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Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) #289640
03/06/08 12:19 PM
03/06/08 12:19 PM
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Singapore
Benedict Offline OP
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Just finished the game. I don't get it... Robin the baby was deformed and grew up to be a mutant, Raised by James? Why was Catherine murdered? How was this connected with the mask and the Dhalmaar, the amulet and the evil deity? Blackwood appeared again in the Last visit and saved the reporter? The ending to Scratches left me confused. I had so much expectations for this game... confused

Last edited by Benedict; 03/06/08 12:20 PM.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Benedict] #289688
03/06/08 02:50 PM
03/06/08 02:50 PM
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Greece
Volkana Offline
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From my point of view i think that the God that is worshiped by this mask has put a curse on the family because he took it from the natives. After that yes the baby was borned as a mutant (if this term is correct)and i think that the baby is responsible for the mothers death. The game is based on Lovecraft novels so any weird things like those above are quite possible... The baby room was shield because they didn't want anybody to know about this baby... If you mention the Blackwood i think you referring to Directors cut edition of the game because in the original edition no Blackwood exists at the end...


Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Volkana] #289708
03/06/08 03:46 PM
03/06/08 03:46 PM
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Stony Brook, New York, USA
Becky Offline
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Well, if you can call imprisoning a child in the basement "raising" him, yes, the good doctor did that.

I'm not certain who killed Catherine -- it was either Robin, or perhaps her husband killed her as she defended Robin from him.

My theory is that Robin was about to be used as a ritual sacrirfice in order to assuage the "demon" in the mask.

I think it's the doctor who returns after all those years to see Robin, and he accidentally saves the life of the reporter.

Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Volkana] #289711
03/06/08 03:51 PM
03/06/08 03:51 PM
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Sumrall, MS
raylinstephens Offline
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When the game first came out another gamer noticed that the pills Catherine was taking is the same that caused really bad birth defects. I wish I could give the credit to the right person but I just don't remember now who it was. Thalidomide was the medicine though (I think) and it really did cause severe birth defects.

Awesome game though, truly scary.

Linda wave


So many games, so little time.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: raylinstephens] #289741
03/06/08 04:59 PM
03/06/08 04:59 PM
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The Haze Offline
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wave Ahh Benedict, This was/is a topic we've beaten to death a couple of times. I remember when the first SCRATCHES came out. We discussed and argued for quite a while about what did happen or what might have happened. Somewhere there's an old thread with some really interesting ideas in it. It might be worth chasing it down.

I remember thinking at the time that the discussions were almost as much fun as the game. yes


If all the people were heroes, there would be no one to watch the parades.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Benedict] #289750
03/06/08 05:33 PM
03/06/08 05:33 PM
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near Yosemite
Marian Offline
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I'm pretty sure it was Betty Lou who noticed the thalidomide, which I will confess I had NOT noticed myself. wave

Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Marian] #289753
03/06/08 05:38 PM
03/06/08 05:38 PM
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In the Naughty Corner
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Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #289793
03/06/08 06:48 PM
03/06/08 06:48 PM
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gillann Offline
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I've played this game twice, as well as the Dirctor's Cut ending, but am still puzzled about something.
Click to reveal..
If Catherine was buried in the garden, which we know she was, who's skeleton was in the coffin in the masoleum? It appeared to be a woman. Was the Italian maid killed, perhaps? A bit confusing.
Anyone have the answer?
Gillann

Last edited by MaG; 03/06/08 06:51 PM.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: gillann] #289992
03/07/08 01:12 AM
03/07/08 01:12 AM
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 1,053
Singapore
Benedict Offline OP
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Actually I've tried to search for an earlier thread but our search engine turned up nothing hence I started this thread. I thought our earlier threads were deleted.

I think the game does not deserve an 'A' rating. It's bad storytelling when everyone scratches... their heads. I've seen bad tv programs with better endings than this.

Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Benedict] #290065
03/07/08 07:42 AM
03/07/08 07:42 AM
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Benedict, the game is older so you need to search the archives for previous threads.

Ana wave


Don't feed the Trolls
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #290239
03/07/08 12:02 PM
03/07/08 12:02 PM
Joined: Jun 1999
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Singapore
Benedict Offline OP
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I think we should be stricter when we review games. When should we give an 'A'? It should be satisfying as an overall product, not because of specific elements, and certainly not because we just want to be supportive towards the genre. I did buy the Scratches Directors Cut based on glowing reviews of it that I have read here on our website. Sadly the game fell way short of my expectations in terms of plot.

Admittedly the game has its moments, in the atmosphere and the puzzles. For Scratches Directors Cut, Kudos should be given to the GotGame company for their attempts to upgrade the game. They are offering a free CD for a 500Mb upgrade of the game! The box packaging was also quite nice.

However, we should give fair criticism to encourage our game makers to try harder. That means we have to tell it if it just isn't good enough. Otherwise our games will never improve. The ending should be re-written to have more impact and give badly needed answers to questions that the player may have. Otherwise the weak ending ruins the story, leaving many questions unanswered. Hence the plot itself should deserve not more than a 'C'.

Last edited by Benedict; 03/07/08 12:49 PM.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Benedict] #290285
03/07/08 01:31 PM
03/07/08 01:31 PM
Joined: Feb 2000
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Stony Brook, New York, USA
Becky Offline
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Hi Benedict -- our reviewers do their best to describe all aspects of a game as accurately as possible, including pros and cons. The ending in Scratches was, from what I can tell, purposely ambiguous in some ways, so that the gamer could decide for herself whether the supernatural was at work, or whether everything was explainable through natural occurrences (though of course "natural" in an extremely strange situation).

Not all game plots need to be wrapped up with everything answered in order to be successful.

I thought the story in Scratches was well-developed, particularly when you consider the somewhat nonlinear character of sections of the game. It's much harder to tell a story when you aren't certain what the gamer will be doing or accessing in a particular order (it has to be different from the way you can tell a story in a novel or a movie, for example).

Grading a game is very, very difficult. I think there are few reviewers who find it easy to grade any game, unless the reviewer has found the game to be nearly perfect or (in the opposite direction) perfectly horrible. laugh

That's why it's good to read several reviews of a game to get different reviewers' viewpoints and to see how different reviewers have graded the game.

Have you checked out the member reviews in the Boomer Reviews forum? There are two members reviews of Scratches that give differing viewpoints that add to the reviews by myself and Inferno. You can contribute your own member review of the game there in the Reviews forum, which will give other gamers yet another viewpoint and even more insight into the game.


Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Becky] #290327
03/07/08 02:13 PM
03/07/08 02:13 PM
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Switzerland
Gimli Offline
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Hi all

That's only to say that I think it was RAL that had the idea of the Thalidomide. Not sure though.
There was also the idea of some gamers that maybe the end was so unsecure because of a Scratches2 in the pipeline. But I guess there will be no Scratches2 Becky??

Greetings

Gimli


"You ask me what life is. That's like asking me what a carrot is. A carrot is a carrot is a carrot" (A. Chekhov)
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Gimli] #290328
03/07/08 02:17 PM
03/07/08 02:17 PM
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Stony Brook, New York, USA
Becky Offline
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I haven't heard anything about Scratches 2. It's a good idea to never say never, of course. evil

Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Becky] #290335
03/07/08 02:27 PM
03/07/08 02:27 PM
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Gimli Offline
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Quite Becky grin


"You ask me what life is. That's like asking me what a carrot is. A carrot is a carrot is a carrot" (A. Chekhov)
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Gimli] #290342
03/07/08 02:36 PM
03/07/08 02:36 PM
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The Haze Offline
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Becky makes a really important point when she says that not all games (Or movies or novels or short stories) need to be wrapped up completely. Scratches did just what it was supposed to do. It entertained me; it impressed me; and a couple times it had me jumping out of my seat. I liked that vague, wierd ending. (However, I also liked the ending in STILL LIFE!) I'd like to also suggest that while I enjoyed it, the alternative ending in the director's cut added more mud to the already muddied waters, but didn't help us understand Scratches at all.


If all the people were heroes, there would be no one to watch the parades.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: The Haze] #292223
03/11/08 09:35 AM
03/11/08 09:35 AM
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 162
Vienna, Austria
Jehane Offline
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Finished Scratches only recently and it left me wondering a great deal - maybe that's because I played the original Scratches and not Scratches DC. From what I gather from the Nucleosys boards, some questions are answered in Scratches DC, e.g. who is that down in the basement (ok, that much should be clear already), what has really happened in Blackwood Manor. It seems Scratches DC contains more clues as to what happened before Michael bought the house so that might be a good reason to play Scratches DC as well.

By the way, have any of you found any easter eggs? I read on the Nucleosys boards that there's one particular easter egg shortly before the game ends (that is, before you climb down to the basement and the hidden cell) that can be triggered by making another call. It's supposed to add to the confusion and from what I've read, it's rather eerie and spooky. Haven't had the nerve to look for it myself, though; Scratches really scared me (especially the second nightmare *argh*) and I had to complete it in broad daylight with the sound off during the ritual. Yes, I'm a sissy laugh Scratches seems to be one of the games that trigger the most interesting discussions simply because the ending leaves questions unanswered. I like that. What I didn't like about the game was that you had to explore every room in that house day after day searching for something to trigger the next stage. More clues would have been helpful but overall, I really liked this game.


Shiny.
Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: Jehane] #292231
03/11/08 09:38 AM
03/11/08 09:38 AM
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MaG Offline
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jehane,

We have a lot of discussion about this game and one of them is the Easter eggs. Inferno checked a lot of those and wrote them
Do a search for them on this forum and also the archived discussion forum.

Yes - it is a creepy scary game. scared

Re: Scratches (Ending-Spoilers) [Re: MaG] #292457
03/11/08 06:31 PM
03/11/08 06:31 PM
Joined: Mar 2008
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Vienna, Austria
Jehane Offline
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Found the thread, thanks for the tip smile


Shiny.
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