[1] During gameplay, the 3DS functions as the Fatal Frame series' recurring Camera Obscura, with different color-coded lenses used for puzzle solving, finding spirits, and fighting hostile ghosts.

To access the Woman in Black and lift the curse, the protagonists confronts ghosts trapped within the Diary of Faces, gradually revealing Maya's memories and backstory.

[7] Kikuchi and Izuno worked as co-producers with Kozo Makino, who also created the AR book and was a self-described "on the ground" contact between Nintendo and Tecmo Koei.

[11] The concept was for a horror experience alternating between reality and a dream-like world, which Kikuchi directly compared to Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (2005).

The game was released on January 12 in Japan,[15] on April 13 in North America,[16] and on June 29 in Europe alongside the Wii remake of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly.

[3][4][21][23][26] Japanese game magazine Famitsu praised the implementation of AR into its horror and recurring Fatal Frame mechanics, and felt the story's shortness worked within its limited scale.

[6] VentureBeat's D. F. Smith positively noted the story, and felt the strong gameplay concepts were let down with poor technology and the game was overpriced for the amount of content offered.

[26] Fran Paccio of GamesRadar called the short length "both a curse and a blessing", feeling that the lack of content or gameplay variety undermined the game's potential.

[24] Chris Scullion, writing for Official Nintendo Magazine, faulted the short length once again, and noted that the requirement for an AR booklet meant it was unlikely to release digitally at a more reasonable price for its content.

[25] Zachary Miller of Nintendo World Report felt the ghost fights were the best part of the game, otherwise finding its puzzle design awkward or frustrating and calling its story "predictable J-horror fare".

[3] Nintendo Life's Philip J. Reed praised the concept and premise of the game, but was otherwise critical of its narrative and gameplay elements, additionally faulting frequent technical issues with the 3DS camera.

[5] James Stephanie Sterling of Destructoid was highly negative, conceding the idea behind the game was sound, but otherwise found its visuals and gameplay lacking depth or polish.