Shadow Tower - the unsung horror game of the PS1
Mar 31, 2019 22:03:28 GMT -5
Post by edmonddantes on Mar 31, 2019 22:03:28 GMT -5
So after Eternal Ring, I decided to play Shadow Tower. I probably shouldn't have because I'm having "too similar games back to back" burnout (just like with Fatal Frame) and now need to go a few rounds with Fatal Fury as a palate cleanser.
However, among Shadow Tower's qualities... it has to be one of the best games out there for screwing with the player, in ways Silent Hill didn't even do until the Ps2 era (and even then I think Shadow Tower goes further).
Just for example: At random points you will hear a woman chuckling, or a child crying, with no visible cause. These sometimes are triggered by pausing and unpausing the game, but they can also happen at pure random. Which sound you get seems to depend on the area.
The very first location you visit is a morgue-like place. Click on the bodies... in one playthru, one of the bodies played a voice clip (I couldn't make out what it said but it sounded like it was begging me not to disturb its rest). Another time, a different body wiggled as if it was struggling against its bonds, then was still and I could never get it to wiggle again. What makes this freaky is this stuff rarely happens--its not like the sanity effects in the Gamecube game Eternal Darkness where you can trigger them at will. With Shadow Tower I legit have no idea what causes anything to happen.
It's funny, actually, because Shadow Tower seems like it shouldn't work at all--there are NPCs you can talk to (a lot of them being demons who are kinda likable), and you can actually look up stats of how many monsters have been killed in the current location (open the menu and hit triangle). That there even IS a finite amount of enemies should get rid of all the scares... but actually even that is odd, because the enemies don't always spawn on a clear trigger. Actually, when I first beat the game (about a decade ago) one thing I wanted to do was 100% clear all the areas of the tower, and I almost did it... except in one area where the last enemy just would. Not. Spawn. In another room on my current playthru, I swear an enemy spawned out-of-bounds (I was able to hit it with a Cleaning Ray spell, but them spawning out of bounds sucks because each enemy has a chance of dropping treasure and so I've perma-lost whatever this enemy had... unless its just in a secret room I don't know how to access. I think dropped items stay until you pick them up).
The thing I think will be the biggest sticking point with people is the breakable equipment system. It certainly hurts magic--really, the reason you'll stop casting spells isn't because you're out of MP, but rather because the ring that enables spells (early shades of Eternal Ring here) is about to break. At the same time tho, there are repair depots all over. Oh, the cost for repairs comes out of hit points, which sounds steep at first, but I actually had lots of health potions (all health potions totally restore your HP) and a ring that makes me gradually heal before I even got to this depot. Actually, health potions are so abundant you can pass them out at a college party and still have enough for next time.
And yet... even with all these advantages the game gives you, stuff keeps happening, and details keep popping up (not the least of which is the "WTF" writing on the walls) which make me wonder what the HELL is going on in this tower. It's something rare in video games--to have a location whose mysteries are never totally explained. I mean, even Silent Hill, you know what caused it to be a messed up little town. There is NO explanation for the Tower. Unless one was provided by the PS2 sequel (which I never got a chance to play).
However, among Shadow Tower's qualities... it has to be one of the best games out there for screwing with the player, in ways Silent Hill didn't even do until the Ps2 era (and even then I think Shadow Tower goes further).
Just for example: At random points you will hear a woman chuckling, or a child crying, with no visible cause. These sometimes are triggered by pausing and unpausing the game, but they can also happen at pure random. Which sound you get seems to depend on the area.
The very first location you visit is a morgue-like place. Click on the bodies... in one playthru, one of the bodies played a voice clip (I couldn't make out what it said but it sounded like it was begging me not to disturb its rest). Another time, a different body wiggled as if it was struggling against its bonds, then was still and I could never get it to wiggle again. What makes this freaky is this stuff rarely happens--its not like the sanity effects in the Gamecube game Eternal Darkness where you can trigger them at will. With Shadow Tower I legit have no idea what causes anything to happen.
It's funny, actually, because Shadow Tower seems like it shouldn't work at all--there are NPCs you can talk to (a lot of them being demons who are kinda likable), and you can actually look up stats of how many monsters have been killed in the current location (open the menu and hit triangle). That there even IS a finite amount of enemies should get rid of all the scares... but actually even that is odd, because the enemies don't always spawn on a clear trigger. Actually, when I first beat the game (about a decade ago) one thing I wanted to do was 100% clear all the areas of the tower, and I almost did it... except in one area where the last enemy just would. Not. Spawn. In another room on my current playthru, I swear an enemy spawned out-of-bounds (I was able to hit it with a Cleaning Ray spell, but them spawning out of bounds sucks because each enemy has a chance of dropping treasure and so I've perma-lost whatever this enemy had... unless its just in a secret room I don't know how to access. I think dropped items stay until you pick them up).
The thing I think will be the biggest sticking point with people is the breakable equipment system. It certainly hurts magic--really, the reason you'll stop casting spells isn't because you're out of MP, but rather because the ring that enables spells (early shades of Eternal Ring here) is about to break. At the same time tho, there are repair depots all over. Oh, the cost for repairs comes out of hit points, which sounds steep at first, but I actually had lots of health potions (all health potions totally restore your HP) and a ring that makes me gradually heal before I even got to this depot. Actually, health potions are so abundant you can pass them out at a college party and still have enough for next time.
And yet... even with all these advantages the game gives you, stuff keeps happening, and details keep popping up (not the least of which is the "WTF" writing on the walls) which make me wonder what the HELL is going on in this tower. It's something rare in video games--to have a location whose mysteries are never totally explained. I mean, even Silent Hill, you know what caused it to be a messed up little town. There is NO explanation for the Tower. Unless one was provided by the PS2 sequel (which I never got a chance to play).
