My first review on Gamespot on what I believe to be the best horror game to date.
First and foremost, Fatal Frame 2 sports wonderful visual and sound effects (especially if you play it with a GOOD pair of headphones). The atmosphere you get from the combination of those two can be incredibly intense, the game likes to throw random sounds at you which can really unnerve you (mind you that is a good thing in a horror game). Other sound elements such as the ghosts laughing, moans, cries, and the like are also very well done and usually hearing a ghost and not seeing them is enough to really set you on edge. The scenery is so well done that if you were walking around in the camera mode you'd think you're actually in an old Japanese mansion.
Secondly, the storyline is very well done and is yet another element that REALLY pulls you into the game. When I started playing it was so incredibly hard to stop because I wanted to find out what would happen next. Every character (including quite a few of the ghosts themselves) seem to have at the very least a little background information and I found that as I progressed through the game I felt incredibly sad for some of the ghosts I had to fight. In fact, one in particular would be Chitose Tachibana, the poor girl... I feel so bad for her. Anyhow... that's aside the point. When I finally got to the end of the game, the first ending was incredibly sad and just that alone compelled me to play the game through a second time to shoot for a better ending (it is that good). The second play through has a few minor story differences, some people would probably notice them depending on how close you pay attention to the story of the first and second play through.
The game play is better than the first and offers various improvements to the camera and fighting ghosts. Aiming the camera is MUCH smoother and quicker, you're not frozen in place when you're aiming your camera allowing to move forward, backward, and (I believe) to the sides. However, this is at a very slow rate so I wouldn't recommend it because the likelihood you'll escape that ghost's grasp while in camera mode is still fairly slim. Aside from mechancial improvements the camera also has various lenses and attachments that you'll gain throughout your romp in the mansion which will allow you to various powers against ghosts, plus you no long need stones to use the camera's special lenses. Instead you'll have a bar at the side of the screen that charges everytime you snap a photo of a ghost and when the bar gets full you'll fill in one of the spots in the camera as stored spirit energy which powers the lenses abilities.
Aside from atmosphere, story, and playability the game is fairly easy to get used and has several different things to do once you beat it the first time around. You can use excess points gained from snapping ghosts for not only upgrading your camera but unlocking various extras in the game as well. It also has a challenge mode that will allow you to do this or that within a certain time limit, save Mayu, or gain so many points and you'll be graded on your performance.
In short, I recommend this game to anyone and I believe it's a must-have for any survival horror enthusiast. Considering that this was written after Fatal Frame 3 was released, I look forward to seeing if or when a Fatal Frame 4 is released and hope that it will surpass this game.