Inside, fans will find a trove of Fatal Frame trinkets.
With only a few months remaining before the worldwide release of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, Koei Tecmo has revealed an exclusive-to-Japan Premium Box Edition for the upcoming survival horror game set to launch on March 9 of next year. Currently available for preorder, the Premium Box edition has a price point of ¥12,080 (approximately $90.00) and will host a trove of trinkets to complement Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, as well as a physical Nintendo Switch copy of the game itself. Another version of the Premium Box edition which will not contain a copy of the game is available for ¥5,700, or approximately $43.00.
Inside either version of the Premium Box, fans will find:
- A CD containing the game’s original soundtrack plus a digital download of more than 150 tracks
- An official Setting Material Book, titled Rougetsu Island Reminiscences, which will contain supplementary information as well as a short novel providing context to the game’s story
- Two clear files featuring the game’s heroines
Koei Tecmo has not announced any plans to release the Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Premium Box editions outside of Japan as yet. Given that the game itself will only be available digitally in North America and Europe with physical copies being exclusive to Japan, it’s highly likely these Premium Box editions will likewise be Japan-only. International fans may be able to preorder either of the editions through online retailers specializing in regional exclusives, and those interested in owning a physical copy of the game may be able to obtain one through similar means. While the physical copy of the game will feature multi-language support, the Premium Box editions will not, so anyone wishing to read the bundled-in Setting Material Book will first need to be fluent in Japanese in order to do so.
As seasoned Fatal Frame fans know all too well, this isn’t the first time Koei Tecmo has limited the release of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Originally published for Japanese Nintendo Wii systems in 2008, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was the first game in the Fatal Frame series not to be made available internationally. While the first three games in the series were fully localized for and distributed in both North American and European regions, the fourth game quietly remained under region-lock and key for years following its launch.
Since the international re-release last year of the fifth game in the series — Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, itself formerly exclusive to Wii U systems — fans had been hoping that Koei Tecmo would re-release Mask of the Lunar Eclipse for modern platforms worldwide in much the same fashion. Although the physical edition and Premium Box editions of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will be Japanese exclusives, fans can still look forward to finally being able to play this long-elusive game in their region when it launches digitally on March 9 for modern consoles and PC worldwide.
