Ghost Master/Headscratchers
Shock Jocks Vs. Creep Geeks
My own single great irritance with the game lies in its overly simplistic scoring system. To be recognized as competent (and to be rewarded for that competence in the form of additional useful powers for your preferred ghosts), you score as high as possible on a number of scales. So far, so good. One of those scales is speed of completion of a mission. Perfectly reasonable. Except...
Except that the game's interface is intentionally voyeuristic. It seems built to emphasize Psychological Horror elements; watching and stalking the resident humans, learning more about each one of them, slowly increasing their tension and subsceptibility, and finally breaking their collective courage or sanity with a simple, elegant stroke. This could just be a case of Author - well, Troper Appeal; I'd very much like to see such a game. While many of the later missions do encourage a cautious approach, the scoring system still reminds you that this is a trait to be overcome.
I don't want to disparage the Scooby-Doo style approach of sending everybody running around screaming as your ghosts keep popping in front of them to go "Boogedy-Boogedy-Boogedy!" Nor do I think that given the obstacles in the later missions, somebody who can do that successfully isn't demonstrating skills which should be recognized. And yes, you only have to get a perfect score once in a mission; you can redo them at leisure your own way. But it really bugs me than a game centered around Video Game Cruelty Potential, with so many ways of administering it, takes so little notice of some of the most interesting approaches. Based on the limited success of the modding community, I'm guessing that won't change without a complete remake of the game. And it's such a nice game...
- Totally agree, clearing out a house in five minutes is great but just not as special. Although since it isn't necessary to get high scores on the levels (you just need to complete them and you're fine), sometimes I'll take my time and drive as many people crazy as possible. It's rewarding in a pure-satisfaction sense.