I've seen this game before, and having played Scratches, Myst, and Return to Mysterious Island, I'm interested in it, but I don't know whether the game is good or not. It has mixed reviews on Amazon.

I'd say try it.
If you enjoyed Scratches you'll most likely enjoy DF: The Journal.
And fingers crossed for DF: Lights out coming to catalogue sometime soon ;)

I bought it soon after posting it. I really like it. However, the 360-degree view of Scratches is very much missed.

Yeah, i really like the smooth panning in Scratches aswell. It's a shame that Nucleosys it's closing down, i really wanted to see more games from them and the SCREAM engine further developped.
But story wise, i really like Jonathan Boakes games. They aren't as scarry/unsettling as Scratches but there's a lot of depth in his games and the paranormal/ghost theme is a great one.
I'm glad you're enjoying The Journal though ;)

lol I just finished it. Not bad!

How is the atmosphere? I can always appreciate creepy, unsettling games, and adventure games are right up my alley.

It's certainly creepy and unsettling at times. The detailed period re-creation helps alot in creating the right kind of atmosphere for a ghost/paranormal story.
The story is very gripping, and if you're a fan of Adventure / Horror you'll be sucked in really fast ;)

I remember playing a demo before I brought it retail quite a while ago. If you google it you'll probably be able to find it.
If I remember right, the demo was a room and a puzzle that weren't in the actual game, but it is a good indicator of the quality and atmosphere of the full thing.

I reviewed Lights out a few years ago for a swedish site and immediatly fell in love with it. i've never liked Myst-like games because of the lifeless feeling the graphics bring. They are nice to look at but lack a lot in atmosphere. Lights out was something different because it was brilliant in its use of ambient sound. I'll never be scared of a picture, but add the right sounds and it gives me the creeps.
Excellent game and I've been looking for the first Dark fall ever since. Bought it from GOG yesterday and as soon as I play through Psychonauts (another GOG purchase) I'll try it out.

Great game this - it's very similar to Scratches actually. They both rate very high on the scare-o-meter. In Scratches you play the role of someone who inherited a house while in Dark Fall you go ghost hunting on purpose though so I guess in Scratches, you feel a bit more ill at ease.

It might interest some of you that Jonathan Boakes, creator of the Dark Fall series, is a voice actor in Scratches.
As for the scariest game I still choose Dark Fall since the use of ambient sound is better in that one, The premise of the game don't really matter much.

the studio is closing down?? NOO!!! man that's such sad news =,(

Well, yes, Nucleosys closed down a while back actually :(

Augustín Cordez, co-founder of Nucleosys, is now on Senscape and they're working on something new, Asylum.

Here's the link to Senscape

well that's positive news at least! I'm glad Frictional, the guys that did Amnesia/Penumbra, have done so well recently with Steam sales etc so as to not be in such financial woes. I hate it when good game studios go belly up =(

[edit] - any idea where I could get 'scratches?' gog should get it =)

Yeah, here's hoping Senscape stays around longer than Nucleosys did. Asylum is looking pretty good so, fingers crossed.

Edit: Just saw your edit. Yeah, gog should totally get it ;)

I'm not sure if it's available on any Digital Distribution store, last time i looked around i think i didn't find it anywhere. Maybe amazon is your best chance right now.