What if they extended that scene in the theatre? When poor April finally gets in and sees Cortez--he's asleep! So next, she's got to hunt around the city for an object that will wake him up. Meanwhile, the stupid son of the theatre owners is still doing the monkey dance in the garage!
Hey, I'm not saying I want games to be simple. I just feel that the puzzles get a bit ridiculous, that's all.

I liked scratches but thought ending could have been better

I'm not at the ending of scratches yet so don't know if I'm going to wind up really liking it in spite of the slow frustrating beginning or not. There are a lot of things in it that I really like a lot.

I just think that some games make the solutions too obscure and if it's too frustrating it can take away the fun because it distracts you from the story. I'm hoping this one doesn't turn out that way but too soon to tell. Running around doing a bunch of silly chores to move on, can sometimes be fun because of the side quests though.

I also play to have fun and unwind and get into the story. I love a good story that wraps me up in it and flows seamlessly. I find that the mood fitting the game is very important too though and something that really bores me today, may be just what I want tomorrow. I get masochistic in regards to finishing a puzzle because I'm too stubborn to let it beat me but not as far as an entire game goes. I've learned ot just quit it and play something else if not having fun.

Melanie

Douglas-

I have played the game several times and love it each time. There will be parts to every game (almost) that some of us would like changed. But I think why TLJ is a favorite of so many of us is because of the way it was all made. Have you tried Broken Mirror, now that is also a good one with great puzzles.

Take care

Maggie

I think part of what we're seeing is just different people liking different sorts of puzzles. For instance, a lot of people like what I call "logical, scientific" puzzles--like Schizm, for instance. I prefer the "inventory" based puzzles, and those are the ones where you often get these whacky solutions. To which I say "more, more, more"...

While I have long been a fan of the MYST games, one in particular exemplifies the type of game I really dislike. The spider chair in MYST IV is simply a lousy device. I eventually read all the material; contemplated the situation; and figured out precisely what to do. (That's what gamers do and I loved that part.) The problem was that once I know what to do, I still couldn't do it! It seemed to take forever and ruined much of the game for me. I even broke down and checked a walkthrough; discovered my solution was correct; and it still took forever. There are a few puzzles where you are irritated after you figure them out. That seems wrong.

My favorite games in the many, many, many, that I've played are my first 3...The Dig, Shivers, and Myst. I played them before there were online walkthroughs so I was pretty much on my own. I did get stuck at one point in The Dig where I had to go to Best Buy and look it up in the Strategy Guide. That was before they sealed them in plastic wrap. It was a completely illogical puzzle as far as I could tell. Even after consulting the guide, I couldn't figure out how the developers arrived at that solution.

My point though, as frustrating as they were at times, theres nothing like figuring it out on your own. And I think that's one of the reasons these three games my all time favorites.

That's one of the problems I had with Myst IV. There were two other puzzles with similar dexterity requirements. None of the previous Myst games required any dexterity. But remember Myst IV wasn't made by Cyan.

OK, now I see what you're saying. That kind of thing is hardly unique to Myst or Mystlike games though. It's more about not understanding every aspect of the interface than about the puzzle itself. It's like missing things in Black Mirror because you didn't right-click something. And as much as Pandora Directive is a good game, the interface tripped me up a lot - kind of like having two inventories. And there are several games where you have to click-and-drag instead of clicking on something. The interface can be a puzzle in itself.