YMMV / Blaster Mystery Series

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Dr. Dabble in Reading Blaster 9-12: Plain old Jerkass or Jerkass Woobie?
• Fridge Horror: This might be over-thinking a children’s game, but it’s interesting: If you play Reading Blaster 9-12 in Mystery Mode, the third clue in level 3 (revealed on parchment in the library) is an obituary for Lydia, the mansion's ghost. It's dated 1847. Her e-mail diary is dated 1995, and we discover in the entries that she is eventually visited by what she believes might be her at age 16. Presuming that Lydia was 16 in 1847, then Lydia would have been 148 in 1995, and 150 two years later. We know she’s been a ghost for about 150 years, because she states it when she gloats (that is, if you lose a game against her). If Lydia died at age 16 (the diary entries tell us that writing came easier to her at that age, and the obituary tells us that she was a novelist), then her ghost would naturally be the age she gives. They make it seem as if it is Lydia, which would obviously make her 148 years old, but she’s also visited by what we might assume is her 16 year old ghost (who has also been in that state for 148 years). When did Lydia really die, did ghost-Lydia kill 1995-Lydia, and is our ghostly guide throughout the game a sinister 16-year-old?
• Nightmare Fuel: The games run on Defanged Horrors and even Dr. Dabble himself is too goofy and laughable to REALLY be scary, but occasionally some moments can come off as legitimately unsettling:
  • In Pre-Algebra, getting an incorrect answer in the Power Gem minigames can sometimes result in Dr. Dabble suddenly laughing loudly at your failure, something not helped by how said minigames are usually devoid of any other noise.
  • Granted, it's somewhat difficult to actually lose at the grid minigame in Pre-Algebra since you can adjust the game's movement speed to give you more time to think before you hit too many hazards. However, if you do lose at said minigame, you receive a surprisingly grim failure sequence that involves Rave seemingly straight-up dying as a result of being injured too much, groaning loudly with a sick expression on his face before falling over with X-eyes. All of which is accompanied by the sound of a Scare Chord and then Dr. Dabble's maniacal laughter. Of course, Rave is perfectly fine once you return to the main area, but it's still jarring in a game that is otherwise scary largely in a silly way.
  • Lydia's in-universe diary is a surprisingly effective horror story, made all the more spooky by having No Ending.

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