Scratches: Director's Cut

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 27
  3. Negative: 3 out of 27
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  1. dyspeptic
    Sep 11, 2014
    3
    Last Played: Sep 2014

    PROS: + Successfully generates a creepy atmosphere at times CONS: - Puzzles are rarely straightforward – “Season of the Witch” style plot twist REVIEW: I was interested in picking up a combination node-based clicker/horror game, so I went with this one because I heard the story was good and it was really creepy. It is creepy, at times, but by about ¾ of the    Last Played: Sep 2014

    PROS: + Successfully generates a creepy atmosphere at times

    CONS: - Puzzles are rarely straightforward – “Season of the Witch” style plot twist

    REVIEW: I was interested in picking up a combination node-based clicker/horror game, so I went with this one because I heard the story was good and it was really creepy. It is creepy, at times, but by about ¾ of the way through the game this is ruined by the story.

    Why could this be? Well, it feels like the writers either got stumped or bored, or just didn’t feel like the ending was climactic enough, so they completely changed the subject of your fear (just like the writers for “Season of the Witch” completely changed from witches to demons to disastrous effect) so all the tension build up was wasted. Not only is this a problem, but the puzzles rarely make sense, even when you know exactly what to do. As an example, maybe you are playing along and thinking: “Gee, I sure could use a crowbar right now” and there is one you can (and must) pick up before continuing the game. The only trouble is that said crowbar is in a dark corner of a location that is otherwise totally unremarkable and cannot be zoomed in on.

    If you want to beat this game without any hints or walkthroughs it will require you to visit every node and use every item on every “highlight point” after every “plot event. And the puzzles must be solved in order, so you can forget about ruling out a combo you tried previously. Needless to say, this is a tedious approach and the game would have been better served by more clearly signaling what your next objective should be.

    P.S. The extra content at the end only reconciles the two plots if you squint your eyes almost closed and tilt your head to the side, but at least they tried, I guess.    … Expand
  2. spydercanopus
    Apr 29, 2011
    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 dozenIt'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
  3. dajhorn
    Nov 28, 2012
    0
    I played Scratches for 30 minutes, and nothing happened. This game feels like somebody got their horror story rejected by a publishing house, so they tried to turn it into a video game instead.

    Even though Scratches is a $2.99 title on Steam, don't bother.