I think you probably should have marked part of your statement in as a spoiler,
or at least mentioned the possibility of spoilers at the top of your statement :sweat:
This is the only game of the three where you can get the second ending on normal mode. You just can't get it until
your second time through the game. Nightmare mode comes after hard mode and both are just the same exact game as normal
with some tweaking on how hard the ghosts are (though there is a change at the end of Fatal Frame II with a boss after
the "final" boss).
I don't remember the exact steps to getting the getting the second ending, but you should be able to find it if you
look up an online walkthrough.
I thought it was a really good game, but then I loved all three of the Fatal Frame games :D I don't think
you'll be disappointed if you go for the second ending in game 3. ;)