One of the oft-forgotten classic horror games is Clock Tower, which was released on the SNES, with a sequel following on the PS1. The game centered on a young woman named Jennifer as she investigated spooky locations while being stalked by a mysterious scissor-wielding antagonist known only as "Scissorman." Why do I bring this up? Remothered: Broken Porcelain is a clear spiritual successor to that game. Although there are plenty of differences, our preview build of Broken Porcelain definitely invites comparisons to that classic title. If you enjoyed Clock Tower (or the original Remothered), you'd likely enjoy the Remothered sequel.

The preview build begins with the protagonist, a young woman named Jennifer, who is being lectured by the owner of the hotel where she is staying. While it may be a hotel in theory, it seems to be more of an orphanage, with Jennifer and her friend Linn both staying there. We quickly get a feel for the characters. Jennifer is a troublemaker with a foul mouth but insists she is doing her best to do the right thing. Everyone around her, including Linn, seems to have their own motivation when connected to Jennifer. Still, it seems like a nice enough place — "seems" being the operative word.

After a raging argument with Linn, Jennifer locks herself in the bathroom. A creepy sound plays over the loudspeaker, and Jennifer panics and tries to escape. Although the hotel looks the same, there's an eerie pall to the place. Jennifer runs into Andrea, who used to be the friendly caretaker. She's much less friendly now, she's covered in a bizarre substance, and she's eager to introduce a pair of scissors to Jennifer's head.

This brings us to the core gameplay, which is a combination of stealth and puzzle-solving. The stealth seems straightforward but feels good. You can hide, peek around corners, and use distraction objects to draw Andrea's attention. There's also the good old horror standby of hiding in closets and trunks. You don't instantly lose if you're seen, though. You can try to avoid Andrea long enough to hide somewhere else or find the perfect distraction object to delay her so you can find cover again.

You can also find items that allow you to fight back, but don't mistake this to mean that you'll pull out a gun and solve all of your issues. Most of the combat items are single use and revolve around giving you a chance to escape. You may eventually need to take down an enemy, but even that isn't going to happen by just beating them up. It feels very much like Clock Tower in that way. Thankfully, you can use the crafting system to mix up more items if you need them.

Escaping isn't the only part of Broken Porcelain. You'll also need to solve puzzles. In the preview build, Andrea has locked the only doorway, so Jennifer is unable to escape. Once you're hidden from Andrea, you need to use a phone to call a hotel room on the other side of the locked door. This leads Andrea to search the other room, leaving the door unlocked behind her for you to sneak away. It's an organic puzzle that genuinely feels like it fits, rather than Resident Evil's more blatant puzzles.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain is looking to be an appealing successor to the Clock Tower gameplay style. From our short time with the game, it looked atmospheric and horror-filled. We'll obviously need to see how the final version plays out, but its Oct. 13 release date will make Broken Porcelain the perfect "Spooktacular" game for Halloween.