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AG Community Playthrough #33: Scratches

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I just finished the game, and as an amendment to my previous story notes:

The Blackwoods and Dr. Milton didn’t kill Robin the son, as I previously speculated, instead they “just” locked him up in the cellar.
It was of course Robin and not Catherine who we saw and who is still alive.
(Though my guess was valid at the time, as I still hadn’t found her body, and it was missing from the mausoleum)
Being born under the influence from the mask / the curse, Robin turned into something similar to the Dhalmaar, which is why they locked him up.
It was Robin that slit his mothers throat with his bare hands / teeth, James just buried the body to cover it up.
Robin has almost dug his way out of his prison, and will commit a series of gruesome murders, shortly after the end of the game.

I do have one problem with this however: If neither Dr. Milton nor Catherine believed in the mask curse thing, which they apparently didn’t, then why did they agree to look him up in the cellar?
Was the reference to ‘Catherine talking to other doctors including psychiatrists’, because she wanted to commit Robin to a psychiatric ward instead of keeping him in the cellar?
And if so why didn’t Dr. Milton support her (more) in this, or did so himself after James died? Perhaps because he didn’t want to get into trouble for his own role in this conspiracy.

As for the things that aren’t completely spelled out:
I believe it was James Blackwood in the coffin, I mean who else should it be in his coffin?
I also believe that he died when and how we are told in the newspaper. No faking his own dead, only to end up in the coffin later, just scared to death by the curse.
Someone has been feeding Robin all this time, and Dr. Milton is the only conspirator that can still be alive to do so. He disappeared when he could no longer stand living in the house, perhaps partly because of the mask and partly because of the madman in the cellar, but he makes sure to feed Robin regular.
As for the open Blackwood account, then it is something that James could have arranged long before his dead, and given Dr. Milton authorization to use the account, just in case something happened.
When Dr. Milton noticed that someone had moved into the house, he took legal proceedings to get Michael evicted. The house is mostly likely own by some kind of holding company which he secretly controls.
I no longer believe Catherine and Dr. Milton had an affair, that was based mainly on my hypotheses that they was orchestrating everything to drive James mad. 

The big question is of course how could Jerry screw everything up, and send Michael to a house without an agreement or arrangement with the actual owner of the house?

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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There’s a twist to Robin’s condition that some may missed.  In one of the drawers in the master bedroom, there are bottles of Thalidomide.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Lady Kestrel - 28 May 2015 04:10 PM

There’s a twist to Robin’s condition that some may missed.  In one of the drawers in the master bedroom, there are bottles of Thalidomide.

Ahhhhh - I did notice the bottles, but I never read the label.

So he could simply be suffering from phocomelia, and the rest is caused by being isolated in a small cellar ever since he was a little child.
It is NOT actually the curse of the mask, but instead his fathers superstition that is the cause of everything (combined with his actual condition).
We and Michael have just been dragged into the same superstition because of all the notes about the Dhalmaar and their evil god!

I really like that explanation. I have since the beginning of the game looked for a more earthbound explanation and thought or sensed that there had to be one, but the actual ending didn’t seem to allow for that, which actually disappointed me a bit. But now it is back on the table, and suddenly everything clicks into place Smile

Well spotted Lady K Thumbs Up  Thumbs Up  Thumbs Up  Thumbs Up  Thumbs Up

(It does however makes Dr. Miltons actions even more suspicious, as he as a doctor should have know better.)

Edit: And now I’m blaming myself for being dragged into the whole mask curse evil god thing against my will, when I even without noticing the bottles, should have realised that the boy could just have a medical condition, and that everything could be explained without the need for something supernatural Meh

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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Well done from me too Lady K. I had no idea what thalidomide was (and truth be told, it is even easier to spot the bottle in Last Visit), but after a help from the wiki, everything folds in place. The question of who is in the coffin, Dr Milton or James Blackwood (I still believe it is Dr Milton. James must be alive. The bank clerk wasn’t very happy to give info about the bank account when you give the name of Dr Milton, which wouldn’t have been the case should he been alive) is not THAT important.
The thalidomide clue makes the story and the ending more sad than scary, which is a nice twist.
Also, makes the Blackwoods the WORST. PARENTS. EVER. and Dr. Milton the WORST. DOCTOR. EVER.
A small detail however. No thalidomide adverse effect could have caused such violent behaviour (slicing so one’s throat with the bare teeth. Of course it could have been a result of the isolation/bad living condition ,  but I still leave a small window open for the curse being real.

     
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I’m not so sure. I buy that Thalidomide could certainly have caused some underlying conditions. (Although, here in the US the term “Thalidomide Baby” took on a far more tragic significance as a great many babies were born with severe physical abnormalities than were reported in other countries. Perhaps it’s a question of dosage.) It seems quite natural that Catherine would have taken it. Considering the time period, late 50s/early 60s, it’s quite possible the side effects of taking the drug were unknown. And it’s also quite likely that Milton would have prescribed it for Catherine. There are multiple references about Catherine’s anxiety. One of Thalidomide’s early uses was as a sedative.

I’m just not sure I buy it as a contributing factor in Robin’s manic behavior. We have all read about the effects of long-term solitary confinement on prisoners. I think the technical term is “stir crazy.” But would that have been enough to cause Robin to kill his mother?

On another topic, I’m not sure I buy that it’s either [spoiler]Milton or Blackwood in the crypt.
While that tier of coffins is labeled, neither of the coffins themselves are labeled. Who is to say which one should contain a male corpse? I’ve reviewed my notes. (See my comments on the Notes and Maps thread. My notes are far from definitive reference works.) That said, there were plenty of references regarding the maid’s desire to return home. But I never saw any reference that she actually did so. I still think the body in the coffin is hers, and was put there by Milton and Blackwood to cover up any facts/evidence regarding the death of Catherine. If the police asked about the maid, the simple answer is that she had returned to Italy. I think it’s quite possible that Milton and Blackwood are still alive. Or, at least were at the time we were there as Michael.[/spoiler]

Thumbs Up  Thumbs Up Lady K!!

     

For whom the games toll,
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The Blackwoods and Dr. Milton didn’t kill Robin the son, as I previously speculated, instead they “just” locked him up in the cellar.
It was of course Robin and not Catherine who we saw and who is still alive.
(Though my guess was valid at the time, as I still hadn’t found her body, and it was missing from the mausoleum)
Being born under the influence from the mask / the curse, Robin turned into something similar to the Dhalmaar, which is why they locked him up.
It was Robin that slit his mothers throat with his bare hands / teeth, James just buried the body to cover it up.

Sooooo this does indeed tie everything up nicely. I have to say in a most interesting way.

With Catherine being such a completely terrible mother, her end was quite fitting. And you have to admit, if you were a horror writer with writer’s block, a few nights in THAT house would definitely cure it. Planned by someone who knew all about that house? Possible…..

Needless to say, a second playthrough of this game will be most enjoyable!

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I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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I really love the ending and that it gives you an alternative to why Robin is like that. It doesn’t have to be supernatural, and I love that it kind of left it up to you to decide. That really stuck with me, and made me love the game even more.

     

Favorite Adventure Games-Lost Crown, Longest Journey, Dark Fall 1&2, Barrow Hill, Black Mirror, Blackwell games, Riven, Myst
Favorite Other Games-Kings Bounty, FTL
Currently Playing-Barrow Hill:The Dark Path
Looking Forward To-Last Crown/Braken Tor

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Haven´t had that much time to play, so I´m still waiting for the right time to dig up Catherines body.

I really want to find out what happened (and hope it´s not gonna do a King and fall flat), but the game is just so damn creepy! Maybe I should play without sound for a while, so I can focus a bit on the puzzles.

They have been quite good so far. I like that there is hardly any comments from Michael or the game about most of them, so I have to figure out what the puzzle is as well.

Looking forward to reading all the insights under the spoilertags in a couple of days Yum

     
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I really want to find out what happened (and hope it´s not gonna do a King and fall flat)

Now that is very funny….......I’ve heard that most of King’s latest novels are not as good as his earlier ones. I stopped reading him many many years ago.

This game does not “pull a King” - I was really happy with the ending and was actually quite frightened by it.

Hope you agree when you get there.

Heart

     

I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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I see many are already finishing the game. Cool, there’s so much to discuss!

It looks like I’m going to have another hectic day tomorrow, but I’ll be sure to come back with tons of things to say during the weekend.

There’s just one thing you should keep in mind: no matter how much you loved or hated the ending, all the clues to understand what happened in the story are present in the game. Everything has been carefully planned, and years of discussions and theorizing can attest to this. To put things in perspective, there’s one tiny and apparently meaningless clue in the attic that refers to one particular detail of the final scene in the game.

Like I said, I love rewarding observation, so feel free to pull the game apart—what you find might surprise you Smile

     

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The only thing I found in the attic that supports my premise that at least Milton is still alive is a receipt in the trunk for raw meat. The receipt is dated January 1970.

     

For whom the games toll,
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I need a bit of a nudge.
I got the car running and dug up Catherine and took her tooth. I’m assuming that I´m trying to make the amulet, so I guess I need something from James as well?
I just don´t know where to go from here… Embarassed

     
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Duck of Doom - 29 May 2015 01:18 PM

I need a bit of a nudge.
I got the car running and dug up Catherine and took her tooth. I’m assuming that I´m trying to make the amulet, so I guess I need something from James as well?
I just don´t know where to go from here… Embarassed

Hint 1: Not from James, but something representing the evil god itself.
Hint 2: Try looking in the gallery.
Solution: A lion’s tooth (claw?) from a necklace.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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I finished the game, including The Last Visit, at 4:00 AM this morning.  (I had a crash Wed. night that put me back to just before the second nightmare, so I had to redo the furnace crawl and part of day 3.  The sound was also affected, so I wasn’t unhappy to replay that part.) 

Anyway, the receipt for meat cuttings in the attic trunk, the bones on the table down below, and the doctor’s diary mentioning that he had become an “eternal guardian” all show that Milton was the caretaker of the boy.  This was confirmed at the end of the additional story.

However, I like the ambiguity of the story.  The papers in the chapel room tell a hair-raising tale about evil kept at bay by that tribe.  It would be easy to dismiss it as a product of inbreeding and superstition, but the fact that 3 men wrote about being affected by the voices and drums makes it more real.  It is possible, but unlikely, that they all could have been mad.  The occult elements make it a much better (and scarier) story.

By the way, it is easy to overlook both sets of papers in the chapel room.  It’s important to read both.

     

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Re the time periods when the game was set…
What I never really understood was why the Blackwoods found it necessary to keep Robin a secret and lock him up. Robin was born August 9, 1961 according to the birth certificate. Psychological treatments were somewhat more advanced in the 1960’s than they were back in the 19th century, when Robin might be subjected to some of the horrid “treatments” depicted in the game “Blackstone Chronicles.”

It would have made more sense if the Blackwoods had lived in an earlier time period—the early 20th century if not the late 19th. As it was, I have a hard time believing a family in the 1960’s wouldn’t try to find help for a son with psychiatric problems rather than locking him up forever. I don’t care if they were “upper crust” and there was some “shame” attached to producing a son with psychiatric problems. I don’t buy that a family would put that above trying to find help for their son—especially since they could claim he was a servant’s son that they were sponsoring for treatment out of the goodness of their hearts. I could only understand locking him up if sending him away for psychiatric treatment would have been even worse—which might have been the case in 19th to early 20th century, but not the 1960’s. Of course I’m assuming that James and Catherine Blackwood were thinking clearly themselves, and weren’t a bit “off” in the head themselves (possibly due to a contaminated water supply, as in a certain other horror game).

I’ve seen similar problems in a few other games—where the game designers assume things were far more “primitive” in the 1960’s than they actually were. The Blackwood’s behavior would make better sense in an earlier time period than the 1960’s. Of course that would cause problems with Robin’s age in the present day. He’d be a rickety old man by the time Michael Arthate bought the mansion. But maybe Michael’s visit could also be placed in an earlier time period—perhaps the 1950’s or 1960’s—some time when phone service would have been available for remote locations like the mansion (at least for wealthy individuals), but close enough to the Blackwood’s time that Robin would still be young and strong enough to be dangerous.

For whatever reason, that’s how I remembered things from when I first played the game back in 2006—Michael Arthate’s story taking place in the early 1960’s and the Blackwood’s story taking place 30 or 40 years earlier. So on this replay I was surprised to see Robin’s birth certificate saying he was born as late as 1961.

     

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