Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water PC port gets a release date

Koei Tecmo surprised us all when it confirmed a PC port for Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water at E3 2021. This will be the first Fatal Frame game to hit PC, but it's not exactly the most cherished game in the series. Also, it was a Wii U exclusive with a heavy reliance on that console's second screen.

But it's coming, and now we have a release date: October 28. In addition to PC it's also coming to Switch, as well as PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The new trailer above provides a generous overview of what to expect. Most notably, the graphics are much sharper than they were back in 2014.

In keeping with the theme of the series, Maiden of Black Water has you wielding a Camera Obscura—basically a camera that can see ghosts and other scary things. That's handy, but handier still is that the camera is your weapon, because snapping spectral baddies incapacitates them, all the better to get in close and explore their memories.

Aside from divorcing the Camera Obscura from the Wii U's second screen, the new version of Maiden of Black Water also adds a photo mode that lets you model any ghost you've already encountered in the main game, applying backgrounds and filters and other flair. There will be new costumes and accessories to model in that photo mode too, including Yuri's 'Cutesy Goth Ensemble' and Miu's 'Miku Hinasaki Outfit (The Tormented)'. Fun stuff. Fingers crossed the port turns out OK when it hits Steam in October.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.