The spirit of one woman in the game, who happens to be the victim of a suicide attempt, comes at you as a sliding, twisted mess of broken arms and legs, her eyes dead white as she reaches for you. The design of the spirits is very impressive also. Ghosts come out of nowhere to grab you, crying out endlessly of the pain they are in. Not a nice kind of playful giggling but more the kind of giggling that you hear from someone who wants to do you harm. From behind you, you suddenly hear the sound of a child giggling.
It's a hard feeling to describe but just imagine sitting alone in your house with dim lighting and you're playing the game, feeling a little spooked by the sound of creaking boards all around you from the house that you've just entered to investigate. This has to be the one thing in the game that makes it an instant classic. The game manages to keep you unnerved through out with its subtle use of ambient sound. There are many frightening moments in this game and a lot of it is due to the sound setup in the game. The game has its roots in Japanese culture so if you enjoy Japanese horror films like Ringu, chances are you will really dig this. It may sound silly but it works very well in the context of the game. You find a mysterious camera early on that allows you to exorcise the spirits when you take their picture. The game revolves around twin sisters who become trapped in a spirit infested village deep in the forest.
PS2 owners need not worry as the game is still worth a purchase.
The game is available on both the Xbox and the PS2 but if you had to pick one or the other I'd say go with the Xbox version as it gives you more bang for the buck with cleaner graphics, full surround sound and more unlockable features. The combination of murky graphics, fantastic 5.1 surround sound and a story guaranteed to give you the creeps make this one of the best games you can buy. Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is hands down the scariest game I have ever played. I send this recommendation to anyone who enjoys playing video games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill and also enjoys being frightened really badly. I figure that the word on this fantastic video game needs to be spread, so hopefully this'll help in some way.