The premise of this game. While US audiences originally had no exposure to the first game, this game makes an attempt to explain that Jennifer had thought she was the only survivor and the Scissorman threat ended entirely, especially as in the first game, Bobby died when he was crushed by the clock tower gears and Dan was burned alive the last she saw. As far as she knows, she's suffering PTSD, but the nightmare is over otherwise... until the murders start up again...
A lot of what makes this game scary and unnerving is due in most part to the western audience not having access to the first game at that point, and this one plays up heavily on the {{Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane}} nature of the mystery since most consider Jennifer's ramblings about Scissorman being a monster as "she was just scared; she thought she saw something". Scenario 1's events doesn't show anything out of the ordinary for a slasher flick, which is scary enough on its own even without magic...but then Scenario 2 begins to utilize some supernatural elements, showing that there definitely is something far more sinister going on than a psycho with a mask...
And that's nothing! Cue Scenario 3 where you face deadly traps, a mummy that will strangle you, a disembodied hand that will also choke you to death....point being? You're on his turf now, and there's no denying something otherworldly happening here...
The second game has numerous death scenes for some of the characters once you reach Barrows/Burroughs castle. One character, Beth, is found dismembered inside a wine barrel on Jennifer's route, and is yanked through the floor on Helen's route. Another character, Tim, is found stuffed inside the chimney on Jennifer's route, and has a death remarkably similar to Beth's on Helen's route. You can also find Harris's head in a pot in Helen's game, find Barton hung from a tree on Jennifer's route, and find Gotts trapped inside a torture gear in Jennifer's game. There's also the suggestion that if you fail to release Nolan from the coffin in Helen's route, or Helen from the box in Jennifer's route, they were left inside and suffocated in there.
Also in the second game, any time you have Jennifer hide in a wardrobe. Usually it works. Usually. Scissorman stalks up to the wardrobe. SHING! SHING! SHING! You hold your breath. You, the player, hold your breath for fear he'll hear you. He turns towards the exit. You slowly exhale. He immediately spins around and runs Jennifer through, making you scream like a four-year-old in a Stephen King movie.
A lot of tension for this game comes from the fact that in most scenarios, aside from Scissorman's chase music and the unnerving music appropriately labeled "Fear" in a room with a dead body, the game is DEAD SILENT. First time gamers, likely hiding in one of the bathrooms in the university during the first scenario, may have a hard time voluntarily choosing to leave safety when the heart-pounding chase music suddenly gives away to dead silence, since those familiar with horror movie tropes may wonder if Scissorman is waiting just outside for you.
Having the dead silence give way to the chase music suddenly, almost gently starting up while the familiar, haunting noise of Scissorman's "Shing! Shing!" is heard in the background could almost stop one's heart...
There's a number of times where examining a particular thing in game, or heck even sometimes entering a room, will prompt Scissorman to jump out at you, much like the first game. However, the many times it happens in this game leaves the player feeling he could be anywhere, in any room, at any time...
The "Get Ready! I'm comin to get ya!" note. To set the scene, Jennifer or Helen enter the office on the second floor of the university and immediately the fax machine rings and prints out a paper. Upon examining it, they discover a note from Scissorman and seem to drop it in horror after reading it. Likely a fairly tame, almost silly example in comparison to a number of other more horrifying ones, but it does drive home that Scissorman is nothing more than a murderous psychopath and this is all nothing but a game to him.
In context, the last scenario is MAJOR paranoia-fuel. Consider this: You and nine others are going to England in hopes of finding answers on how to beat Scissorman, who has been slicing people to bits in Oslo, feeling reasonably hopeful that he shouldn't know and likely won't follow you to England. Cue the scenario starting and who else but Scissorman is hunting you down when you hoped you'd be safe? How could he have known? And then you realize there's NO possible way he could have, unless Scissorman is one of your nine companions...
Made even worse when you realize that of the 8 endings taking place in the final scenario, 2 are each character's respective Golden Ending, and the other 6 are bad endings. 1 of them (Helen's D ending) is an ambigious ending while the other 5 involve you dying. 3 of those 5 endings are the result of you dying at the hands of one of your companions. So who can you really trust...?
Knowledge of the novels and even some regarding Jennifer's C Ending only makes this even worse, if that's even possible, as both show that Scissorman is perfectly capable of manipulating and possessing people, causing them to even grow violent and murderous. Knowing this only makes the events in Scenario 3 all the freakier for how dangerous it is.
The opening to Jennifer's Scenario 1 is a common but still very prevalent fear with Jennifer walking down the dark streets when she suddenly hears someone following her...
The beginning of Jennifer's Scenario 3, when it's revealed that Harris became the Fake Scissorman at the request of the real one and kidnapped her since he was promised "he would give you (Jennifer) to me". Though he unties her, once he explains this, he gives a VERY creepy and sinister "Jennifer!!" as she's backing away and telling him to stay away from her and come no closer. It's almost a slight relief when Scissorman murders the lecherous bastard before he does anything, although you now have to find a place to hide from him as well.
Some of the deaths the characters can suffer (aside from being sliced to shreds by Scissorman) are horrifying as well. For example:
Getting your throat torn out by an angry dog
A tribal mask coming to life and smashing your head in (or snapping your neck) by telekinetically slamming furniture into your head
Being eaten alive by rats in a cramped tunnel
Getting crushed by the walls closing in by going down the wrong shaft during "The Dry Path" puzzle
Being strangled to death by a mummy
It's either Narm or this, but the fireplace death, that sees either Helen or Jennifer trying to examine the dark fireplace without a light, resulting in something pulling them up the chute, kicking and screaming, where we hear what sounds like slicing and everything going quiet...
Note that many of these start around Scenario 2, where some of the more supernatural elements begin coming into play as a result of Scissorman's demonic power. In short, Scissorman doesn't HAVE to slice you to bits with his scissors; he can use anyone or anything to kill you off.
Scenario 3 has one room in the Barrows Castle that is littered with bones from one end to the other, with them crunching under your character's feet with just about every step they take in here. Examine the piles and your character will comment that they're bones of children...
Jennifer: So many.....!!
This actually lends even further look into the mythos surrounding the Scissorman, especially as you find clues to one Quentin Barrows of the 16th century and even listen to the Ghost Children's song about "Little John of the Castle", who was a Scissorman, showing that apparently this is an ongoing pattern of a demonic child/children being born who would kill the local people, especially children....and you're now caught up in the latest cycle. A lot of the earlier comments about Scissorman just being "some odd screwball" take on a much more sinister turn once you realize you're facing a hellish entity that's been here before and made it's mark in the past.
The novelization actually reveals the one behind the Scissormen, a malevolent entity known as "The Great Father". Think about that....for as awful and terrible as the Scissorman is, he's only The Dragon to an even bigger evil...
Pay attention to those clues about Quentin Barrows and notice how the descending members of the Barrows family view Quentin as a traitor. A touch of Tearjerker as well, but it's horrifying to think that the Barrows family is so deeply ingrained in the Great Father's plots that the one person in their lineage that tried to break free of those chains is viewed as having betrayed the family and is hated for it...
