

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.
