Koei Tecmo has confirmed a release date for Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse – known as Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse in North America – on Nintendo Switch.
This has seen the developer look to revive and remaster the classic Japanese horror adventure, which was released exclusively for Wii in Japan back in 2008. Since becoming “one of Koei Tecmo’s most requested remasters for over a decade,” it is now destined for the portable home console.
The game is set a decade after five girls mysteriously disappeared at a festival on Rōgetsu Isle, an island situated in southern Japan. While they were eventually rescued, their memories were lost, only faintly remembering “a single melody and a seemingly possessed masked woman dancing in the moonlight.”
Still unable to remember the events surrounding their disappearance, two of the five girls have since died and were discovered with their faces covered and placed in a tragic, crying pose. The three girls that remain choose to return to the eerie island with the hope of solving the mystery behind their friends’ deaths and the memories that they left behind.
Relying on the moonlight and a faint flashlight to search for clues, the story progresses as you discover relics – such as old newspaper articles and notes – that will allow the girls to unravel the secrets about the island’s past.
The girls will be confronted by vengeful spirits as they explore, coming to rely on the Camera Obscura to repel them – sealing away their power by photographing them. You will need to equip stronger lenses and use different films to capture the more powerful spirits, using the camera to capture “things that cannot be seen” to help recover the evidence needed to remember the girls’ haunting past.
The remastered game has an all-new Photo Mode, new and altered costumes, enhanced graphics – such as improved rendering of shadows and light – with the in-game movies and character models “brushed-up to deliver a story that shines, both narratively and aesthetically as the three remaining girls attempt to rediscover their past before becoming victims once again.”
Alongside the standard version of the game, KOEI TECMO Europe also revealed a special PROJECT ZERO: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Digital Deluxe Edition. Available digitally, this unique edition of the game includes the Rogetsu Isle Dinner Party Costume Set, and a digital art book (original soundtrack included).
In addition, anyone who purchases the digital copy of the game by 22nd March 2023 will have the ability to download the early purchase bonus: Ruka Exclusive Costume “Marie Rose Outfit” from the Dead or Alive series. Fans who preorder the game by the release date will also receive a variety of costumes, including the Ruka Limited Edition Costume “Fox Mask” (white/red), the Misaki Limited Edition Costume “Fox Mask” (black/red), the Choshiro Limited Edition Costume “Fox Mask” (black/blue), and the Ruka Misaki, and Choshiro Limited Edition Costume “Spirit Stone Flashlight Hat”. There will even be a special save bonus costume for fans who have already played PROJECT ZERO: Maiden of Black Water. Play PROJECT ZERO: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse on the same device that has saved data from PROJECT ZERO: Maiden of Black Water to receive the Save Data Bonus, the “Camera Obscura Hat”.
Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will release digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide on 9 March 2023.
