FromSoftware's Worst Reviewed RPG - Shadow Tower
781Shadow Tower is an original PlayStation game by FromSoftware, who would later go on to make games such as Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring.
Released in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in the U.S., Shadow Tower was critically panned at the time, and has remained in relative obscurity even as FromSoftware have become one of the biggest companies in gaming, and the King's Field community have started to have something of a renaissance.
Shadow Tower is critically flawed in a lot of vital ways, ways that can make the game a chore to play and can be off putting to a lot of players. Despite that, Shadow Tower is a game I've really come to love over the years, and in this video, I'd like to tell you why.
Join me today, as we descend into the depths of the Shadow Tower.
NOTE: This video was originally titled "FromSoftware's Worst Reviewed Game," and I refer to it as such in the video. It was later pointed out to me that I was forgetting 2012's Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, which I fully had in my head was a game that they only published, like 3D Dot Game Heroes. Nope, they did in fact develop it. My bad!
Table of Contents -
Intro - 0:00:00
What is Even Going On? - 0:04:41
Gameplay & Systems - 0:12:09
Descending Into the Shadow Tower - 0:36:28
Shadow Tower's Weirdest Feature, The PVP Mode - 0:59:08
Influence on Souls - 1:03:53
Translation, and the Problem of King Kells - 1:10:45
The Story of Shadow Tower - 1:15:12
Conclusion...? - 1:30:00
Citations and further reading:
Review scores in the thumbnail are from:
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Vol. 3, Number 4, Issue 28 - https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/0b101b18-1db5-416d-9ede-1c1bcd2eb613
CNET review - https://web.archive.org/web/20000816210354/http://www.gamecenter.com/Consoles/Sony/Shadtower/
Gamespot review - https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/shadow-tower-review/1900-2549258/
Electronic Gaming Monthly, Vol. 125, December 1999 Issue - https://archive.org/details/electronic-gaming-monthly-issue-125-december-1999/page/285/mode/1up
Other reviews quoted:
Game Informer - https://web.archive.org/web/20000521150121/http://gameinformer.com/reviews/review_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4293
David Bunch walkthrough: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/198605-shadow-tower/faqs/6925
True King Allant: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/end-game
The Doll: https://bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com/Plain Doll
Ranni the Witch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranni_the_Witch
Reddit comment about translation: https://www.reddit.com/r/fromsoftware/comments/88nlcl/shadow_tower_ending/