OpenTube

How a 2006 Horror Game Scared the Hell out of Me | SCRATCHES

Vote 4 Holt

1,305,937 views

PART 2 IS OUT: ...Keep It Safe | SCRATCHES pt. 2

Senscape links:

ASYLUM IS OUT NOW https://store.steampowered.com/app/23...
Twitter Twitter: Senscape
Discord Discord: discord (it's a pretty baller discord they have a whole channel for Scratches)

My illustrator (thumnnails and all!) https://www.kmiecikillustration.com

V4H Fanmade Discord Server: Discord: discord (not affiliated, I'm just sharing the link)

Some fine walkthroughs of this great game:

Kino Konformist (no commentary -- thanks for letting me use your footage in this vid!) Scratches: Directors Cut [Full Walkthrough...
CJU Games: Old school let's player, good commentator Scratches
YourGibs Gaming: love this guy, super chill Canadian commentator who also played all the ND games Let's Play ♦ Scratches Director's Cut walk...
And then my own first playthrough -- please excuse my shotty editing and production quality, it was nearly three years ago!
SCRATCHES — Blind Playthrough
_____________________________________________________________________

Legit have not stopped thinking about this game since I played it. It's so simple and pure, it doesn't try to break any molds but instead perfects a familiar story-- and it really resonated with me. Maybe I'm just terribly partial to it, but I really think there's something special about this game, and it makes me so sad to see how shunned and obscure it has become. With their new game Asylum on the horizon, I thought I'd shoot this video out into the aether and see if I couldn't both tell some strangers about a really rad game and give them a new release to be excited about.

Never made a video essay before. Kept me busy for a good long while and I enjoyed every minute. I already have a couple more games I'd love to make one of these on, but I'm also looking forward to returning to my good ol' ND bread and butter with my brother. Going forward, you can expect to have the occasional long-piece like this, though. There's plenty of room to improve, and I only plan to get better.

Also, I am not a games historian or anything of the sort, and I'll bet that despite my efforts this video may contain some overgeneralizations and inaccuracies. Rather than allowing me to spread falsehoods and get away with it, you should go to the comments and correct me-- or at least share your own opinions.

Vote 4 Holt!

20 Comments

@vote4holt Creator 2 years ago (edited) Pinned

PART 2: https://youtu.be/4GKFntc3OYs?si=YJ2C6u8NC2Oa-XtF

ASYLUM is out: https://store.steampowered.com/app/230210/ASYLUM/

RETRACTIONS: Scratches' development time was 3-4 years, not 13. The "13 years" figure was likely in reference to Asylum, the game Senscape is currently making, and was ultimately the product of a language barrier.
Also, I have been informed that Got Game Entertainment going bankrupt was NOT the cause of the rights trouble, which was instead the result of some dispute shared between Agustin and his now ex-partner who worked on Scratches with him. Agustin claims that he tried to reacquire the rights with the help of Nightdive Studios (a group who specializes in acquiring the rights of and improving abandonware games) but ultimately hit a brickwall, though not for lack of trying.
Both of these corrections come as a courtesy from Mr. Cordes himself who reached out to me via discord dm's. Apparently I'm a journalist now 0_o.

As my first video essay it’s a bit of a burnt pancake, but I’m proud to have made it to the finish line.

Have you heard of Scratches before? And if so, how did your playthrough differ from my own?

Oh, and in case you’re looking for somewhere to play Scratches, you probably should not look on oldgames and myabandonware because you probably won’t find it there probably 😉

@yingyangdevious 2 years ago

“He finally starts working on his book.”
That’s the realest writer thing of all time. 😂

@qew_Nemo 2 years ago

It's sad and unfortunate but also it's absolutely hilarious that something like Scratches would unironically become lost media IRL. It doesn't even need to pretend to be spooky found footage, it IS spooky found footage.

@mikehawk8984 2 years ago

Turns out the REAL horror was outdated copyright law, cursing amazing games and banishing them to abandonware status 😂

@Jordan-pp5bo 2 years ago

Piracy is always morally correct if it helps preserve media that could potentially become lost
If the two options are Piracy and a piece of media being inaccessible forever, Piracy is the correct option

@AshVeilll 1 year ago

In the basement, the reason the music keeps climbing is because it’s a clever variation on something called a shepherd’s tone, an auditory illusion where a high pitched noise appears to be infinitely rising in pitch and intensity. It’s actually a pretty genius idea to make something as unnerving as possible, an ever rising never ceasing cacophony of noise.

@laurenwasinger9436 2 years ago

When he first mentioned the mask, I thought “how are they going to make sure that it lives up to the hype when you find it?” Apparently, by making it emerge out of pitch blackness in flickering lamp light after you’re already on edge. I audibly gasped when I saw it.

@IncognitoSprax 2 years ago (edited)

"Something still possessed him to take that mask and bring it home to England"

Being English is what did that 😂

@montylj62 2 years ago

“If you have an attention disorder, this game will bore you”

And I took that as a challenge

@AndrewAlfordMusic 1 year ago

41:08 “To be fair, I’m not even sure what they would have scared me with. A haunting death mask floating in the doorway?” Brilliant foreshadowing 🤣

@carbohydrates39 1 year ago (edited)

the door-opening animation is actually the best thing ive ever seen. the entire game you're waiting for a jumpscare, but its so slow and you're just filled with dread each time you enter a new room, something you need to do to progress, and after the first "jumpscare" it just amplifies your feeling 100x. This is genuinely the first time ive ever been scared by a jumpscare in a video, let alone one i was expecting, its just so genius i cant describe it

@TheLoathsomeDungEater27 2 years ago

"The guy who built this house James Blackwood, was sort of like a weaboo for all things natively African."
Was a funny way to describe it lol

@BE-ew2pt 2 years ago

Most of my time watching this playthrough was spent muttering "Michael, get the fuck out of there." So it's basically perfect Lovecraftian horror.

@theflyingpen 2 years ago

"God damn it Jerry, why did you send me to a murder house?"

@savagechansin3367 1 year ago

20:27 I CANNOT get over the line, “You’ll eat your whole closet.” It kills me dude.

@nakuchan90 2 years ago

That strange painting is a 'supposedly haunted' painting that actually does exist irl so it is funny to see it there.

@merriellenroselette5191 2 years ago

I was just a child, and my mom absolutely loves collecting PC Horror games. We had this game! I remember the box art so clearly. I also remember when I wokeup one morning peeking over her shoulder as she played it, it got to a part that wasn't shown in this video and I had to dive and look away as my mom screamed and jumped. I thank her for my fascination and love of horror games to this day. And it's one of those games where it feels like "was I the only person who played it?" Since it's one of the gems you gotta dig for. 10/10

@FuntBunkledorf 2 years ago

"I wish you a very funny family guy moments compilation" is easily up there in my top 5 non-vulgar insults. For those who were wondering, my number 1 is "Go finish your coloring book".

@furbyacolyte5604 2 years ago (edited)

the "spooky tribal people" trope in horror games always takes away all tension or fear for me, because I like to imagine that the locals are just having a chill time at a dance party or LARPing or something. imagine just messing around in a field with your friends, and a random white guy shows up and drives himself to madness because he thinks marco polo is the devil's work. sometimes i tear my buddy apart after a game of tag, so what?