Japan-set survival horror

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Japan-set survival horror is a subgenre of survival horror and horror video games that focuses on survival of the character in a Japanese setting as the game tries to frighten players with either horror graphics or scary ambience. They were popular during the early 2000s, primarily on the Playstation 2 and Wii consoles..

Definition

Popular during the early 2000s, Japan-set survival horror series were created by Japanese studios, such as SCE’s internal development team Japan Studio or the game developer and publisher Tecmo (now Koei Tecmo). They include titles like the Fatal Frame series, Kuon and SIREN but also include a selection of modern titles which take Japanese-set horrror and spin it off into new directions, such as the Nioh series.

Though an obvious sub-genre to popular titles like Silent Hill or Resident Evil (which is where the term ‘survival horror’ originated) and are notable because they use Japanese aesthetics, supernatural creatures, horror and jump-scares to terrify the player, rather than western motifs like zombies, vampires or ghosts, or titles like Rule of Rose, Clocktower 3 or Haunting Ground which feature extended chase sequences and under-powered everywoman protagonists.

History

Released during the first decade of the twenty-first century, many of these games began on the Playstation 2, before being ported onto other consoles like the Xbox 360 or migrating entirely, as was the case with the Fatal Frame series, to the Wii and Wii U. They remain a small but notable niche within a growing genre.

During this period, the survival horror genre became popular, however these games, often created by Japanese developers, used western settings including towns, decimated castles and other locations. These titles, such as  They also invoke Western horror and the protagonist is either a weak female character, often with a canine companion, or a male character who is either an everyman or has some military training.

Game design

Japan-set horror games, instead, take these protagonists and give them a gimmick which works within the setting, such as a camera or the ability to see through the eyes of others. The games focuses on defence instead of offence but also includes puzzles, such as finding items, locating places or using language or symbol-related puzzles using kanji or Sanskit.

Like many titles of the period and survival horror genre, Japan-set horror games used tank controls where players moved around a pre-defined space, such a room, corridor or street, using their controllers. However as the genre progressed series move from these to a third person over-the-shoulder perspective (made standard by Capcom’s 2005 Resident Evil 4) which can be seen in the difference between the first Fatal Frame game and the most recent release, Maiden of Black Water in 2014.

These games take Shinto or Buddhist elements and transform them into dark rituals of misery, suffering and human sacrifice. This often involves a dark, malevolent force which must be restrained lest it taint certain rural world places in Japan. Unlike their real-world counterparts which focus on purity or reflection, the hidden rites within these games feature torture, death and a distinct need for detachment from the world for the good of the living. Also the focus points for these rituals are usually young women, hence why the protagonists and antagonists of such games are female.

Similarly, Japanese folklore provided a rich background of supernatural creatures however the most obvious is a type of vengeful spirit, or onryō, called a yūrei. They are typically envisioned as white-clad female ghosts whose inhuman movements and long hair stress menace, especially when uncurling from a box or descending from the rafters of a traditional Japanese house.

The origins of this particular spirit are Okiku from the Kaiden story Banchō Sarayashiki but also—because the golden age of this genre followed from the popularity of Japanese horror films—movie figures such as Sadako Yamamura of the Ring franchise or Kayako Saeki of Ju-on (who received her own survival horror title for the Wii in 2009).

Japanese-set survival horror was popular simply because of the fear of the unknown; the mythology of Japan was alien enough to Western gamers to make it truly terrifying. Additionally locations such as Hanyūda, Minakami Village or a haunted Heian mansion, meant even the basics of life were notably different. Ghosts didn’t follow the same rules as western spirits and even the layout of a house was unfamiliar with large tatami rooms, long corridors, shrines and altars, and inner courtyard gardens.

Beginning with 2001’s Fatal Frame, the genre expanded with the release of the first two SIREN games, along with Blood Curse, a 2008 re-imagining of the original game aimed at an English-speaking audience. However the second game was never released in the US and Blood Curse—released as a serial digital download and then as physical media—got middling reviews.

Meanwhile Fatal Frame went from strength to strength, with a trilogy of games released on the Playstation 2 before the rights were bought by Nintendo, with the series migrating to the Wii with the Japan-only release of Mask of the Lunar Eclipse and a 3DS spin-off called Spirit Camera melding AR with the DS’ camera. A fifth game: Maiden of the Black Water and a port of the second game, Crimson Butterfly, re-titled Fatal Frame: Wii Edition or Deep Crimson Butterfly, was released in Japan and Europe and used the storyline but the game mechanics of the Wii and a third-person, over the shoulder perspective.

However, while these games often did not receive much acclaim, they did receive spin-offs in other media. Both SIREN and Fatal Frame received loosely-connected films in 2006 and 2014 as well as spin-off or companion manga

Modern titles

While there are modern titles, modern Japanese set-horror games could be said to include titles like the Nioh series and even From Software’s 2019 release Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (they were also responsible for 2004’s Kuon), as both had supernatural aspects, characters and events which exist alongside historical events.

However with these titles, the focus is often on progression (both are often cited as being part of the Dark Souls-inspired ‘Soulsborne’ genre, which focuses games with harsh progression, a focus on boss battles and an intense-level of difficulty) through Japanese settings with the supernatural aspects providing an aesthetic rather than being focused on scaring the player.

However, as of 2021, and re-release of Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water in celebration of the franchise’s twentieth anniversary, Japan-set survival horror is once again experiencing a renaissance. In December 2021, Dead by Daylight, a modern survival horror game known for its collaborations with notable horror franchises, announced a March-release featuring the J-horror classic Ring and the appearance of Sadako Yamamura.

See also

• List of horror video games
• Survival game
• Japanese horror games
• Japanese horror

References

This article "Japan-set survival horror" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Japan-set survival horror. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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