Maiden of Black Water captures the atmosphere of the forest perfectly in its location design. It was, in fact, Maiden of Black Water that piqued my curiosity about the location.

My trip there a few years ago remains one of the most memorable days I’ve spent in Japan, and I’m itching to go back. The way that the heavy, thick forest air combines with a general quiet and a thick mossy ground to create an aesthetic that is as beautiful as it is intense. Take Maiden of Black Water’s location, for example it’s fictional, but it’s a very close parallel to Aokigahara, popularly, and rightfully (sadly) known as the “suicide forest.” Once you get past the morbid fascination (and the nasty sense of humour from certain Internet influencers) that the west has with the forest for that reason, it’s actually a really beautiful location. I hope a lot of people do discover it because, as a true cultural artefact that represents a lot of Japan, there’s a lot of learning to go with the stylish, entertaining horror. Now Koei Tecmo has apparently got the rights back to it and has gone with a multi-console release, and while it hasn’t been changed much from that Wii U release, given that almost no one played it previously this is going to be a fresh new horror game for most people. What’s more, it was released on the Wii U, and that was a certifiable bomb of a console. It was published by Nintendo, and very much thrown out there to die in one of the laziest efforts I’ve ever seen from the company. Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water never got a fair shake on its original release. Related reading: Our interview with the series director of the Project Zero series. Developed by Japanese people, using Japanese horror traditions ranging from the haunted house to yurei storytelling, and featuring characters and locations that are identifiably Japanese. Project Zero, meanwhile, is steadfastly Japanese. Konami’s Silent Hill is (for the most part) intelligent and artful, but it was heavily inspired by western psychological horror and later titles were developed outside of Japan. Capcom’s Resident Evil series is developed by Japanese artists and is great fun but closely intertwined with western B-grade horror traditions. Project Zero is the most Japanese of horror properties.

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