the ghost, especially in the case of his close behind his body. To do this, players need to use the number of points and props collected by shooting and passing levels to carry out relevant targeted enhancements, which can effectively improve the exorcism experience in the game, but it is still very different from the traditional FPS game.
The function of the projector is enhanced
When the player enters a "wet state" when it rains or is attacked by a ghost, the projector's attack will increase, but the character's defense will decrease, and the encounter rate of the spirit will also increase. Whether the player chooses to use the "Purify Tinder" to clear it or wait for it to dry naturally has become a major balance between difficulty and fun in the game.
As for the character's ability to "see" and "see", it has been analyzed as a setting in the plot, so I will not talk about it more.
The first is the obvious optimization problem caused by the violent transplantation, which has been mentioned in the previous article. Keyboard and mouse control requires not only controlling the movement of the character but also controlling the steering of the character, but also not forgetting the projector to take pictures to remove the spirit, I think I am afraid that only the "strange force" can operate this way (after all, the strange force has four hands).
But it spoiled my weird cow beer
The game also often has the problem of out-of-sync sound and picture, and it will always be automatically fixed after re-reading the plot, and it will be repeated in this way. Of course, sometimes I can't read the plot and get stuck, and I directly enter the black screen mode.
In addition, the game's key settings in terms of the gamepad are not humane enough, and there will always be conflicts with hardware capabilities when picking props, thus repeatedly making the character turn around and waste time.
Ghost hand, this design is really good
Of course, the most annoying part of the game is that when the player collects supply props, there will often be ghost hand harassment, which will interrupt the progress of picking up, greatly slowing down the progress of the game and being spurned by people (I would rather not pick up and spare the garden road, there will be demons when things go wrong).
This game is a high-definition replica of the original version, and the production team has not changed the original function, that is to say, it is purely for the new bottle of old wine for half a set of skins.
In fact, as mentioned earlier, this game was originally a "zero series" that first made the game picture high-definition by using Nintendo's new wii U at that time, so the picture quality is much better than the previous four generations of works on the old wii and PS2 respectively.
Comparing the Wii U version with the PS5 version, it can be seen that the hair is indeed a lot more refined, and the overall brightness and darkness have been improved
The high-definition remake transplant, compared with the Wii U machine, has indeed made a lot of optimizations in terms of details, such as the character's hair is more delicate, the texture of the water surface ripples and reflections is also clearer, and the wet body effect is more able to highlight the charm of the character's body than the original.
However, in fact, returning to the original point of view, the supernatural theme adopted by the "Zero Series" itself is that there is a hazy sense of "virtual reality", and the smoke in the mountains of the sun adds a mysterious color to it. In the case that the picture is not very different, this so-called replacement of the modeling material of high definition is actually a bit of a snake.
The inspirational picture after the photo is taken, which has the style of an old-fashioned tape
As for the sound effects, according to the explanation of the game director Makoto Shibata, it is said that low-frequency tones and high-frequency tones that are beyond the range of human hearing have been added, which can similarly imitate the so-called "ghost atmosphere" of the scene in the spirit area. However, according to the different levels of acceptance of each person, it seems that some players have indeed reported that they have heard tinnitus that resembles a "mosquito sound" after playing.
(It seems that ghosts and spirits are not very popular in China, after all, after the founding of the country, it is not allowed to become a spirit)
(The human ear loses the ability to listen to some overclocked sounds as it grows, and the exact range varies from person to person.)
In addition, the game has added additional dress-up elements and a list of Wraiths, which is indeed a little newer than the old version. In addition to the game's own "Lysa Suit" that cannot be worn by Fang Xili in connection with Atelier Ryza (Laisha's Alchemy Workshop)," the other protagonists also have several clothes that can be unlocked by points, such as the gothic suit of The Deep Feather and the groom's costume of the Releasing Lotus.
Lesha's outfit suggests that the player is still a legend in the game, much higher than the color of the original costume, and it is easy to position the character in a dark environment
The rest of the content and the bonus content are included in the "20th Anniversary DLC", which needs to be paid to unlock, and interested players can buy it to see the art design.
"Zero ~ Crow Witch ~ " as an old version of the HIGH-definition port to see some violence in the details, many adaptation problems have not been solved on the shelves hastily, just on the shelves that will bring some players an indelible bad experience. However, I personally believe that the supernatural theme adopted by the "Zero Series" itself is a rare idea in the entire horror genre, and the ability to port the PC platform experience this time is really the tears missing from the era of modern game lovers. This game is recommended for fans of supernatural and horror games and loyal fans of the Zero Series.