Though the Tower seems man-made, it is in fact one massive organism, with sentience and a will of its own. An untold time before the game takes place, the civilization fell to ruin, corrupted by greed for immortality the tower transformed into a treacherous labyrinth, and its denizens warped into cruel monstrosities. Through vague writings and dialogue from other characters, it is revealed that the Tower was once home to an ancient civilization, ruled by a divine king who gained untold power and prosperity for his people through the use of a mysterious artifact: referred to only as The Spear. With no way out the protagonist makes his way inside, and with no way back can only advance further into and up the tower in search of an exit (a classic dungeon crawler plot line, hearkening back to Eye of the Beholder). Encouraged by the old man, the protagonist steps into an opening in the ruins of the tower, when suddenly a vine extends across the opening, sealing him in outside the old man can be heard: "The hole is sealed. Eventually the two come upon the ruins of a strange, tall tower, wrapped in immense vines the tower itself seeming to extend deep into the earth. Growing bored with the work, the protagonist wanders into the forest, and there encounters an old man who appears to be a local the man claims to have knowledge of the greatest treasures of the ancient civilization, and leads the protagonist deeper into the forest. Relics which prove the existence of highly advanced civilization and technology have been found, causing something of a sensation around what was first thought to be the remains of a simple tribe. The player assumes the role of an unnamed man with a military past, working as security for an archaeological dig deep within an unknown forest. In a manner similar to many of From Software's titles, particularly King's Field, the story of Shadow Tower Abyss is not a direct continuation to its predecessor rather it keeps many of the themes and atmospheric elements, and functions as a new cycle of the first games plot. Shadow Tower Abyss was slated for a North American release, but was canceled by Sony due to poor reception of the first Shadow Tower game. The game operates on a punishing cyclical economy, in which the player sacrifices health to repair their equipment, and equipment in turn is sacrificed to heal the player traditional money can be found and used to purchase healing items, but it is extremely sparse, giving the game a survival horror-esque quality. Though taking place in a largely dark fantasy setting, the game includes modern weaponry and equipment, such as assault rifles and gas-masks. It is a first-person dungeon crawler in the tradition of Ultima Underworld with the player moving linearly from one level of the tower to the next, but with each level being open to exploration.
Shadow Tower Abyss was developed by From Software, as a tangentially related sequel to Shadow Tower.
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