Let's Discuss The Scratches Ending...

[M�we]

you speak about the orignal ending,
what about the alternative ending???

[Valkyrie]

... it was simply wrong for a number of reasons, chief among them killing the climax (let's just say that in it Michael puts someone out of his misery).

If you're implying what I think you're implying...whoa, that really does change the whole nature of the game, not to mention Michael's character. Glad you went with the current ending--you're right, it works, and speculating madly is always entertaining...

Okay, that said, I've got two questions about the ending:

1) Robin's "cat" eyes. Do they glow in the dark strictly for show and/or a fright tactic, or is it meant to be a clue? (And if it is supposed to be a clue...would you care to elaborate further as to what it's a clue for? )

2) What's the significance of the shot of the flowers blooming in the greenhouse at the very end?

[Agustin]

you speak about the orignal ending,
what about the alternative ending???

The alternate ending will be soon revealed... just not today! It was sort of an afterthought, more like an easter egg. Basically, we were surprised to see how well the whole story was tied up with such a wildy different ending. It sadly didn't make it to the final game. The idea was to allow the player to "trigger" it, similarly to the way alternate endings can be triggered in the Silent Hill series.

This one will be revealed for sure, in one way or another!

[M�we]

thank you for the information. ;D
speaking about easter-eggs:
Can you reveal some of the amazing eastereggs? I think I only noticed a few.
And what about this impressive paintings? What are the ideas behind them?

[Valkyrie]

Okay, these questions are from Nuxly, who's having registration difficulties at the moment:

My questions are:
- How could Robin get clothes?
- Whose the blood we find at some places in the house?
- What about Jerry?

[Agustin]

If you're implying what I think you're implying...whoa, that really does change the whole nature of the game, not to mention Michael's character. Glad you went with the current ending--you're right, it works, and speculating madly is always entertaining...

However, I should say that Michael would have done this by "accident". Not downright murdering the poor bastard...

1) Robin's "cat" eyes. Do they glow in the dark strictly for show and/or a fright tactic, or is it meant to be a clue? (And if it is supposed to be a clue...would you care to elaborate further as to what it's a clue for? )

Both as a clue and as a spooky effect. Not many people noticed this, but that was certainly the desired effect - very subtle, as if you were not sure of what you had just seen. Bear in mind there are just as much clues in favor of the curse as there are against it ;D

2) What's the significance of the shot of the flowers blooming in the greenhouse at the very end?

That the curse may have been lifted. Remember what Blackwood wrote on his notes? That the flowers were dying without reason? Then again, it's just a flower growing... it may be because of an eradicated curse, or just some bloody coincidence...

[Agustin]

Can you reveal some of the amazing eastereggs? I think I only noticed a few.

A last conversation with Robert Blake of the bank is definitely the biggest easter egg in Scratches... to trigger it, you must have spoken with him, and then trying calling one more time before going down in the fireplace. We had a lot of easter eggs prepared, but sadly we ran out of time to include them :-\

And what about this impressive paintings? What are the ideas behind them?

They were used just to add some further creepy atmosphere to the house. They tend to get "worse" as you go up. Enabling players to closely look at them was primarily intended to add some further interaction, but some found it annoying. Of course, a painting was used for a particular puzzle.

[Agustin]

- How could Robin get clothes?

He didn't seem to have changed clothes so often, didn't he? :P
But, he was certainly changed at some time. This could have been easily done by putting him to sleep (remember he was being periodically fed).

- Whose the blood we find at some places in the house?

There aren't that many places with blood. In fact, blood appears for the first and last time in Robin's cell... and it ain't even human! It belonged to the raw meat he was being fed.

- What about Jerry?

I don't know, what about him? ;D
He was quite annoying at times...

[M�we]

This game is like a bone on which you can gnaw for a long time: it consistently gives some nutrition �The discussion in the nucleosys forum is great part of the game and of the fun. ;D
Knowing nearly the solution to a secret can be very tantalising. Thank you for this experience!
The the natural and the supernatural part of the story seam to part the game in two. I never got the definite answer to the question, if the supernatural part really happened � it is told so casually, without exageration. I love this. :-* :-* :-*
Questions:
After the ritual that Michael performs with the mask: where is the god of the mask? Is he free or is he captured somewhere?
What does the ritual do with the mask, with the god of the mask and with Robin?
Does Robin transform at the end of the game in a catlike creature? Is he possesed by the god?

Whom do we see in the second night? Is it Robin?
Will it be possible to get a chronological developpement of the events?

[Valkyrie]

Thanks for clarifying on the original ending, Agustin. Although I admit now I'm curious as to how that accident would have happened...

This next bit is from Nuxly:

- Whose the blood we find at some places in the house?

There aren't that many places with blood. In fact, blood appears for the first and last time in Robin's cell... and it ain't even human! It belonged to the raw meat he was being fed.

He says he was referring to the blood on the money, the newspaper, and the kitchen wall.

[Agustin]

This game is like a bone on which you can gnaw for a long time: it consistently gives some nutrition �The discussion in the nucleosys forum is great part of the game and of the fun. ;D

Exactly, and that was always the intention!

Knowing nearly the solution to a secret can be very tantalising. Thank you for this experience!

You may never know the whole truth though ;D

The the natural and the supernatural part of the story seam to part the game in two. I never got the definite answer to the question, if the supernatural part really happened � it is told so casually, without exageration. I love this. :-* :-* :-*

This aspect was severely downplayed in the original ending... but it's like the story weaved itself - in the end, it's like we didn't know ourselves whether the curse was real or not (mind you, we do know, but we won't tell, heh).

After the ritual that Michael performs with the mask: where is the god of the mask? Is he free or is he captured somewhere?
What does the ritual do with the mask, with the god of the mask and with Robin?

If the curse is real, then the problem isn't with the mask. Nothing happens with the ritual because the god isn't inside the mask... but inside Robin. So yes, Robin would have been possessed by the god - that would be its ultimate punishment against Blackwood.

Does Robin transform at the end of the game in a catlike creature? Is he possesed by the god?

No, the very last sequence is a cinematic effect - we're watching the scene via the eyes of a omnipresent camera, not a character.

Whom do we see in the second night? Is it Robin?

Yes, of course!

Will it be possible to get a chronological developpement of the events?

Umm... we shall see

[Agustin]

He says he was referring to the blood on the money, the newspaper, and the kitchen wall.

Nope, that's not blood then... just some stains. Remember that we're talking about a very old house here

[Valkyrie]

And one last question from Nuxly...who is feeding Robin, and when?

[Agustin]

And one last question from Nuxly...who is feeding Robin, and when?

The clue for this enigma is inside the chest in the attic. Look carefully at the various papers there.

Milton had to take care of Robin for several years... but then he couldn't take it anymore. Before cowardly leaving, he made some "arrangements" so as to keep feeding Robin (because, as we all know, he couldn't fulfill his promise to Blackwood).

[Neverwinter]

Not so much the ending but I think it has great relevence. What about this "dead cat" in one of the Previews you put it in a coffin? Does this have anything to do with Robin?

Sorry if this question has already been answered...

[Agustin]

Not so much the ending but I think it has great relevence. What about this "dead cat" in one of the Previews you put it in a coffin? Does this have anything to do with Robin?

Ah, glad someone asked about that! The cat was a reference to the second teaser, in case someone remembered about that. In it, Blackwood was asking Milton in a letter to perform a "final task" for him, if he doesn't make it.

The final task should be evident after reading about the curse and the amulet... Blackwood was trying to create this amulet and, since something related to Dolhom was needed, he simply decided to use a dead cat. Of course, it wouldn't have looked good to enter his home with a dead cat, like "honey, look what I brought!", and hence the reason he asks Milton for help. This amulet was of course never finished. Michael in turn used the lion's claw.

[Neverwinter]

Could you explain how everyone died? James for example. Nuxly is especialy curious.

Thank you for the previous answer. Nuxly pointed me at the topic on the Nucleosys forum, now I think I fully understand

[Agustin]

Not many people died actually. It should be evident that the maid got away and we have no other choice but to believe that Blackwood truly died of a heart-attack (as said in the newspapers).

As for Catherine... I think you know this already. The scratched teddy bear at the end says it all!

[Valkyrie]

Is dragging the dead cat in all James was asking for Milton's help with, though? I seem to remember some references to James asking Milton to "forget [his] vow," which I'd assume is the Hippocratic oath, since Milton's a doctor. (It's been a while since I played that part of the game. Apologies if my memory's a bit fuzzy.) While that could apply to a cat, I assumed it applied more to people--like, say, Robin. So I guess what I'm asking is: did James at any point feel that he had to kill Robin to complete the amulet, because he was either the victim or the victimizer?

Also, why did Milton never finish the amulet? (Other than the obvious answer: because if he had, there wouldn't have been much of a game! :P )

[Imari]

I didn't have a problem with the storyline so much as I was really angry with Michael at the end for blithely going off to his book writing and success while leaving the boy in the basement. I was clinging to the hope that the last pan of the camera through the opening up to greenhouse was through Robin's eyes, and that he'd escaped to live on the estate.... but now that Agustin's burst that bubble.... ;P