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Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. Not me. Well, not this month, anyway. As a Canadian, our Thanksgiving is in October, because who wants to see their extended family two months in a row?

I’ve been kind of bouncing around extracurricular games lately. Some of them, I would start up with the intention of getting deep into and wouldn’t return after the first sitting. Like, er, Wario Land Shake It on Wii. Maybe I’ll get back to it, I don’t know. Colony Wars on PS1 is another. Also, Kirby and the Forgotten Land. I’d like to return to complete a playthrough, but if I keep leaping around, I’ll probably keep doing so until something forces my attention.

I think that’s essentially been my week; nothing too enriching. Browsing Black Friday deals and buying nothing. Playing some games for review.

Anyway, if you want to reflect back on some of my more exciting weeks, you can review past issues of this newsletter at this link here. Also, we have a list that folks get when they sign up for this newsletter. It’s a list of a whole bunch of games that were mentioned here and where to find them (if applicable). They’re not boring, and you might find something that connects with you. It’s a good time to check it out with all the sales going on.

Also, remember that if you can get someone to sign up for the newsletter via the link below, you’ll get access to the monthly newsletter where I interview some cool developers. The one that went out this week was with Fever Dream Johnny. Who knows what rad person I’ll convince to talk to me next time? I have some ideas.

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Clock Tower

Despite being hyped for Limited Run Games’ Clock Tower Rewind rerelease that finally officially localized the SNES classic, I skipped over it when it launched last month. I was clawing my way out of my review pile and needed a break, so something had to give. However, I did circle back to it, so I guess you can consider this a late mini-review.

Clock Tower is credited with establishing some of the foundations for Japanese survival horror games. It helped popularize featuring a helpless, non-hero protagonist and focused on atmosphere over action. It wasn’t really the first at any of these things, but it found enough of a following that you can see its influence on later games in the genre. As I said, it’s a classic, at least in Japan. It never got released over here, so we only had fan translations to go on.

It’s been superseded in a lot of ways by those it influenced. There really isn’t that much to Clock Tower beyond its tense atmosphere. There isn’t a whole lot of interactivity in the environments, there aren’t any real puzzles beyond use item on thing, and the gameplay loop is mostly rummaging around and hiding from the Scissorman. Repeat until ending. The narrative isn’t even all that unique. That’s not to say it has nothing going for it, but the scares do a lot of heavy lifting.

But it’s the interface that has aged the worst. It’s a point-and-click adventure, so it uses a cursor, but that absolutely sucks on a d-pad. Strangely, the PS1 version, The First Fear, added mouse control, but Limited Run didn’t include it in any capacity despite including the extra content added in that version. So, I’d often overshoot what I wanted to point at, and it became a struggle just to get it to stop on what I needed it to. That was the scariest part; when Scissorman is bearing down on me, and I can’t get the cursor to stop its jumping around.

Speaking of PS1, I probably should have brought this up soon, but we did get a Clock Tower on PS1 over here in the West. However, it was actually Clock Tower 2 in Japan. Yeah, Final Fantasy wasn’t the only game that thought we wouldn’t notice if it changed the numbering for its English releases.

Clock Tower is still worth playing if you want to witness the missing link in Japanese survival horror. It can be genuinely scary, sure, but you can find much more interesting applications of its formula in some modern indie games. Still, it’s worthwhile to go back and see things in their primordial form. Understanding how things formed will permanently enrich your appreciation of everything that came after.

Elsewhere on Destructoid

Playing STALKER 2 feels like coming home, despite all the (many) problems

I’ve been appreciating Filip Galekovic’s coverage of STALKER 2, wherein he admits that, as broken as the game is, he can’t help but love it. Partly due to nostalgia, but also because the heart is still there. The important things, such as the all-important atmosphere, are still accounted for.

I can relate to an extent. While nothing instantly comes to mind, I know I’ve enjoyed lesser sequels because that one thing it does special is still there amidst all the ways it fails. I’ve also experienced the opposite, where that special something gets lost beneath new gloss.

I’m also reminded of an article I did on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet where I say that, despite the fact that the games launched (and probably remains) in barely acceptable shape, the change in format is a step in the right direction. There’s this belief perpetuated among, well, humans, that quality is a metric thing – that it can be measured with scientific instruments. It’s not, and it can’t. It’s more complicated for that.

Nintendo finally adds Echoes of Wisdom to the official Legend of Zelda timeline

My husband has recently discovered that the quickest way to elicit a negative reaction from me is to casually bring up the Zelda timeline. I hate that it exists. It’s a storytelling disaster that sucks a portion of the whimsy out of the series. I told you; visceral reaction. I’m holding back some venom. That’s how much I hate it.

Anyway, if you’re into that sort of thing, don’t bring it up at the dinner table, please. I can’t stomach another argument. But Julián F.L. can bring some clarity into where Echoes of Wisdom fits into the timeline. Oh, gosh, I’m so upset right now.

Windows’ latest update prevents you from playing some Ubisoft games

Speaking of things I don’t like: Thank you, Windows, that’s very helpful. It’s about time someone stepped in.

A PC’s operating system has, ironically, always been the bane of video games. I remember the day I realized my Windows XP machine couldn’t play DOS games. This issue affecting Ubisoft games is hardly comparable to when Microsoft stopped supporting DOS, and according to Tiago Manuel we don’t know exactly what the problem is. To me, however, it sounds like a feature and not a bug.

Power fantasy murder sprint game I Am Your Beast gets free content update

I Am Your Beast was a nice surprise this year after being somewhat underwhelmed by Strange Scaffold’s Life Eater and Clickolding. It was short, though, so some fattening up is appreciated, and that’s what you get with the Support Group Pack. It’s an additional set of levels that are contextualized by having them framed as tall tales told by the grunts who were lucky enough to survive your rampage. Also, it’s free, which is pretty rad.

Reviews for review this week

Taito Milestones 3

I’ve begun to relish doing arcade collection reviews. I like taking the time to write mini-reviews of everything included, so it’s sort of like doing a listicle without the pressure of having to back up an argument. I also really enjoyed the first couple Taito Milestones, especially the second, which introduced me to some new games. Taito Milestones 3 is a lot like that, but with different games. Truly.