Game:

Clock Tower (1996)

Duration: 2:47:34

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Originally recorded: October 1, 2023
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It's funny how things line up sometimes. So, last year, I played the first Tomba! and the original Clock Tower. Then, Limited Run Games announced that they would be re-releasing both of them. And then, I ended up playing both of their sequels this year! That's crazy, right? Makes me wonder if LRG will announce anything I streamed this year in 2024...

I actually liked the original Clock Tower a fair amount, so I was excited to play this one. My first impressions aren't exactly great, though. It's another one of those games the ambition clearly outweighed the skills. While "The First Fear" was essentially an end-stage Super Famicom game that was able to capitalize on all the documentation for the system at that point, Clock Tower (2) was a PlayStation game that came out in 1996 -- during the system's prime. The game came out too late to explain away issues as growing pains for the system, but too early to rely on any tricks that other developers discovered through their own time with the hardware. Shifting the series to the third dimension didn't really have much of an impact on the gameplay, but I'd argue that the presentation in the follow-up aged significantly worse than the original. Of course, it's an easy conclusion to come to in hindsight: back in 1996, 2D pixel art was considered primitive, while even the most primitive low-poly 3D models were considered much more en vogue.

That being said, I think it's the sheer amount of story options that has me overwhelmed. The original Clock Tower basically just threw you into the Barrows Mansion and based on your actions, you could end up with a number of endings. While this second game probably has the same amount of endings overall, they're split up differently. I mean, the playable character is literally determined by how many times you speak with an NPC during the introduction... and the only way you'd know about that without using a guide is by unlocking an "in-game hint" in the same area, which can only be read from the main menu. The sheer amount of branching paths might be at home in a visual novel, but it's a little much for a game like Clock Tower.

I knew from the start that I wasn't going to finish the game in a single sitting -- especially after the "unpleasantness" of having to restart Scenario 2 twice after getting trapped in what appeared to be a no-win situation -- but I ended up reaching the final section a little early. So, to kill some extra time, I decided to unlock the worst ending for the character I was currently using. It was pretty interesting to see a different scenario play out... and managing to get an ending on my first stream was pretty encouraging. I think my main issue with the complexity of CT2's story stems from the fact that you only get three save slots to do everything. Anyone going for all endings better know what the hell they're doing and plan everything out just right.

Also, partway through the stream, I decided to give up on using the mouse and went back to a standard controller. It wasn't nearly as clunky as I'd feared. I'm still glad I ended up playing the PlayStation version of the original game last year, though. Extra content's always appreciated -- here's hoping that WayForward's upcoming re-release incorporates some of the goodies from the PS1 and Windows 95 versions.

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