Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within (PlayStation)

https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/190023010541/asobi-station-clock-tower-ii-the-struggle

Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within (or Ghost Head if you want to go with the name in Japan) is a point-and-click survival horror game. To make matters a little confusing, this is actually the 3rd game in the series. The first, titled Clock Tower, was released only in Japan for the Super Famicom. The second, also titled Clock Tower in the U.S., was released for the PlayStation though it was titled Clock Tower II in Japan.

Clock Tower II did not get great reviews. However, there are a certain subset of gamers that will really like this one. If you are a survival horror fan AND a point and click adventure fan then it is definitely at least worth trying (along with its predecessor). Game play mechanics are very point-and-click oriented and this game is even one of the relative few that support the PlayStation Mouse as a control option.

Though not always told well, the story of Clock Tower II revolves around a girl with a split personality (that’s you). 17-year-old Alyssa has an alter ego named Mr. Bates. Mr. Bates has a bit of a twisted personality and isn’t someone you would want to meet in a dark alley. To make matters worse, Alyssa has a pretty dysfunctional family. While off to visit her father’s friend (sounds sketchy already) she is attacked by her cousin with a knife when she arrives. From there, things just go down hill. Your goal is to solve the mystery of what the hell is going on and why you have this alternate personality in you.

Unfortunately, the clues and puzzles along the way tend to be more random than intuitive. Still, this game manages to create a pretty creepy atmosphere and those who like exploring to see what’s around the next corner should enjoy this one…provided you like survival horror and point-and-click adventures anyway. This game was only available for the PlayStation and has not been re-released as far as I know. I’ve seen references to the PS3, Vita and PSP so it may have been available as a digital download at some point. Unfortunately, this one seems quite expensive on eBay so you might be better off going the emulation route if you are not a die-hard collector. There is also a sequel, Clock Tower 3, for the PlayStation 2.