Updated with links to a few more reviews. The game is now out in Japan, and some people in Europe are getting it as well (though official release is tomorrow). Debating if I should import or wait for an American release announcement.
Reading some over the internet, from users and reviews, it sounds like people are claiming this is the scariest Fatal Frame game, but it has a few hits and misses that may depend on who you are. A huge plus for many is that the game is extremely immersive and does a wonderful job of recreating the original game, with new scenes included though a lot of the new stuff doesn't start popping up until later into the game. The scares are fantastically done, and there is a bigger emphasis on survival than the original FF2.
But the controls are a slightly modified version of the Fatal Frame 4 controls which you can't change. The game does let you use the Gyro controls as well as the control stick to move the camera, but a few have said that the gyro controls cannot be turned off and they're very sensitive to how you move your Wii remote when you have the camera pulled out. You can lock-on but it is very unreliable as it seems to be a loose lock on and a lot of ghosts will dash out of the way if you try to lock onto them. Some are saying it's fine, while others seem a bit more bothered by it. The game also features those grabbing hands from FF4 that grab you when you try to grab objects sometimes, but in this game when they grab you they very rapidly take out your health at a fast rate.
The basic consensus that I'm getting is that fans of survival-horror games are going to love it, it's got a fantastic immersive atmosphere and is one of the scariest games to be released in the last few years (with many calling it the scariest Fatal Frame game, which should say a lot). But the game has some shoddy controls in places and apparently more thiings, IE enemies, hands, new scares, take more of your health if you aren't careful than in the original. Which I am personally fine with. I loved the original, but if I may be honest I finished the game the first time with something over 40 herbal medicines.
So I just completed chapter one.
First up, the controls feel really... survival horror like. Mio (or Mayu whatevs) kinda moves like a Japanese tank girl. If you want to make an 180 degree turn you need to flick the Wiimote or the nunchuk. The flashlight controls are a bit strange. It works, but you can only look up and down, going left or right is a no go. Odd choice. But if you're a fan of typical classic RE controls this game is a no-brainer.
The chapter itself was nice. It wasn't entirely scary, but really creepy nonetheless. It's mostly clever use of sound effects and sudden ghost appearances but I can see why some of us would be freaked out by it. Character models btw of Mio and Mayu are pretty impressive. Rest of the game looks nice, allthough some parts are hard to make out.
Hope the rest of the game can keep the tension going!
Thanks very much for the impressions! Trust me, if it's like the original game it'll only get more tense. Part of the reason I at least really liked Project Zero 2 was that it only got better and better as it went along in my opinion. I thought that each new introduced location was better than the last. One of the later areas of the game happens to be one of my favorite locations in any horror video game ever, it's just so creepy with many unexpected twists and memorable scenes (for anyone who's played the original, it's the whole area with the, "Please, open the door..." scene. That place goes on for a while, and I loved it). I am really looking forward to how they made that whole location in this remake.