I'm surprised that so many people are surprised. Vaporware games that finally get released are usually pretty bad. This one exceeded my expectations by getting released at all. I expected them to release nothing. But all the signs were there that this would be bad if we saw it at all. First, all the secrecy from a once very transparent company meant they had something to hide. The fact that they'd laid off all the people who'd made the old games. They never announced this, Little Jackalope just accidentally let it slip one day that the game had been outsourced. This meant that a new game would be made by a totally new crew with no track record of making Nancy Drew games, and who knows how much or little familiarity they even had with the ones that already had been made? (one of the things they tried to hide). Not only the team, even the CEO was new. Yes, Penny Milliken presided over the release of Sea of Darkness, but it was finished when she took the job, and she just helped kick it out the door. MID was also her first real game. In late 2017, when they announced a release date a year and a half in the future, it was clear that they were basically starting fresh at that point, and that little or nothing usuable had been done on the game. Oh, they had a story outline and concept art from 2015, but no usuable game. They weren't up front about this, either. The fact that they concealed the trailer until three days before release date, rather than months in advance. A trailer is supposed to help sell a game, so why would anyone want to hide one? When we saw it, it was clear why. Lots of jokes about the graphics made the rounds (especially about the lady with Spork Hands, and unflattering comparisons with late 90's Nancy Drew games). But the fact that they hid it at all should have been a clue. (And clues are what it's all about). All these together meant that the game was a complete pig in a poke at the very, very best. And the bad faith that HER repeatedly acted in suggested less than the very best. We decided that there's no way we'd reward them by pre-ordering the game (the pre-order numbers help companies project future sales). If it came out at all, and was good, THEN we'd buy it, but no pre-order. (And remember, there was an incentive to pre-older Nancy Drew games which had special editions with extra phone charms, phone games and such, available only with a pre-order. In this case, you get the identical game, whether you pre-order or not.) Hopefully they'll go out of business and the Nancy Drew license will go to a company more serious about producing games.
Well said. I definitely wasn't surprised at how bad it was, just disappointed that it confirmed all of my worst predictions about what it would be. I definitely agree with you, what a mess.
This logical review is something I could never make because my emotional anger towards this game is too strong. So I thank you very much for making this video! I extremely agree with you entirely! Things do not get explained. Puzzles were made for very young children. Graphics were unbearable. You had to watch long conversations instead of interact in conversations. Which really bothered me! I felt like I was someone else's Nancy and not me as Nancy. I would have picked different responses for sure! And the fact that I phoned Ned so much and then Deirdre calls me out and I say I forgot to call Ned? WHAT?! OOooh! And I learned out to pick a lock from some sort of computer course? We learned it from a magazine from Venice! But yeah. I am going to replay some old Nancy Drews to try to forget this mess.
I feel like "they're on a new game engine" only excuse the bad graphics. It doesn't really excuse the bad story, which was set up as a scary, dangerous game in the vein of Blackthorn Manor and Shadow at the Water's Edge with this time limit, but played out more like Trail of the Twister. Like the game should have had the owner die in the fire, or its suspected that she died in the fire (died either way but whether it was caused by the fire or not is up for debate in the story). That would already give weight to what happened with Deirdre calling Nancy for help so desperately. Because in the game itself it makes no sense, as she's not a real suspect, she's just being profiled. The promo for the game made it sound like Mei was going to be burned at the stake or something. Like there was a risk. If she's suspected of murder as well as arson, then Mei's life is in the balance and so is Nancy's. That alone would have fixed a lot of the atmosphere issues with the plot atmosphere. Scrap the petty feud with the three women, it added nothing since the feud had nothing to do with Mei being burned. Have Teegan blame one of them for the fire that hurt Mei AND suspect them of starting the fire as payback for Teegan not being quiet about her belief in who started the fire (but have Teegan also sure the death was an accident). Also they should have kept the original concept of Lauren being related to Ingrid from Haunted Carousel because that would make her more interesting. They also should have stuck to the idea that Mei was completely innocent and sheltered, had no run-ins with the law, and only viewed as a witch for superficial reasons, like her being albino and covered in burn scars, as well as something else she has no control over that seems witchy. Again likely something from when she was a child. Makes her more sympathic. A lot of stuff from the original concept was interesting and it's sad it was cut.
I definitely agree. I still think that the "new engine" excuse for the horrible graphics is an extremely poor excuse. They had five years, they could have figured it out. And you're absolutely right that it does nothing to excuse the poor writing. The game was marketed as dramatic and pretended to be interesting, but just plain wasn't. It is a total bummer :(
I did not do well in grade school because of a handful learning disabilities the made a typical learning environment difficult for a young me. My grandmother bought me a SSR/BMM pack for Christmas one year and it changed my life, I finally felt smart after having been so discouraged by school. These games are dear to my heart and it’s hard to watch them fall apart in this way. I’ve played them all and at 26 I still play them. I wish that HER would find a way to make these games again, the fans are so loyal and care so much about these games, with the right crew they could do it.
Yes, absolutely! It hurts to see such a wonderful series crash and burn. If HER would be willing to stop alienating the base of loyal fans that the original crew cultivated, things could maybe improve!
I completely agree with you. You talked about exploration in the game and it reminded me how angry I was because I couldn’t explore the room of Mey Perry. Like, why it is here then? And when Mey escaped i was Shute I finally will be able to explore it but nooo... In previous games it was part of the game: to find more about a character by snooping in their rooms and enjoying (as a gamer) their aesthetic.
YES, that was one of my biggest frustrations as well! Exploration and clue finding is one of the most important tasks of a detective and there was little to none of it in this game...
The question that keeps going through my head with all of this: Why did they use NOTHING relating to Nathaniel Hawthorne? He is an actual direct descendant of the ONLY judge who never showed remorse for his crimes. The OG hated to hero story of Salem. Like I would have loved if instead of Samuel Parris, the Parry's were related to the Hawthornes and maybe they could have some illusions to The House of Seven Gables (a story that deals with guilt, retribution and witchcraft like hello? how much more perfect could you get??) which is a very gothic novel and could have added to the atmosphere. As someone who is a huge fangirl of Salem and could talk for hours about the history of Salem, the historical moments I've loved about ND games was squandered. smh
I totally get what you're saying! I feel like I learned nothing from this mystery and that they really glossed over the extremely rich history of Salem. Everything felt so superficial, which I don't think I've ever experienced in a ND game before... so disappointing...
I've shared a review that has similar thoughts to what you have shared in the video. Good to know, I'm not the only one. I am still slightly shocked at how much of a let down this game is and it has been quite difficult to express fully. Almost want to cry kind of feeling honestly. Highly agree, very not worth the price at all...even as someone who loves these games. MID is the one game where it's made me so frustrated navigating to a door. Also, I'm the type to rarely get spooked by people standing behind me IRL but damn Deidre startled me more than the ghost in the game. I've never had companions that scared me at a constant rate.
Another shady thing, mentioned in passing in the video, is HER's claim that one reason for the delay was that the switch over to Unity had been difficult. The implication was that their design team was having to learn a new system, and that it was going slower than they thought. That turned out to be totally false. In fact, HER had no design team. They laid them all off in 2015, even though the public didn't know it until a couple of years later. Mi'pu'mi, the company that was actually making the game, already knew Unity, having designed other games with it. So, in fact this did not account for the delay in any way.
So awful. My sister and I have bonded over these games since we were kids. we were so excited to play this together and we were so let down. Wish we didn’t even pay for it. They shouldn’t have put out something that felt like it was far from finished
I feel the same way- my little sister, cousin, and I grew up playing them together and PAINSTAKINGLY waited for this one to come out...and then were let down majorly! I’m sad actually about it haha
Honestly I didn't even notice I disliked it till the end when I thought about it and was like wait--, I can only assume it was because I was just having fun with the person I was playing it with, and just didn't notice
Thank you so much for reviewing all the Nancy Drew games, Caitlyn. Your reviews are the most thoughtful and in-depth that I have seen thus far. You are very honest and tell it like it is, but you are also very tactful and respectful of the games. Even when you are heavily criticizing a game (like RotSS & MiS), you do it with sincerity and give spot-on reasons behind your criticisms. The grading system you use works really well. I am going to start watching your Nancy Drew game walkthroughs, and I bet they are just as engaging as these reviews were. You have such a passion for all the Nancy Drew games, and it really shows through in all your videos that I have seen. You really need more subscribers for your channel. Also, you said that you live-streamed all the Nancy Drew games, but I am unable to find them on UA-cam. Where can I find them, and will you ever do them again? I would love to see that. I have only seen this kind of love for these games from one other UA-camr. His name is Michael Gray, AKA Argleumph: The Nancy Drew Dude. Have you heard of him? If not, you should definitely check out this channel and videos. He loves Nancy Drew as much as you do. He's played all the games many times, reviewed several, made hilarious Everything Wrong With videos for every game except MiS, and even done Shipping Wars videos about which people would make good couples in the games. If you have heard of him, I personally think that collaboration Nancy Drew videos with both of you would be awesome to see. Once again, thanks for everything that you do on this channel, and I hope to see more of you Nancy Drew videos in the future.
Thank you so much for this amazing comment! It means so much and really encourages me to keep going! I have watched many of Arglefumph's videos and really respect his work! It would be amazing to collab with him one day! I did walkthroughs for all of the games on my channel as well, though they weren't live streamed. I hope you enjoy them if you decide to check them out! Thanks again for your wonderful comment! 🤗
Omg yes you have just about the same opinions as me in everything!! Also, i still haven't recovered from the loss of Lani Minella, i honestly couldn't get used to the new voice actress at all ! And i even went back and played the old games to compare her voice acting to Lani's voice acting. Complete downgrade, she did ok at best!
@@WizardKittenYT Yes, but at the same time, it did sound like the new one was *trying* to sound as much like Lani as possible. I don't know how that jibes with their claim that they wanted a new direction.
It seems like so many people are against the idea of having a female protagonist with a deeper voice. To me, a VA with a deeper voice just sounds right to me since Nancy isn’t an overly feminine character.
I was kind of upset the truth serum end up just being a way to get Deidre admit how she admired you, and didn't even need to be completed for the game. Since the herb mixtures was my favorite "puzzles" of the game and they really had zero impact on the game itself
Describing these graphics as similar to _Stay Tuned for Danger_ is an insult to _Stay Tuned for Danger._ These characters are somehow both terrifyingly wide-eyed and completely dead-eyed. The game lacks a visual depth that even the early games had. And the failure to add texture or shadow or _anything_ on the walls and spindles @0:21:42 is worse than _The Sims._ (Like, the original _The Sims,_ from c. 2000.) Something you said in the beginning of the video was interesting to hear. I don't know what the Nancy Drew gamer/traditional gamer overlap is, but the criticism of the game feeling like a walk-through movie is one of the reasons fans boiled over at legendary game studio Naughty Dog recently, as well. They finally realized that, for all the appearance of being able to explore however you want and be creative, you were actually just following a tightly-scripted movie plot, without even options of where to move at times.
It's hard to even think of this as a Nancy Drew game at all, much less Game 33. It feels more like Game 1 of a brand new series. And not really a game at all. More like an interactive movie, of the kind that the industry went nuts with briefly in the 90's, right after CD-ROM drives came out. Although in this case, the graphics aren't quite as good as Star Trek: Borg, or other 90's games. Phantasmagoria, which took so much heat for being more movie than game had more actual gameplay than this one does. Star Trek: Borg at least had John DeLancie. But this game didn't even have the real Nancy.
Thoughts on this game: 1) Did you know HER considers this one of their top 5 scary games, but Crystal Skull isn't on the list? Because, durr huurr hurr, that's why. 2) Characters designs are weird. Teegan looks only slightly older than Mei, yet Mei is supposed to be a high school student. and Teegan is a business owner, as are her two friends who are the same age. 3) HER released a Valentine's Day video where Brittany Cox and her boyfriend brag about being "the voice of Nancy Drew" and how he did some of the music on this game. It was quite cringeworthy. 4) At one point you said "oof', when I'm sure you meant to say "uff dah". ;o) Great review, WK. Very comprehensive.
So i will preface this by saying that i have not played the game, but i watched the walkthrough that arglefumph did and i am sorry for this long rant. I think what boggled my mind about this game the most was the way the puzzles were handled. Like you said in your review, they were laughably easy. In the old games it was common to explore an area and find 3,4,5, MULTIPLE areas that Nancy would make a comment and you knew it would be a puzzle for later in the game. Then throughout the game you would slowly find the solutions or gather clues that were usually scattered around. In this game it was like, here is the puzzle, solve it in one or two steps, and all the solutions were in the exact same area. I will admit that i have almost always had to use a walkthrough for Nancy drew games as some of the puzzles could be quite challenging so this was just terrible. I think the pinnacle of this was at the end of the game with the hardy boys in the Hawthorne house and you have to solve the rune ring puzzle on the floor. The book was literally RIGHT THERE! Could they not have had you find the book earlier! Or at least made it inside the box it was sitting on so it was a little more interactive! There was also opportunity where they could have easily put puzzles in. Like that truth serum extra, that could have been an actual puzzle needed to advance the plot. I remember watching the walkthrough and waiting for the puzzles and seeing a screenshot and going "Oh ok now its going to pick up and we will have some puzzles!". And then nothing. My other thing was the sheer amount of character dialogue. In some ways this game made me think of 'Alibi in Ashes' which does not have that many puzzles but a lot of talking. However, there was reason for all the talking. My other comment, and correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think you can skip the dialogue in this game. How many years were fans begging for a skip dialogue option and when it was finally implemented in the previous few games it was a godsend. It made replay-ability so much better, but sometimes the dialogue was so well written that i didn't mind listening to it. And not to pick on the new voice actress but she could have done better. There are some parts were she sounds great and organic, but others she sounds so stilted and fake. Her bad voice acting stands out even more with the more experienced voices like the Hardy boys and Deirdre. Hell even the new characters like Teegan, Jenna, etc. sound great. Your main character should not be the weakest voice in the game. This is not bashing the new actress because she is new, but when your voice is the new flagship of a well loved character you have to do it right. There is so much missed potential in this game and i am sad to see the Nancy Drew series fall so hard. I was sad when i couldn't pre-order cause i knew my current laptop would not have enough memory to handle this game and my new computer is currently sitting in parts. Now i'm glad i didn't pay for it. I may pick it up in the coming months but for now i am going to replay the old ones to my hearts content.
Well said and I agree 100%! It was one of the most disappointing things I've experienced in a very long time and it didn't need to happen this way, which I think makes it even worse. 😔
HER is pushing MID more than ever. They used to just have it listed as their #1 Top Scary Game. Now, in addition to that, they also have they have it listed as their... #1 Top Cosplay Game #2 Top Learn and Play Game #1 Top Game With Cooking Fun It's almost like they're just naming whatever game they're trying to get rid of. It's kind of short-sighted, though. With a new game supposedly coming, and MID having gone over so poorly, they really shouldn't want to be calling attention to this one as an example of what to expect from the series. Better to put their best feet forward, and put their best games front and center.
First off wanna say this video is really comprehensive and you're really well-spoken. Loved it! Would you consider in the future using some text on the screen just indicating what topic you're on? It would help me stay on track with what you're talking about :)
Oh like the herb carving on the mirror of the hathorn house. Like why was it there? What was the clue for? Where did that plot go? Also the whole ghost hunting part with the hardy boys. Like WHY DID WE DO THAT?! We get no resolution for doing the EMF readings. Like what did we hear? Actually WHY would Frank (the older, more rational brother) pander to Joe's childish angle of "ghost hunting". I miss the hardy boys from last train. I felt they gave a more accurate portrayal.
Yes, I agree with all of that! The fact that there were typos all over the place and so many plot holes...this didn't feel at all like a finished product and they had four and a half years. 🤦♀️
I was just talking to someone about everything you so excellently brought up! I'm playing the Final Cut also and it's amazing comparing the graphics and preferring the layout and makeup of a game made two decades ago. It's like they sucked out the soul and heart of the game out completely. This review gave me life! I haven't played a Nancy drew game in a few years but they were a crucial part of my childhood and I have very passionate feelings about them and how more people should give them a chance. I love that your channel has such well thought out dissections of the franchise and I'm really looking forward to looking at more of your content!
Thank you so much for your comment!! I totally agree that more people need to know about these games, they're the best!! Except this one...lol. The originals are beautiful 😁
Honestly, at first I couldn't tell one character from another, especially Teagan, Mei and Deirdre. I know they are relatives and all, but I felt like the developers just used ctrl+c ctrl+v on their faces. The haircuts are VERY similar if not the same. The hair color is the only thing that was different, which adds up to the impression of the game being half-baked. Thanks for the review btw, subbed!
Thanks so much for the sub! :D I totally agree with you. I also frequently got Joe Hardy and Jason Danforth confused. The only reason I knew it was Joe was because he was always with Frank. The characters are SO bland and superficial! It's unfortunate...
@@WizardKittenYT oh, that's also right! I realized it only now lol, probably because Joe and Jason never stood side by side in the game. Big oof to the game, I just hope they will make the next one better. As we say in Russia, "The first pancake always comes out bad"! 😁😁😁
When comparing this game to the former games (especially looking at the credits) i think the term "do more with less" really applies ua-cam.com/video/Htu1cNPSn1M/v-deo.html&ab_channel=Brooke = TOT credits ua-cam.com/video/aHNEnxhZ_LU/v-deo.html = MID credits
You know, I've been thinking lately that I'd like to become more active in the Nancy Drew community. I don't think I really have the voice or personality for UA-cam, but I really love these games and want to discuss them with people, share my thoughts, etc. I wonder, do you think we might be able to petition Simon and Schuester to sell the rights to Nancy Drew to another gaming company? It's a longshot, but at this point, it's the only thing I can think of that might give us the possibility of more games.
Loved hearing your thoughts! Just found your channel when your ND game rankings came up on recommended (because of my ND ranking video I just posted lol) Subscribed 😊
Hi I just found your channel, thank you so much for posting this review. I'm going to go back and watch all of your content now :). So I just finished the game this last weekend. And as soon I as I finished it, I hopped online because I was so disappointed and I thought surely there are other people out there who are disappointed too. I was not wrong. You touched on all of my complaints and then some. I would like to add that I had a horrible time with the sound on this game. No matter how much I messed with the volume on my physical computer and in the game itself, I could hardly hear anything Nancy said. I turned up the speaking volume and turned down the music and ambient sounds volume and I still had trouble. Another thing (in all the games, but I noticed it more so in this one): The questions asked by Nancy are read by the actress with the wrong inflection. Like when making a comment and you can hear the question mark at the end, but it wasn't a question in the game. Or in the case of this game, the questions were out of order. Does that make sense? Like Nancy saying she hopes she can help Mei with a clear tone of ending the conversation, but then the other character keeps going and you have to keep asking questions in order to finish the conversation. I was sooooo disappointed with the exploration of the game. Never, in any of the other games have you not been able to explore like this game. The "museum" was a joke. I wandered around the stupid museum for like an hour trying to figure out how to get INTO the museum. I thought I was missing something. I stood in front of that door in between the exhibits trying to figure out how to open it. In all of the other games I've learned some really interesting things! I knew Morse Code for (I've forgotten it now)! Where was the educational stuff? Where were the interesting facts that tied all of the game together. We got some facts about Salem, but nothing that really had anything to do with the overall crime and story. And the bad guy?!? What the f*&# was that? Where did that come from?! It made no sense! Scooby-Doo had better mysteries back in the 60's! It was seriously lacking any connection to the rest of the story. I apparently needed to vent. And I'm going to back and replay all of the old games (and maybe relearn Morse Code). Thank you for your honesty and taking the time to make this, you've got a new subscriber!
Yay! I'm so glad that you found the channel! Welcome! 😊 I absolutely agree with all of your thoughts. This game was a mess and didn't even feel remotely finished, even after a nearly five year wait. It was a HUGE disappointment, especially for fans of the original series. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!! Thank goodness we still have the OG series to enjoy!
As a junior detective who discovered these games a while ago, this game is easily ONE of the worst especially when it comes to having consistency in the story. I hate how they just randomly went in this new direction for whatever reason.
Hi -- I saw your video and wanted to comment. I do agree with all of your beginning content that discusses the issues and disappointments of the game. And I don't blame you for wanting to air your comments. In fact, I ordered a physical copy of the game and I don't even have the name on the "artwork" on the front of the game package. This was perhaps one of my biggest irritations with the game. But I wanted to write a comment to you, which I hope you will read, and think on it. If the love for "future Nancy games" l burns in your in heart, maybe you can help get the word out for 'doing things a little different'. I personally would love a sit-down with the higher-up folk at the company to tell them these ideas. Shoot -- even if I couldn't, maybe someone else could. I don't want to see Nancy die out -- because where else will we find a good & current adventure game?!!! I had a couple of ideas that I would like to share here, in the comments -- so that maybe we can convince them that we aren't silly kids or don't understand plot or substance or artwork or storyline. We do and we desperately want to see it in the games they produce. So, let me give you some of the ideas that I had: 1) Make another series that we can get involved in that doesn't necessarily mean mystery but true education. I was thinking of using Bess and George. My thoughts were these: Have Bess and George win an educational experience of a lifetime. B&G, through a US college or university get to take classes that will give them not only an in-depth educational experience, but give them knowledge that will take them through life. Right now, ND games just use B&G as "helps" for when ND gets stuck. But they could be SO MUCH MORE. I was thinking perhaps B&G could do an 'internship' at Big Cat Rescue and learn all about big cats through an internship with the Rescue with credit in biology and business at the University of Florida. Then maybe one of the numerous colleges in Maryland could give B&G credit in courses of biology and ecology when they do an internship studying the Chesapeake Bay. Or perhaps B&G could receive credit in geography, biology, business,and languages through a US university that has them jet-setting to South Africa where they learn about baboons with CARE. Of course, there are many subjects and B&G don't necessarily need to do internships -- maybe they can just experience life on campus and Her Interactive can expose their fans and players to beautiful college campuses and professors while developing study groups for B&G with fellow "students" and joining clubs, etc (these won't be real students or professors -- I am sure Her Interactive could make up professors and students for B&G to learn from and hang out with). I honestly think Her Interactive can revamp their fan base by slightly going in a different direction and playing on the silent strength of their other famous characters, Bess and George. And think about this -- if Bess and George need help, they can always call their BFF, Nancy. 2) Get back to what made ND great -- neat story ideas. Why not give Nancy a crazy Christmas in which she has to solve a Christmas Caper and figure out who is stealing from a town's shops during christmas, who go 'all-out' at christmas, but finds the true spirit of Christmas when catching the 'thief'. There are so many good puzzles that Nancy could do and she could explore the town and learn of some of the citizens who could make up the suspect pool but in reality will become helpful when the reasoning of the thefts is revealed. OR perhaps we can have a Nancy Drew 'birthday' where her friends and Ned and the Hardys invite all the people she has met and helped (except the culprits) and make Nancy have to go through a "scavenger hunt" for clues to the whereabouts of her friends (who have not told Nancy that this is a party and a celebration of her detective career) but while Nancy is tracking down her friends (and this party) she finds the solution to an old mystery (I was thinking that this party is held on an old plantation or landspace and there is this huge house filled with about thirty rooms that Nancy has to inspect to find the clues to the party which inadvertently give Nancy clues to the mystery of this Plantation/place. After she solves the mystery to the place, she has to put the clues together that were left by her friends to go to some small building on the plantation where the party is happening. Nancy can see all the people she has helped and all her friends and her dad. One of the puzzles that Nancy has to do to gain entrance to the building is put together the name of the person in one of the games with something that was associated with that person in the previous games with the state or country that the game was in (which would be cool for fans who have played all the games or interest future ND gamers). OR what about having a game where the ending is different depending on some random chance -- and while this may be hard for some, what if Nancy and her friends fly to some south american country where some big to-do was happening, and there ends up being this mystery -- but Nancy can't solve it before her flight back to the states. But during the flight, it crashes and either Nancy dies or Nancy gets injured and while she can't go for help, she can think back to the previous events and solve the case or Nancy doesn't get injured and she has to go and get help for her friends (and Nancy has to use her smarts to find help). OR what if Frank and Joe Hardy call on Nancy and her friends and Ned to help them get a campground in shape that was willed to them by some distant relative. In the fray, ND finds a mystery in which she has to find out who stole something valuable that contains a Herkimer diamond. These Herkimer diamonds are found in upstate NY and maybe it would lead to Nancy digging for diamonds (you know that would be so cool and so much fun). OR what if Nancy wanted some peace and quiet and not solve mysteries but the mystery finds her -- like what if she wanted to job-shadow at a hospital or at a hotel or at a restaurant. These could maybe be different than the normal ND mysteries where Nancy does more work and learns more things but there still is a small mystery that she can solve. WELL, those are a few of my ideas. There are so many ways to keep the ND series alive and running. I just think some detours might be in order to bring some life and love back to the game and character.
Thanks for your comment and for all your great ideas! I enjoyed reading them and I think you should definitely share them with HerInteractive. As I mentioned in the review, I am completely fine with doing things differently, but I am not fine with doing them poorly. The previous versions of ND games were masterpieces but, unfortunately, the company could no longer maintain them due to financial problems. I'm so okay with them revamping things, but this game and the way they have handled the last four and a half years proves to me that this is NOT the direction to go. They clearly could not make this work and are extremely low on resources, so I doubt that they really have the ability to make a shift to something totally new. I would love the games to continue, but not if we have to sacrifice story, puzzles, gameplay, and intrigue for "improved graphics." (aka very much not improved graphics) Again though, I truly appreciate your comment and your innovative ideas! If HER does attempt to continue, then making engaging plots, as you mentioned, would definitely be the place to start.
Those notes Judge Sewall left behind were my first issue, because he died in 1730, and English spelling wasn't standardized until at least 1755... his writing would be very difficult to read. Same thing with any writing from that time period. How do I know this? Five minutes of Google searching. It's almost like they didn't even try.
That's a great point! In previous games, they cared a lot about history, but this one had almost no educational or even interesting connections to its historical inspiration. Such a disappointment 😪
Love this review! I agree, this game was SO UNDERWHELMING especially after the 5 year long wait. I purchased this game, and it didn't even run on my laptop 😭😑 So I just watched walkthroughs and even so it felt BORING. 2 years after the release, we still have no news about game 34 🤦🤷
The thing that I find to be sort of annoying is the unoriginality. They basically took the ambience and “spooky house” setting from ghost of Thornton manor, and the arson plot from alibi in ashes, without many cool new ideas and plot points.
I can’t even bring myself to finish this game. I just get so fed up with the graphics, the lip syncing, the endless dialogue, and the far too easy puzzles. I feel like I have no options in the game, and I’m being guided along the whole way.
I’m trying to talk my cousin and sister out of purchasing this game. I love this game series, but this is such a disappointment and I can’t support this game. Can we please go back to the old engine Her Interactive?
I emailed Brittney Cox myself asking if there is more games since there was no trailer for the next. She said there will be more games but she doesn’t know when
This game is certainly interesting. I agree with a lot of what you said in this video. The game actually played fairly well for me, but I can imagine how frustrated fans must have been if they had trouble just getting it to run decently. The new movement controls definitely still need improvement as well. I also thought the game was pretty lacking in puzzles - I really wanted it to throw more challenges at me rather than focus on advancing the story. I did like most of the writing though; I enjoyed all the conversations and character interactions, but I didn't think the ending made much sense. I did at least have some fun playing it - probably my two favorite things about this game were the inclusion of the Hardy Boys as well as the pumpkin carving mechanic. I enjoyed interacting with and playing as the Hardys - I thought they were done pretty well. I also loved placing jack-o'-lanterns all over town. Overall, I thought the game was okay at times, but it was definitely a disappointment. Oof/50
Haha, I think Oof/50 is a totally fair score! There was so much lacking and the fact that it was a four-and-a-half year wait just made it worse. The wait was 100% NOT worthwhile in my opinion.
It really sucks, because I had high hopes for the game after seeing the teaser trailer from Sea of Darkness. I mean, Lani Minella isn't voicing Nancy, but I would've been fine with that if we had gotten a GOOD game. But the graphics and with the way Her Interactive acted on their part with this game is enough to keep me away, and I've only just recently played Warnings at Waverly Academy (which is WAY better in comparison while playing it and while watching your review on it). I really don't wanna say that the company is dead, but with this...not looking good for them or for a future game if they're gonna make one.
Agree with all of that! It really does suck. The Midnight in Salem that they had been working on likely would have been so much better!! And then they trashed it and came up with this instead...very sad.
Considering how poor the more recent games have been, I wasn't shocked by the plot. If Frances legally adopted Lauren, she would inherit everything without a will by MA intestacy law, that bugged me BEYOND belief. My main qualms were the freaking movement system. Getting into the courthouse at the beginning took me far too long and it made exploration tedious. My 2016 non-gaming laptop had to run this on low graphics to not freak out, which made finding certain things quite difficult. I imagine it is quite a beautiful game on a computer that can handle it. Oh, and that stupid stupid frequency puzzle. Very nearly rage quit with how finicky it is. Especially with a laptop mouse. 0/10 worst puzzle in the whole series for a laptop mouse, even over the Secret of the Old Clock dress sewing. Oh! And I'm really tired of the Ned-Nancy drama. He doesn't have a reason to be with Nancy at this point because of how poorly she treats him. I haven't read the books in over 20 years, but I really don't recall that. Agreeing with Deidre that he deserves better? Bad game
@@WizardKittenYT I've played all the Nancy Drew games recently on this one laptop. Sure, Stayed Tuned for Danger and the early ones needed some tweaking to install right, but my computer shouldn't fry my leg to play a Nancy Drew game. Not that I expect any 2019 game to run on it...but still
there were two MAJOR things impeding the overall enjoyment of the game : firstly, all the loose ends. like how you could inspect places and things or learn info that was in no way relevant later on. made it feel pointless. and secondly, in this game, Nancy comes off as rather stupid...which is a big disillusionment compared to the Nancy we all know and love. for example the learning about something and then acting all clueless about it just a moment later (I realize this is a development issue, not a storyline one but still... major oversee), over explaining some pretty basic detective stuff acting like its some deep knowledge only she can grasp...and something I haven't seen anyone mention but was the biggest issue for me...is that the person who delivers the most important, case-turning breakthrough, without which the case literally would have not been able to go on, is Deirdre...NOT Nancy. even tho she knew about ergot and its side effects...like seriously?! btw great job on the video
I guess since there is no trailer for the next game this was the last one is my guess.... but there is one fun thing you can do and that is to call the characters when you have them in your sight, their lips move even if you get to their voice mail :P
Thanks for your review, I thought it was a really good analysis of the game! I really wanted to love the game and I did enjoy parts of it; I also kinda liked that it was more story-focused (I typically don't like a ton of puzzles) but even for me, more puzzles would have been nice. It's just incomplete, like they were in the middle of making it and decided to put it out. And I usually dont mind lower quality graphics if everything else is good but yeah. They were distracting and the movements and speech were all out of sync. I wish they wouldn't have switched to Unity. The company's communication with the fans really wrecked it for me. Ugh.
Can somebody explain Meds storyline. He calls and theres a girl flirting with him. Than when he called it was almost as if he wanted to say something was going on with him and Dierdre. Than the I love you. Was there more going on with Ned?
I feel like they were purely using Ned as a "drama device" in this game, which isn't fair to him. They made him do a lot of things that we out of character and that he never would have done in previous games. Like in HAU he's super uncomfortable at the pool party without Nancy, but now he's totally fine even though they had a really thoughtful and sweet discussion in SEA. I think they completely ignored their previous history and just decided to make Frank and Nancy shippers happy. Which would be fine if they actually justified it, but there was no information in previous games to suggest that Ned would behave this way. Definitely poor writing in my opinion... :(
Love your honest review. I agree with most everything, MID is not a good game. That said...I don't think it's the worst in the series. That award, in my opinion, still goes to Ransom of the Seven Ships. I also still think The Shattered Medallion is SLIGHTLY worse than MID. But it definitely earns its spot as third worst on my list. Such a long wait for such disappointing results.
Speaking of shady dealings by HER, there's one thing you left out of the story. About halfway between the release of Sea of Darkness and Midnight in Salem, HER released a game that nobody was asking for, called Odyssey. Like MID, it was an outsourced game, designed by a group called The Young Socratics. It was an educational game designed to teach astronomy and scientific reasoning. Problem: Odyssey was not a complete game. It came to a sort of stopping point, but it was only Part 1 of the story. Part 2 and beyond never came out, and as far as I know, no explanation was ever given as to why it didn't. The game is still available on HER's website, but all mentions that the game is incomplete have been removed from the description. I doubt Socrates would have approved. You mentioned the "exorbitant shipping" in passing, but that's worth more attention. It's something like $10 to ship a Nancy Drew game. Amazon charges $3.99 for the same thing. Apparently HER makes an additional hidden profit here. Since you have a channel, you probably had to pre-order the game. But we did not. Pre-Orders help a company gauge the market for their games, so we decided that we would play the game, but whatever else, we would NOT pre-order it. And honestly, there was no reason to. With earlier games you got a Bonus Edition if you pre-ordered, which had extra phone charms, phone games, or something like that. In this case, the game you got if you pre-ordered was exactly the same as if you ordered it later, so why bother? I find it incredible that you say people took time off from work to pre-order the game, as if that would get it to them even one second earlier. As it happens, we haven't even played the game yet. As you say, it's more of an Interactive Movie than a game. We watched a video walkthrough of it when it came out, and felt like we'd gotten the same experience from that that we would have got from playing it. I did finally order it, about a year and a half later, meaning to finally play it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I plan to, it's just a very low priority. For what it's worth, MID is listed on HER's website as their #1 top Scary Game, ahead of Shadow at the Water's Edge and Thornton Hall. Shady? Well... no, that's an opinion at least, and they don't claim it's anything but the opinion of the person who wrote the blurb. It doesn't claim to be based on any kind of survey, ranking or review, so if a buyer assumes that, I guess that's his fault. The best part of the game is still Creepy Deirdre hanging over your shoulder without warning. That was legitimately a bit unnerving.
I found this game to be completely unenjoyable. There was wayyy too much talking, no exploring, and finally when i was able to do something the game crashed! The most trash game i ever bought.
SAME!! Not the scare factor they were going for, but I guess it was something 😂 Mei was unconscious when Nancy finds her in the tunnels, but we never find out why...
I still haven't played the game (and I don't want to), but even when rewatching the review, it still boggles my mind that this game took almost 5 years, and yet it is still this awful. I have to wonder, is this one your new least favorite game, or is that still the Shattered Medallion? Because honestly, I feel like it's a race to the bottom for me. And unfortunately, as much as it's great that some people out there think that the story is good, I have to disagree too. There's way too many plot holes and weird game design choices for me to even be invested in the story. There's a reason why Arglefumph found over 500 things wrong with this game lol
The music in this game is the worst. I'm especially unhappy with the new opening music. It's so boring now, it feels like it's trying and failing to be creepy. You have to watch the entire credit sequence just to hear and see the original (technically second but still similar to the first) opening.
@@WizardKittenYT It is worth noting who is responsible for the music in this game - namely, it is the husband of the voice of the new Nancy (Brittany Cox). This was no doubt a cost-saving measure on Penny Milliken's part and I am sure she jumped on this opportunity as soon as she saw it. This is not to say that the music was bad, but it does not compare to Kevin Manthei or Thomas Regin, the two main previous composers of the ND games.
For as long as it took for Her Interactive to make this game, it was so disappointing. I hope that the “Mystery of the Seven Keys” is a lot better. I miss the “old design” of the Nancy drew games. They looked more realistic and beautiful than this game. Disappointed
It is always very painful to see a once great series corrode. To see a series that has been so great, so beloved just... fall. I'm not even necessarily talking about the ND games but it seems to be happening more and more with some once great series. The only three options for HER going forward that I can see is 1. Take the time and budget to make a new, great Nancy Drew game 2. Churn out pale imitations that have no heart and soul and watch it slowly die while holding out hope that maybe this next one will be good. 3. Nothing, the franchise and series is dead Signed - A Silent Hill fan Game companies should not abuse the good will of die hard fans just to make a quick buck. A new game system is zero excuse for poor graphics and, from what you are saying about the way it ran, poor coding and optimization. There are plenty of indie programmers that know how to code for Unity and do it well. There are excellent indie writers who could have taken the script for this and done it well. They have no excuse.
A lot of their statements say that it was all part of moving in a new direction and starting fresh. Most of the staff was cut, but a lot of the voice actors remained except for Lani. I think there's more to the story that they just don't feel like telling us.
@@WizardKittenYT The real reason was probably that Lani was the only voice actress who wasn’t local to Seattle, and she had to send most of her recordings to HER Interactive from a different studio. That and she’s a high profile voice actress, and the only one to appear in every game up to that point. Keeping her around would’ve probably been expensive.
![[ Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem ] The Book of Apologies - Part 1](/img/n.gif)
Deirdre was definitely the most frightening jump scare of the game
So true!! 😂😂😂
I'm surprised that so many people are surprised. Vaporware games that finally get released are usually pretty bad. This one exceeded my expectations by getting released at all. I expected them to release nothing. But all the signs were there that this would be bad if we saw it at all.
First, all the secrecy from a once very transparent company meant they had something to hide.
The fact that they'd laid off all the people who'd made the old games. They never announced this, Little Jackalope just accidentally let it slip one day that the game had been outsourced. This meant that a new game would be made by a totally new crew with no track record of making Nancy Drew games, and who knows how much or little familiarity they even had with the ones that already had been made? (one of the things they tried to hide).
Not only the team, even the CEO was new. Yes, Penny Milliken presided over the release of Sea of Darkness, but it was finished when she took the job, and she just helped kick it out the door. MID was also her first real game.
In late 2017, when they announced a release date a year and a half in the future, it was clear that they were basically starting fresh at that point, and that little or nothing usuable had been done on the game. Oh, they had a story outline and concept art from 2015, but no usuable game. They weren't up front about this, either.
The fact that they concealed the trailer until three days before release date, rather than months in advance. A trailer is supposed to help sell a game, so why would anyone want to hide one? When we saw it, it was clear why. Lots of jokes about the graphics made the rounds (especially about the lady with Spork Hands, and unflattering comparisons with late 90's Nancy Drew games). But the fact that they hid it at all should have been a clue. (And clues are what it's all about).
All these together meant that the game was a complete pig in a poke at the very, very best. And the bad faith that HER repeatedly acted in suggested less than the very best. We decided that there's no way we'd reward them by pre-ordering the game (the pre-order numbers help companies project future sales). If it came out at all, and was good, THEN we'd buy it, but no pre-order. (And remember, there was an incentive to pre-older Nancy Drew games which had special editions with extra phone charms, phone games and such, available only with a pre-order. In this case, you get the identical game, whether you pre-order or not.) Hopefully they'll go out of business and the Nancy Drew license will go to a company more serious about producing games.
Well said. I definitely wasn't surprised at how bad it was, just disappointed that it confirmed all of my worst predictions about what it would be. I definitely agree with you, what a mess.
This logical review is something I could never make because my emotional anger towards this game is too strong. So I thank you very much for making this video! I extremely agree with you entirely! Things do not get explained. Puzzles were made for very young children. Graphics were unbearable. You had to watch long conversations instead of interact in conversations. Which really bothered me! I felt like I was someone else's Nancy and not me as Nancy. I would have picked different responses for sure! And the fact that I phoned Ned so much and then Deirdre calls me out and I say I forgot to call Ned? WHAT?! OOooh! And I learned out to pick a lock from some sort of computer course? We learned it from a magazine from Venice! But yeah. I am going to replay some old Nancy Drews to try to forget this mess.
I'm doing the exact same! I need to remind myself of all the good games and remember the good times!! 😭
I feel like "they're on a new game engine" only excuse the bad graphics. It doesn't really excuse the bad story, which was set up as a scary, dangerous game in the vein of Blackthorn Manor and Shadow at the Water's Edge with this time limit, but played out more like Trail of the Twister.
Like the game should have had the owner die in the fire, or its suspected that she died in the fire (died either way but whether it was caused by the fire or not is up for debate in the story). That would already give weight to what happened with Deirdre calling Nancy for help so desperately. Because in the game itself it makes no sense, as she's not a real suspect, she's just being profiled. The promo for the game made it sound like Mei was going to be burned at the stake or something. Like there was a risk. If she's suspected of murder as well as arson, then Mei's life is in the balance and so is Nancy's. That alone would have fixed a lot of the atmosphere issues with the plot atmosphere. Scrap the petty feud with the three women, it added nothing since the feud had nothing to do with Mei being burned. Have Teegan blame one of them for the fire that hurt Mei AND suspect them of starting the fire as payback for Teegan not being quiet about her belief in who started the fire (but have Teegan also sure the death was an accident). Also they should have kept the original concept of Lauren being related to Ingrid from Haunted Carousel because that would make her more interesting.
They also should have stuck to the idea that Mei was completely innocent and sheltered, had no run-ins with the law, and only viewed as a witch for superficial reasons, like her being albino and covered in burn scars, as well as something else she has no control over that seems witchy. Again likely something from when she was a child. Makes her more sympathic.
A lot of stuff from the original concept was interesting and it's sad it was cut.
I definitely agree. I still think that the "new engine" excuse for the horrible graphics is an extremely poor excuse. They had five years, they could have figured it out. And you're absolutely right that it does nothing to excuse the poor writing. The game was marketed as dramatic and pretended to be interesting, but just plain wasn't. It is a total bummer :(
I did not do well in grade school because of a handful learning disabilities the made a typical learning environment difficult for a young me. My grandmother bought me a SSR/BMM pack for Christmas one year and it changed my life, I finally felt smart after having been so discouraged by school. These games are dear to my heart and it’s hard to watch them fall apart in this way. I’ve played them all and at 26 I still play them. I wish that HER would find a way to make these games again, the fans are so loyal and care so much about these games, with the right crew they could do it.
Yes, absolutely! It hurts to see such a wonderful series crash and burn. If HER would be willing to stop alienating the base of loyal fans that the original crew cultivated, things could maybe improve!
I completely agree with you. You talked about exploration in the game and it reminded me how angry I was because I couldn’t explore the room of Mey Perry. Like, why it is here then? And when Mey escaped i was Shute I finally will be able to explore it but nooo... In previous games it was part of the game: to find more about a character by snooping in their rooms and enjoying (as a gamer) their aesthetic.
YES, that was one of my biggest frustrations as well! Exploration and clue finding is one of the most important tasks of a detective and there was little to none of it in this game...
The question that keeps going through my head with all of this: Why did they use NOTHING relating to Nathaniel Hawthorne? He is an actual direct descendant of the ONLY judge who never showed remorse for his crimes. The OG hated to hero story of Salem. Like I would have loved if instead of Samuel Parris, the Parry's were related to the Hawthornes and maybe they could have some illusions to The House of Seven Gables (a story that deals with guilt, retribution and witchcraft like hello? how much more perfect could you get??) which is a very gothic novel and could have added to the atmosphere. As someone who is a huge fangirl of Salem and could talk for hours about the history of Salem, the historical moments I've loved about ND games was squandered. smh
I totally get what you're saying! I feel like I learned nothing from this mystery and that they really glossed over the extremely rich history of Salem. Everything felt so superficial, which I don't think I've ever experienced in a ND game before... so disappointing...
I've shared a review that has similar thoughts to what you have shared in the video. Good to know, I'm not the only one.
I am still slightly shocked at how much of a let down this game is and it has been quite difficult to express fully. Almost want to cry kind of feeling honestly. Highly agree, very not worth the price at all...even as someone who loves these games.
MID is the one game where it's made me so frustrated navigating to a door. Also, I'm the type to rarely get spooked by people standing behind me IRL but damn Deidre startled me more than the ghost in the game. I've never had companions that scared me at a constant rate.
Agree with all of this! Such a letdown in so many ways ☹
I’m so disappointed too. I’m praying they can get it together! P.s I love your channel! I would love to see your opinions on the culprits .
Ooh, I love that idea! Thanks so much for the comment!
Another shady thing, mentioned in passing in the video, is HER's claim that one reason for the delay was that the switch over to Unity had been difficult. The implication was that their design team was having to learn a new system, and that it was going slower than they thought.
That turned out to be totally false. In fact, HER had no design team. They laid them all off in 2015, even though the public didn't know it until a couple of years later. Mi'pu'mi, the company that was actually making the game, already knew Unity, having designed other games with it. So, in fact this did not account for the delay in any way.
More egregious is the fact that many from the old design team were familiar with Unity, yet they were fired anyway...
So awful. My sister and I have bonded over these games since we were kids. we were so excited to play this together and we were so let down. Wish we didn’t even pay for it. They shouldn’t have put out something that felt like it was far from finished
I 100% agree and I'm sorry it was such a disappointment for you! :( It really was for me too. Such a letdown.
I feel the same way- my little sister, cousin, and I grew up playing them together and PAINSTAKINGLY waited for this one to come out...and then were let down majorly! I’m sad actually about it haha
Honestly I didn't even notice I disliked it till the end when I thought about it and was like wait--, I can only assume it was because I was just having fun with the person I was playing it with, and just didn't notice
Thank you so much for reviewing all the Nancy Drew games, Caitlyn. Your reviews are the most thoughtful and in-depth that I have seen thus far. You are very honest and tell it like it is, but you are also very tactful and respectful of the games. Even when you are heavily criticizing a game (like RotSS & MiS), you do it with sincerity and give spot-on reasons behind your criticisms. The grading system you use works really well. I am going to start watching your Nancy Drew game walkthroughs, and I bet they are just as engaging as these reviews were. You have such a passion for all the Nancy Drew games, and it really shows through in all your videos that I have seen. You really need more subscribers for your channel. Also, you said that you live-streamed all the Nancy Drew games, but I am unable to find them on UA-cam. Where can I find them, and will you ever do them again? I would love to see that.
I have only seen this kind of love for these games from one other UA-camr. His name is Michael Gray, AKA Argleumph: The Nancy Drew Dude. Have you heard of him? If not, you should definitely check out this channel and videos. He loves Nancy Drew as much as you do. He's played all the games many times, reviewed several, made hilarious Everything Wrong With videos for every game except MiS, and even done Shipping Wars videos about which people would make good couples in the games. If you have heard of him, I personally think that collaboration Nancy Drew videos with both of you would be awesome to see. Once again, thanks for everything that you do on this channel, and I hope to see more of you Nancy Drew videos in the future.
Thank you so much for this amazing comment! It means so much and really encourages me to keep going! I have watched many of Arglefumph's videos and really respect his work! It would be amazing to collab with him one day! I did walkthroughs for all of the games on my channel as well, though they weren't live streamed. I hope you enjoy them if you decide to check them out! Thanks again for your wonderful comment! 🤗
Omg yes you have just about the same opinions as me in everything!! Also, i still haven't recovered from the loss of Lani Minella, i honestly couldn't get used to the new voice actress at all ! And i even went back and played the old games to compare her voice acting to Lani's voice acting. Complete downgrade, she did ok at best!
I totally know what you mean! It took a long time for me to adjust and realize when Nancy was speaking 😳
@@WizardKittenYT Yes, but at the same time, it did sound like the new one was *trying* to sound as much like Lani as possible. I don't know how that jibes with their claim that they wanted a new direction.
It seems like so many people are against the idea of having a female protagonist with a deeper voice. To me, a VA with a deeper voice just sounds right to me since Nancy isn’t an overly feminine character.
I was kind of upset the truth serum end up just being a way to get Deidre admit how she admired you, and didn't even need to be completed for the game. Since the herb mixtures was my favorite "puzzles" of the game and they really had zero impact on the game itself
Right, agreed. They were basically just a mini-game to add time and an element of "fun."
I remember being SO excited seeing the teaser at the end of Sea of Darkness. I wound up returning the game because it was so bad.
I think that's a fair reaction given how poor it was 😪
Describing these graphics as similar to _Stay Tuned for Danger_ is an insult to _Stay Tuned for Danger._ These characters are somehow both terrifyingly wide-eyed and completely dead-eyed. The game lacks a visual depth that even the early games had. And the failure to add texture or shadow or _anything_ on the walls and spindles @0:21:42 is worse than _The Sims._ (Like, the original _The Sims,_ from c. 2000.)
Something you said in the beginning of the video was interesting to hear. I don't know what the Nancy Drew gamer/traditional gamer overlap is, but the criticism of the game feeling like a walk-through movie is one of the reasons fans boiled over at legendary game studio Naughty Dog recently, as well. They finally realized that, for all the appearance of being able to explore however you want and be creative, you were actually just following a tightly-scripted movie plot, without even options of where to move at times.
It's hard to even think of this as a Nancy Drew game at all, much less Game 33. It feels more like Game 1 of a brand new series.
And not really a game at all. More like an interactive movie, of the kind that the industry went nuts with briefly in the 90's, right after CD-ROM drives came out. Although in this case, the graphics aren't quite as good as Star Trek: Borg, or other 90's games. Phantasmagoria, which took so much heat for being more movie than game had more actual gameplay than this one does. Star Trek: Borg at least had John DeLancie. But this game didn't even have the real Nancy.
I agree, I have to keep reminding myself that it is part of the series at all! 😳
Thoughts on this game:
1) Did you know HER considers this one of their top 5 scary games, but Crystal Skull isn't on the list? Because, durr huurr hurr, that's why.
2) Characters designs are weird. Teegan looks only slightly older than Mei, yet Mei is supposed to be a high school student. and Teegan is a business owner, as are her two friends who are the same age.
3) HER released a Valentine's Day video where Brittany Cox and her boyfriend brag about being "the voice of Nancy Drew" and how he did some of the music on this game. It was quite cringeworthy.
4) At one point you said "oof', when I'm sure you meant to say "uff dah". ;o) Great review, WK. Very comprehensive.
Lol!! All excellent points! I absolutely agree!
So i will preface this by saying that i have not played the game, but i watched the walkthrough that arglefumph did and i am sorry for this long rant.
I think what boggled my mind about this game the most was the way the puzzles were handled. Like you said in your review, they were laughably easy. In the old games it was common to explore an area and find 3,4,5, MULTIPLE areas that Nancy would make a comment and you knew it would be a puzzle for later in the game. Then throughout the game you would slowly find the solutions or gather clues that were usually scattered around. In this game it was like, here is the puzzle, solve it in one or two steps, and all the solutions were in the exact same area. I will admit that i have almost always had to use a walkthrough for Nancy drew games as some of the puzzles could be quite challenging so this was just terrible.
I think the pinnacle of this was at the end of the game with the hardy boys in the Hawthorne house and you have to solve the rune ring puzzle on the floor. The book was literally RIGHT THERE! Could they not have had you find the book earlier! Or at least made it inside the box it was sitting on so it was a little more interactive! There was also opportunity where they could have easily put puzzles in. Like that truth serum extra, that could have been an actual puzzle needed to advance the plot. I remember watching the walkthrough and waiting for the puzzles and seeing a screenshot and going "Oh ok now its going to pick up and we will have some puzzles!". And then nothing.
My other thing was the sheer amount of character dialogue. In some ways this game made me think of 'Alibi in Ashes' which does not have that many puzzles but a lot of talking. However, there was reason for all the talking. My other comment, and correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think you can skip the dialogue in this game. How many years were fans begging for a skip dialogue option and when it was finally implemented in the previous few games it was a godsend. It made replay-ability so much better, but sometimes the dialogue was so well written that i didn't mind listening to it.
And not to pick on the new voice actress but she could have done better. There are some parts were she sounds great and organic, but others she sounds so stilted and fake. Her bad voice acting stands out even more with the more experienced voices like the Hardy boys and Deirdre. Hell even the new characters like Teegan, Jenna, etc. sound great. Your main character should not be the weakest voice in the game. This is not bashing the new actress because she is new, but when your voice is the new flagship of a well loved character you have to do it right.
There is so much missed potential in this game and i am sad to see the Nancy Drew series fall so hard. I was sad when i couldn't pre-order cause i knew my current laptop would not have enough memory to handle this game and my new computer is currently sitting in parts. Now i'm glad i didn't pay for it. I may pick it up in the coming months but for now i am going to replay the old ones to my hearts content.
Well said and I agree 100%! It was one of the most disappointing things I've experienced in a very long time and it didn't need to happen this way, which I think makes it even worse. 😔
HER is pushing MID more than ever. They used to just have it listed as their #1 Top Scary Game. Now, in addition to that, they also have they have it listed as their...
#1 Top Cosplay Game
#2 Top Learn and Play Game
#1 Top Game With Cooking Fun
It's almost like they're just naming whatever game they're trying to get rid of. It's kind of short-sighted, though. With a new game supposedly coming, and MID having gone over so poorly, they really shouldn't want to be calling attention to this one as an example of what to expect from the series. Better to put their best feet forward, and put their best games front and center.
First off wanna say this video is really comprehensive and you're really well-spoken. Loved it! Would you consider in the future using some text on the screen just indicating what topic you're on? It would help me stay on track with what you're talking about :)
Thank you for the comment and for the excellent idea! That would be a great addition to the videos, so thank you for pointing that out! 🤗
Do you find this game unfinished? Replaying it I feel like clues, puzzles, plot all seems rushed.
Oh like the herb carving on the mirror of the hathorn house. Like why was it there? What was the clue for? Where did that plot go? Also the whole ghost hunting part with the hardy boys. Like WHY DID WE DO THAT?! We get no resolution for doing the EMF readings. Like what did we hear? Actually WHY would Frank (the older, more rational brother) pander to Joe's childish angle of "ghost hunting". I miss the hardy boys from last train. I felt they gave a more accurate portrayal.
Yes, I agree with all of that! The fact that there were typos all over the place and so many plot holes...this didn't feel at all like a finished product and they had four and a half years. 🤦♀️
I was just talking to someone about everything you so excellently brought up! I'm playing the Final Cut also and it's amazing comparing the graphics and preferring the layout and makeup of a game made two decades ago. It's like they sucked out the soul and heart of the game out completely. This review gave me life! I haven't played a Nancy drew game in a few years but they were a crucial part of my childhood and I have very passionate feelings about them and how more people should give them a chance. I love that your channel has such well thought out dissections of the franchise and I'm really looking forward to looking at more of your content!
Thank you so much for your comment!! I totally agree that more people need to know about these games, they're the best!! Except this one...lol. The originals are beautiful 😁
Honestly, at first I couldn't tell one character from another, especially Teagan, Mei and Deirdre. I know they are relatives and all, but I felt like the developers just used ctrl+c ctrl+v on their faces. The haircuts are VERY similar if not the same. The hair color is the only thing that was different, which adds up to the impression of the game being half-baked.
Thanks for the review btw, subbed!
Thanks so much for the sub! :D I totally agree with you. I also frequently got Joe Hardy and Jason Danforth confused. The only reason I knew it was Joe was because he was always with Frank. The characters are SO bland and superficial! It's unfortunate...
@@WizardKittenYT oh, that's also right! I realized it only now lol, probably because Joe and Jason never stood side by side in the game.
Big oof to the game, I just hope they will make the next one better.
As we say in Russia, "The first pancake always comes out bad"! 😁😁😁
When comparing this game to the former games (especially looking at the credits) i think the term "do more with less" really applies
ua-cam.com/video/Htu1cNPSn1M/v-deo.html&ab_channel=Brooke = TOT credits
ua-cam.com/video/aHNEnxhZ_LU/v-deo.html = MID credits
I absolutely agree! They outsourced practically everything, so there was absolutely no cohesion!!
You know, I've been thinking lately that I'd like to become more active in the Nancy Drew community. I don't think I really have the voice or personality for UA-cam, but I really love these games and want to discuss them with people, share my thoughts, etc. I wonder, do you think we might be able to petition Simon and Schuester to sell the rights to Nancy Drew to another gaming company? It's a longshot, but at this point, it's the only thing I can think of that might give us the possibility of more games.
Loved hearing your thoughts! Just found your channel when your ND game rankings came up on recommended (because of my ND ranking video I just posted lol) Subscribed 😊
Oh yay! I'll have to check out your vid too!
Hi I just found your channel, thank you so much for posting this review. I'm going to go back and watch all of your content now :). So I just finished the game this last weekend. And as soon I as I finished it, I hopped online because I was so disappointed and I thought surely there are other people out there who are disappointed too. I was not wrong. You touched on all of my complaints and then some. I would like to add that I had a horrible time with the sound on this game. No matter how much I messed with the volume on my physical computer and in the game itself, I could hardly hear anything Nancy said. I turned up the speaking volume and turned down the music and ambient sounds volume and I still had trouble. Another thing (in all the games, but I noticed it more so in this one): The questions asked by Nancy are read by the actress with the wrong inflection. Like when making a comment and you can hear the question mark at the end, but it wasn't a question in the game. Or in the case of this game, the questions were out of order. Does that make sense? Like Nancy saying she hopes she can help Mei with a clear tone of ending the conversation, but then the other character keeps going and you have to keep asking questions in order to finish the conversation. I was sooooo disappointed with the exploration of the game. Never, in any of the other games have you not been able to explore like this game. The "museum" was a joke. I wandered around the stupid museum for like an hour trying to figure out how to get INTO the museum. I thought I was missing something. I stood in front of that door in between the exhibits trying to figure out how to open it. In all of the other games I've learned some really interesting things! I knew Morse Code for (I've forgotten it now)! Where was the educational stuff? Where were the interesting facts that tied all of the game together. We got some facts about Salem, but nothing that really had anything to do with the overall crime and story. And the bad guy?!? What the f*&# was that? Where did that come from?! It made no sense! Scooby-Doo had better mysteries back in the 60's! It was seriously lacking any connection to the rest of the story. I apparently needed to vent. And I'm going to back and replay all of the old games (and maybe relearn Morse Code). Thank you for your honesty and taking the time to make this, you've got a new subscriber!
Yay! I'm so glad that you found the channel! Welcome! 😊 I absolutely agree with all of your thoughts. This game was a mess and didn't even feel remotely finished, even after a nearly five year wait. It was a HUGE disappointment, especially for fans of the original series. Thanks for your thoughtful comment!! Thank goodness we still have the OG series to enjoy!
Exactly! To all of this, I couldnt put it into words all my frustrations! Thank you
Of course! Thank YOU so much for the comment! 🤗
As a junior detective who discovered these games a while ago, this game is easily ONE of the worst especially when it comes to having consistency in the story. I hate how they just randomly went in this new direction for whatever reason.
UGH, I agree completely!! It doesn't make sense why they'd take something so successful and just make it...not...
Hi -- I saw your video and wanted to comment. I do agree with all of your beginning content that discusses the issues and disappointments of the game. And I don't blame you for wanting to air your comments. In fact, I ordered a physical copy of the game and I don't even have the name on the "artwork" on the front of the game package. This was perhaps one of my biggest irritations with the game. But I wanted to write a comment to you, which I hope you will read, and think on it. If the love for "future Nancy games" l burns in your in heart, maybe you can help get the word out for 'doing things a little different'. I personally would love a sit-down with the higher-up folk at the company to tell them these ideas. Shoot -- even if I couldn't, maybe someone else could. I don't want to see Nancy die out -- because where else will we find a good & current adventure game?!!! I had a couple of ideas that I would like to share here, in the comments -- so that maybe we can convince them that we aren't silly kids or don't understand plot or substance or artwork or storyline. We do and we desperately want to see it in the games they produce. So, let me give you some of the ideas that I had: 1) Make another series that we can get involved in that doesn't necessarily mean mystery but true education. I was thinking of using Bess and George. My thoughts were these: Have Bess and George win an educational experience of a lifetime. B&G, through a US college or university get to take classes that will give them not only an in-depth educational experience, but give them knowledge that will take them through life. Right now, ND games just use B&G as "helps" for when ND gets stuck. But they could be SO MUCH MORE. I was thinking perhaps B&G could do an 'internship' at Big Cat Rescue and learn all about big cats through an internship with the Rescue with credit in biology and business at the University of Florida. Then maybe one of the numerous colleges in Maryland could give B&G credit in courses of biology and ecology when they do an internship studying the Chesapeake Bay. Or perhaps B&G could receive credit in geography, biology, business,and languages through a US university that has them jet-setting to South Africa where they learn about baboons with CARE. Of course, there are many subjects and B&G don't necessarily need to do internships -- maybe they can just experience life on campus and Her Interactive can expose their fans and players to beautiful college campuses and professors while developing study groups for B&G with fellow "students" and joining clubs, etc (these won't be real students or professors -- I am sure Her Interactive could make up professors and students for B&G to learn from and hang out with). I honestly think Her Interactive can revamp their fan base by slightly going in a different direction and playing on the silent strength of their other famous characters, Bess and George. And think about this -- if Bess and George need help, they can always call their BFF, Nancy. 2) Get back to what made ND great -- neat story ideas. Why not give Nancy a crazy Christmas in which she has to solve a Christmas Caper and figure out who is stealing from a town's shops during christmas, who go 'all-out' at christmas, but finds the true spirit of Christmas when catching the 'thief'. There are so many good puzzles that Nancy could do and she could explore the town and learn of some of the citizens who could make up the suspect pool but in reality will become helpful when the reasoning of the thefts is revealed. OR perhaps we can have a Nancy Drew 'birthday' where her friends and Ned and the Hardys invite all the people she has met and helped (except the culprits) and make Nancy have to go through a "scavenger hunt" for clues to the whereabouts of her friends (who have not told Nancy that this is a party and a celebration of her detective career) but while Nancy is tracking down her friends (and this party) she finds the solution to an old mystery (I was thinking that this party is held on an old plantation or landspace and there is this huge house filled with about thirty rooms that Nancy has to inspect to find the clues to the party which inadvertently give Nancy clues to the mystery of this Plantation/place. After she solves the mystery to the place, she has to put the clues together that were left by her friends to go to some small building on the plantation where the party is happening. Nancy can see all the people she has helped and all her friends and her dad. One of the puzzles that Nancy has to do to gain entrance to the building is put together the name of the person in one of the games with something that was associated with that person in the previous games with the state or country that the game was in (which would be cool for fans who have played all the games or interest future ND gamers). OR what about having a game where the ending is different depending on some random chance -- and while this may be hard for some, what if Nancy and her friends fly to some south american country where some big to-do was happening, and there ends up being this mystery -- but Nancy can't solve it before her flight back to the states. But during the flight, it crashes and either Nancy dies or Nancy gets injured and while she can't go for help, she can think back to the previous events and solve the case or Nancy doesn't get injured and she has to go and get help for her friends (and Nancy has to use her smarts to find help). OR what if Frank and Joe Hardy call on Nancy and her friends and Ned to help them get a campground in shape that was willed to them by some distant relative. In the fray, ND finds a mystery in which she has to find out who stole something valuable that contains a Herkimer diamond. These Herkimer diamonds are found in upstate NY and maybe it would lead to Nancy digging for diamonds (you know that would be so cool and so much fun). OR what if Nancy wanted some peace and quiet and not solve mysteries but the mystery finds her -- like what if she wanted to job-shadow at a hospital or at a hotel or at a restaurant. These could maybe be different than the normal ND mysteries where Nancy does more work and learns more things but there still is a small mystery that she can solve. WELL, those are a few of my ideas. There are so many ways to keep the ND series alive and running. I just think some detours might be in order to bring some life and love back to the game and character.
Thanks for your comment and for all your great ideas! I enjoyed reading them and I think you should definitely share them with HerInteractive. As I mentioned in the review, I am completely fine with doing things differently, but I am not fine with doing them poorly. The previous versions of ND games were masterpieces but, unfortunately, the company could no longer maintain them due to financial problems. I'm so okay with them revamping things, but this game and the way they have handled the last four and a half years proves to me that this is NOT the direction to go. They clearly could not make this work and are extremely low on resources, so I doubt that they really have the ability to make a shift to something totally new. I would love the games to continue, but not if we have to sacrifice story, puzzles, gameplay, and intrigue for "improved graphics." (aka very much not improved graphics) Again though, I truly appreciate your comment and your innovative ideas! If HER does attempt to continue, then making engaging plots, as you mentioned, would definitely be the place to start.
Those notes Judge Sewall left behind were my first issue, because he died in 1730, and English spelling wasn't standardized until at least 1755... his writing would be very difficult to read. Same thing with any writing from that time period. How do I know this? Five minutes of Google searching. It's almost like they didn't even try.
That's a great point! In previous games, they cared a lot about history, but this one had almost no educational or even interesting connections to its historical inspiration. Such a disappointment 😪
Love this review! I agree, this game was SO UNDERWHELMING especially after the 5 year long wait. I purchased this game, and it didn't even run on my laptop 😭😑
So I just watched walkthroughs and even so it felt BORING.
2 years after the release, we still have no news about game 34 🤦🤷
Exactly!! It's all just so disappointing!
3 years, now
The thing that I find to be sort of annoying is the unoriginality. They basically took the ambience and “spooky house” setting from ghost of Thornton manor, and the arson plot from alibi in ashes, without many cool new ideas and plot points.
That's a good point, there really wasn't anything new or exciting!
I can’t even bring myself to finish this game. I just get so fed up with the graphics, the lip syncing, the endless dialogue, and the far too easy puzzles. I feel like I have no options in the game, and I’m being guided along the whole way.
Agreed...it's such a bummer :(
I’m trying to talk my cousin and sister out of purchasing this game. I love this game series, but this is such a disappointment and I can’t support this game.
Can we please go back to the old engine Her Interactive?
I sadly agree...sigh...
I emailed Brittney Cox myself asking if there is more games since there was no trailer for the next. She said there will be more games but she doesn’t know when
It's pretty cool that she actually responded 🤷♀️
This game is certainly interesting. I agree with a lot of what you said in this video. The game actually played fairly well for me, but I can imagine how frustrated fans must have been if they had trouble just getting it to run decently. The new movement controls definitely still need improvement as well. I also thought the game was pretty lacking in puzzles - I really wanted it to throw more challenges at me rather than focus on advancing the story. I did like most of the writing though; I enjoyed all the conversations and character interactions, but I didn't think the ending made much sense. I did at least have some fun playing it - probably my two favorite things about this game were the inclusion of the Hardy Boys as well as the pumpkin carving mechanic. I enjoyed interacting with and playing as the Hardys - I thought they were done pretty well. I also loved placing jack-o'-lanterns all over town. Overall, I thought the game was okay at times, but it was definitely a disappointment. Oof/50
Haha, I think Oof/50 is a totally fair score! There was so much lacking and the fact that it was a four-and-a-half year wait just made it worse. The wait was 100% NOT worthwhile in my opinion.
I know that it has to do with The Salem Witch Trials but The part about The Fake Ghost Reminds Me of Scooby Doo and The Witches Ghost
For sure!
Except that there in Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost, the ghosts were real. It is a lot like a classic Scooby story, though.
It really sucks, because I had high hopes for the game after seeing the teaser trailer from Sea of Darkness. I mean, Lani Minella isn't voicing Nancy, but I would've been fine with that if we had gotten a GOOD game. But the graphics and with the way Her Interactive acted on their part with this game is enough to keep me away, and I've only just recently played Warnings at Waverly Academy (which is WAY better in comparison while playing it and while watching your review on it). I really don't wanna say that the company is dead, but with this...not looking good for them or for a future game if they're gonna make one.
Agree with all of that! It really does suck. The Midnight in Salem that they had been working on likely would have been so much better!! And then they trashed it and came up with this instead...very sad.
Considering how poor the more recent games have been, I wasn't shocked by the plot. If Frances legally adopted Lauren, she would inherit everything without a will by MA intestacy law, that bugged me BEYOND belief. My main qualms were the freaking movement system. Getting into the courthouse at the beginning took me far too long and it made exploration tedious. My 2016 non-gaming laptop had to run this on low graphics to not freak out, which made finding certain things quite difficult. I imagine it is quite a beautiful game on a computer that can handle it. Oh, and that stupid stupid frequency puzzle. Very nearly rage quit with how finicky it is. Especially with a laptop mouse. 0/10 worst puzzle in the whole series for a laptop mouse, even over the Secret of the Old Clock dress sewing.
Oh! And I'm really tired of the Ned-Nancy drama. He doesn't have a reason to be with Nancy at this point because of how poorly she treats him. I haven't read the books in over 20 years, but I really don't recall that. Agreeing with Deidre that he deserves better? Bad game
I completely agree!!
@@WizardKittenYT I've played all the Nancy Drew games recently on this one laptop. Sure, Stayed Tuned for Danger and the early ones needed some tweaking to install right, but my computer shouldn't fry my leg to play a Nancy Drew game. Not that I expect any 2019 game to run on it...but still
there were two MAJOR things impeding the overall enjoyment of the game :
firstly, all the loose ends. like how you could inspect places and things or learn info that was in no way relevant later on. made it feel pointless.
and secondly, in this game, Nancy comes off as rather stupid...which is a big disillusionment compared to the Nancy we all know and love. for example the learning about something and then acting all clueless about it just a moment later (I realize this is a development issue, not a storyline one but still... major oversee), over explaining some pretty basic detective stuff acting like its some deep knowledge only she can grasp...and something I haven't seen anyone mention but was the biggest issue for me...is that the person who delivers the most important, case-turning breakthrough, without which the case literally would have not been able to go on, is Deirdre...NOT Nancy. even tho she knew about ergot and its side effects...like seriously?!
btw great job on the video
I'm glad you liked the video! Definitely agree with your thoughts! This game was done so poorly 😭
I guess since there is no trailer for the next game this was the last one is my guess.... but there is one fun thing you can do and that is to call the characters when you have them in your sight, their lips move even if you get to their voice mail :P
Oh my gosh, how weird!! I'll totally have to try that!
Thanks for your review, I thought it was a really good analysis of the game! I really wanted to love the game and I did enjoy parts of it; I also kinda liked that it was more story-focused (I typically don't like a ton of puzzles) but even for me, more puzzles would have been nice. It's just incomplete, like they were in the middle of making it and decided to put it out. And I usually dont mind lower quality graphics if everything else is good but yeah. They were distracting and the movements and speech were all out of sync. I wish they wouldn't have switched to Unity. The company's communication with the fans really wrecked it for me. Ugh.
I agree with all of this! It's really just a big disappointment :(
I love this review! Very easy to listen to while doing dishes lol. Totally agree with you on everything.
I'm so happy to hear that!! Thanks so much for the comment!
"if this sounds like a funeral speech, then it kinda is" IM DEAD ! BUT THEN SO IS THE SERIES OF GOOD ND GAMES
For sure! sigh 😓
Can somebody explain Meds storyline. He calls and theres a girl flirting with him. Than when he called it was almost as if he wanted to say something was going on with him and Dierdre. Than the I love you. Was there more going on with Ned?
I feel like they were purely using Ned as a "drama device" in this game, which isn't fair to him. They made him do a lot of things that we out of character and that he never would have done in previous games. Like in HAU he's super uncomfortable at the pool party without Nancy, but now he's totally fine even though they had a really thoughtful and sweet discussion in SEA. I think they completely ignored their previous history and just decided to make Frank and Nancy shippers happy. Which would be fine if they actually justified it, but there was no information in previous games to suggest that Ned would behave this way. Definitely poor writing in my opinion... :(
@@WizardKittenYT thank you it just seemed so off and wierd to me like they were trying to push Ned and Dierdre together!!
Will We ever get to see what Nancy and Ned look like as actual Character?
I would be totally fine seeing Ned as a character instead of just a drawing!
Love your honest review. I agree with most everything, MID is not a good game. That said...I don't think it's the worst in the series. That award, in my opinion, still goes to Ransom of the Seven Ships. I also still think The Shattered Medallion is SLIGHTLY worse than MID. But it definitely earns its spot as third worst on my list. Such a long wait for such disappointing results.
I totally get that! At the very least, a definitive bottom three, lol!
I like the Nancy Drew games up to Sea of Darkness, those ones were way better than MIS!
Absolutely agree!
a wizard AND a kitten, in one? cute and powerful?
🧙♀️😺
I know I'm like three years late but if they kept the same graphics engine they used for Sea of Darkness this game would be so much better.
Hands down agree!! 👏
Dang, this is the cyberpunk of the Nancy Drew games 😳
It's a trip, that's for sure! LOL
Sure was 41/2 years. Went all thru college.
Oh no!!! LOL
Speaking of shady dealings by HER, there's one thing you left out of the story. About halfway between the release of Sea of Darkness and Midnight in Salem, HER released a game that nobody was asking for, called Odyssey. Like MID, it was an outsourced game, designed by a group called The Young Socratics. It was an educational game designed to teach astronomy and scientific reasoning.
Problem: Odyssey was not a complete game. It came to a sort of stopping point, but it was only Part 1 of the story. Part 2 and beyond never came out, and as far as I know, no explanation was ever given as to why it didn't. The game is still available on HER's website, but all mentions that the game is incomplete have been removed from the description. I doubt Socrates would have approved.
You mentioned the "exorbitant shipping" in passing, but that's worth more attention. It's something like $10 to ship a Nancy Drew game. Amazon charges $3.99 for the same thing. Apparently HER makes an additional hidden profit here.
Since you have a channel, you probably had to pre-order the game. But we did not. Pre-Orders help a company gauge the market for their games, so we decided that we would play the game, but whatever else, we would NOT pre-order it. And honestly, there was no reason to. With earlier games you got a Bonus Edition if you pre-ordered, which had extra phone charms, phone games, or something like that. In this case, the game you got if you pre-ordered was exactly the same as if you ordered it later, so why bother? I find it incredible that you say people took time off from work to pre-order the game, as if that would get it to them even one second earlier.
As it happens, we haven't even played the game yet. As you say, it's more of an Interactive Movie than a game. We watched a video walkthrough of it when it came out, and felt like we'd gotten the same experience from that that we would have got from playing it. I did finally order it, about a year and a half later, meaning to finally play it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I plan to, it's just a very low priority.
For what it's worth, MID is listed on HER's website as their #1 top Scary Game, ahead of Shadow at the Water's Edge and Thornton Hall. Shady? Well... no, that's an opinion at least, and they don't claim it's anything but the opinion of the person who wrote the blurb. It doesn't claim to be based on any kind of survey, ranking or review, so if a buyer assumes that, I guess that's his fault.
The best part of the game is still Creepy Deirdre hanging over your shoulder without warning. That was legitimately a bit unnerving.
Yes, the Odyssey release was also infuriating, that's a great point! 👍
@@WizardKittenYT By the time Odyssey, Part 2 comes out, they'll have to change their name to The Middle-Aged Socratics.
Message In A Haunted Mansion Was Really Scary
Yes!! So good compared to this!
I found this game to be completely unenjoyable. There was wayyy too much talking, no exploring, and finally when i was able to do something the game crashed! The most trash game i ever bought.
Wait, who was unconscious???
And OMG THE CHARACTERS BEHIND NANCY GAVE ME HEART ATTACKS😂😂😂
SAME!! Not the scare factor they were going for, but I guess it was something 😂 Mei was unconscious when Nancy finds her in the tunnels, but we never find out why...
@@WizardKittenYT OOOHW I REMEMBER!!!
I'm afraid this game is going to be as forgettable as The Silent Spy 😶
@@glennsangers I am too... :(
I still haven't played the game (and I don't want to), but even when rewatching the review, it still boggles my mind that this game took almost 5 years, and yet it is still this awful. I have to wonder, is this one your new least favorite game, or is that still the Shattered Medallion? Because honestly, I feel like it's a race to the bottom for me.
And unfortunately, as much as it's great that some people out there think that the story is good, I have to disagree too. There's way too many plot holes and weird game design choices for me to even be invested in the story. There's a reason why Arglefumph found over 500 things wrong with this game lol
Yes, this one did become my new least favorite ☹ it was just so upsetting for so many reasons, LOL
I will buy this nancy drew game this Xmas in steam sale :D i want to try it
The music in this game is the worst. I'm especially unhappy with the new opening music. It's so boring now, it feels like it's trying and failing to be creepy. You have to watch the entire credit sequence just to hear and see the original (technically second but still similar to the first) opening.
Definitely agree. There is absolutely no personality or ambiance for the music in this game! ☹
@@WizardKittenYT It is worth noting who is responsible for the music in this game - namely, it is the husband of the voice of the new Nancy (Brittany Cox). This was no doubt a cost-saving measure on Penny Milliken's part and I am sure she jumped on this opportunity as soon as she saw it. This is not to say that the music was bad, but it does not compare to Kevin Manthei or Thomas Regin, the two main previous composers of the ND games.
For as long as it took for Her Interactive to make this game, it was so disappointing. I hope that the “Mystery of the Seven Keys” is a lot better. I miss the “old design” of the Nancy drew games. They looked more realistic and beautiful than this game. Disappointed
It is always very painful to see a once great series corrode. To see a series that has been so great, so beloved just... fall. I'm not even necessarily talking about the ND games but it seems to be happening more and more with some once great series.
The only three options for HER going forward that I can see is
1. Take the time and budget to make a new, great Nancy Drew game
2. Churn out pale imitations that have no heart and soul and watch it slowly die while holding out hope that maybe this next one will be good.
3. Nothing, the franchise and series is dead
Signed - A Silent Hill fan
Game companies should not abuse the good will of die hard fans just to make a quick buck. A new game system is zero excuse for poor graphics and, from what you are saying about the way it ran, poor coding and optimization. There are plenty of indie programmers that know how to code for Unity and do it well. There are excellent indie writers who could have taken the script for this and done it well. They have no excuse.
Hear hear 👏 I fully agree!
This could have been A Great Game it's sadly So Disappointing
Agreed :(
I still want to know why They got A Actress as Nancy Drew I guess because Lani is getting old
A lot of their statements say that it was all part of moving in a new direction and starting fresh. Most of the staff was cut, but a lot of the voice actors remained except for Lani. I think there's more to the story that they just don't feel like telling us.
@@WizardKittenYT The real reason was probably that Lani was the only voice actress who wasn’t local to Seattle, and she had to send most of her recordings to HER Interactive from a different studio. That and she’s a high profile voice actress, and the only one to appear in every game up to that point. Keeping her around would’ve probably been expensive.
I agree with your video.
Thanks! :)
I'm sorry but this is so much Worse than before
Agreed :(
I hope that They don't make any more
I unfortunately agree :( Not if they are going to be this level of quality...