With the recent release of the Resident Evil 3 remake and the current development of Resident Evil 8, it is clear that Capcom wants to contribute to the horror market once again. What some recent players may not know is that Capcom has developed horror games other than those in the Resident Evil series.
One of the biggest factors in the Resident Evil games is the necessity for resource management. This means players must pay attention to their ammo, health items, and ink ribbons. Using too much ammo on one enemy or using a health item when it wasn't too needed can mean death for some players on higher difficulties. But what if players had no means of defending themselves? What if they didn't have access to guns or grenade launchers? What if the only thing they could do was run and hide?
After getting the rights for the series, Capcom released Clock Tower 3 for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America and Europe. While it didn't create the series, Capcom owns the rights for it and hasn't added on any new games to the series or done anything with it since Clock Tower 3. It released Haunting Ground in 2005, a spiritual successor to Clock Tower, but despite a Japanese-exclusive HD re-release for the PlayStation 3, nothing has been done with that IP either. Now, if there's ever been, is the time.
What is Clock Tower?
Clock Toweris a survival horror series originally created by Human Entertainment in 1995. The original games had players control a young teenager named Jennifer Simpson while she was being pursued by the supernatural serial killer, the Scissorman. Instead of fighting off enemies with guns, Jennifer could only run and hide from her pursuer. She could only truly fight back when defending herself via the game's "panic button," in which players had to try to push Scissorman off them if he got too close. However, players couldn't do this too often, as this would decrease Jennifer's stamina, which making resisting harder and harder until it couldn't be done anymore.
Traditionally, the games were point and click controlled, with players being able to plug a mouse peripheral into their Super Famicom or their PlayStation for a more traditional play style. Of course, players could also use their normal controllers as well to choose where the mouse clicks.
One of the most iconic parts of the series is the usage of multiple endings. Clock Tower games generally aren't obvious about what does and doesn't lead to an ending branch, but due to there being a lot of random events and choices that don't affect endings, the games hold a massive amount of replay value with most playthroughs not being identical.
How Would Clock Tower Come Back?
Considering Clock Tower's status of mostly having a cult following rather than a mainstream following, a complete reboot of the franchise may be necessary. A remake of the first game in the series would be the safest start, as it will tell new players the story from the very beginning. Clock Tower: The First Fear has players control Jennifer after she is adopted from the Granite Orphanage into the Barrows family. However, shortly after arriving, her fellow orphans and new sisters go missing. Depending on where the player explores first, one of the girls is killed by Scissorman, starting a night of terror where Jennifer must find a way to stop Scissorman or die trying.
The Barrows Mansion could be greatly expanded with more lore hinting at later games in the series and more puzzles to be solved by players. It would also benefit from no longer being limited to a side view of the screen, allowing far more rooms to be added to the mansion. An expanded location will also give players more places to escape from Scissorman, as well as more places for him to appear.
A more controversial aspect to a Clock Tower reboot would be the multiple violent deaths of 13 year old girls. To stay safe, some of the more iconic deaths, such as one girl's death via being impaled through a ceiling, could be altered or censored. However, there is always the chance of the team sticking to its guns and only censoring if a country legally requires it.
However, a point and click horror game for consoles probably won't gel well with modern audiences, so like how the recent Resident Evil remakes have modernized controls, an over shoulder or possibly first-person control scheme could be used. Being that players have to focus on hiding from Scissorman or finding quick ways to be rid of him, like using a fire extinguisher, switching to a first person perspective while being chased, may make scenarios far more frightening for players, as they have less of a view of their surroundings and are forced to remember notable hiding places or temporary weapons.
Another aspect that can be added on to with a remake of Clock Tower: The First Fear could be even more endings. The majority of the endings in the original game were reliant on if the death for the remaining orphan wasn't triggered, if the player found out what was really happening at the mansion, and if Jennifer found out what was living in the underground caverns. With modern game design, there could be even more subtle "choices" that the player doesn't even realize at first, like with the original series creator's recent game, Nightcry.
Nightcry had many possible ending branches, but reduced player frustration by showing what choices led to their current branch via the continue screen. Players could also start the game in the middle of an already completed chapter so that they can return to the exact point they made a mistake and go for another ending.
By changing things up for a modern audience, but also keeping true to the feeling of helpless terror that the Clock Tower franchise is about, the series can come back into the spotlight canonically once more. Many other cult fans of other Capcom properties are also waiting for their reboots, so a Clock Tower reboot probably isn't all too likely anytime soon, but knowing Capcom, anything can happen.
Clock Tower: The First Fear is available on the Japanese Wii and Wii U Virtual Console.