History Headscratchers / DarkTales

!!Individual games

* In ''The Fall of the House of Usher'', you learn that the Usher curse dates back centuries and generations. Why did it never occur to any of the previous Ushers, when they realized what was happening, to maybe not have children? Knowing that having a child would doom him or her to the same fate, wouldn't it be more sensible to avoid doing so altogether?
** Also in ''Usher,'' as noted on the main page, there is a puzzle that has to be solved by finding emblems of four of Poe's stories. Three of the emblems in question are a red mask (''Masque of the Red Death''), a pendulum (''The Pit and the Pendulum''), and a black cat (''The Black Cat''). Two of these had already been in the series at the time ''Usher'' was released, and the third came later. But the fourth emblem is a well, and this does not correspond to any of the games in the series to date, so what story is it supposed to be referencing?
*** It's ''possibly'' meant for ''Metzengerstein'', as during the course of that game the player character climbs down a well to recover an important clue. However, there is no well in the original Poe work by that name, so the connection is iffy at best.
* In ''The Tell-Tale Heart,'' Dupin clarifies at the end of the bonus chapter that Felix Ledler was not the one who killed his wife and daughter, and that he went on to pursue the real killer. Okay, fine. But did he commit the murders in the main game? Why is that left unclear?
* Why does the bonus chapter of ''The Raven'' leave us with a massive SequelHook which it seems like the devs have no intention of ever pursuing?
* In the main game of ''Lenore'', the title character refuses to accept the fact (if indeed it is a fact) that the White Crow is her biological mother. Yet in the bonus chapter, she promises to take revenge on those "who betrayed Alan and my mother." What the heck happened between the main game and the bonus chapter to make her change her tune? This is one of just a ''host'' of unanswered questions about the game (the main page has a list), but it's arguably the most baffling.
* In ''Ligeia'', how did Royce Morrissey end up owning the Phoenix estate?

** Also, why is Simon Loyalle a constable, which is a lower rank than commissioner? He was a commissioner as of ''Speaking With the Dead,'' but now he's back to a constable? ''Belfry'' has to take place after ''Speaking,'' since [[spoiler:he dies during the game]], so what happened to demote him?

** Also, why is Simon Loyalle a constable, which is a lower rank than commissioner? He was a commissioner as of ''Speaking With the Dead,'' but now he's back to a constable? ''Belfry'' has to have happened after ''Speaking,'' since [[spoiler:he dies during the game]], so what happened to demote him?

* In ''Devil in the Belfry'', the ConMan hired as an exorcist to deal with the problem flees the town after encountering whatever is wreaking havoc in the eponymous belfry. But before he leaves, he goes to the trouble of updating his diary about the matter - and then leaves behind both the diary and his bicycle. Why did he bother to write about it?

* In the main game of ''Lenore'', the title character refuses to accept the fact (if indeed it is a fact) that the White Crow is her biological mother. Yet in the bonus chapter, she promises to take revenge on those "who betrayed Alan and my mother." What the heck happened between the main game and the bonus chapter to make her change her tune?

** If this game is set in France, the ''Code Napoleon'' was more fair to female heirs ... but didn't grant spouses of the deceased inheritance rights until quite late in the 19th century, and even then it was a life interest instead of outright inheritance.
** In either country, had Morrissey and Ligeia had a child, Morrissey could have held the estate in the name of that child. However, there's no mention of a child, and it sounds like Ligeia died too soon to have produced one.

* In ''Masque of the Red Death'', you arrive in Lumineaux to find villagers pelting a fountain of Mayor Prospero with eggs. A short time later, you learn that the villagers are taxed without pity and many are unable to afford food. One has to wonder why, if they're so hungry, they would waste eggs in this manner.
* In ''The Fall of the House of Usher'', you learn that the Usher curse dates back centuries and generations. Why did it never occur to any of the previous Ushers, when they realized what was happening, to maybe not have children? Knowing that having a child would doom him or her to the same fate, wouldn't it be more sensible to avoid doing so altogether?

** In either country, had Morrissey and Ligeia had a child Morrissey could have held the estate in the name of that child. However, there's no mention of a child, and it sounds like Ligeia died too soon to have produced one.

* Instead of creating the player character and leaving us continually uninformed about their gender, personality, and appearance... why didn't the devs just make Dupin the player character of these games? It seems like that would make more sense, since the player character is the one doing all the work and Dupin is supposed to be the master detective. There could have still been a sidekick character who appears on the screen now and then for exposition purposes.

* Instead of creating the player character and leaving us continually uninformed about their gender, personality, and appearance... why didn't the devs just make Dupin the player character of these games?