Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is a survival horror video game in which players take on the role of Mio Amakura as she explores the haunted Minakami (All Gods) Village.[1][2] The gameplay involves Mio exploring Minakami Village, either in company with or searching for her sister Mayu, with brief sections where players control Mayu.[3] The village is explored from a fixed third-person camera perspective, with the view switching to first-person when Mio uses the Camera Obscura, the game's main weapon.[4] The goal is to explore the village, solving puzzles by photographing objects and entering combat with ghosts which inhabit Minakami Village.[5] When Mayu accompanies Mio, she can help find puzzle clues, but ghosts can attack her.[1] Puzzles include riddles that must be solved with clues and time-based roadblocks.[4]
The presence of ghosts is indicated with a filament; a blue light shows friendly ghosts which can be photographed as a collectable, while a red light indicates a hostile ghost.[1] Combat involves Mio using the Camera Obscura to fight ghosts, with taking pictures with the camera dealing damage and requiring the player to keep the ghost in frame; waiting for the ghost to be mid-attack will allow for a high damage shot.[6] The most powerful shot is the "Shutter Chance", a critical attack activated when the camera display goes red. Within a Shutter Chance, a "Fatal Frame" opportunity can allow multiple shots to be chained for greater damage.[5] When Mayu accompanies her, ghosts will also attack her. If they deal too much damage to either Mio or Mayu, the game ends and must be restarted from a previous save.[1] The camera can be upgraded using points earned by taking photos, or using Spirit Orbs dropped by defeated ghosts or found around the village.