Clock Tower: Rewind: The Pinnacle of Horror

 The time has finally come for fans of 1995s Clock Tower. As the release for Clock Tower: Rewind is finally upon us. And it gives everything needed in order to show that it still has it. I have been anticipating this release since the announcement was made. Clock Tower was a series that died before its time, and now it's in the hands of everyone worldwide for the first time legitimately. No more emulators for Jennifer needed. So, I implore anyone reading this to go and buy this game. The amount of love packed into it is more than worth the price. 

But what makes this game worth it? The simple answer is everything, yet that doesn't sell many people on why they should care. And I don't blame them because the era of Horror in Video Games and Movies is booming. There are so many projects coming and going that it's overwhelming. However, what Clock Tower brings to the genre is ingenuity, beauty, and that love for Horror and the movies that it takes inspiration from. 

To start it off, I am going to discuss the ingenuity behind this game. And so I think it worth mentioning that to me, Clock Tower feels very much like the Slashers and Giallos of the time. Giallos are Italian Horror Films that focus on Murder Mysteries. Oftentimes, featuring women or teenage girls in heavy distress. But, we'll talk more on this later. So, as someone who bathes in the Horror genre, I felt that my return to Clock Tower was even more eye-opening than before. 

It's the timing of the music, the little sounds throughout the Barrows's Mansion when searching for items or running from Bobby, or the way that the colors and lighting dictate the mood. I am just enamored with the way that this game makes me feel. It's satisfying in ways that go beyond gaming, and it makes me hopeful that a sequel in the same style could be made. 

But I think what pulls everything together is that replayability. The emphasis on the random element from Director Hifumi Kono in his interview for Clock Tower: Rewind definitely expanded my brain wrinkles. This interview is included in the release for Clock Tower: Rewind FYI. But what I mean by this wrinkle expansion, is that in my experience when going for all endings, the trigger is based on the screen. So, when you go into a new room, that room's randomness is decided. While the rooms in the house are decided beforehand when starting a new game. The room actions are decided then and there.

This is something I never picked up on initially. Yet when Hifumi Kono talked about the functionality, I was able to test it out. And what better way than to test it out on our villain, Scissorman. As I have talked about Clock Tower before, I won't go into too much detail on the ins and outs of the gameplay loop. But for the sake of understanding, it is worth mentioning that when being chased by Scissorman, you can only fight back in specific instances. The main goal is to hide and wait for Scissorman to fuck off elsewhere. 

In most hiding rooms, you have what we would call a 50/50 shot at evasion. The RNG had been spun as soon as the screen transitioned from the Hallway into whatever room you chose. In my testing, I chose one of the bathrooms. It does not matter which, either Scissorman breaks down the door or he leaves. If he breaks it down, you die. This death typically would send you back to the main menu. But now with the addition of the "Rewind" mechanic, you can rectify a death in some capacity. So, you can rewind the game back so many seconds at a time. This ends up being more than enough time needed to know if it is "Rewind Time" for Jennifer. 

This functionality also works really well for avoiding Mary Barrows. A thing you will have to do in a couple ending routes. As well as getting achievements for specific encounters within the game. Like, I don't often use the rewind functions in most games, but in Clock Tower: Rewind it's a godsend. While the checkpoint system is extremely well implemented, going back to the main menu constantly because of RNG is annoying as hell. 

To just delve into the RNG aspect a bit more, I need to talk about how the Mansion layout leaves me in awe. This aspect is still so mind-blowing. Not because the game came out on the SNES or Super Famicom. But because every playthrough has its own unique flavor. You can't boil down room placement like you can with items. You just have to roll with it. An element that I think makes for a good experience. You are either riding the high of getting great room placement, or you have to trek across the whole first floor in order to discover that your desired room is on the second floor. 

So, I understand that fixed placements for things make people comfortable. Yet Horror has always been built on this balancing of tension. This is noticeable in 1974s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for movies, or 2008s Dead Space for video games. Both pieces of media do an exceptional job at putting you on the edge of your seat. Albeit in different ways from Clock Tower, yet the idea is the same. Ensuring that your audience is not in a state of comfort. 

Like, that's why Scissorman performs so well. Or even Mr. X and Nemesis from the Resident Evil Franchise. You as a player are aware of their presence at all times. As a result, there were many times where found myself dreading Scissorman's presence. Whether that be during a solid run or while collecting items on subsequent playthroughs. I don't need to be convinced that games can be movies when Clock Tower can exemplify these elements without long, immaculately animated cutscenes that have become the norm in the mainstream. 

Clock Tower ends up being reminiscent of all these beautiful details that make me fall in love with the genre. It has those elements that I mentioned before in regards to color, music, and mood. However, I would be doing a disservice to the people that made Clock Tower what it is if I didn't mention the Pixel work. From Jennifer's movement to the facial expressions in the boxes next to the dialogue. To the scenes depicting grotesque horrors that are far too horrendous for a fifteen year old girl to deal with or any human for that matter. 

But that is where the beauty lies. It's in the setup, the depiction, and most importantly the execution. I truly hope that this game reaches new heights. Not just for the fans, but to the people that made it possible. I want them to be talked about in the same breath as Capcom or Team Silent. I think that group at Human Entertainment has earned that. And I think that the Clock Tower: Rewind team deserves a lot of credit for fine tuning a near perfect experience.

However, we're not quite done yet. I do want to touch on Clock Tower's love for Horror. In honor of getting all the achievements for Clock Tower: Rewind. I rewarded myself with a rewatch of Phenomena. The 1985 film from Dario Argento that serves as one of the larger inspirations for the game according to Clock Tower Director, Hifumi Kono. And to be quick to the point, Phenomena is still fantastic. 

Jennifer Connelly nails the role as Jennifer Corvino. A girl who develops telepathy with insects and becomes a Lord of Flies, a sort of Beelzebub type if you will. So, the major similarities to draw here are Jennifer Connelly herself and this connection to nature. For Jennifer Simpson, that connection happens to be with Crows. While Corvino is more akin to Ravens, Crows are perfectly acceptable. Now that the line between the Jennifers is noted, there is also the fact that Frau and her son are almost 1:1 with Mary Barrows and Scissorman, otherwise known as Bobby Barrows. 

And so I understand if some people view this as cut and dry plagiarism. Yet, I think that Mary and Bobby are given enough characterization to differentiate themselves. Not to mention that the overprotective Mother character is quite common in Horror. So, it ends up balancing out a bit. But I think that is where more of the charm is built upon. Much of the design behind Clock Tower is very 1980s Horror. Being chased around a large Mansion by a psychotic killer was all the rage. And I love this shit. 

Hifumi Kono and the team at Human Entertainment understood the assignment and have left an everlasting mark on the Horror World. So, now it is up to the audience to give back. I'm doing my part. I bought the digital release, and I am getting the physical release in the future. I am going to shill this game as much as I need to. Thank you Human Entertainment, WayForward, and the rest of the Clock Tower: Rewind team. The future is brighter with more Clock Tower within it.  

And remember to Free Palestine, Free Congo, Free Sudan, Free Venezuela and to Free Lebanon from the onslaught of their oppressors. Never stop talking about them. They think that we don't care, but we see everything. Never forget that.