Even a day after beating it, I struggle to understand how I feel about this game. I think I enjoyed it, but objectively it's pretty middle of the road.
Well, to begin with, the CGI cutscenes are some of the best PS2 has to offer. They are mesmerizing but, the same can't be said for the regular cutscenes. The models look great and hold up today but the characters move so much when barely anything warrants it that it just becomes confusing. I'm not really sure what Kinji Fukusaku was going for. Also, the younger characters sound noticeably older than they should be and it's just really jarring.
As for the story, firstly, it doesn't have anything to do with the previous games but I don't have an issue with that since CT2 wrapped up the Scissorman story nicely. What I do have an issue with though is the tone, this game has no idea whether it wants to be over-the-top hilarious with the hammy vocal performances and the final sequence which is just ridiculous, heartwrenching with the genuinely nice resolutions to the subplots in the first two levels, or scary or all of the above and it's just a mess though it's a very fun and enjoyable mess nonetheless.
In terms of gameplay, it ditches the point and click style of the previous games in favour of a survival horror style very similar to Silent Hill. Personally, I prefer this approach and in terms of being different from its contemporaries, Clock Tower 3 has Subordinate chases in which you try to run away from bosses in a level. Unlike Scissorman, these bosses are relentless, they appear for most of the level and basically never stop. They are great at instilling the same sense of panic that was present in Clock Tower 2 but to a much greater extent here. Also, I do like how getting hit by them raises your Panic meter, which was a mechanic that was extremely worthless in the previous games. The problem is that in other survival horror games, you could take it at your own pace which made the camera a non-issue, in CT3 that's not the case and the dynamic camera angles make it really confusing when trying to frantically run away. This is made worse by the fact that the subordinates have some of the worst hit detection I've seen in all of gaming. If they wind up their attack while you're anywhere near them, You're Getting Hit. Even if you're far away by the time they finish their attack animation. It's really infuriating and the 3rd Subordinate, Chopper, can go to hell.
The game does have other aspects I like, the music is fantastic and I love the use of piano in it, the boss fights are pretty fun if a little repetitive (besides the final boss which is just a boring damage sponge that takes 5 times as long, but is no more engaging than regular boss fights) and the Ghosts which you set free by finding an item that lets their soul move on was a really enjoyable mechanic that reminded me a lot of Echo Night. Despite this though, I can't shake the feeling that anything I like about the game is in some way countered by something I dislike. It's such a hodgepodge of things that work and things that fail that it ultimately results in a mediocre game.
Well, to begin with, the CGI cutscenes are some of the best PS2 has to offer. They are mesmerizing but, the same can't be said for the regular cutscenes. The models look great and hold up today but the characters move so much when barely anything warrants it that it just becomes confusing. I'm not really sure what Kinji Fukusaku was going for. Also, the younger characters sound noticeably older than they should be and it's just really jarring.
As for the story, firstly, it doesn't have anything to do with the previous games but I don't have an issue with that since CT2 wrapped up the Scissorman story nicely. What I do have an issue with though is the tone, this game has no idea whether it wants to be over-the-top hilarious with the hammy vocal performances and the final sequence which is just ridiculous, heartwrenching with the genuinely nice resolutions to the subplots in the first two levels, or scary or all of the above and it's just a mess though it's a very fun and enjoyable mess nonetheless.
In terms of gameplay, it ditches the point and click style of the previous games in favour of a survival horror style very similar to Silent Hill. Personally, I prefer this approach and in terms of being different from its contemporaries, Clock Tower 3 has Subordinate chases in which you try to run away from bosses in a level. Unlike Scissorman, these bosses are relentless, they appear for most of the level and basically never stop. They are great at instilling the same sense of panic that was present in Clock Tower 2 but to a much greater extent here. Also, I do like how getting hit by them raises your Panic meter, which was a mechanic that was extremely worthless in the previous games. The problem is that in other survival horror games, you could take it at your own pace which made the camera a non-issue, in CT3 that's not the case and the dynamic camera angles make it really confusing when trying to frantically run away. This is made worse by the fact that the subordinates have some of the worst hit detection I've seen in all of gaming. If they wind up their attack while you're anywhere near them, You're Getting Hit. Even if you're far away by the time they finish their attack animation. It's really infuriating and the 3rd Subordinate, Chopper, can go to hell.
The game does have other aspects I like, the music is fantastic and I love the use of piano in it, the boss fights are pretty fun if a little repetitive (besides the final boss which is just a boring damage sponge that takes 5 times as long, but is no more engaging than regular boss fights) and the Ghosts which you set free by finding an item that lets their soul move on was a really enjoyable mechanic that reminded me a lot of Echo Night. Despite this though, I can't shake the feeling that anything I like about the game is in some way countered by something I dislike. It's such a hodgepodge of things that work and things that fail that it ultimately results in a mediocre game.