1. JayB450

   9

   Amazing game! this game is genuinely scary, the night time parts really scared the crap out of me :P. Really fun exploring the house, and finding new things, even reading the diaries was interesting! the only half-way negative thing I have to say about this game is sometimes its really hard to find some things.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
2. Nicotine

   7

   Scratches- Director's cut takes the player back to the day when first person meant point and click puzzle solving. Penumbra and Amnesia this game is not. Gamers who have been around for a long time will remember the days when Lucas Arts made the best brain bending adventure games, Myst stood tall as the king of casual, immersive gameplay, and FPS was relegated almost solely to ID software's largely two-dimensional Wolfenstein and Doom series. Scratches is a throwback to an age where casual gamers wanted to have their brains teased with devious puzzles, rather than the visceral thrill of turning swarms of alien zombie demons into exaggerated bloodstains. Scratches combines the likes of Myst with The Seventh Guest in a short, albeit intriguing, point and click style adventure. The game plays like a slideshow, as was the norm once upon the time, gifting you with puzzles that are likely to make you froth at the mouth, even with the tutorials turned on. The atmosphere is creepy, especially at night, and a lingering sense of dread keeps you engaged, at least at the start. As the game progresses it falls into the same trap F.E.A.R. fell into: the things that are supposed to scare you, can't kill you. Once you realize this, the game loses its fangs and becomes another first person adventure puzzler. And the puzzles are monstrous indeed. Combining a random assortment of items was the thing to do back in the heyday of adventure games, and Scratches takes a queue directly from their book. The answers are not as obvious as they may seem. Deciphering a particularly vague numberlock puzzle drove me to the edge of insanity. Don't feel too ashamed if you find yourself using a walkthrough. Scratches can give even a veteran adventure gamer pause. Like most classic point and click games in the vein of Myst, you don't kill anything, and success is measured by the puzzles you solve to advance the storyline. It's geared towards a thinker who wants a few scares tossed in to add some flavor to the tedium. Measured against games now-a-days, it will seem slow and tiresome for most, and the eight plus hours to beat it (if it's your first time through and you're not using a walkthrough) will seem like forever. However, measured against the games it was designed after, (The Seventh Guest, Myst and it's obnoxious little brother Riven) it holds its own quite well. The Director's cut differs from the original release as it also includes the epilogue mission, which shouldn't take someone who beat the Original Scratches more than an hour to complete. The epilogue, known as "The Last Visit", ties everything together and helps clear up any remaining loose ends, though due to the state of the house, The Last Visit reminded me more of the classic Myst knock off Pyst featuring John Goodman, more than anything else. Scratches is not for everyone. If you find yourself bored with point and click games, this will leave a sour taste in your mouth. However, if you remember Myst fondly, this game may provide a pleasant way to pass the time, and at $10 on Steam, certainly isn't a bad value. Scratches - Director's Cut fits a specific clique of gamers long since thought to be extinct, and is well worth a look if you fall into this category. Everyone else will find Amnesia to be a superior alternative.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. RsinX

   6

   Scratches would have been great if only it were a live-3D First person with monsters/ghosts like the game Amnesia, and not just a 'static' point and click... for that I only give it a 6. The eerie sounds, music, environments and graphics are pretty good and it causes a quite depressing state! I really wish this had been the first person live-3D style.... If you don't mind clicking around a lot and not having the typical 3D-motion, then this game is for you! ...Overall, this game is Good.... Though I recommend if you are already depressed or sad, you shouldn't really play it!… Collapse

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
4. spydercanopus

   3

   It's impossible without a walkthrough. Linear storyline in an open "world" means lots of wasted time looking stuff over and over. The story, voice acting, and especially the music are good, but this is just a terrible "game". It would be quite entertaining to watch it unfold as some veteran played through it. But the puzzles are too hard. You have to know what to do. I have two dozen items and a hundred interactive points. Mostly the puzzles don't make sense. But the music and sound effects are phenomenal. They are they only redeeming factors to give it two points. And story. That is three.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.

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