The 2023 remaster of Fatal Frame: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is now available for PC and all major consoles. So that you can enjoy the cult horror game without frustration, we have noted here how you can finally kill all the bosses of the game.
“Festival”? You must be kidding: Originally released in 2008 for Nintendo’s Wii console, the remaster of Fatal Frame: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse revolves around the infamous Japanese festival “Rogetsu Kagura”. Infamous because during it five girls mysteriously disappeared, and then returned without memories. With one exception: Victim Ruka Mizunaki remembers “girls playing instruments surrounded by masked people, and a masked woman dancing in the moonlight as if possessed.”
Ten years later, two of the girls are murdered, so the two survivors, Misaki and Madoka, decide to go to Rogetsu Island again. There, they hope to find out what happened on the night of their disappearance. Their path is crossed, as usual in Project Zero, by several spirit overlords that are not necessarily easy to defeat. Below you’ll learn the optimal combat tactics against each of them.
How to Defeat the Bosses of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (2023)
1. Yoriko Sonohara
Because the ghost of suicide Yoriko already appears in the game’s prologue, this fight is just about learning the basics of using the camera. Press the search mode button here to activate it, and then the action button to get to take a shot. In search mode, a ghost can also be fixed by pressing the appropriate button, which is highly recommended. All you have to do in this fight is wait for your camera to charge and then take a picture of Yoriko. That’s it.
2. Madoka Tsukimori
Madoka may be a boss opponent, but compared to later ghosts, her fighting abilities are still very limited. She merely floats towards you or lunges at you, sometimes while jumping. Keep your distance from Madoka via the movement keys so that your camera can recharge as fully as possible. It’s best to always wait for the ghost wire at the top of the camera view to start glowing. This way you can string together some fatal images and the battle is won pretty quickly. If you like it a bit more difficult, wait for Madoka’s face to blur; at this stage she is far more powerful and dangerous. Depending on the difficulty level, ghosts in this state can take you out with just one touch.
3. Ayako
At the beginning of the fight, you’ll literally have to shake Ayako off first. With her, the difficulty of the boss encounters now gradually increases, as Ayako floats through the air a lot and, unfortunately, disappears frequently. You should always have herbal medicine in your luggage from this fight on. Make sure you always have a fully charged camera at the ready before you start shooting. The best moments for this are when she is hovering or walking towards you. You should again make heavy use of lethal photos, say, setting up combos.
4. Shoji Katagiri
You will encounter this ghost twice; however, both times the same strategy will work. The second confrontation will be a bit more difficult, because you’ll have to fight Shoji in a confined space. He differs from the previous ghosts only in a few points. 1: he has more health points, and 2: he sometimes fights with flashes of light that temporarily blind you. Attention, of course, he will attack you right after such a flash of light. Therefore, prevention is everything in this encounter. As soon as you see Shoji charge one of his light flashes, quickly flick it to interrupt the process. It’s also important here to keep the flashlight fully charged. After all, it might take you quite a while to give Shoji the rest.
5. Kageri Sendou and Watashi
This is the first quite difficult fight, because both ghosts move quickly and disappear frequently. Moreover, Kageri and Watashi launch nasty surprise attacks and lousy sneak attacks. You could focus your attacks on Kageri (“ghost with hat”), especially since the fight ends with her defeated.
However, Watashi knows this very well and therefore attacks you all the more often. Therefore, it is better to render Watashi harmless first. It’s best to use the slowdown lens here and dodge a lot via the corresponding button. Try to have Kageri and Watashi in the viewfinder at all times and take as many deadly photos as possible.
6. Tadayuki Kaido and Tomoko Hinuma
Compared to the last ghost skirmish, this is a relatively easy fight. You just have to not let Tadayuki and Tomoko corner you. Something else to keep in mind here is that this is the only encounter with Tomoko Hinuma. Accordingly, if you miss his “blossoming” phase, you won’t be able to experience it this game round.
7. Shoji Katagiri & Shie Sonosaki
Yes, you already know Shoji. In this fight, you’ll have to deal with sneak attacks again, which also makes it quite difficult. You should take out Shie the nurse first, as she is aggressive and attacks you the most. Also, Shoji is much easier to deal with when he lacks Shie’s backup. Last but not least, your finger should be very loose over the dodge button; after all, you’ll need it frequently. Remember: deadly shots are, as always, your best friend.
8. Takahisa Kouzuki
With Takahisa Kouzuki, you’re unfortunately in for one of the toughest fights in the game. But you’ll have to get through it: This ghost has almost the entire attack palette and, moreover, likes to go through walls. During frontal attacks, he’ll even “teleport” from left to right (and vice versa) in leaps and bounds to steal a whopping 50% of your life energy with his little hammer. Accordingly, the slowdown lens is mandatory here. Should Takahisa get a hold of you, and he probably will, you’ll have to shake him off immediately. The method of choice is to diligently dodge this ghost’s attacks. Because if he misses his attack on you, he’ll be very vulnerable for a few seconds. And then you do what? That’s right: take a deadly picture. You will encounter this ghost again at the end of the game.
9. Yuukou Magaki
Rejoice, because in this fight you get to breathe a little again. Stand in the middle of the room and point your flashlight down. Charge your flashlight and circle around the room until your ghost wire starts to glow. Then, of course, flick your attacker and repeat this process until he is defeated. By the way, you will only meet Yuukou Magaki this once.
10. Sakuya Haibara
Sakuya is also one of the more harmless ghosts, as she limits her attacks – similar to the first ghosts – to frontal rushes. Otherwise, she merely hovers around you. Another advantage here is that the chance of a fatal shot is noticeably higher than with other boss ghosts. If you want to save strong film, you can safely use Type-61 film in their case.
11. Utsuwa & Kanades
You had two breathers last time, so to speak, and you can probably guess what’s coming now: a really tough fight. If you’re not good at dodging attacks, you’re going to have a problem here. Because: there will always be two Kanades attacking you, one of them playing the decoy, while the other one cowardly attacks you from behind. This also means that the decoy will definitely not try to grab you, so don’t fall for it. The Utsuwa is not particularly dangerous by comparison, as this spirit usually stays at a distance and raises its hands visibly before attacking. It is best to concentrate on them first in battle. If you get into big trouble, switch to the 91 if necessary. However, the 61 would be sufficient in principle. You will encounter these ghosts again at the end of the game.
12. Souya Yomotsuki
The ultimate boss opponent has two types of attacks. On the one hand, he shoots you with a skull mask that follows you continuously – that is, it doesn’t disappear. Secondly, he steals 50 percent of your health, if not 100 percent on the two highest difficulty levels, by means of a “physical” attack. You can stop Skull Mask from firing by snapping Souya as soon as he raises his hands. He will then even disappear for a few seconds. During this time, you should move the camera around the room in search mode so that the ghost wire lights up. When Souya rushes towards you, try to take a deadly photo – the chance of it is quite high in such moments. If you catch him with a fully charged shot, use his irritation to slow him down using the lens. This will buy you the time to send two more fully charged snaps after him. If you follow these tactics, you’ll win the fight (and therefore the game).
