Almost a year later... I just finished Scratches.
Until I read your review, Danyboy, I didn't know there was a patch available for the game. I did have a few spots where the game froze up temporarily, but I didn't have to quit the game. I tried various things -- clicking the mouse, pressing the Windows key -- so I'm not sure what worked, but the game unfroze.
I'm also having problems lately with games that are too dark. It's getting harder to get the games to respond to my onboard graphics chipset's custom settings. Maybe game engines are being designed differently these days? But... I
was able to adjust the graphics settings successfully for Scratches.
I used my graphics chipset's settings to increase the Brightness, and also set the in-game Gamma settings to "High." Many times I had to lower the Gamma settings, though, in order to read the (many) documents and diaries and letters in the game. And sometimes I had to stretch my monitor screen size temporarily, to make the tiny document text large enough to read.
As for the game itself... I really enjoyed it.
I think it has a wonderful storyline, and is delightfully creepy. As you said, the music is great and adds a lot to the atmosphere. I don't generally like scary games where it's all "hype" and no real action (as in, you can't die and the 'thing' never seriously threatens you). But in Scratches, the creepiness comes from a feeling of uneasiness and anticipation -- rather than from an actual threat.
I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that the ending is interesting. I prefer games that give us a satisfying ending, where all questions are answered. The ending in Scratches does not answer our questions... but I was okay with that. It seems to give us all the information we need to draw our own conclusions. After I finished the game, I spent awhile pondering the ending and putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
Scratches is a game of logic and deductive reasoning, and uses inventory-based problem solving. There are no puzzles to solve, no mazes, and no action/arcade sequences. It's not hard to find your way around, but it takes a long time to get through each door. I had trouble several times figuring out what I was supposed to do next... and had to consult a walkthrough to get unstuck. The only alternative was to re-explore each and every location in the game and hope I received a clue when I was in the right place.
I recommend playing Scratches, but it might be too slow-moving for gamers who prefer lots of action and don't like to read a lot.
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Edit Comment: I just discovered that a new version of the game is going to be released shortly, called
Scratches: Director's Cut. It's supposed to include an expanded ending, among other things. Here's a link to read more about it.
http://www.justadventure.com/Press_Rele ... 16_07.shtm
Thanks Katsmom for letting us know what you think about the game.
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