Clock Tower 3: Magical Girl vs Serial Killers

 With the incoming worldwide release of the original Clock Tower, I thought to load up the PS3 for some Clock Tower 3. (Shoutouts to the base model PS3, a GOATed device for sure.) And having never played it, I was curious as to how the series had progressed from the original to the latest named entry. To be frank, I think that this game is just OK. There are some real novel concepts and ingenuity put forth that gets bogged down in some of the later sections. That's really what makes me not love this game, despite the charm that it exudes. 

Like, the cutscene direction is phenomenal. The way that the characters move and emote is easily one of my favorite things in games. They are flamboyant and wacky in their mannerisms, which helps add to some of the uneasiness that Clock Tower 3 offers. It makes me wish for more games to embrace this kind of silliness. Alas, we need to copy movies right now because that is what sells a gazillion units. So, the main point of this mini-rant is that without these peculiarities, I think that this game would be far worse. The cartoonishness helps to sell the ridiculous storytelling and cast of Killers. There just isn't any other way to shake it.

But this is not the only good part of this game. Overall, the game's writing is pretty solid in its own right. Alyssa Hamilton, our main heroine, has her fifteenth birthday coming up. And that spells disaster for her coming days that are wrought with heinous murderers known as Subordinates. Their purpose is to serve the Entities that embody them by killing scores upon scores of innocents. To me, this is where the game excels and falters.

The conflict manifests itself when Alyssa returns home in order to see her Mother, Nancy. However, she finds a mysterious Gentleman clad in Black that antagonizes her into searching for answers she didn't know she needed. After searching through the house and discovering the Sacred Bottle, Alyssa soon finds herself in what appears to be London, England during WWII as the date is Christmas Eve in 1942. This is corroborated by the notes and introduction of the first Killer, Robert Morris (Sledgehammer) and his victim, May Norton, who was killed on this date. 

To me, this is where Clock Tower 3 peaks in terms of storytelling. The player is given ample information on who and what the Killers like Morris are. As well as giving the player a side character to care about. May Norton is a 12 year old pianist that wants her father, William, to hear her competition performance. The whole culmination of their storyline that is capped off bittersweetly made me feel for May and William as characters. They were people who died tragically and unaware of the other's demise. 

Just writing about this section is making me emotional. I truly got what they were putting down in that part of the game. This was how I wanted the game to be like from that point going forward. And it does for one more chapter. 

The adult son Albert who takes cares of his blind mother, Dorothy. They tragically meet their end to supposed relative John Haigh (Corroder). But prior to that, they are loving and warm to each other. The relationship between Albert and Dorothy was solid for the amount of time they get on-screen. Much like their lives, their time was cut short. I still resonated with the writing, yet I felt that there needed to be a bit more. I would've swapped Robert Morris's section with John Haigh's. Haigh was much easier to deal with gameplay wise, and had less distance to cover overall. Morris felt more like a skill check than a tutorial.

After Haigh's chapter, Clock Tower 3 just stopped including victim storylines. I found it to be extremely odd. While there was more focus on the game's plot, the next Killers got longer gameplay sections, but less focus on their character if that makes sense. Getting to see how they killed their victims gave so much insight into their brutality and personality. Are they sloppy or clean? Are they rushing or are they walking people down? And this can be something shown through gameplay as well, yet the objective of the game is for them to hunt you.

There is only so much you can do in 2003, and I think that they simply did not have the time. I am curious about the reception to Harold Powell (Chopper) or Ralph (Scissorman) and Jemima (Scissorwoman). They all have interesting personalities without accompanying victims for their storylines. Yet, they still feel a step behind. The game has such a large focus on an impactful story. It only makes sense that they just didn't have the time to implement more room for extra characters.

At this point it feels silly, but now I am actually going to talk about the gameplay. Exciting stuff in this one as you have the panic meter return in the form of an angelic health bar with your Holy Water supply residing next to it. The Holy Water is important because it can be used for puzzles and deterring your stalker enemies. You also get items like Lavender Water, that lowers your panic meter, and Invisibility Rings. Another item you can get is a Sigil Stone. A Sigil Stone let's you take one hit while in Full Panic. 

Full Panic in this game is a lot like a chase sequence in the original Clock Tower. So, you can't interact with anything but doors. Easily the most interesting and frustrating gameplay mechanic. I like that Alyssa moves frantically but when she stops, you have to mash frantically to get her to move. It can be more frustrating than immersive because she stops at random. I just think that the execution could have been better. Also, the panic meter goes down at an extremely slow pace. This makes waiting monotonous. I say this because unless you are in a safe zone, the Stalker (i.e. Robert Morris) can just pop up again. 

Thankfully they made it so that you can do puzzles while being pursued. A welcome improvement that makes sense for Clock Tower 3.  However, I have another issue with the Stalker sections in regards with the panic meter. This problem came up when dealing with Robert Morris and Harold Powell specifically. 

All the Killers will catch up to you, this is just how the game is. However, Robert Morris who uses a sledgehammer and the axe-wielding Harold Powell would induce panic from whiffing attacks. This makes sense realistically, yet I never had this problem with John Haigh, who uses Sulfuric Acid as a projectile. It wouldn't be that much of an issue if the meter build wasn't insane. This makes dealing with them that much harder. An unnecessary difficulty parameter if you ask me.  

That is not all that Clock Tower 3 has to offer. At the end of the chapter, you get to have a boss fight with the Killers. These fights are pretty simple, drain the health bar with your magical bow and arrows. You can either just kill them with charged arrows or you can fully charge them to lock the Killer in place. If you get three locks on them, you can get a super arrow that summons a Spirit Bomb. It's sick as hell. And that is how the first four boss fights go. But not the final boss. This one's special. If you don't want spoilers on the final boss of Clock Tower 3, skip this section. 

After defeating Ralph and Jemima while saving your friend Dennis. You confront your Grandfather who has fused with Lord Darcy Burroughs. A tyrant that has killed scores of people. This fight is unbelievably hard. Lord Burroughs has over twice the amount of health as Ralph, who has the next highest health pool. And he can instantly end the fight if he locks you down three times. Like how Alyssa has been doing the whole game. 

Yet get this, you will probably not lock him down more than twice. He has pretty quick recovery and can eventually break out of your locks using a special move. So the strategy is to dodge his projectiles by ducking or running laterally and making sure that he stays on the opposite end of the arena. This is important because of his melee attack that causes a hard knockdown. The most important thing is timing in this fight. It may take some tries, but patience wins. You can loop him during his second health bar to ensure a slow but worthwhile victory. I think that if there was a gradual buildup towards this type of boss I would like it, but I think that it just kind of sucks. An unfun and boring old man. 

Thankfully outside of the writing, the music and environments were well done. I loved the settings and their accompanied ambience. Like, when I say that this game could've done it all. I mean it. Clock Tower 3 has lots of potential, yet I am not sure a remake could do this game justice. The fixed camera angles helped to make sure that the game flowed well. And right now that market is solely found on the indie scene. Capcom is not going back to fixed camera. But I would like a port or remaster. Maybe something in the same vein as the recent Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. One can only hope though. 

All in all, Clock Tower 3 is a charming game that if given enough time could have been great. But, it is fine for what it is. A title in a resurging franchise that probably has the best chance to return next. We'll see if all the people that say they love Horror will show up for Clock Tower: Rewind. I'll be there. Will You?

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