Scratches (video game): Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"I arrived at Blackwood Manor one cold Saturday morning amidst a thick veil of fog, the weather didn't look good and there was an unnatural calm surrounding the area. Yet... I soon became entangled with the place..."''|'''Michael Arthate''', on the opening monologue.}}
 
''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130916171851/http://www.meridian4.com/games/scratches Scratches]'' is an Argentinian mystery/horror [[Adventure Game|point-and-click adventure game]] for the PC released in 2006, a Director's Cut was released a year later featuring an alternate ending. It was developed by the now-defunct ''NucleoSys'' and published first by Got Game and currently by Meridian 4.
 
It features a soundtrack made by ''Cellar of Rats'', which helps [[Nightmare Fuel|building the atmosphere]].
 
The game has you playing as Michael Arthate, a [[Most Writers Are Writers|rising horror writer]] who has acquired a [[Haunted Castle|Victorian mansion]] to [[Reclusive Artist|inspire him into finishing]] his new book. However, he soon discovers the mansion's horrible past with a murder committed by the manor's former owner James Blackwood followed by his sudden death and subsequent disappearance of James's best friend and house caretaker, Christopher Milton. In addition, Michael [[Things That Go Bump in Thethe Night|hears strange, unnerving noises echoing through the house every night]].
 
Michael then becomes poised to solve the mystery.
 
Since April 27 2011, this game can be found on ''[[Steam]]''.
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{{tropelist}}
=== ''Scratches'' provides examples of the following tropes: ===
 
* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: The diaries and letters of James Blackwood and Christopher Milton.
* [[Arc Words]]: {{spoiler|Robin}}
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* [[Evil Laugh]]: {{spoiler|The Mask}}
* [[False Ending]]: The Director's Cut features an additional chapter: ''Last Visit'' set after the events of the game.
* [[Game Breaking Bug]]: If you try to play this game out of the box on Windows 7, you are in for a nasty surprise in the form of the BSOD. Fortunately, [http://justadventure.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1265318270 there is a fix for it]{{Dead link}}. And the [[Steam]] version has this fixed.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: How to get the secret ending.
* [[Haunted Castle]]: Blackwood Manor. {{spoiler|Possibly subverted according to what was found on Last Visit.}}
* [[Hearing Voices]]: Early on in the game, there are the eponymous scratching noises. Later on {{spoiler|the main character starts hearing whispering voices (that might or might not be real) mocking him during the exorcism of the cursed mask}}.
** {{spoiler|James Blackwood also heard whisperings coming from the mask's room, Christopher Milton in his diary questions his sanity when he also mentions hearing them.}}
* [[In -Universe Game Clock]]: The grandfather's clock in the entrance, which serves as an indicator of progress since it advances only when a puzzle is completed; And certain events can only be completed at certain times.
* [[It's for Aa Book]]: Michael tries to get information from the retired police-officer William Bailey by pretending to be a reporter writing about famous murder cases.
* [[Ironic Nursery Tune]]: First with the music box hidden in the attic, then {{spoiler|on the nursery and near the ending.}}
* [[Karmic Death]]: {{spoiler|Christopher Milton's fate}} at the end of Last Visit.
* [[Law of Conservation of Detail]]: There are many hints and codes hidden in seemingly mundane objects or apparently randomly stacked objects.
* [[Mistaken for Murderer]]:{{spoiler|James Blackwood.}}
* [[Madwoman in Thethe Attic]]: {{spoiler|Robin}}
* [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]]
* [[Multiple Endings]]: There's a secret ending that appears only if you perform certain tasks in a certain order.
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* [[Or Was It a Dream?]]: The dream sequences.
* [[Pixel Hunt]]: Probably a consequence of having photorealistic graphics in a darkly lit game, but some items can be difficult to notice.
* [[Real After All]]: {{spoiler|Most people say it's a Red Herring.}}
* [[Red Herring]]: {{spoiler|Possibly. [[Scooby-Doo Hoax|The curse may not be real in the first place.]]}}
* [[Sassy Secretary]]: Michael's secretary, Barbara Stiles.
* [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]]: {{spoiler|A mask in this case.}}
* [[Scare Chord]]
* [[Scenery Porn]]: Seriously, exploring Blackwood Manor is akin to visiting a virtual art museum.
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: {{spoiler|Subverted, Michael fixes his car and attempts to leave the mansion on the third day, but he doesn't because he fears that something terrible might happen to someone in the future, so he decides to stay until he solves the mystery.}}
* [[Sequence Breaking]]: Even if you correctly guess {{spoiler|Robin's}} name and use it to open the box in the study, you will still be forced to go through the puzzle in the crypt to try and find it.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Mostly to [[HPH.P. Lovecraft]].
* [[Skepticism Failure]]: {{spoiler|Christopher Milton, but later he starts experiencing the same things James Blackwood did.}}
* [[Sundial Waypoint]]: Twice: {{spoiler|Once in the crypt and later when you use the tip of the tower's shadow as a reference to find Catherine Blackwood's tomb.}}
* [[Surprisingly Similar Stories]]: The game shares several similarities with ''[[Chzo Mythos|5 Days a Stranger]]'', namely: They are both set on England in a Victorian mansion that the protagonists cannot leave, there is a terrible backstory on the manor's former owners, the games' progress is divided in days, {{spoiler|they also involve finding a secret room by looking at the mansion's plans, an African artifact is pinpoined as the source of the curse, theres the action of entering an inaccessible room by rappelling from the outside, and the [[Madwoman in Thethe Attic]] trope}}.
* [[Take That Me]]: Arthate's working notes for his book, {{spoiler|in which he can't decide if a supernatural force is responsible for the scary events or not, and points out the flaws in choosing either alternative. The game itself seesaws between supernatural or natural explanations, and ends ambiguously.}}
* [[The End - Oror Is It?]]: The first game: {{spoiler|The monster (Robin) is still in the mansion, and he has dug a tunnel to freedom.}}
** Last Visit: {{spoiler|Blackwood manor has been demolished, Robin is implied to be in a mental institution, but the cursed mask is still out there.}}
* [[Things That Go Bump in Thethe Night]]: The scratching noises.
* [[Town Withwith a Dark Secret]]: Inverted, Blackwood Manor is situated on Rothbury, where the majority of the townspeople want to know what exactly happened in that mansion.
* [[Twist Ending]]
* [[Spooky Painting]]: The painting called ''The Hands Resist Him'' AKA ''The Haunted eBay Painting'' appears on the second floor near the bathroom.
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[[Category:Scratches]]
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Scratches (video game)]]