Video Games
Setting, Characters Detailed for ‘Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse’
Ahead of the release of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse next year, Koei Tecmo has released the game’s official synopsis and detailing the game’s characters. Of course, those of you who managed to import the former Wii Japan exclusive, you probably know all of this. But for the rest of us, it beats going to Wikipedia.
Mask of the Lunar Eclipse takes place on a Rogetsu Isle in southern Japan, a decade after five young girls mysteriously disappeared at a moonlight festival. When two of the girls are found dead days apart ten years after the initial vanishing, the remaining three teenagers head back to the haunted island to solve the mystery of their friends’ deaths and their hazy memories, while encountering the frightening spirits that inhabit the land.
Along the way, they will enter the Haibara Infirmary. This old hospital is now in ruins, but is the site where Dr. Haibara’s trials to cure “Moonlight Syndrome” eventually turned deadly. The girls will also return to Rogetsu Hall, a sanatorium built for the treatment of “Moonlight Syndrome”. It’s a hotel-like building attached to Haibara Infirmary where only “special guests” can be admitted. Locals refer to Haibara Infirmary as the “old building” and Rogetsu Hall as the “new building”.
Other important locations to explore include the Cape Tsukiyomi Lighthouse and the Yomotsuki Residence. The closest point to the moon on the island, the lighthouse has special meaning for the residents who worship the moon. An ancient shrine has been relocated to the top of the lighthouse. Meanwhile, the Yomotsuki Residence is the birthplace of one of the missing girls, Ruka Minazuki, and visiting this house brings back a flood of important memories. It’s also the home of Ruka’s father, the venerable mask-maker named Soya Yomotsuki. Soya is obsessed with perfecting the “Mask of the Lunar Eclipse” and has been accused by Ruka’s mother, Sayaka Minazuki, of playing a part in Ruka’s disappearance! To reveal the truth behind their disappearance and the shocking deaths, Ruka and friends will need to fight off ghostly spirits and a wanted murderer on their quest to uncover the secrets of their lost memories.
Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will release for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC via Steam on March 9th, 2023.
Ahead of its participation in the upcoming June Steam Next Fest, developer Genie Boy Games unveiled the 30-minute Steam demo for their upcoming psychological horror title T.W.I.R.L., a horror game about growing up in 2006 and harboring a deep secret that must be protected for life. The developer’s debut title will launch on Steam later this year, followed by releases on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch.
Routines, rituals, and relationships may define us, but T.W.I.R.L. asks: what’s your deepest, darkest secret? Stay silent as a nine-year-old boy creeping out of his bedroom at 3:00 a.m. while everyone’s asleep. Feel the weight of every step forward while being followed by a demon…? A Person? Or is it something else?
Tiptoe through the haunted nostalgia of 2006, where a presence beyond evil draws players through P.T.-inspired loops, changing the environment to unveil the life story of a boy who grows up hiding a deep, dark, and potentially sinister secret.
In the new demo, players will roam through a 30-minute-long experience introducing a family, their house, and the unspoken mystery hiding within.
“Of many things, T.W.I.R.L. is a challenge to look fear in the eye, and see it for what it is: nothing,” said Ben Escobar, founder of Genie Boy Games. “Through our story about childhood secrets, the loss of innocence, and growing up in 2006, we hope that our game inspires you to embrace a rediscovery of self, and an acceptance of your lifelong fears.”