Part 2: Episode I: Alone in the Dark (Prologue)

Episode I: Alone in the Dark (Prologue)


There should be a subtitle. Like... Clock Tower 3: Revenge of the Clock Tower. Or Clock Tower 3: Son of Clock Tower


Our game begins with a stormy day over Unnamed Boarding School: Blimey Edition. We find our heroine, Alyssa, reading a letter from her mother. With accompanying narration by said parental unit.


We meet the true villain of the title quickly.


English accents...


"All the booze, sex, and drugs have made it a bit of a blur."



"I told the 'tart aviation at his age was a risk. But, he never listened."


"Sorry your grandpa is probably dead. Could you do me a favor and piss off for...half a decade sound good? Thanks."



File Footage of Alyssa's Mother's household at current.


Alyssa ponders why her mother's disembodied narration doesn't match the accompanying letter she's reading.


"Alyssa... I think... I think..."


"You're turning Japanese, I think you're turning Japanese. I really think so!"


So, she sent Alyssa to a boarding school three years ago to prevent something that would happen on her fifteenth birthday... But still told her not to come back for another three years after the fact...? Nice parent.


"Mostly because it's a vaguely worded fax I typed with a monster hangover from that kegger the other night. Maybe I should just call you or something? That's probably be a better idea. Oh, bugger. Am I typing what I'm saying? I should probably sto"


"Nevermind you're a penniless 14 year old with no reliable relatives. You'll think of something. Your loving mother, Nancy."


Remember folks. Everyone is British with a capital Blimey.

Off screen, since the developers don't feel compelled to render any bit parts ever, a woman yells to Alyssa.


This is the first in an endlessly long stream of people yelling that name.


As well as the first in an endless stream of the girl you're looking at getting startled by utterly minor events.


I was away on business once and sent my kid home a letter chronicling how I'd been abducted by space clowns and they were coming for her next if she didn't immediately go into hiding. I had her mom notify me when she got the letter, just so I could call up immediately after and go 'psyche!'

I slept on the couch for the following month when I got back home...



"Hey, sweetie. How's it going?"
"Wrong connection."



The administration has been fucking with her like this for weeks. Mum is a month behind on tuition.


So, what does are sprightly young heroine do next? Assume it's a dropped connection and shrug it off? Call her back? Send a return letter?


Of course not. This is survival horror and we will have no dealings with filthy 'logic'. Alyssa packs up and heads back home. Why the boarding school faculty let an underaged girl in their care just wander off or how exactly she made it back home is not made clear. I'm assuming it has something to do with extended thumbs on the side of the road, Catholic school uniforms, pedophiles in motor vehicles, and trauma that will take years of therapy to shake off.


A huge, ominous mansion in a survival horror game. That's covering new ground...


Unfortunately, unless Nancy is equipped with Superman caliber hearing, I don't think she heard that whispering. Just a thought.


"She's almost always passed out around the steps. Something's amidst!"


Suddenly, Alyssa is assaulted by a soundbite most ominous.


This, of course, causes her to nearly shit herself. A major gameplay mechanic, we'll come to find, is that everything scares the shit out of Alyssa.


Foreboding doors opening by themselves? Scared shitless. Sound cues she can't actually hear? Scared shitless. Minor electrical shocks? Scared shitless. Her name being muttered by serial killers? Scared shitless.


Despite her overly nervous disposition, Alyssa soldiers on to investigate the mysteries of the automatic door. She discovers a portly fellow in a dark trench coat. The man is never named, to my recollection, but is referred to as the "Dark Gentleman" in the credits. So, there you have it.


"Yes, indeed. I was masturbating."


"Yes, I am."

Ah, so it isn't just a run-of-the-mill menacing mansion. It's a bed-and-breakfast type set-up.


That's a relief.


"She did indeed refer to a 'useless pain in my ass'. However, I believed her to be referring to a pet of some manner. I suppose a daughter would fill that niche."



"To get some...milk!"


"I was masturbating then too."
"Huh?"
"She mentioned she would not be coming back for some time. Something about a 'Las Vegas'. It was quite...cryptic."
"What!?"
"She was wrong."


"She's gone black. They say they...never...go back."


Let's see...urgent warning about impending doom upon birthday. Mother vanishing. Creepy man in trench coat only person in your house. There may be a connection between all these events.


The Dark Gentleman likes 'em young.


"I saw that... O-Face ...when you were startled by the door. Magnificent."

Alyssa shoves the D.G. away.


"Think I'm cheap? It's fifty bucks a pop, grandpa."


The Dark Gentleman stalks upstairs giggling to himself.


Let's see... A dirty old man just tried to molest you, implied your mother is dead, and stormed off laughing upstairs. I take it Alyssa will get far away as possible, call the authorities, and return to the safety of the boarding school.


"Time to investigate!"

Tune in next time for the further adventures of...



As well as the following exciting features:


CLASSICAL MUSIC!


MAGIC!!


STATUES!!!

Not featured in the next episode:


A Clock Tower.

Bonus Content:

Open Credits Cinematic
Introduction Cinematic