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[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[Taruranto]

The original for SNES it's only one I can see I enjoyed, one of the best SH ever.

The rest go to mediocre to reaaaaaly bad.

 

[Dascu]

The original and Haunting Ground are horror classics.

Next to Remothered, there is also Wretcher which is quite obvious about its influences. Sadly both projects don't seem to be showing that much progress though lately.

 

[MichaelFassbender]

Clock Tower: The First Fear (SNES) is the best survival horror game ever made. It has everything, and the suspense is second to none.

It has NEVER been surpassed.

 

[Silky]

Clock Tower: The First Fear is the best survival horror game ever made. It has everything, and the suspense is second to none.

It has NEVER been surpassed.

Michael Fassbender is a smart man.

 

[Nintendoga]

The SNES one is a great horror game, and even though I think the first PS1 game got a bit silly at times, It still has a lot of charm to it.

I never touched the rest, but according to fans and reviews, I'm not missing much...

 

[Coulis]

Ghost Head is really an awful awful game. Gotta love the locked ending in the middle of the game if you didn't check the samurai armour at the beginning.

The SNES one is fantastic. I enjoyed all the throwbacks to Argento's Phenomena.

 

[Dascu]

Ghost Head is really an awful awful game. Gotta love the locked ending in the middle of the game if you didn't check the samurai armour at the beginning.

The SNES one is fantastic. I enjoyed all the throwbacks to Argento's Phenomena.

And Suspiria of course.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

The first one is a masterpiece, the sequel (the first one released on the west) is also quite decent, althought the change to crude 3D graphics was truly a bad decision.

Clock Tower 3 is also a decent horror experience, like Haunting Ground. Both have problems, but I think they are games a good enthisiast of the horror genre should play.

 

[Canis lupus]

The original for SNES it's only one I can see I enjoyed, one of the best SH ever.

The rest go to mediocre to reaaaaaly bad.

Clock Tower 3 is best.

 

[Easy_D]

I'll never forget the freaky giant baby from the first game, ugh. What I liked the most about the game was the sound design and music. Super atmospheric, especially by SNES standards.

 

[ChosenPredator]

the original one is the best all the ones after don't capture the essence

 

[Data West]

I liked the start of the PS1 clocktower where you wake up and the beds got all fucked up with blood.

 

[Tenrius]

That's a nice write-up, I have been wondering about the series I think I'll pick up Haunting Ground and Clock Tower 3 in somewhat near future, as well as trying out the SNES game.

By the way, it looks like Clock Tower 3 has some great comic potential, for example this cutscene is absolutely hilarious.

 

[Zukuu]

Haunting Ground was the best imo. Had 2 of the best shocks in my life playing it. Both while being hunted by

 

[MichaelFassbender]

Michael Fassbender is a smart man.

Just for that, I'll say WHY I feel this way.

A: You wanna talk about female protagonists in games? Jennifer is a prime example. She's almost a tabula rasa for anyone playing it. Most people can relate. Human first and foremost.

B: MULTIPLE ENDINGS!

C: The mansion is made for quiet exploration. The long, dark corridors serve a purpose. Bobby won't pop out on a whim, only at certain spots, but the halls seem to creep in on you.

D: Someone is always going to die, no matter how well you play. This is not a happy game.

E: The false wall/ Reading the letter. Anyone who has played will know what I'm talking about. And that brings up the next point.

F: THAT THEME! It's genuinely creepy. Not subtle, not silent hill-y, FUCKING CREEPY. I'd put it up there with the theme from Halloween.

G: The tons of little things that happen once and you can't seem to replicate on the next playthrough. One time in that first room with the bird, the picture started bleeding. Never saw that happen again.

H: The bird. "I KILL YOU! I KILL YOU!" Over and over until Jennifer starts to lose it. It's the little touches.

I: The underground reveal. It's something else.

J: Ms. Mary.

Spoiler

What a perfect antagonist at the end.

K: The choices you make affect the ending!

I could go on, but all I'll say is GO PLAY IT.

 

[Sgblues]

I really like this series, the first one I played was Clocktower on the PS1 and was amazed there was a Snes version that was the prequel to it. At first I didn't understand what Jennifer had experienced in the first game with the

Spoiler

Scissorsman and the psychiatric treatment she was going through to recall events that she didn't want to remember but soon as she went on the date with Nolan and then the Scissorman pops up and kills the guard, I knew stuff was gonna be bad for Jen and what followed was a very interesting ride.

I didn't play Clocktower 3 myself but I watched as a friend of mines did and I kept cracking up at "Joki Joki" when Alyssa does her arrow attack(looks like something outta Final Fantasy) but it was an ok game.

And with Haunting Ground, there was the "Hey! Its that dog!" and the fact Fiona looks like Jill(Or rather Jill looks like Fiona) in RE5, but it was great game with interesting characters, story and premise.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[CO_Andy]

The original for SNES it's only one I can see I enjoyed, one of the best SH ever.

The rest go to mediocre to reaaaaaly bad.

Wut

The sequels are just a refinement of the original. The only real bad one is Ghost Head. After that, maybe CT3 because of the Magical Girl boss fights.

 

[Sgblues]

The reason for RE similarities is because it had Capcom's influence, and there are signs that things that were scrapped from beta versions of Resident Evil 4 went into Haunting Ground. And of course, dat Hewie cameo in RE4.

Yeah I know, but it was interesting that the where elements that went into it from RE4(like Hewie) and then out of it via Jill's look in RE5 from Fiona, of course most people think Jill's look is original since they never play/seen/or even knew Haunting Ground was a thing.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[MichaelFassbender]

A sort of random question, but I was just thinking about it. Does anyone have recommendations maybe for films similar to the series? I know of course of Phenomena and Argento's other works, but anything else that stands out as being similar?

I am particularly thinking of the first game and Haunting Ground with this.

Halloween perhaps? It's got a lot of the same qualities, although it takes place in a smaller venue.

 

[Terra_Ex]

A series I've always meant to get into. I played through a fair bit of Haunting Ground back in the day, up until some woman starts following you around but I stopped playing it for some reason, really liked the graphics and atmosphere for a late era ps2 game though. I also played some of Clock Tower 3 on the PS2 but never got very far. I think I need to be in the right mood to play through these games but I've never found time to go back to them, though I hope I will some day, definitely interested in the earlier games in the series based on your impressions.

 

[Dascu]

A sort of random question, but I was just thinking about it. Does anyone have recommendations maybe for films similar to the series? I know of course of Phenomena and Argento's other works, but anything else that stands out as being similar?

I am particularly thinking of the first game and Haunting Ground with this.

Castle Freak is very similar.

 

[Goldrush]

Love the series and all the entries except for "The Struggle Within." Hope we get more entries, but, if not, at least it ended on a high note with Haunting Ground.

Just a couple of small tidbits:

While the Clock Tower PSX sequel was a great game, I will probably remember it for one of the most inappropriate comment ever. When searching a chimney as the other woman, she would comment that it looks like something Santa would come down on. I'm sure with all the point-and-click and other video games I played, there must be funnier lines, but can't recall anything so absurd as that comment in a survival horror game.

Didn't care much for the story of Clock Tower 3, but it probably have the best cutscenes in video games. The individual animation isn't the greatest (when not CG). Hell, you probably have to tune out the dialogue and even story to enjoy it. However, the camerawork and how the characters are moving and interacting with the setting makes it incredibly dynamic. The only other game I can recall with such great cutscenes is The Twin Snakes.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

A sort of random question, but I was just thinking about it. Does anyone have recommendations maybe for films similar to the series? I know of course of Phenomena and Argento's other works, but anything else that stands out as being similar?

I am particularly thinking of the first game and Haunting Ground with this.

Well Argento is the biggest exponent of the giallo an italian thriller/horror subgenre, so a lot of these movies should be similar to what you look for.

 

[Jucksalbe]

I played a bit over an hour of Clock Tower 3 (so, technically it's still in my "backlog"), but I don't think I'll ever forget those scenes where you're hiding and only hear some crazy man calling your name.

Also, I didn't know Haunting Ground had anything to do with the series at all. I thought they were completely unrelated.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I played a bit over an hour of Clock Tower 3 (so, technically it's still in my "backlog"), but I don't think I'll ever forget those scenes where you're hiding and only hear some crazy man calling your name.

Also, I didn't know Haunting Ground had anything to do with the series at all. I thought they were completely unrelated.

In terms of lore and plot, they are, but the play very similar.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[GhostTrick]

I absolutely liked Clock Tower on SNES... but as for Clock Tower 3, I think it might be the worst for a good reason: Scissorman is too human. The main reason I thought Clock Tower was so scary was because Scissorman was nothing human.

You had this little wicked, unhuman, thing which was scary for a lot of reasons: design, sound, animations and more...
but as this one:

Which was just a guy with a weird costume...

 

[Celine]

The first game was ported to the black and white WonderSwan.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

I have Clock Tower for PlayStation and Haunting Ground. I started Haunting Ground a few years back, but never made much progress. I should go back to it, but I think I'll play Clock Tower first.

 

[Neiteio]

Haunting Ground was the best imo. Had 2 of the best shocks in my life playing it. Both while being hunted by

<3 Daniella. Such a fantastic character. Deserves her own series, IMO.

 

[tookhster]

I watched the Gamecenter CX episode of the SNES game and it legit creeped me out. I was so into that episode lol. I'd love to play the other games but they kinda look too outdated to me.

 

[Endesu]

Clock Tower 1 and 2 are absolute musts. While Clock Tower 2's polygonal graphics really show their age these days, there are some absolutely fantastic scenarios - the school chapter is excellent, the library was decent as well. The biggest problem is probably the dreadful castle stage at the end. It was way too big and made the player rush if they were aiming for the best ending.

Clock Tower 3 certainly isn't bad and it definitely felt like a modern update in a number of ways, but I always felt that the quality severely dropped after the halfway point. The first two stalkers were great but they get worse thereafter, the story steadily becomes more ridiculous, and then there are those magical girl fights...

Haunting Ground felt like a better version of CT3. The stalkers remain ridiculous but they're definitely intimidating, and boss fights turn into a struggle to use the environment against them instead of trying to hit them with magical arrows.

Ghost Head was shit, but I liked Bates.

 

[WViking87]

The first Clock Tower game on PS1 kept my brother and me up at night the first time we rented it. It took several play sessions before we could make any progress because we were too scared. This series brought many good memories. I would love to play them again, it has been too long...

 

[Secret Fawful]

The first game on Super Nintendo falls into my top ten, if not top five games of all time. It is legitimately the greatest horror game I have ever played. I am terrified while playing it.

 

[G-Fex]

Yeah I like the SNES one a lot.

I don't like the look of the other 3D ones

 

[CO_Andy]

I'd love to play the other games but they kinda look too outdated to me.

Should at least try Haunting Ground. The graphics still look great today.

 

[Necromanti]

Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within was my first Clock Tower game, but I will agree with everyone who said that the first Clock Tower (SNES) has yet to be surpassed. It represents the zenith of the series for me. (I have yet to try Haunting Ground, but it is on my list of games to play.)

I also love the cover art of the game.

(I may be biased, as it was my avatar for a while.)

It took something that had the potential of being a cheesy slasher, and somehow elevated it into something frightening. The scariest character isn't even a supernatural one, either.

 

[Kientin]

I've only played the fan translation on the SNES version of the first Clock Tower and I loved it. Played through it multiple times and I think I got all the endings. That said, I have little interest of playing anything else in the series. Some of the cutscenes that I saw on youtube of Clock Tower 3 were so cringeworthy that it scared me off I think.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[Earthpainting]

I've only played the first game and the one with Dennis (The third one?). The first one is really atmospheric and it's one of those games that really speak to my imagination. The third one is hard to take as seriously, because of the aforementioned Dennis. He ruined the tone of the game so fast. My brain re-framed the whole game into a campy B-movie and it was impossible to go back.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[Kientin]

Spent today watching several Giallo-style horror films from suggestion, still many to check out (and still need to see Castle Freak), but I will say seeing a few movies in the genre has made me appreciate what the series, and especially the first game and Haunting Ground, were going for.



I think the general consensus on the series is;

-Clock Tower (original and First Fear) and Haunting Ground are the best games in the series .
-The original Clock Tower (and First Fear remake) are the scariest.
-Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within is the worst.
-Clock Tower 2 (without the Struggle Within or Ghost Head subtitle) isn't as good as the first game, but still rather enjoyable.
-Clock Tower 3 gets a lot of mixed reception, a lot of it lays on if you don't mind the change in gameplay style and if you can accept how absolutely off-the-rails hilarious the game is.

Cool. You know I might have to look into Clock Tower 2 (no subtitle) or Haunting Ground. I haven't played a horror game in awhile and I could use something to scratch that itch.

Edit: I thought I recognized your name. Thanks for that horror game thread you made awhile back. I got and played through a couple games which I enjoyed from that list.

 

[Nemesis_]

I found it interesting that the dude who directed the first Battle Royale film directed Clock Tower 3. I would love to know how that collboration even came about.

As for the games themselves, I pretty much love them all. The only one I truly hate is Ghost Head. It was just too weird and it was too hard to play it properly. I remember there were so many moments where I forgot to pick up the amulet and activate Bates, or whatever, and as such would die in an event in the next room.

It was just too trial and error for me.

The follow up to the first game was also more interesting to me because I found Jennifer genuinely interesting as a character. I liked how they attempted to explore her psychology following the events of the first game.

Honestly didn't mind 3 though. I actually enjoyed it a lot, but I did remember it dipping in quality when they introduced the scissor siblings. Haunting Ground / Demento was amazing.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[kunonabi]

Loved the original, the psx sequel, and Haunting Ground. Ghost Head had some awesome moments with Bates but progression was too obtuse to make any reasonable sense without an faq. I enjoyed the early stages of III but still not great by any stretch. Haunting Ground was a fantastic send-off though.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

So some opinions after giving Suspiria and Phenomena another watch last night (along with a few other Giallo films).

I wish more horror games would think about how to pull from the already extensive horror films list and think how some ideas might work well in games. I don't want the games industry to be like the films industry, but I think the horror game genre could do with continued diversity and different takes like the film industry, and some genres of horror almost completely unexplored or really handled fully in games still definitely exist in films that could make interesting games. Appreciate the series attempt to bring a Giallo sort of tale to games.

I think that's why I like Clock Tower so much, it's a very unique horror game (in terms of ambientation and influences), even after all these years.

There's really not like it, not even Haunting Ground and the rest of the series.