What did you think of this game? (No spoilers, please!)

[Nafisa.t13]

To those requesting the old engine...

Y'all do realize NONE of those people are at HeR any longer to be able to actually create the games in the old style? Besides, by all appearances, it seems HeR doesn't even care about our opinions.

Also, the spelling of "Neutral" in the original post is kind of telling of how many awful typos you can expect in this game.

[kessadec]

Please add a 0 star rating we can click on. You literally could have not done anything more to ruin Nancy Drew’s incredibly loyal fan base than MID. It is obvious you do not and did not read any fan’s review’s or feedback. No one wants your generic “Thank’s for your feedback” We at least want a statement released on how you have disappointed all fans and ruined Nancy Drew. I will take a loan out and pay for the old voice and crew to come back because this has tainted my entire childhood of playing these games. I don’t know what company you all are from that have taken over HER but please lord, stop. I cannot believe we all waited 5 years for this incredible let down. There are absolutely no puzzles, terrible conversations, barely any gameplay and the now voice of Nancy just blends in with all other characters. The voice is not fit for Nancy and was a massive disappointment in itself. PLEASE actually read this and release a statement on why this was delayed 5 years and yet somehow worse than every single game released. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it! I know you have lost a massive amount of us loyal fans due to these terrible changes and it’s time to come to terms that you have truly ruined Nancy Drew. You owe this to us.

[NDFanFavSSR]

To kessadec:

Here Here!!! Yes to the millionth power! You are SOOO right! If it's not broke, don't fit it. There was literally NOTHING wrong with ND games before MID...nothing.

HeR does definitely need to take responsibility for MID's failure. It is just the morally right professional thing to do. Thousands of fans...yes THOUSANDS...have spent the last week since MID's release voicing their frustrations. HeR has read these fan reviews by now. An acknowledgement of our hurt and emotional pain and monetary loss (especially to those who are unable to play MID due to the new platform) is the least HeR can do. HeR is still the brand and logo behind MID, no matter what country/company made this game, and they need to respect that thousands of us have been there on this over 20 year journey with them since the beginning and through 32 previous games. An apology and do over would be even better. Somehow though I don't think we will get any response. At least we have this message board to console each other.

Feeling your pain and suffering too.

[Sharayah]

I waited until I had finished the game before rating it, in order to be fair. I did give it an 8. I have played many, many games over the years, not just (all of) the Nancy Drew games. I enjoyed it very much...the story line was great. The puzzles were challenging & fun & made you think. The interaction with the characters was very good. I enjoyed playing as the Hardy Boys, too. Two minor things...(1) I wish there were more puzzles (love puzzles - you can't have too many for me) & (2) moving around in the game was a little awkward until you got the hang of it. (Just for the record, the movement in this last ND game was not the most awkward I've ever played). I could tell the platform was different from previous ND games, but we knew that was coming. I am willing to buy more ND games in the future because I loved ND books as a kid & I always want to give Nancy & her pals a fair shake.. I just hope we don't have to wait as long for the next one. I would love to see Bess & George in some future games.

[Zarlee]

I'm devastated. I love all the Nancy Drew games and I have always been forgiving of limited graphics in the past. But I started the MID and it is almost unplayable. I don't actually see what's so "new" about it -- it's still a point and click, you still follow arrows around a room. But it's so clunky and the graphics are actually depressing. The graphics look like what I would have tried to make...in 1995. It doesn't make sense to me that this took so long to create. I simply don't believe it was worked on with any love or care. I am happy with the new Nancy voice -- I'm not complaining about the changes and differences. It's just an ugly game with no effort made in the puzzles. It's just talking and 5 babyish puzzles and done. I don't understand how HeR could put this out knowing how awful it was. I don't feel like they care. I feel duped.

[bhollid2]

10 stars!!

Navigation ran smoothly. The graphics are sharp, colorful, good contrast. The conversations are relevant to the story line and even funny sometimes. The story flows and is interesting. Loved seeing the whole body of characters instead of them being stuck behind desks. Loved the 3D environments - being able to explore and enjoy the artwork. The shipping was fast. The cover on the DVD was beautiful and a lot less cluttered.

I played it with another person - we daisy-chained our laptops so we could do this. No problems.

Love that the games have returned to solving a mystery as the main focus instead of being a showcase for puzzles. The puzzles in this game were directly relevant to the story. Love that that I could look all around, over, and under objects by grabbing the screen - it felt more real.

This is an excellent game! A huge step up in graphics, navigation, music, and overall quality & presentation.

My only regret? Well, If I HAVE to have one, it is: I miss finding the phone charms, LOL!!! No big deal, though.

Thanks, HER, you hit this one out of the ball park! Well, done!

[KCsleuth]

So, I am someone who has bought and played every single ND game available for PC. I am an older adult, not a kid. And I love Nancy Drew--grew up reading the books and then found the games as an adult.

It's very difficult to compare MID with earlier ND games because it's so very different. I thought I would be discombobulated with the change to Unity, and I was somewhat, but I actually like the 3D perspective, the way you move around, and the backgrounds. The environments looked absolutely amazing--those graphics were the best part of the game hands down. And the way you can right click to examine objects was good.

The dialog writing was pretty good, too. I thought the characters (especially Nancy) talked too much sometimes, but at least the conversations made more sense in this game. I liked the story line and the amount of characters involved. I feel like HER listened when we complained about not having enough characters. The amount of places you could go to was good, too. I liked how the plot unfolded and the relationships between the characters. The length could have been longer, but it was ok. If you do everything extra (unnecessary to finishing) in the game, it would take a lot longer, and I may do that later when I play again on Master mode.

I liked the scares--there were several, and they looked really good. But it's not too scary.

All that said, (and I know many others have already said these things but I want to add my opinion because after all, this is a game review, and I hope HER reads these) the graphics of the characters standing and moving around was HORRIBLE. I've never seen anything worse in a game. They flailed their hands around and sat on non-existent things, and their feet slid around on hard surfaces. UGH. So bad. The mouths moving actually weren't too bad. Sometimes a character would exclaim something or be hurt or something but the face never changed, which was totally weird. The words pretty much fit the way the mouths were moving though. And you could see the characters breathing sometimes, which was kind of cool.
But I really couldn't get over the fact that the characters' arms flailed around for no reason--I wish they just would have been still--it would have been much less distracting. I'm sure it was hard to render these characters, but come on, if you're going to release a game, it has to be done right. I'm not asking for Skyrim or anything. Just a good ND game.

I would have liked to see more puzzles. HER did well helping Nancy be able to snoop more and look at more things, but the puzzles are one of the most important parts of the games! And Nancy didn't say, "It's locked" once! Not once! She did say "locked" but it wasn't the same. Which brings me to Brittany Cox's portrayal of Nancy. I'm not going to throw her under the bus for not being Lani Minella, but I do think her speaking was a bit robotic--like she was reading it instead of just saying it from her head. I think her sentences should have flowed better and not have been said so deliberately. And some of her questions sounded like statements and not questions. But I did like the sound of her voice overall and will be fine with her being Nancy. I feel like her voice acting could grow a bit though.

I loved being able to interact with and actually investigate as the Hardy Boys. This was another of my favorite parts of the game. They are hilarious and I love it when they are a part of the ND games. It was over the top that they were there in the game and were helping Nancy in person solve things. Loved that. Maybe they can bring Ned in next time???? I love Nancy's conversations with Ned and I think their relationship needs to go to the next level--at least let them investigate together. I need to see him in person!

Congrats to Brittany Cox's husband (sorry I forget his name) for some great music. I really liked the sound track. I feel it went well with the game, and it sounded similar enough to other games that it didn't take me to a place too far removed from the ND world. So well done. I'm a musician, so I really appreciate good composing when I hear it.

Finding out the culprit was good. It made sense. There was a good bit of danger near the end, it wasn't too easy as in some other games, but I thought maybe it could have been a bit more dramatic. Can't say much more about that without spoilers.

I for one hope this isn't the last ND game. I know a lot of people aren't happy about it and are through with the games. But I will be someone who will keep buying the games, provided HER keeps improving the things that are lacking and listens to their fans. It's about entertainment and learning, ultimately (at least imho), and the game delivered for me in those two areas.

I gave the game a 4 out of 10, not because it was terrible, but because 5 was "neutral" and I didn't have any neutral feelings. They were either really good or really bad, depending on the subject. I guess I could have given it a 6 as well. It was hard to rate. Anyway, yeah.

[Ches0809]

I have all of the Nancy Drew games. I was super excited to get this one but not what I thought I was going to be! I would really like them to go back to the old way. They were better in my opinion! Please redo this game! Going forward the next game please make it better! I don’t like anything about this game.

[webwizard]

In the end, it was a good game. I don't agree with people complaining for "too few puzzles", since I think that they are, give or take, about the same as the older games. there's a lot of dialogue (as in the older games), and I hoped to see less chit chat and more exploring. Biggest flaw at the moment are a couple of crashes, who needed a PC reboot (probably some file stuck or a memory leak problem). As for the rest, a really welcomed restyling of the game, although I expected something more after all those years of hyatus and the choice of a game engine (Unity) capable of much better handling of NPC and environment. I hope, for the future, a shorter interval between games and a better use of Unity capabilities (oh, and a good story, as always).

Paul

[KimLNo]

MID is, simply put, the WORST ND game ever released, and I've played them all multiple times. You know why? Because it was impossible to explore any area effectively with those completely counterintuitive controls. Just when I think I am at the door I want to exit through, I miss the mark and have to step forward another step BEFORE I turn to face the door. This happened in every scene of the game! What happened to being able to explore the whole room? I suppose the ability to right click and look around the room would've been more helpful if the controls didn't work counterintuitively. If I wanted to look up, invariably I ended up looking down, or right when I wanted to look left. It was endlessly frustrating.

If the controls weren't bad enough, the gameplay is tedious and boring. There are very few puzzles (with no directions on how to go about solving them whatsoever), and a whole lot of dialog. Conversations would sometimes go on for 20 minutes! Do you know how boring that is? And what's worse, the background noise made it impossible to catch everything the person was saying to you. It's maddening!

To wait as long as we all have, and then to get this game that shouldn't even be allowed to be called a Nancy Drew game...it's like a slap in the face. I put my faith in your company to produce a game that is just as good as the others, and you failed me. I will not buy another game from Her Interactive unless these issues have been addressed and rectified. It makes me sad, because I've played these games for years and now it looks like that chapter of my life is over. Shame on you, Her Interactive, for releasing a subpar game knowing that die hard ND fans will buy it no matter what.

[cybersleuth]

I gave 3 stars because, in light of all the hype HER gave the new game development and the extraordinarily long wait we endured for this product, it was actually a really poor game. I don't know what's going on at HER but whatever it is, they're going in the wrong direction in terms of ND games. ND has some pretty loyal fans and we'll forgive alot but...there is a limit.

GRAPHICS: The graphics, while somewhat improved over old ND games, was disappointing because we all expected so much more. Coarse, jerky, funky bodily movements. And you would think the characters could have a change of clothes one day to the next. I really cannot say the graphics reflects the hype or the long development for this game. What were y'all doing all that time?

HARDY BOYS: Joe is annoying because he's in constant tweaking motion! These boys didn't add anything to the game; it felt like an obvious plug for the Hardy Boys. Nancy could have done any of the tasks they performed.

MUSIC: I enjoyed the music but it was incredibly annoying that I couldn't adjust the music and dialogue separately like in past games. Please bring back that feature.

Dialogue: Can it get any longer? It was super annoying that there isn't a way to pause the auto-dialogue while in full screen. And the single sentence at a time format...torture.

PUZZLES: Very, very disappointing. ND puzzles are half the fun but this game doesn't deliver. Too few, too easy, too boring.

And now ND is off on vacation and promises no investigations during her trip. So does that mean ND fans get to wait another 2-3 years for the next game? Overall, disappointing game.

[amoaventura]

So disappointed in this game. I have played and loved every other Nancy Drew game from HerInteractive - some games have been better than others, sure, but I've been looking forward to 'the next Nancy Drew' for a long time. I completely understand the need for a platform change, but to me the whole thing was a huge waste of time and money. What makes Nancy Drew games great are the puzzles, the challenges, the characters, the ability to 'own' the game and make choices for yourself on where to go and what to do next. I'm about 2.5 hours in to Midnight in Salem and this game has none of those things. There are hardly any puzzles - it's mostly dialogue - and the few puzzles don't advance the story (or really have anything to do with it) and are so incredibly easy that they feel like a waste of time. The dialogue is super choppy, very long, often has nothing to do with the story, and is uninteresting. There are many misspellings and grammatical errors in the text boxes, and only about 100 characters are shown at a time, which means you can't even read ahead and bypass once you get the gist - you're forced to sit and listen while reading the horrible dialogue. The graphics seem like an upgrade at first, but the motions of the characters are always 'off' from what they are saying, are on a loop, and are glitchy. Leaves fall inside cars and houses. The first character you meet doesn't even have a real face and body - she's a shadow. It gives the feeling as if the designers ran out of time and just had to go with what was finished and quickly tape up the rest and release it. Moving around the town is nearly impossible because your turns have to be so exact that you're always having to go back and forth to find the only 'path' that will work - and it's usually blocked by the super-annoying Deirdre. She is one of the worst parts of the game - every time I interact with her, I'm put off by her bad attitude and meanness. She's not funny, she's annoying, and I don't play Nancy Drew to be annoyed, it's supposed to be fun and interesting! In addition, you get bombarded with constant text messages that you have to read 'in real time' - i.e. you are literally watching people texting back and forth with no ability to turn it off or even participate in the text. As if we all aren't texting enough as it is - now we have to do it in our games and downtime!

I'm just hopeful that this is one bad game on a new platform and that the next game will get back to the traditional Nancy Drew style, using whatever enhancements the creators were looking for out of the new platform. More puzzles, more challenges, more control over where we can go and what we can do. Interesting case material and engaging dialogue. Characters we may or may not like, but are interested in how they turn out. Come on, HerInteractive - you've done it before, I know you can do it again. Show us what great games can and should be - we're here for you and craving the great Nancy Drew games you've given us in the past!!!

[nancy3396]

This is the only Nancy Drew game (****, the only game) that I can play while simultaneously working on emails. It has the benefit of making this laborious task seem more interesting

When you see **** in your post, you must change the word to something more appropriate for the forums.

[riverdaughter]

I hated playing as Frank Hardy. This is a Nancy Drew game not a Hardy Boys game. If I wanted to play as another character I would play a different game.

Too much dialogue. Way too much. It was boring. Instead of getting to snoop around at everything you had to sit through endless boring dialogue. Even conversations from random people standing around.

The plot was lame. The whole bad grain theory has been around for years. You didn't get to learn anything new in this game. In the Secret of the Scarlet Hand you learned a lot about the Maya. In this game I didn't learn anything I didn't already know.

The culprit... yeah figured that one out early on. It was obvious.

The navigation was clunky and laborious. You couldn't get anywhere unless you lined up straight to it. People and objects in your path made this tedious.

The graphics were not good. When talking (with those spastic arm gestures) people's arms went right through another person. There were odd head movements that bordered on creepy. And their hands looked huge compared to the rest of their bodies. Plus they all made this snatching something invisible from the air movement that was just ... off. And downright comical, until it got annoying.
Joe looked as if he had to go to the bathroom all of the time. The constant swaying of the characters is also a distraction. Deirdre's neck is way too long and she looks like a bad photo shopped photo where someone else's head is put on another body.

The game just doesn't have the ND feel to it. It's boring. Every time you wish to go somewhere another character is in your way. I understand that HeR wants their games on mobile so they switched to the Unity platform. But this game looks like it was thrown together at the last minute. There's no way they spent 5 years on this game. I would say about a year and a half would be closer to the mark. I know they outsourced the game to other developers in Austria and Vietnam but the whole thing looks rushed.

Yeah, I would bypass this one.

[Ms.DrewFan]

I’ve played every Nancy Drew game, and I am sad to say this was my least favorite. There are too few puzzles and too much dialog. It crashed my computer several times, but even when it was working, the graphics were extremely fuzzy and the characters moved spastically. I also found the plot line boring and the ending did not make much sense. I did like that there were more characters, but felt that some were just thrown in there and weren’t needed for the story. The Hardy Boys are always a highlight of the game when included, so I was glad to see they returned. Overall, I hope they make improvements before releasing the next game because this one just did not live up to their previous standards.