Wow, Derek, you totally cleared up the CT history for me. I was about to buy "The Struggle Within" off ebay because I thought it was a decent sequel. Having no idea there was a much better PSX version released beforehand!
ClassicGameGuys Amazon only have general pictures, not specific pictures that show you exactly how the game copy you wanna buy from THAT specific seller looks. eBay > Amazon
This is one of the best game reviews I've ever seen on UA-cam. Your insight into the gaming landscape at the time Clock Tower came out is such a refreshing thing to include; your retro reviews really are masterful. Well job.
Could I just say that I really appreciated you keeping the audio quality consistent throughout the entire video? Even the biggest names around don't bother doing that when they're on camera. Kudos.
Yo thanks for no jump scares. That shit annoys me. I ain't watching reviews of spooks to get spooked. If I want spooks I'll spook up some spooks y'know?
I'm really glad you mentioned Roo's review of the SNES game. I've still never seen a more complete, well thought out review on that game than his review.
Great video, your channel is good fun, I've linked it to all my friends, it's criminal you only have 68,778 subscribers. Your enthusiasm is also a good change from the typical 'Are you being ironic?' 'Man, I don't even know anymore.' videos on the tubes. I'll send you some patreon, I like that you've committed yourself to this, that it's not just a hobby and that you take it seriously, I think it lets the audience take you seriously. Thanks for putting these up. Hope you find great success.
Excellent review! Always enjoy your reviews, you bring a lot of passion and knowledge into each one. Thank you for all your hard work! Here's to Project Scissors! I think it will be something terrific!
Wow, this is the first video I've watched with 60 fps, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how good it looks. I didn't think it would make THAT much of a difference, or that it would slow ddown the loading a ton, but it seems to be pretty great overall. Anyway, fantastic video as usual Derek, the thing at the very end was hilarious. xD
It takes an extremely talented person to make positivity just as fun to listen to, if not more so, then over-the-top-exaggerated criticism. You have earned a subscriber, my dear sir.
Good video on an under appreciated classic. I hope the recent frequency of videos you are putting out continues. The HVGN videos you make are entertaining and informative. Keep up the good work!
Really nice, these new videos arriving so soon after one another. Also, as everyone else has probably said, cool live stuff lately; my Saturn has been my enemy since it crashed and lost about 5 hours of Shining the Holy Ark progress, so watching those Saturn streams was a nice catchup.
Damn it, the second you started going on about jump scares I immediately lowered the volume so you succeeded in scaring me just by talking about it :P Keep it up, I need more HVGN in my life.
I've been playing this series since it's introduction to the North American market. It left a big impact on me as a kid and kick-started my love of horror films. I even did let's play of this series in 2008..which is still on my UA-cam channel to this day. Back in those days there wasn't a lot on UA-cam that showcased this game. My, how times have changed....Thank you for showing this game the love it deserves
This game was god damn amazing, so few knew about it back in the day. Honestly I doubt kids would be able to appreciate this as much as we do. They would complain about the graphics and voice acting...which wasn’t and still isn’t the point. Oh ya also as far as this game and jump scares goes...fuck the part where he can jump out from the painting in the ‘Tim in the fire’ room haha. That legitimately scared me as a kid, I had to pause the game for a second to recover.
Awesome vid. For some reason, I love your take on all horror games. Your HVGN vids and streams. Keep it up. I always get pumped to see you swimming in the horror waters.
I like the consistent videos. :D I know you are a busy guy now after your newish job. But, you still are my favorite reviewer and new content is always appreciated. :)
This video is great, which is not unusual for the channel, but I have to say it feels like a big step forward in terms of pacing and editing. It just made me really happy to see that the quality and style of your videos is not jogging in place, even when you don't have time to produce them as often as other video makers.
Great video. I was really excited to see another HVGN episode. I love how well you are able to contextualize things in your reviews. You are like HBO's Max Kellerman, always able to put it all in perspective for those who might not remember clearly, or were not playing the games when they first came out.
After watching JonTron's review of the First Fear, I got curious about the PS1 game, but couldn't really find a good review. Thanks for fixing that! It's always good to have a more informative look at a game, and you're reviews excel at that.
God, I was waiting for the day that you'd give some love to my favorite horror game of all time. That day has come. As a fan since 1998, I am extremely happy to see this film getting love these days. Also, I am definitely looking forward to Project Scissors. :)
SHIT! Even though he said there isn't any jump scares (and there weren't any) I still got scared by the credit music that bursted in my ear with head phones!
Another great review! Just one thing, though: the final area of the game isn't the same mansion in The First Fear, it's a totally different location entirely. Despite that though, everything else was spot on!
Great review and trip down memory lane. I thought I was the only one who found the game genuinely scary and intense (music was freaking great). The story line also kept you on your toes and truly curious to find the answer to the mystery of the Barrows Mansion massacres. Thank you for the positive and thorough response to this very underappreciated game.
Great video, i've been missing these a lot. Everyone and there dog has reviewed the SNES game, glad to see that as usual you've taken the road less traveled.
I have, it's no where as bad as people make it out to be. It's not good or anything, but it's not the worst horror game ever. Clock Tower 2 though? Far, far worse IMO.
I think it’s safe to say that Night Cry (formerly Project Scissors) did not live up to expectations. It would be interesting to give a look as to why that is.
Great video. Really enjoyed it and got interested in the game. This series seems awesome. Thank you for it. Keep up with the good work. Regards from Portugal.
10:07 I'm pretty sure it would make sense, because it was dark in that room and it must've been especially more dark in the pantry. So I would imagine he couldn't even see Scissor Man in there because of the darkness and he was hidden in it.
“The infamous tank controls & stationary snapping camera were a workaround for a company still grappling with satisfactory gameplay in a 3D environment” “Keeping Clock Tower a point & click game wasn’t a compromise, but a smart way to adapt to the limits of contemporary hardware” How can REs design choices be done out of solely struggling to achieve solid gameplay but it single handedly kept the horror genre relevant until Silent Hill? I think they knew what they were doing. That’s why they disguised loading screens as door animations & you didn’t even see people realizing this until 15+ years later.
Yay Clock Tower! Good to see the PS1 game getting some attention for a change -- people only ever seem to talk about the original SFC game anymore, while I always felt the PS1 game was the better title. Really good, thorough review, too, going into detail about pretty much everything that makes me love this game. It's absolutely one of my favorite horror games of all time, and was my #1 favorite until Corpse Party came along. Too bad Ghost Head and Clock Tower 3 were so... unfortunate. But at least Haunting Ground was good! Wish it had sold better, as it seemed like the series was finally getting back on track with that one... but alas!
Project Scissor eventually became the game NightCry which is mostly known for stealing and repurposing the character model for DMC: Devil May Cry "Donte" man this whole series is cursed XD
Man I used to love this game as a kid! I just randomly thought of it when talking about RE7 and had to find some videos on it! This is the game that introduced me to survival horror and it gives me fuzzy nostalgia feelings lol
Clock Tower 3 was actually pretty decent. It was crazy, ridiculous and didn't know how to sit still but it was entertaining and had some really good moments. For one getting revenge on the stalkers always felt awesome even if the controls in combat were utter garbage. Haunting Grounds was really great all around and Hewey was the best AI companion right next to dumpster bitch from RE4. Both games had their issues that mostly just fall under the category of: clunky gameplay and them being a horror game about vulnerable people running away from stalkers. The least that can be said about the serie is that it never gave up on making original horror games... Unlike the likes of Dead Space 3 which just decided to become a mod of gears of war with necymorphs in it
"It's been several years since Jennifer Simpson's harrowing escape from the clutches of the Scissorman at the Barrow's mansion." A slight flub up there, dude. Clock Tower (2) takes place ONE year after the events of First Fear. Just thought I'd point that out.
Nice review! As a huge fan of the series, it makes me happy that the franchise is coming back lately, and I just wanted to wake up the whole neighborhood with screams of happiness when I heard about Project Scissors. But, calling Clock Tower II/Clock Tower Ghost Head the worst horror game isn't really "appropriate" for me. Sure, the game definitively isn't good. I was frustrated at times, got lost a lot and had to use a guide because I kept getting bad endings, not mentioning being stuck for 3 hours in the Noisy Monsters Cage level. But still... I enjoyed the game. Except for some moments, you could play the game only as Yuu/Alyssa, so it still kept a little the spirit of the series. And Clock Tower 3. Oh my god. Please don't talk to me about this... thing. Since I don't have a PS2, I tried it out on an emulator. And I almost threw my poor computer out of the window. I never got so angry at a character before. Everyone think what they want, and I know that I'm weird, but I enjoyed Ghost Head a lot more that I did enjoy CT3. At least, some of the characters are lovable and attaching (well, for me at least with Yuu, Shô and Chinatsu.), while all of Clock Tower 3's characters made me want to just jump into the game to slap them, or just plain strangle them to death. And I tried to get into the game as uninfluenced by the reviews (sometimes good, sometimes bad) I saw on the Internet. (Please keep in mind that I went to play Ghost Head after watching two parts of a Let's Play where the player just kept on insulting the game). Anyway. If the series is really "orphaned" now, I really hope Kohno picks it up again, and the world can have some kind of "remake" of the two first games. Greetings from Europe!
Alright Derek! Way to go, brother! Been waiting for another retro game review from ya. Ahhhh DAMMIT lol haunting ground is already hard enough for me to find, but now that you mentioned it here and Joey has too, I feel that there's a decent chance that prices of it just might become a bit more crazy.....or I could just be worrying too much OH SHIT totally expected jump scare at end where there was still like 5 seconds left after the credits =D
I just got done watching the 3 part "Is it really THAT bad?" Clock tower 2 (USA) series, and as soon as I'm done, you release this so I can wash that nasty taste out of my mouth. Thank you good sir.
Awesome video as always! Never knew haunting ground was related to the clock tower series. I almost picked it up years ago but decided on devil may cry instead.
THE EVIL MURDERER LIVES!!! Saw your scissorman wallpaper in another video 🙌🏼 ✂️ . (P.s. I'm sure you have a copy of HELLNIGHT too.. does anyone have a problem with the aspect ratio never being right? I've tried on two TVs )
Holy shit. Suddenly this series has become the hot topic of reviewers everywhere this year. Back in 2011 when I discovered this series (I think it was 2011), this was something I had merely dreamed of. To have people evaluate this series as a whole. Jump over to this year, both Jontron and HVGN have dusted off this relic of a series to take a look into it. I wonder what got people suddenly so interested in making this series public. Either way, I love it. This series deserves all that it's getting at the moment. I'm thinking that the reason why The first fear get's so much praise is because of 2 things: It's look & it's weird-appeal. The original game was as refined as 16-bit can get. A very gorgeous-looking SNES game that took advantage of it's technology to it's finest. This game is as jagged & akward on the outside as a PS1 game can get. Like Derek said, it has a hidden finesse to it's angles & sence of cinematics, but it won't stop the Scissorman hop from looking any less silly (Even if that Belmont-strut going on in The first fear is not much better). Speaking of the SNES, there lies the other reason. It's pre-survival horror. Everyone knows the classics. Resident evil, Silent hill, Fatal frame & so on. A horror game on the PS1 can only get so unique when that song & dance has been done so many times already. Pre-survival horror has a curious aura around it. Some people are interested in seeing what horror in gaming was like before Resident evil established "The norm". Darkseed, I have no mouth and I must scream, the first System shock & of course, Clock tower: The first fear. I can atest to that pre-survival horror has a charm of it's own. When it comes to horror gaming, I like sticking around the zone before Resident evil, because before RE, horror was so very experimental that going through all the games is like a opening box of chocolates: You never know what you're gonna get. And yes. I know that this game pre-dates RE by a month or so, but considering the time gap & how it was on the same console, it kinda get stuck in the blast radius of association. The funny part about Project Scissors is that I kinda hope that the game ends up not being a part of the Clock tower series. With it's status as stranded without owner, it's essentually public domain. Free from restrictions like copyright & is completely okay to torrent. It's a petty little thing, but I'd rather have the right to download an english patched version of the 1st game online, considering that most likely than not, it'll end up never leaving Japan.
Dem 60FPS But amazing review all around and Happy to see your making more videos with the Happy Video Game Nerd other then just do it live, not that I hate those, it's just much better to play a well thought out, edited, video talking about a underrated gem of a game. I would suggest the amazing game Ghost trick but Indie game spot light has already done so. I have many games to request but you probably get a lot of them so I ain't gonna give a random request (like I just did.... :/). Anyway like always great stuff as... I better stop myself before I make terrible grammar and counterdict myself XD Also as the sad person I am, "first"
Also, that dog in RE4 is confirmed to be the exact same dog from Haunting Ground. Both came out in 2005 and Capcom (going by pure assumption on this part) wanted to push HG a bit by giving it and RE4 a small link.
As soon as the video went to Derek in person, I INSTANTLY noticed this video was 60fps. And some people argue you can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS.
![Dino Crisis 1 & 2 (PS1) | Review & Analysis [SSFF]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ezw-RiubMxM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dino Crisis 1 & 2 (PS1) | Review & Analysis [SSFF]](/img/tr.png)
![Resident Evil (PS1) | Re:Certified Classic [SSFF]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gP98OpAaRbk/mqdefault.jpg)
![[SSFF] Shatterhand (NES) Review by Derek Alexander](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AgfnLeaYgBE/mqdefault.jpg)
* turning down volume *
"You can trust me"
* turning down volume faster *
*Constantly watching the video timer* bye *does not let the video timer disappear*
I burst out laughing at 17:07
Wow, Derek, you totally cleared up the CT history for me. I was about to buy "The Struggle Within" off ebay because I thought it was a decent sequel. Having no idea there was a much better PSX version released beforehand!
What's a shitstorm without some bonafide shit, though? :P
coderedmac You make a great point there.
Amazon > ebay
Now and forever.
I learned about the whole sequel mess a long time ago, it's called Wikipedia my friend, use it.
ClassicGameGuys Amazon only have general pictures, not specific pictures that show you exactly how the game copy you wanna buy from THAT specific seller looks.
eBay > Amazon
Random fun fact: the character model of Fiona (the protagonist of Haunted Ground) was reused for Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 5.
And then hastily copied, pasted and re-skinned into Sheva in the few hours before release...? Lol
So they took Fiona, put her in a jumpsuit and attached a mind control device on her chest, and she became Wesker's Puppet. Huh.
This is one of the best game reviews I've ever seen on UA-cam. Your insight into the gaming landscape at the time Clock Tower came out is such a refreshing thing to include; your retro reviews really are masterful. Well job.
Could I just say that I really appreciated you keeping the audio quality consistent throughout the entire video? Even the biggest names around don't bother doing that when they're on camera. Kudos.
"promise...I promise."
Paranoia intensifies.
Gotta admit: It's weird to see camera footage in 60 FPS for the first time, but I'm actually glad it's possible.
Good review, Derek.
"THE ICIEST GANGSTA COMIN' OUTTA HOUSTON! RUNNIN' DA MIXTAPE GAME!"
made me laugh because i'm from houston. lol
Htown hol' it down!
screwston, all day!
Mayn hold up
Now i wish it was real
Yo thanks for no jump scares. That shit annoys me. I ain't watching reviews of spooks to get spooked. If I want spooks I'll spook up some spooks y'know?
samuraikarasu Are you referring to black people?
What are you spooks up to?
@@PeacefulJoint omg lol
why do you talk like this
@@TheEncounterMusic Because Black People
I'm really glad you mentioned Roo's review of the SNES game. I've still never seen a more complete, well thought out review on that game than his review.
Great video, your channel is good fun, I've linked it to all my friends, it's criminal you only have 68,778 subscribers. Your enthusiasm is also a good change from the typical
'Are you being ironic?'
'Man, I don't even know anymore.' videos on the tubes.
I'll send you some patreon, I like that you've committed yourself to this, that it's not just a hobby and that you take it seriously, I think it lets the audience take you seriously.
Thanks for putting these up. Hope you find great success.
This is one of the best reviews I've seen in a long time. I genuinely felt that you were talking directly to me! Definitely subscribed!
Excellent review! Always enjoy your reviews, you bring a lot of passion and knowledge into each one. Thank you for all your hard work!
Here's to Project Scissors! I think it will be something terrific!
Wow, this is the first video I've watched with 60 fps, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how good it looks. I didn't think it would make THAT much of a difference, or that it would slow ddown the loading a ton, but it seems to be pretty great overall.
Anyway, fantastic video as usual Derek, the thing at the very end was hilarious. xD
Yet, some people say 60 fps is worst than 30 fps, which is apparently is "cinematic".
glad to see your back to doing game reviews again I always enjoy them.
3:25 - That was the most jarring transition I have ever seen. I legit laughed out loud.
It takes an extremely talented person to make positivity just as fun to listen to, if not more so, then over-the-top-exaggerated criticism.
You have earned a subscriber, my dear sir.
I keep praying that these wonderful videos keep coming!
the intro was fantastic . The use of music really set the scene
Only one question remains.
Does this game have enough Fire Extinguisher and Brooms?
Do the little shits carry enough knifes to be stabbed by them repeatedly
Not enough bathroom stalls jam-packed with brooms.
Nikodem R Yes, Jason Statham carries plenty of knifes to be stabbed.
Good video on an under appreciated classic. I hope the recent frequency of videos you are putting out continues. The HVGN videos you make are entertaining and informative. Keep up the good work!
Im glad theres people out there that love this game as much as I do.
Really nice, these new videos arriving so soon after one another. Also, as everyone else has probably said, cool live stuff lately; my Saturn has been my enemy since it crashed and lost about 5 hours of Shining the Holy Ark progress, so watching those Saturn streams was a nice catchup.
Awesome video as always! Not much I didn't know but I'm a die hard fan of the games. I simply love you're giving these series more exposure.
Damn it, the second you started going on about jump scares I immediately lowered the volume so you succeeded in scaring me just by talking about it :P Keep it up, I need more HVGN in my life.
Great to see you back and better than ever as the HVGN with these recent videos!!
I finally figured out who you remind me of! Alan Tudyk!
Great video btw! Very happy to see you doing this format again! :-)
I've been playing this series since it's introduction to the North American market. It left a big impact on me as a kid and kick-started my love of horror films. I even did let's play of this series in 2008..which is still on my UA-cam channel to this day. Back in those days there wasn't a lot on UA-cam that showcased this game. My, how times have changed....Thank you for showing this game the love it deserves
I'm really happy about how frequent HVGN eps have been this past month, keep it up Derek, your stuff is great!
Great video Derek! (Also, you're lighting, video, and audio took a very big step up! Looks great.)
This game was god damn amazing, so few knew about it back in the day. Honestly I doubt kids would be able to appreciate this as much as we do. They would complain about the graphics and voice acting...which wasn’t and still isn’t the point.
Oh ya also as far as this game and jump scares goes...fuck the part where he can jump out from the painting in the ‘Tim in the fire’ room haha. That legitimately scared me as a kid, I had to pause the game for a second to recover.
nice to have you back Derek! please keep doing this videos. Love these terror game reviews!
Awesome vid. For some reason, I love your take on all horror games. Your HVGN vids and streams. Keep it up. I always get pumped to see you swimming in the horror waters.
lol i was so expecting a jump scare at the end.
Great vid BTW love Clock Tower, and Love the show :)
I like the consistent videos. :D I know you are a busy guy now after your newish job. But, you still are my favorite reviewer and new content is always appreciated. :)
This video is great, which is not unusual for the channel, but I have to say it feels like a big step forward in terms of pacing and editing. It just made me really happy to see that the quality and style of your videos is not jogging in place, even when you don't have time to produce them as often as other video makers.
Great video. I was really excited to see another HVGN episode. I love how well you are able to contextualize things in your reviews. You are like HBO's Max Kellerman, always able to put it all in perspective for those who might not remember clearly, or were not playing the games when they first came out.
After watching JonTron's review of the First Fear, I got curious about the PS1 game, but couldn't really find a good review. Thanks for fixing that! It's always good to have a more informative look at a game, and you're reviews excel at that.
Been looking for another nostalgia/retrospective/review channel of quality. I have to sub.
That ending were you actually did not jump scare me just made me smile not stop. Also it is great to see your videos with 60 fps.
God, I was waiting for the day that you'd give some love to my favorite horror game of all time.
That day has come. As a fan since 1998, I am extremely happy to see this film getting love these days.
Also, I am definitely looking forward to Project Scissors. :)
Awesome review! Really glad to see you making these videos again. I WANT MORE SPOOKS
SHIT! Even though he said there isn't any jump scares (and there weren't any) I still got scared by the credit music that bursted in my ear with head phones!
Aw.
No Hilarious Halloween jokes :c
(Real talk though, great video. I like how the light in your hand looks like a cute little ghost :3)
Never again!
that was a light? i thought it was a microphone
Stop Skeletons you've Been on your a game recently
Stop Skeletons Did you know there's a Splatterhouse remake?
***** he did a video on it
Another great review! Just one thing, though: the final area of the game isn't the same mansion in The First Fear, it's a totally different location entirely. Despite that though, everything else was spot on!
Dude, stop being the most underrated UA-camr around and just get some recognition, already. Your videos have been making me happy me for years. *boop*
I literally lol'd at the very end! The anticipation actually gave me that little gut jump when it happened!!!
Great review and trip down memory lane. I thought I was the only one who found the game genuinely scary and intense (music was freaking great). The story line also kept you on your toes and truly curious to find the answer to the mystery of the Barrows Mansion massacres. Thank you for the positive and thorough response to this very underappreciated game.
Great video, i've been missing these a lot. Everyone and there dog has reviewed the SNES game, glad to see that as usual you've taken the road less traveled.
Good to see you back again talking about good obscure games :)
Thanks for this video! I hope it gets many more ppl to play this game, forever my favorite.
Great video man, i really enjoyed it, and that ending was funny, keep it up, this one deserves more likes
The "jumpscare" at the end made me laugh, well done HVGN! :P
I was going to blind buy CT3 many years ago, but I forgot all about the CT series. This review made me want to check them out. Thanks for the video!
Tha Scissor Mane?
Cut if you Buck?
What the hell?
ChillManStudios Right? Totally out of nowhere. That shit had me rolling.
14:10 - Worst Horror Game you've ever played? Have you ever played Ring: Terror's Realm? *Splatter Sound Effect*
I need me to play that one >_>
I have, it's no where as bad as people make it out to be. It's not good or anything, but it's not the worst horror game ever. Clock Tower 2 though? Far, far worse IMO.
Trust me, I owned Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within, sold it years ago. It makes The Ring look like Silent Hill.
And I miss Spoony :(
My favorite game of all time. Thank you for doing a great review on it.
I think it’s safe to say that Night Cry (formerly Project Scissors) did not live up to expectations. It would be interesting to give a look as to why that is.
Great to see a new HVGN video! That ending was hilarious by the way.
Great video. Really enjoyed it and got interested in the game. This series seems awesome. Thank you for it. Keep up with the good work. Regards from Portugal.
At the end there, I half expected Calvin to pop up and yell "SPOOKS!"
Project Scissors sounds exciting. :) Can't wait to hear more about it!
10:07 I'm pretty sure it would make sense, because it was dark in that room and it must've been especially more dark in the pantry. So I would imagine he couldn't even see Scissor Man in there because of the darkness and he was hidden in it.
“The infamous tank controls & stationary snapping camera were a workaround for a company still grappling with satisfactory gameplay in a 3D environment”
“Keeping Clock Tower a point & click game wasn’t a compromise, but a smart way to adapt to the limits of contemporary hardware”
How can REs design choices be done out of solely struggling to achieve solid gameplay but it single handedly kept the horror genre relevant until Silent Hill? I think they knew what they were doing. That’s why they disguised loading screens as door animations & you didn’t even see people realizing this until 15+ years later.
Legend Derek, was worried there might not be a Halloween review, keep the streams and vis coming man :)
may be a little late, but HVGN has never missed a halloween!
And for that we are all thankful mate :D
ahhh, so glad to see a new HVGN. I've been craving it. glad to see you've done one of my old favorite
I was just about to retire my ghost costume when I saw this video in the subscriptions.
*rolls up spooky sleeves"
I am ready
Yay Clock Tower! Good to see the PS1 game getting some attention for a change -- people only ever seem to talk about the original SFC game anymore, while I always felt the PS1 game was the better title.
Really good, thorough review, too, going into detail about pretty much everything that makes me love this game. It's absolutely one of my favorite horror games of all time, and was my #1 favorite until Corpse Party came along. Too bad Ghost Head and Clock Tower 3 were so... unfortunate. But at least Haunting Ground was good! Wish it had sold better, as it seemed like the series was finally getting back on track with that one... but alas!
Now to check out phenomena and the burning, Another awesome review.
Project Scissor eventually became the game NightCry which is mostly known for stealing and repurposing the character model for DMC: Devil May Cry "Donte" man this whole series is cursed XD
I trusted yuo in the end! Thank you for not failing me! :D
Man I used to love this game as a kid! I just randomly thought of it when talking about RE7 and had to find some videos on it! This is the game that introduced me to survival horror and it gives me fuzzy nostalgia feelings lol
Clock Tower 3 was actually pretty decent. It was crazy, ridiculous and didn't know how to sit still but it was entertaining and had some really good moments. For one getting revenge on the stalkers always felt awesome even if the controls in combat were utter garbage.
Haunting Grounds was really great all around and Hewey was the best AI companion right next to dumpster bitch from RE4.
Both games had their issues that mostly just fall under the category of: clunky gameplay and them being a horror game about vulnerable people running away from stalkers.
The least that can be said about the serie is that it never gave up on making original horror games... Unlike the likes of Dead Space 3 which just decided to become a mod of gears of war with necymorphs in it
This is the first game that gave me real nightmares and it's a true masterpiece and deserves an HD reboot
Loved it. Welcome back, Derek!
ps - You forgot your wine. :-P
I remember thinking Scissorman's scissors bore an unmistakable resemblance to those spring-loaded surgical shears from The Exorcist III.
"It's been several years since Jennifer Simpson's harrowing escape from the clutches of the Scissorman at the Barrow's mansion."
A slight flub up there, dude. Clock Tower (2) takes place ONE year after the events of First Fear. Just thought I'd point that out.
Nice review!
As a huge fan of the series, it makes me happy that the franchise is coming back lately, and I just wanted to wake up the whole neighborhood with screams of happiness when I heard about Project Scissors.
But, calling Clock Tower II/Clock Tower Ghost Head the worst horror game isn't really "appropriate" for me. Sure, the game definitively isn't good. I was frustrated at times, got lost a lot and had to use a guide because I kept getting bad endings, not mentioning being stuck for 3 hours in the Noisy Monsters Cage level. But still... I enjoyed the game. Except for some moments, you could play the game only as Yuu/Alyssa, so it still kept a little the spirit of the series.
And Clock Tower 3. Oh my god. Please don't talk to me about this... thing. Since I don't have a PS2, I tried it out on an emulator. And I almost threw my poor computer out of the window. I never got so angry at a character before. Everyone think what they want, and I know that I'm weird, but I enjoyed Ghost Head a lot more that I did enjoy CT3. At least, some of the characters are lovable and attaching (well, for me at least with Yuu, Shô and Chinatsu.), while all of Clock Tower 3's characters made me want to just jump into the game to slap them, or just plain strangle them to death. And I tried to get into the game as uninfluenced by the reviews (sometimes good, sometimes bad) I saw on the Internet. (Please keep in mind that I went to play Ghost Head after watching two parts of a Let's Play where the player just kept on insulting the game).
Anyway. If the series is really "orphaned" now, I really hope Kohno picks it up again, and the world can have some kind of "remake" of the two first games.
Greetings from Europe!
Personally CT2 looked boring to me, but I always love seeing fans of a games justify their liking of said game even if the games are good or bad.
I love Haunting Ground!
I just bought this game a few days ago on Ebay. Can't wait to play it!!
Alright Derek! Way to go, brother! Been waiting for another retro game review from ya.
Ahhhh DAMMIT lol haunting ground is already hard enough for me to find, but now that you mentioned it here and Joey has too, I feel that there's a decent chance that prices of it just might become a bit more crazy.....or I could just be worrying too much
OH SHIT totally expected jump scare at end where there was still like 5 seconds left after the credits =D
I just got done watching the 3 part "Is it really THAT bad?" Clock tower 2 (USA) series, and as soon as I'm done, you release this so I can wash that nasty taste out of my mouth. Thank you good sir.
"Probably what you think it was...ghosts...ghosts of all the kids killed here!"
Awesome video as always! Never knew haunting ground was related to the clock tower series. I almost picked it up years ago but decided on devil may cry instead.
THE EVIL MURDERER LIVES!!! Saw your scissorman wallpaper in another video 🙌🏼 ✂️ . (P.s. I'm sure you have a copy of HELLNIGHT too.. does anyone have a problem with the aspect ratio never being right? I've tried on two TVs )
Holy shit. Suddenly this series has become the hot topic of reviewers everywhere this year. Back in 2011 when I discovered this series (I think it was 2011), this was something I had merely dreamed of. To have people evaluate this series as a whole. Jump over to this year, both Jontron and HVGN have dusted off this relic of a series to take a look into it. I wonder what got people suddenly so interested in making this series public. Either way, I love it. This series deserves all that it's getting at the moment.
I'm thinking that the reason why The first fear get's so much praise is because of 2 things: It's look & it's weird-appeal. The original game was as refined as 16-bit can get. A very gorgeous-looking SNES game that took advantage of it's technology to it's finest. This game is as jagged & akward on the outside as a PS1 game can get. Like Derek said, it has a hidden finesse to it's angles & sence of cinematics, but it won't stop the Scissorman hop from looking any less silly (Even if that Belmont-strut going on in The first fear is not much better).
Speaking of the SNES, there lies the other reason. It's pre-survival horror. Everyone knows the classics. Resident evil, Silent hill, Fatal frame & so on. A horror game on the PS1 can only get so unique when that song & dance has been done so many times already. Pre-survival horror has a curious aura around it. Some people are interested in seeing what horror in gaming was like before Resident evil established "The norm". Darkseed, I have no mouth and I must scream, the first System shock & of course, Clock tower: The first fear. I can atest to that pre-survival horror has a charm of it's own. When it comes to horror gaming, I like sticking around the zone before Resident evil, because before RE, horror was so very experimental that going through all the games is like a opening box of chocolates: You never know what you're gonna get. And yes. I know that this game pre-dates RE by a month or so, but considering the time gap & how it was on the same console, it kinda get stuck in the blast radius of association.
The funny part about Project Scissors is that I kinda hope that the game ends up not being a part of the Clock tower series. With it's status as stranded without owner, it's essentually public domain. Free from restrictions like copyright & is completely okay to torrent. It's a petty little thing, but I'd rather have the right to download an english patched version of the 1st game online, considering that most likely than not, it'll end up never leaving Japan.
'Tha Scissor Mane' is the most hillarious part of the entire thing.
I lost it at that part hahaha
I like that you held a ghost the whole video. Very spooky.
I forgot that I was subbed to you. Nek minute I get an awesome review video.
Dem 60FPS
But amazing review all around and Happy to see your making more videos with the Happy Video Game Nerd other then just do it live, not that I hate those, it's just much better to play a well thought out, edited, video talking about a underrated gem of a game. I would suggest the amazing game Ghost trick but Indie game spot light has already done so. I have many games to request but you probably get a lot of them so I ain't gonna give a random request (like I just did.... :/). Anyway like always great stuff as... I better stop myself before I make terrible grammar and counterdict myself XD
Also as the sad person I am, "first"
it's fuck'n great to see you back Happy Nerd ! great review as always. Will you do some more old school stuff or you will stay in the polygon era ?
3 videos in one month. yay. i hope he keeps up a pace
I love the clock tower characters voice acting run and hide everything about it ^_^ ❤ and it's a gem and should be played
Also, that dog in RE4 is confirmed to be the exact same dog from Haunting Ground. Both came out in 2005 and Capcom (going by pure assumption on this part) wanted to push HG a bit by giving it and RE4 a small link.
"Yo! Get that reboot and don't look back!" - I'm gonna put that on a t-shirt.
That jumpscare made me headbutt my computer
Clocktower 3 was the first one I played and introduced me to the series. So glad my friend lent it.
Actually, the story doesn't take place several years after First Fear. It takes place 1 year after the events at the Barrows Mansion.
As soon as the video went to Derek in person, I INSTANTLY noticed this video was 60fps.
And some people argue you can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS.
The "tail" of Scissorman? That's so cute!