Project Zero 2: Wii Edition

Gameplay

Deep Crimson Butterfly features several major gameplay improvements and enhancements that the original doesn't have such as

A dynamic over the shoulder third person camera angle first used in Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.

The map and layout of the game have been updated to work better with the new viewpoint.

The graphics and character models are vastly improved, and the costumes were designed with more emphasis on the back since it is constantly in the player's view.

Just like in Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, the game contains "ghost hands" which may randomly pop up when the player attempts to pick up an item. Unlike Mask of the Lunar Eclipse however the Ghost Hands can damage Mio and you are able to pull back Mio's arm to evade them.

The game now has an investigating mechanic which allows you to see many new locations and things that weren't in the original game, as well as several newly created objects that can be opened, moved, and peeped through.

Each ghost now has many new attacks and special abilities given to them.

An updated form of Blooming from the 4th game called a "Dark Return" can randomly occur which restores a ghosts health, makes their attacks do more damage, and grants them more abilities.

Several areas throughout the game are newly accessible, such as the shores of Whisper Bridge, the atrium of the Ōsaka House, a new hallway in the Kurosawa House, and the room on the top floor of the Kiryū House which could not be explored in the original.

The old costumes were replaced with new ones.

The Camera Obscura, while its external aesthetics are identical to that of the original camera from the PlayStation 2 release, has a new viewfinder and re-done controls, a Lock on function, a revamped upgrade system, a completely new way of using lenses, newly created lenses, and the capture circle has been changed from a proximity charge to the standard charge system in every other game.

Each time you defeat a ghost several newly created lines of dialogue for said ghosts come out of the Wii remote

A minor two-player mode is now supported in the main story where a player with a second Wii remote can take Syncro shots and deal double damage to ghosts as well as hear newly created dialogue come out of the Wii remote.

The amount of healing items in the game has been decreased and some fights that were optional in the original are now mandatory.

A mini-map as well as the system that shows the player where each key goes from Mask of the Lunar Eclipse has been incorporated into this game.

A few unexplained occurrences in the original game are now resolved.

Many new cutscenes have been added to the game which expand on the story.

Several of the cutscenes in the original have been extended.

The way the player obtains the endings in the game are no longer determined by what difficulty has been selected. Endings are instead determined by how you play the game.

The game receives two completely new endings in addition to the ones obtained from the original and Xbox versions.

The game has a new theme song not in the original.

A new mode, Haunted House, has been added, a mode in which players slowly walk around a set course in first person and scary events randomly occur, the player can search for haunted dolls while a ghost chases after you, where you can take pictures of ghosts from the game and receive rankings on your spirit level (based on your fear meter that amasses when playing), a second player may attempt to scare you by pressing buttons on a second Wii remote, causing random events to occur. This new mode replaces Mission Mode.

Plot

Just like in the original, Project Zero 2: Wii Edition is set in the Minakami (皆神村) region of Japan. While a dam is being planned for construction in a forest at this location in the game's present, the site is also home to Minakami Village (lit. "All God's Village"), a "[l]ost" settlement where the majority of the game takes place. The player learns that Minakami Village was host to the "Crimson Sacrifice Ritual", the failure of which caused the settlement to vanish—thus earning it the name "The Lost Village". In the game's present, there is an urban legend about the Lost Village, where people who become lost in the Minakami forest will become trapped forever in the village.

The protagonists, Mio and Mayu Amakura, are twin sisters who are visiting their favorite childhood playspot in Minakami, before it is lost in the dam construction. The main antagonist is the vengeful spirit of Sae Kurosawa, the sole Twin Shrine Maiden sacrificed for the failed ritual. She yearns to reunite with her twin sister Yae, whom she mistakes Mio for, and possesses Mayu to try and complete the ritual with her. Other characters include Itsuki Tachibana, a young man who also mistakes Mio for Yae, but instead tries to help her and Mayu escape; and Seijiro Makabe, a folklorist who visited Minakami Village with a Camera Obscura prototype (the same camera Mio uses in the game) and his assistant, Ryozo Munakata. Makabe later became a temporary sacrifice for the Abyss, known as a Kusabi (楔). Although Mio and Mayu's story takes place after Miku Hinasaki's, the events of Minakami Village occur before those of the Himuro mansion in the original game.

Reception

IGN called the game "an enduring classic that every horror fan should have in their collection." Nintendo Gamer called it "the best horror game on Wii, by some margin."